Michigan Freedom Faces Veto

Motorcycle-helmet bill passes Senate; faces Granholm veto By Amy Lane

Legislation that would allow some motorcyclists to ride without helmets has passed the Senate, after clearing the state House last week.

The Senate on Thursday approved House Bill 4749, sponsored by Barbara Farrah, D-Southgate. The bill would give riders over 21 the option of going helmetless if they pay an annual state permit fee and meet other requirements. The measure calls for riders to purchase a $100, one-year permit or a $200, three-year permit. They must carry at least $20,000 in insurance to pay first-party medical benefits in the event of an accident, have been licensed for at least two years to operate a motorcycle, and have completed a motorcycle safety course. Riders who do not purchase a permit and ride without helmets face a fine of up to $300. The Senate amended the bill to put money raised by the new permit fees toward a greater number of law-enforcement purposes than previously listed in the bill, and the bill now returns to the House.

The legislation appears unlikely to see approval by Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who supports the state’s current helmet law and has vetoed past helmet-law repeal.

Beating Back Biker Discrimination

Delray Beach motorcyclists prevail - for nowClick-2-ListenBy Michael LaForgiaPalm Beach Post Staff WriterTuesday, October 16, 2007
DELRAY BEACH — Looking out at a grizzled, bandana-and-leather-clad crowd this evening, the city commission put off a proposal to ban raucous motorcyclists from a five-block stretch of Atlantic Avenue, saying the city's noise problems need more research.

Last week, Mayor Rita Ellis, who said she heard complaints about bikers revving their engines in the bustling downtown district, asked city attorney Susan Ruby to research an ordinance that would ban motorcycles.

Bikers, business owners, patrons all disgruntled Opponents of the proposal said existing noise regulations should cover engine noise without resorting to a ban.

At tonight's meeting, Ruby offered commissioners two options for amending an existing ordinance, one that included a motorcycle ban and one that didn't. Before discussion began, Ellis noted she was disappointed that "our guests on motorcycles" had roared down the avenues in a show of unmuffled defiance over the weekend, after word of the proposed ban spread.

The suggested changes, up for first reading tonight, would have made motorcycles off-limits on Atlantic between Swinton and southbound Federal Highway, a corridor lined by shops and bistros."I believe that this is entirely in the best interest of our downtown," the mayor said tonight before discussion began.City commissioners Woodie McDuffie and Brenda Montague, however, said they would rather work with bikers toward a solution than ban them from the popular throughway, which runs from Interstate 95 to A1A.

McDuffie said the city had a noise problem, not necessarily a biker problem."What I would like for us to do is not single out one group of people, one motor vehicle," said McDuffie, addressing the motorcyclists who packed the audience and spilled out into the lobby. "We are willing to work with you."In the end, the city commissioners decided to follow a suggestion of city police Chief Larry Schroeder, who recommended the city survey business owners to get a better sense of what was causing noise problems on Atlantic. He also proposed waiting 90 days after the survey to see whether the corridor quiets down.

The city commission voted 4-0 to approve the ordinance option that omitted a ban on motorcyclists, pending results of the study. The bikers, who had gathered in the parking lot 2 1/2 hours before the issue came up, cheered the decision. Backs were slapped. Graying ponytails swished against leather vests."For now, it appears we have prevailed," said Rosco Sessa, national president of the Enforcers motorcycle club, who helped organize protests of the proposal. After the vote, the jubilant bikers poured out of the commission chambers, hopped on their hogs and roared away in the rain.

MRF Call to Action RE: NTSB

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MRF CALL TO ACTION

For the past several weeks the Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) has been actively working on a multi-tiered strategic initiative to counter the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) program to pressure states into enacting mandatory helmet laws. We are prepared today to launch the program beginning with a Call to Action to our State Motorcycle Rights Organizations (SMROs).

The MRF's Call to Action is to encourage our SMRO partners to send their top lobbying teams to Washington D.C. in late October and early November to visit with their members of Congress to voice opposition to the NTSB's lobbying efforts. It is our position that the NTSB is proposing to directly lobby the states with federal tax money based on poorly-drawn conclusions, using a very narrow scope, and not employing the rigors of research to which they normally hold themselves. This is simply not acceptable to the MRF and our SMRO partners. A clear message was sent by the Senate in the 109th Congress when they voted 69-28 to defeat the Lautenberg Federal Helmet amendment, which would have pressured states into passing mandatory helmet laws, based on the fact that this issue is clearly a State's rights issue. Accordingly, we will be asking members of Congress to write a letter to the NTSB reminding them of this fact.

During these SMRO visits we will also be presenting a bullet point statistical fact sheet developed in conjunction with the MRF Legislative, Motorcycle Safety, and Statistics Committees that clearly shows that the answer to motorcycle safety and reducing fatalities is, in fact, an aggressive approach toward CRASH AVOIDANCE and NOT safer crashing. In addition, we will be educating members of Congress on the many points contained in our Motorcycle Safety Action Plan, pointing out to them that states with the highest reductions in motorcycle fatalities and states with low fatality rates per registered motorcycle are not those with mandatory helmet laws, but rather states that utilize the many tools in the motorcycle safety action plan. Additionally, we will thank many of them for their belief in motorcycle safety shown by the creation of the 2010 motorcycle safety grants and the creation of the Motorcycle Advisory Council in TEA-LU. We will take advantage of this time to inform them as to how these programs are being used effectively.

The second phase of the MRF's strategic initiative involves the MRF holding a press conference in the first week of November in one of the office buildings of the United States House of Representatives in Washington, DC. The press conference will feature a prominent member of Congress. Expect another Call to Action encouraging our members, our SMRO partners, motorcyclists in general and other concerned citizens to attend.

At that time we will be issuing a formal letter to the Chairman of the NTSB asking him to reconsider their proposed lobbying of the states and asking that he consider the statistical facts related to our Motorcycle Safety Action Plan and its effectiveness with regard to Crash Avoidance and NOT Safer Crashing as the goal.

For strategic reasons, third phase of our initiative will be announced once we complete the necessary research and sufficient discussions have taken place. We will go on record, however, as stating that we will not rule out asking Congress to take action against the NTSB, as we have done with NHTSA in the past, should they continue to ignore the spirit of previous congressional mandates against federal agencies lobbying states on mandatory helmet laws.

Monkeys on Motorcycles

Thanks to Splatt the Harley Rat,

"Stick a monkey on a motorcycle and he will crash. Stick a helmet on the monkey and he will still crash."