Flood of over-40 bikers prompts renewed focus on safety rules
11/12/2005
By CURT WOODWARD / Associated Press
Daryl Ruff's earliest childhood memory is climbing aboard his father's parked Harley-Davidson — and struggling to pick it up again when the kickstand gave out.
He survived that first crash unscathed, and his life's been punctuated by the throaty roar of a powerful hog ever since.
So last November, with his kids out of the house and having children of their own, the 55-year-old put some cash into one of the quintessential baby boomer luxury purchases.
"I bought the biggest, baddest most expensive Harley that they make," he says with a chuckle from his home in Federal Way. "It's kind of the Winnebago of motorcycles, so they don't get any bigger or heavier than what I'm riding."
When Ruff fires up that beast, he's hardly alone — people 40 and older have become the largest single group of motorcycle owners in America, and they're also riding bikes with larger engines.
Ruff's customized Harley Ultra Classic, which weighs about 800 pounds and produces about 90 horsepower, certainly fits that bill.
But as they hit the road in record numbers, riders 40 and older also have been getting killed more often than their younger counterparts. That's spurred state governments to re-examine their motorcycle regulations.
The effort is in its infancy, but officials from the Washington State Patrol and the Department of Licensing already are discussing ideas, including refresher training courses for experienced riders or a requirement to show a motorcycle license before buying a bike.
"What we think is happening with this older group is that they rode a motorcycle when they were 18-20 years old, then they hit their 40s and realized, 'Hey, I can afford a bigger, better bike,'" said Gigi Zenk, a licensing spokeswoman.
Statistics show state motorcycle fatalities on the rise, with most involving riders 40 and older on bikes with the largest engines.
Nationwide, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's projected 2004 figures have motorcyclists 40 older involved in about 47 percent of 3,900 fatalities. They're also expected to account for more than 60 percent of the yearly increase in deadly crashes.
"If it keeps going, we're going to be in trouble. We're already in trouble," Patrol Capt. Jeff DeVere said.
Industry and rider groups, however, caution that tightened regulation should not be based solely on raw crash statistics and speculation about causes.
"When the fatality numbers come out each year ... special interest groups tend to react to that and speculate on solutions without having anything more than data," said American Motorcyclist Association spokesman Tom Lindsay.
Tim Bouche, president of the cycle manufacturers' Motorcycle Safety Foundation, said officials should consider that older riders' large share of fatal crashes results mainly because they're the largest group of riders.
"It's not really saying there's a cause and effect there, or that it's a key factor. It's simply that the average rider is older and they're on larger bikes," Bouche said.
Few would argue that physical capabilities and reaction times tend to deteriorate with age. The safety foundation, which offers several types of training programs, has developed a special "seasoned rider" package to address those particular problems.
For Ruff, getting older has meant the obligatory purchase of reading glasses. But he hasn't noticed any deterioration in his riding skills.
Nevertheless, he does give himself more space on the road than when he was 20, and still regularly takes experienced riders' courses.
"I've been riding for 30 years and I always learn something," he said.
Bret Tkacs, who emphasizes brush-up training courses at his Puget Sound Safety motorcycle schools, agrees that older riders often need to polish their skills.
"I've seen these people ride, and I know that they really need to be there," Tkacs said.
But forcing them into special courses won't guarantee that rebellious riders will follow the rules once they have a certificate, Tkacs said.
Industry and rider groups are now looking forward to a planned national crash study — the first of its kind in decades — which they think will show the real reasons behind rising motorcycle fatalities.
"We're focused on finding out the cause of crashes so we can take the best approach long-term to saving lives," Lindsay said.
Washington
state officials say they're just beginning their work, and plan to include motorcycle interests before they begin writing safety regulations.
"We just don't want to assume that we have the answers," Zenk said. "It's not about taking anybody's rights away. It's about ensuring that everybody's safe."
For Ruff, who serves as chief road safety officer for Tacoma's Harley Owners Group, ramped-up training regulations might not be such a bad idea.
"I'm not opposed to some way of making sure they at least have basic skills," he said. "There are a number of them that'll go out and say, 'Oh yeah, I used to ride a dirt bike,' and they'll go out and buy a Harley.
"If it keeps one person from killing themselves, all the better."
This You got to read to believe!
Subject: RED Fridays
RED FRIDAYS ----- Very soon, you will see a great many people wearing
Red every Friday. The reason? Americans who support our troops used
to be called the "silent majority". We are no longer silent, and are
voicing our love for God, country and home in record breaking
numbers. We are not organized, boisterous or over-bearing. We get no
liberal media coverage on TV, to reflect our message or our opinions.
Many Americans, like you, me and all our friends, simply want to
recognize that the vast majority of America supports our troops. Our
idea of showing solidarity and support for our troops with dignity
and respect starts this Friday -and continues each and every Friday
until the troops all come home, sending a deafening message that..
Every red-blooded American who supports our men and women afar will
wear something red.
By word of mouth, press, TV -- let's make the United States on every
Friday a sea of red much like a homecoming football game in the
bleachers. If every one of us who loves this country will share this
with acquaintances, co-workers, friends, and family. It will not be
long before the USA is covered in RED and it will let our troops know
the once "silent" majority is on their side more than ever, certainly
more than the media lets on.
The first thing a soldier says when asked "What can we do to make
things better for you?" is...We need your support and your prayers.
Let's get the word out and lead with class and dignity, by example;
and wear some thing red every Friday.
Submitted to (BFB) By: Mark Spry
Posted By Dragoni: 01/16/2006
THE SOLDIERS DAUGHTER
Last week I was in Atlanta, Georgia attending a conference. While I was in
the airport, returning home, I heard several people behind me beginning to
clap and cheer. I immediately turned around and witnessed one of the
greatest act's of patriotism I have ever seen.
Moving thru the terminal was a group of soldiers in their camo's, as they
began heading to their gate everyone (well almost everyone) was abruptly
to their feet with their hands waving and cheering. When I saw the
soldiers, probably 30-40 of them, being applauded and cheered for it hit
me. I'm not alone. I'm not the only red blooded American who still loves
this country and supports our troops and their families.
Of course I immediately stopped and began clapping for these young unsung
heroes who are putting their lives on the line everyday for us so we can
go to school, work and home without fear or reprisal. Just when I thought
I
could not be more proud of my country or of our service men and women a
young girl, not more than 6 or 7 years old, ran up to one of the male
soldiers. He kneeled down and said "hi," the little girl then she asked him
if he would give something to her daddy for her. The young soldier, he
didn't look any older than maybe 22 himself, said he would try and what did
she want to give to her daddy. Then suddenly the little girl grabbed the
neck of this soldier, gave him the biggest hug she could muster and then
kissed him on the cheek.
The mother of the little girl, who said her daughters name was Courtney,
told the young soldier that her husband was a Marine and had been in
Iraq
for 11 months now. As the mom was explaining how much her daughter,
Courtney, missed her father, the young soldier began to tear up. When this
temporarily single mom was done explaining her situation, all of the
soldiers huddled together for a brief second. Then one of the other
servicemen pulled out a military looking walkie-talkie. They started
playing with the device and talking back and forth on it.
After about 10-15 seconds of this, the young soldier walked back over to
Courtney, bent down and said this to her, "I spoke to your daddy and he
told me to give this to you." He then hugged this little girl that he had
just met and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He finished by saying "your
daddy told me to tell you that he loves you more than anything and he is
coming home very soon."
The mom at this point was crying almost uncontrollably and as the young
soldier stood to his feet he saluted Courtney and her mom. I was
standing
no more than 6 feet away from this entire event unfolded. As the soldiers
began to leave, heading towards their gate, people resumed their applause.
As I stood there applauding and looked around, their were very few dry
eyes, including my own. That young soldier in one last act of selflessness,
turned around and blew a kiss to Courtney with a tear rolling down his cheek.
We need to remember everyday all of our soldiers and their families and
thank God for them and their sacrifices. At the end of the day, it's
good
to be an American.
Red Friday - Just keeping you "in the loop" so you'll know what's going on
in case this takes off.
RED FRIDAYS ----- Very soon, you will see a great many people wearing Red
every Friday. The reason? Americans who support our troops used to be
called the "silent majority". We are no longer silent, and are voicing our
love for God, country and home in record breaking numbers. We are not
organized, boisterous or over-bearing. We get no liberal media coverage on
TV, to reflect our message or our opinions.
Many Americans, like you, me and all our friends, simply want to recognize
that the vast majority of America supports our troops. Our idea of showing
solidarity and support for our troops with dignity and respect starts this
Friday -and continues each and every Friday until the troops all come home,
sending a deafening message that.. Every red-blooded American who supports
our men and women afar will wear something red.
By word of mouth, press, TV -- let's make the United States on every Friday
a sea of red much like a homecoming football game in the bleachers. If
every one of us who loves this country will share this with acquaintances,
co-workers, friends, and family. It will not be long before the USA is
covered in RED and it will let our troops know the once "silent" majority
is on their side more than ever, certainly more than the media lets on.
The first thing a soldier says when asked "What can we do to make things
better for you?" is...We need your support and your prayers. Let's get
the word out and lead with class and dignity, by example; and wear
something red every Friday.
Submitted to (BFB) By: Michael Rebeiro
Posted By Dragoni: 07/21/2006
NEW WAY TO DO CAR JACKINGS (NOT A JOKE)
Heads up everyone!
You walk across the parking lot, unlock your car and get inside.
You start the engine and shift into Reverse When you look into the
rearview mirror to back out of your parking space, you notice a piece of
paper stuck to the middle of the rear window.
So, you shift into Park, unlock your doors and jump out of your car to
remove that paper (or whatever it is) that is obstructing your view.
When you reach the back of your car, that is when the carjackers
Appear out of nowhere, jump into your car and take off.
They practically mow you down as they speed off in your car.
And guess what ladies, “I bet your purse is still in the car!”
So now the carjacker has your car, your home address, your money, and your keys.
Your home and your whole identity are now compromised!
BEWARE OF THIS NEW SCHEME THAT IS NOW BEING USED.
If you see a piece of paper stuck to your back window, just drive away,
remove the paper later and be thankful that you read this e-mail.
I hope you will forward this to friends and family, especially to women.
A purse contains all kinds of personal information and identification
documents, and you certainly do NOT want this to fall into the wrong hands.
Please keep this going.
Thank you. Lieutenant Tony Bartolome Bureau of Investigations Florida
Highway Patrol
P. O. Box 593527
Orlando, FL 32859
Posted By Dragoni:
08/23/2006
The Bill Gates List !!! EXCELLENT
THIS SHOULD BE PRINTED ON THE WALLS OF ALL SCHOOLS, STARTING IN ELEMENTARY THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL.
Love him or hate him, he sure hits the nail on the head with this!
To anyone with kids of any age, here's some advice.
Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.
Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!
Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how
cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.
Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.
If you agree, pass it on.
If you can read this - Thank a teacher!
Posted By Dragoni: 01/08/2007
NATIONWIDE CALL TO ACTION:
ABATE OF MONTANA SAYS KEEP THOSE LETTERS, CALLS AND EMAILS COMING!
"No state shall make or enforce any law
which shall abridge the privileges
or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state
deprive
any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor
deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the
laws."--U.S. Constitution, Amendment XIV, Section 1
Fellow Freedom Fighters:
Montana State Representative Betsy Hands and Montana State Senator Lynda
Moss are continuing to sponsor Draft Bill LC1683, a mandatory motorcycle
helmet law:
http://data.opi.mt.gov/bills/2007/lchtml/LC1683.htm
Mandatory helmet laws like this one clearly demonstrate how "good
intentions
often lead to bad legislation". ABATE of Montana has asked us to
continue
to flood their offices with letters, calls and emails protesting this
bill,
which is discriminatorily unconstitutional in that--by mandating helmets
for
motorcyclists as opposed to all motorists--it would violate the "equal
protection" guaranteed by the 14th Amendment to the United States
Constitution.
Here is their contact information:
Betsy Hands (D)
1337 SHERWOOD ST
MISSOULA, MT 59802-2301
Home: 406-721-3881
Email: BETSYHANDS@GMAIL.COM
Web: http://tinyurl.com/2zeb7s
(with photo)
Lynda Moss (D)
552 HIGHLAND PARK DR
BILLINGS, MT 59102-1046
Home: 406-252-7318
Email: LYNDAMOSS@IMT.NET
Web: http://tinyurl.com/26gebv
(with photo)
Email addresses for them and the Montana Senate and House Leadership are
as
follows:
BETSYHANDS@GMAIL.COM
LYNDAMOSS@IMT.NET
COONEYEMAIL@AOL.COM
DANWHARRINGTON@IN-TCH.COM
CWILLIAMS@MONTANADSL.NET
LLSD22@YAHOO.COM
COREYSTAPLETON@BRESNAN.NET
GBARKUS@DADCO.COM
SCOTTSALESHD68@EARTHLINK.NET
grt3177@smtel.com
MLANGE6@HOTMAIL.COM
tmcgillvray@bresnan.net
GARYMACLAREN@YAHOO.COM
PARKMONT@HOTMAIL.COM
BERGREN@BOBBERGREN.COM
MCAMPBELLHD31@YAHOO.COM
MCDAVE94@HOTMAIL.COM
DANVILLAFORMONTANA@HOTMAIL.COM
To automatically load these email addresses into a new email window,
click
here:
http://www.ldrlongdistancerider.com/KeepMontanaFree.html
Remember that this issue here is NOT "helmets", the issue is "helmet
laws".
As a distance rider, I often wear a helmet. But as an American citizen,
I
should be free to choose when and where I strap one on. This is not
about
SAFETY ... this is about FREEDOM. You will find more sound reasons to
oppose this legislation presented here:
http://tinyurl.com/2v97al
Even if you have responded to this call-to-action before, PLEASE RESPOND
AGAIN. And even if you have forwarded this call-to-action before, PLEASE
FORWARD IT AGAIN.
Ride Long, Ride Free!
Bruce Arnold ;-)
Bruce@LdrLongDistanceRider.com
________________________________
From: Linda Baldwin [mailto:libaldwin@midrivers.com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2007 2:59 PM
Subject: Draft Bill LC 1683 - There is movement on this ABATE NEEDS your
help!
Hello Everyone: Call to Action:
We have action on LC 1683...the Mandatory Motorcycle/Quadricycle Bill.
Please read below...and start calling, E-mailing, writing those letters
again. As Jill Z. told us...use the same letter you wrote last time,
just
make sure that Betsy Hands and Lynda Moss are bombarded with mail and
phone
calls.
Thanks for your immediate action on this E-mail.
Linda
Bill Actions - Current Bill Progress: In Drafting Process
Bill Action Count: 16
Action - Most Recent First Date Votes Yes Votes No
Committee
(C) Draft Delivered to Requester 01/31/2007
(C) Draft Ready for Delivery 01/03/2007
(C) Draft in Assembly/Executive Director Review 01/02/2007
(C) Draft in Final Drafter Review 01/02/2007
(C) Bill Draft Text Available Electronically 01/02/2007
(C) Draft in Input/Proofing 01/02/2007
(C) Draft to Drafter - Edit Review [CMD] 01/02/2007
(C) Draft in Edit 01/02/2007
***
Post replies or comments here:
http://pub42.bravenet.com/forum/3562429698/fetch/778257/
Posted By Dragoni: 01/31/2007
|
Bogus Motorcycle Helmets
By: the WSP
Almost all motorcycle riders wear helmets.
Legal helmets are proven to save lives. However, some
helmets are sold as novelty items only; never intended
for use on the road. In a collision, these "novelty"
helmets provide almost no protection for the rider.
Unfortunately some people are confused about what
makes a helmet legal and safe to wear.
The attached PDF file will give you some insight
into buying a motorcycle helmet that
is legal to use and will afford you the greatest protection. If you would
like some
additional information, please visit the links and documents provided.
Note: You will need to have the Adobe
Acrobat Reader in order to view and print PDF
files. If you are not able to open the "Bogus Helmets" brochure,
Download the
Acrobat Reader here.
Bogus
Motorcycle Helmets - Download a PDF copy of the bogus
helmet brochure.
Research
information - Southern California Injury Prevention
Research Center.
Revised Code of Washington 46.37.530 - Defines
motorcycle helmet.
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 218 - For all
legal motorcycle helmets. |
|
Posted By Dragoni: 02/02/2007
Motorcycle Riders of Florida need to Pay
Attention and Get Involved.
This came to me from ABATE of Florida. Though it asks you to
become a member
what the letter says is very true.
You Need To Contact Your Legislator and Ask They Vote NO! On
HB265 and SB984
ROGUE
Sent: Friday, February 16, 2007 3:08 AM
Subject: The Legislative Session is Upon Us
The Legislative Session is Upon Us. When they are done in
Tallahassee this
year,
will you still be able to afford to ride your motorcycle? Will
you even be
able to keep it?
For all of you FREELOADERS who continue to sit on your can and
let members
of ABATE OF FLORIDA protect your interests, listen up. This
would include
those of you who think that the only thing we care about is
helmets, you
listen up too.
The Florida Legislative Session begins on the 1st Tuesday in
March and
convenes for sixty consecutive days. The legislature is not
even is regular
session yet and we already have the HB265 bill in the Florida
House and
companion SB984 in the Florida Senate. These bills
conveniently do not
include the word 'motorcycle' or 'cycle' but if these bills
are passed into
law in their current form, the face of motorcycling in Florida
will severely
change. The result will mean only the wealthy will be able to
legally ride.
A few short on money but big on cojones will choose not to
meet the
requirements of the new law. Unfortunately that will mean they
are criminals
and subject to fine, prosecution and incarceration.
Why do we already know this? Why are we already working on
this when search
engines do not discover any threat to motorcycling in this
bill? ABATE OF
FLORIDA members join together and involve themselves in
fundraising to
provide for a lobbyist. This same lobbyist called this to our
attention just
about the time the ink was drying on the bill.
This onerous bill deletes a portion of statute that defines
motor vehicles.
This same portion being deleted happens to exclude motorcycles
from carrying
PIP. Forget about the cost of carrying PIP on a motorcycle
(and that you
cannot buy it), but imagine how much it will cost to insure
yourself against
being run over by someone. No fault situations do not work or
provide
affordable solutions for someone riding a motorcycle. The
reason insurance
companies want helmets on motorcyclists boils down to the
simple fact that
when someone they insure runs over one of us, it costs them
big money. As a
motorcyclist, you know that a helmet is not going to save you
from injury
and/or death when Joe Impala runs over you so you understand
why insurance
companies are going to make you pony up big time when a new
law makes you
responsible for paying for your injuries when someone runs
over you.
HB265/SB984 will relieve the at-fault Joe Impala's insurance
company of the
financial responsibility of running you over.
You will pay insurance premiums to take care of yourself in
the event Joe
Impala runs you over. That is why many people will be
legislated off the
road by this legislation. If you own your own bike and you are
not
independently wealthy, you will not be able to afford the
insurance. You
will be able to choose to park it or become a criminal. If
your bank owns
your bike, you are in worse trouble because they require you
to have
insurance. You will have some additional lovely choices to
make. Perhaps you
bank will allow you to sign an affidavit that you won't ride
it since you
don't have insurance? (because you cannot afford it). Perhaps
you will turn
it back into the bank because you are not so sure you want to
make payments
on something you cannot ride? Perhaps the bank won't take the
risk of you
riding the bike without insurance and will call their note
due. If they call
their note due (and they can, check your loan documents), you
will either
pay it off or they will repossess it. When they repossess your
bike, then
they will sue you to pay for it anyway. Hopefully, you are
getting the
picture here and understand that it is not pretty. Do you also
understand we
could really use your help???
We anticipate a busy legislative session protecting the
interests of
motorcyclists in Florida. Perhaps this is the time for you to
get off your
can and kick in on the efforts. At the very least get of your
wallet and
support the organization that protects and preserves what you
pretend to
care about.
Florida has been high on the NHTSA radar for at least 18
months. Know that
we are number one on their hit list and they have rolled out
another major
pair of documents in the last six months that includes their
helmet
initiative propaganda. For those who do not think that is
important,
understand that when we do not stand together, we are
vulnerable. Know that
there are ways for them to try and take us down that will
cause you more
than a mere inconvenience. Know that ABATE OF FLORIDA includes
members who
choose to wear helmets. Know that this propaganda has resulted
in helmet
legislation appearing in several legislatures already.
In the Florida legislature alone, we have a very full plate in
the upcoming
legislative session. We will be looking for ways to tighten
our stiffer
penalties legislation in regard to Joe Impala running over us.
We are
looking to see what kind of legislation we can introduce in
regard to
restricting cell phone use. We will be looking for additional
funding for
motorcycle safety and public awareness campaigns. We will be
working toward
making sure driver education returns to all public high
schools. We will
continue to work on passing our Discrimination bill. We
previously
succeeding deLaying mandatory rider training bill deLayed
until July 2008.
If we are unable to make changes necessary, we will have to
kill or repeal
the legislation. Our biggest concerns with it as it stands
include lack of
sufficient 'grandfather' clause, deficiencies in lack of
course cost cap and
concerns with access in regard to the limited number of
training sites.
There are already waits to take the course and it is not
mandatory.
Being a member of ABATE means you get information in regard to
contacting
your officials to help pass or kill legislation regarding
motorcycles. You
can get information about what is going on and how you can
help. Contact a
Chapter near you to join. Members and non-members alike will
be needed to
attend our annual Freedom Rights Rally in April. We need you
to get on that
motorcycle and ride into Tallahassee with us and up Appalachee
Parkway into
the Capitol. This session was already important in that we
have a lot of
newly elected legislators. They need to know we vote, we give
a damn and we
will be on the scene to make sure they are representing us and
our interests
in the Capitol. When we go see our legislators in April this
year, we need
to ride en masse.
Ride safe out there and if you want to keep riding, get
yourself signed up
as a member and pay attention. Those who have been carrying
your load and
pulling your weight all of these years may come up short
without your help,
so get off your can and take yourself off the welfare biker
role...
Dave Russell - aka - Katfish
Posted By Dragoni: 02/20/2007
|
Here
SHE is, the USS New York
USS New York
It was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the
World Trade Center.
It is the fifth in a new class of warship - designed
for missions that include special operations against
terrorists. It will carry a crew of 360 sailors and
700 combat-ready Marines to be delivered ashore by
helicopters and assault craft.
Steel from the World Trade Center was melted down in
a foundry in Amite, LA to cast the ship's bow
section. When it was poured into the molds
on
Sept. 9, 2003, "those big rough steelworkers treated
it with total
reverence," recalled Navy Capt. Kevin Wensing, who
was there. "It was a
spiritual moment for everybody there."
Junior Chavers, foundry operations manager, said
that when the trade center steel first arrived, he
touched it with his hand and the "hair on my neck
stood up." "It had a big meaning to it for all of
us," he said. "They knocked us down. They can't keep
us down. We're going to be back."
The ship's motto? "Never Forget"
Please
keep this going so everyone can see what we are made
of in this country!
Posted By Dragoni: 02/20/2007
|
Joinder in Open Letter of
Bruce Arnold Calling for New Directions And
Greater Commitment in AMA Biker Rights and Safety Policy
By "Madd Ray" Henke (RarelyL84ad8@aol.com)
http://www.motorcyclists-against-dumb-drivers.com/
***
20 February 2007
Rob Dingman
President
American Motorcyclist Association
13515 Yarmouth Drive
Pickerington, OH 43147
Email:
rdingman@ama-cycle.org
Dear Rob,
I would like to add my congratulations on your selection as
President of the
American Motorcyclist Association.
At the same time I feel compelled to add my voice to that of
Bruce Arnold,
expressed in his Open Letter calling on you to correct what
has been, in
some respects, the past misdirected course of AMA [
http://tinyurl.com/2dnsbr
], and to call on you to please redouble AMA's
commitment, particularly when it comes to supporting biker
rights. Biker
rights means nothing more than ordinary, common dignity, the
rights of
bikers to make our own adult safety equipment choices free of
the
paternalistic dictates of government.
It is extremely important that AMA has made plain that it
supports the
rider's right to chose whether or not to wear a helmet. It is
AMA's
outstretched hand to those of us who value our dignity and
right to chose,
and we want you to know that we appreciate that AMA stands for
biker
freedom. For many of us, "rights" may be our only common
connection with
AMA, just as for others it might be racing.
There is much more that AMA can do to fulfill its commitment
to preserving
our "rights" which we have not seen in the past. One of the
main obstacles
to restoring biker dignity and freedom in half the states, and
in resisting
efforts to deprive us of our dignity and freedom in the other
half of the
states, is that the powerful insurance and medical lobbies
fund scientific
presentations at every hearing and at every other opportunity
they can
create to influence our state legislators. The presentations
are skewed to
the political ends of the helmet law proponents, most commonly
presented
without rebuttal, and all too often the skewed "scientific
evidence" is
accepted as accurate. The result is that our state legislators
succumb to
the misinformation that helmet laws are essential to avert a
fabricated
public health or "state fiscal" crisis purported to result
from motorcyclist
head injuries which they allege might be avoided by universal
helmet use.
The scientific facts are that head injuries are only a small
fraction of the
broader public health and state fiscal consequences of what is
surely an
obscene incidence of motorcycle accidents. In these motorcycle
accidents we
suffer quadriplegia, paraplegia, other spinal cord injuries,
debilitating
internal injuries, catastrophic orthopedic injuries and leg
amputations, the
incidence or severity of which could not possibly be reduced
by the use of
helmets. Even as these helmet law proponents cite the small
percentage of
head injuries which might be averted by helmets, they fail to
cite the
partially or wholly offsetting numbers of spinal cord injuries
which occur
as the result of use of helmets or the state fiscal
consequence of the
medical cost associated with caring for those who suffer
spinal injuries.
The helmet law proponents also engage in public relations
campaigns which
defame motorcyclists, complaining that this misrepresented
state fiscal
crisis results from the failures of motorcyclists to obtain
insurance. The
fact is that 2/3 of these accidents result solely from the
inattention and
negligence of auto drivers. It is the auto drivers who are
responsible under
the law and morally to pay for the injuries, medical expenses
and damages
sustained by the motorcyclists they injure (those who sustain
head injuries
or any of the other panoply of injuries we sustain at their
hands), and it
is the auto drivers who fail to meet their legal and moral
obligations to
pay our medical expenses.
The factual propositions and rhetoric urged by helmet law
proponents is all
scientifically false. We can point that out. We can show how
the data is
manufactured by contrived methodology to yield results which
are skewed and
misleading. But what our resistance to helmet laws lacks is a
good
scientific offense, including appropriately qualified experts
prepared and
fairly compensated to appear and testify at key hearings; and
we need good
written scientific position papers over the signatures of
highly qualified
epidemiologists regularly updated as new scientific studies
are published
which we can present at all other hearings and opportunities
to educate and
persuade our legislators and policy makers.
We watched in horror, for example, as the NTSB lined up only
the helmet law
proponent experts to testify at the science segment at the
outset of the
September 2006 NTSB "Motorcycle Safety" Forum. It was like a
trial in which
only one side was permitted to put on evidence. The NTSB
hearing was a
farce, indeed predestined to be a farce, as was obvious even
before the
commencement of the hearing by the contents of its agenda. But
perhaps most
importantly the NTSB hearings were farcical by reason of the
preselection of
the only scientific evidence which would be permitted to be
introduced. It
was indeed that skewed scientific presentation at the outset
of the hearings
which defined the "facts" which determined the outcome of
every subsequent
relevant segment of the hearings.
In the future, we would urge that AMA use its influence in
federal agency
hearings to assure that we are never again so outmaneuvered by
the insurance
industry, medical and manufacturer lobbies. And we would urge,
again, that
if the helmet law proponents will have the opportunity to
present their
skewed analyses, that AMA demand the opportunity to present
scientific
rebuttal, in the form of an equal number of highly qualified
experts,
including highly credentialed epidemiologists to undermine the
helmet law
proponents self serving interpretations and if necessary, the
underlying
study methodologies.
We would urge that AMA also weigh in as federal agencies
develop on any
future agenda for "safety" hearings. The agenda for the NTSB
hearing was
simply absurd, the only segment appearing on the agenda having
any prospect
of reducing the incidence of motorcycle accidents, and hence
the full
landscape of the injuries we suffer, was the "motorcycle
awareness" segment.
The largest segment of the NTSB hearing, twice the length of
any other
segment, was devoted to competitive motorcycle manufacturer
advertisements,
Honda being the winner with its novel motorcycle air bag which
Honda took
argued with its greatest effort to make plain would only fit
on its big 6
cylinder bike, and bikes of no other manufacturer.
Even the "motorcycle awareness" segment fell flat as none of
the
participants appeared in the least bit enthusiastic about the
prospect that
auto driver inattention to motorcyclists was even capable of
being
effectively altered by motorcycle awareness campaigns. This
was the only
segment of the NTSB Forum that legitimately pertained to biker
safety and
the AMA representative remained conspicuously silent,
literally without a
positive suggestion on how such a strategy might be
implemented effectively
to reach a significant percentage of auto drivers. In fairness
to AMA, the
MSF representative at this motorcycle awareness segment of the
Forum also
expressed no enthusiasm for the potential efficacy of
motorcycle awareness
campaigns. He indicated that MSF had prepared some motorcycle
awareness
informational commercials, but stated outright that the costs
of airing them
were prohibitive. He indicated that any other organization was
welcome to
use the commercials, but it was apparent that MSF wasn't about
to pick up
the tab. Indeed, the MSF representative indicated that a
single prime time
national commercial would cost several thousand dollars, and
to reach even a
small community it would cost several tens of thousands of
dollars.
Adding biker safety insult to injury the MSF representative
out of the blue
recommended instead "handheld" cell phone bans, which, as I
will demonstrate
below, are worse than no ban at all! This kind of sloppy,
extemporaneous, ad
hoc argument rather obviously thrown out just to shift
attention from the
fact that the MSF representative had nothing positive to say
about the
"motorcycle awareness" subject of the segment, is no way to
conduct
effective policy advocacy.
The only other biker representative at the segment was an
ABATE Iowa
official who described his organization's grassroots efforts
to get out into
the community to talk to auto drivers to explain to them why
we wear
leather, and he described their use of car bumper stickers
reading "My Mom
Rides a Motorcycle." As I understood this effort it was
intended to
establish good relations with the public and thus, hopefully,
to get auto
drivers to show us greater respect on the roadways. The only
other
representative on the panel was an insurance industry
representative who
completely ignored that the subject of the segment was
motorcycle awareness,
rolling his eyes when asked for his position on the potential
efficacy of
motorcycle awareness programs, and without objection from the
motorcyclist
representatives, went off on what was obviously a pre-planned,
completely
irrelevant tirade, again, on how "everyone knows" that helmet
laws are the
panacea for the dangers motorcyclists face out on the road,
throwing in his
canned argument for insurance industry deregulation.
We must never permit ourselves to be so outmaneuvered at an
NTSB or NHTSA or
other important biker safety hearing again, particularly at
hearings which
may result in findings harmful to our biker safety and biker
rights
interests. AMA is our "largest motorcyclist organization" in
the United
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