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THE AIM/NCOM MOTORCYCLE E-NEWS SERVICE is brought to you by Aid to Injured
Motorcyclists (A.I.M.) and the National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM), and
is sponsored by the Law Offices of Richard M. Lester. For more information, call
us at 1-(800) ON-A-BIKE or visit us on our website at < NCOM NEWS BYTES 0805
HIGHWAY BILL FINALLY ENACTED: MOTORCYCLISTS' CONCERNS ADDRESSED Following ten
deadline extensions dating back to September 2003, the 109th Congress voted on
July 29th to enact HR 3, the sweeping $286.4 billion highway bill that
reauthorizes federal transportation spending through September 2009, and
President Bush signed the measure into public law on August 10th.
The final version of the massive 1,681-page document contains numerous
motorcycle provisions lobbied for over the past several years by national, state
and local motorcycle rights organizations and concerned individual riders.
In addition to providing much-needed federal funding to rejuvenate our nation's
crumbling infrastructure, the bill also makes available $25 million in grant
money for motorcycle safety training and awareness programs to individual
states. The bill also provides for the formation of a motorcyclists advisory
council to advise the Federal Highway Administrator regarding how motorcycles
must be included when designing future Intelligent Transportation systems.
HR 3 also includes nearly $3 million for a new scientific study of motorcycle
crashes to be conducted by the Oklahoma Transportation Center, located at
Oklahoma State University. This marks the first comprehensive research into
motorcycle crashes since the Hurt Report was completed in the late 1970s.
The reauthorization measure also stipulates that motorcycles will continue to be
allowed to use High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes, and continues to prohibit
local governments from excluding motorcycles on roads maintained with federal
funding.
Lastly, for off-road riders, the legislation earmarks $370 million from gasoline
taxes to fund the Recreational Trails Program.
MOTORCYCLE FATALITIES CONTINUE TO CLIMB Motorcycle fatalities nationwide have
surged to their highest levels since 1987, even as overall highway deaths
continue to decline.
In 2004, 4,008 motorcycle riders were killed in highway accidents, up 7.9% from
2003 and 89% higher than in 1997, according to a new National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration report. Meanwhile, passenger car deaths dropped 3.2% to
19,091 last year.
NHTSA cites as possible causes: a sharp rise in motorcycle ownership, an
increase in inexperienced bikers riding powerful machines, and rollback of
mandatory helmet laws in several states.
Americans bought an estimated 734,000 new on-highway motorcycles last year, up
from 230,000 in 1995, according to the Motorcycle Safety Foundation.
Motorcycle groups opposed to helmet laws point to the changing face of bikers,
reports USA Today. Jeff Rabe, lobbyist for the Modified Motorcycle Association
(MMA) of California and member of the board of directors for the National
Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM), said more "middle-aged executives" are riding
powerful machines without training. "There's a huge group of people ages 35 to
50 who have purchased motorcycles," Rabe said. "But they're still beginning riders."
INVENTOR PROMOTES CAR HELMETS FOR KIDS Michael Fleming, an amateur inventor and
full-time Houston attorney, has filed a patent application for a new safety
device for kids. It's called the Automobile Helmet. "The time has come for a
helmet that protects children in autos," Fleming told the Chicago Tribune.
Fleming cited government statistics that 2,500 children are killed and 294,000
injured annually in vehicle accidents.
But how do parents convince their kids to not only belt up, but helmet up as well?
Fleming thinks he has the answer: loading the helmet with electronics. "By
building a helmet that allows a child to listen to music, watch a DVD movie or
play a handheld game, I'm hoping they‚ll want to wear a helmet without complaint."
NEW YORK AMENDS HANDLEBAR HEIGHT LAW Governor George E. Pataki has signed into
law a handlebar height bill that will allow motorcyclists to adjust the height
of their handlebars up to shoulder level, eliminating the 15" above the seat
standard that has been the law since the late sixties.
ONCE RIVALS, BIKE CLUBS NOW WORKING TOGETHER Once-notorious outlaw-biker
rivals, the Pagans and Warlocks are working together to raise funds to fight
discrimination, fresh from helping to repeal laws regarding motorcycle helmets
and high handlebars, reports the Philadelphia Daily News.
What's more, these clubs have joined with non-outlaw bikers to fight against
discrimination and police harassment in a political and legal forum, and threw
their first annual Summer Sizzler, a biker family picnic, on August 21st, at the
Nevlin Grist Mill Park, in Glen Mills, Delaware County.
This was the first major fund-raiser for the Confederation of Clubs of Eastern
Pennsylvania, founded in April 1999. The confederation represents more than
1,000 members, with an average age of 42, from 23 clubs. Members include 1
percenters, Bikers Against Child Abuse, Christian bikers, and Clean and Sober
bikers.
It's one of 55 confederations in North America, the fastest-growing part of the
national bikers- rights movement, with annual national conventions and a Web
site: www.aimncom.com/coc/.
The confederations' aim is to stop police harassment of bikers and civil-rights
discrimination in housing, bars and other areas, and to solve mutual problems,
not settle scores among clubs, according to its local president, a Warlock.
"We're all bikers," said Kenny Plank, of Longriders, in Chester County. "There's
no reason to be fighting each other."
Not all bikers in the local confederation are outlaws and not all outlaw bikers
are gangsters. They are nurses, firemen, company owners, salesmen, judges and
lawyers.
As confederation treasurer, "Patches" said his job was to "make sure all the
committees are doing the right thing." That is, keeping within a $5,000 party
budget. After paying for expenses, said Patches, a member of the Messengers
Motorcycle Club, known as a "clean and sober" club, "We'll have the legal means
to protect ourselves."
"We're serious about bikers rights," he said. The confederation is "neutral ground."
At regular meetings at which two representatives per club have one vote,
Norristown attorney Boyd Spencer regularly updates them about state and federal
legislation, including the Patriot Act. Spencer said the law "targets three or
more people with a common handshake, common purpose and common attire."
Spencer is a member of the national network of biker-rights lawyers in Aid to
Injured Motorcyclists, or AIM, founded in 1982 by California attorney Richard M.
Lester, who started the national confederation and similar groups.
On legislative issues, the local confederation supports the Alliance of Bikers
Aimed Toward Education (ABATE) of Pennsylvania, the main biker lobby; and
Pennsylvania Coalition of Motorcyclists (PCOM), which monitors legislation.
The confederation supported member Warlocks and the Bikers Against Child Abuse
(BACA), both of whom sued police for allegedly harassing bikers in separate Toys
for Tots Runs in Philadelphia and Delaware County in 2002. The Warlocks obtained
a consent decree from the Philly cops and BACA, an out-of-court settlement from
Darby Borough.
"Everybody is getting along together as a group and becoming more political,"
said "Rabbit," of Men of Honor. "It's good to see as many [clubs] agree on one
thing."
At their latest confederation meeting, held in the middle of the summer when
most organizations don't meet, the confederation drew more than 40 members.
Amid the banter, the president introduced "Q" as a nurse and a minister: "He can
bury ya and marry ya."
For $200, which would go to the confederation, he added, bikers could get
married or renew their vows at the Summer Sizzler.
"Boyd will do the divorce," joked the president, referring to AIM lawyer Boyd
Spencer.
Later, Q identified himself as Steve Stoyke, 54, a member of Association of
Recovering Motorcyclists, or ARM, who rode five hours on his Harley from
Frederick, Md., to support the confederation. "To do a wedding, we line bikes up
on either side," said Stoyke. "You can do a traditional wedding, or we can read
from the Harley Repair Manual."
The minister asks the groom: "Do you promise to keep her cables greased and
tires balanced?"
And he asks the bride: "Do you promise to keep his gas filter cleared, change
his oil and bring him in for maintenance?"
"This is America's last subculture," added Stoyke. "That's what keeps our
country great."
WEIRD NEWS: HARLEY HELPS BLIND TO SEE A student at Penn State Behrend College
in Erie, PA has developed a process that may help the blind to "see" digital
photographs. Using a process developed by Harley-Davidson called "rapid
prototyping," 27-year old Jason Donnell hopes to produce 3-D images that a blind
person could run their fingers across and "feel" the image, in much the same
manner as Braille is used to read.
"With a Word document, you output to a printer," explains Donnell. "With rapid
prototyping, the output is to a machine that uses a special type of paper, wax
or plastic. So, for example, if Harley-Davidson has something they want to
include on a bike, but is not too sure about, they can input the information and
it will produce an exact size copy of the item."
After a lot of hours writing and re-writing, Donnell has his program, but the
results so far have been mixed. Because of the short time frame of the college
project, he was only able to produce and test three examples.
"The test on a simple picture of a playing card were pretty good," Donnell told
the Valley News Dispatch, "but the pictures of a tree and a ghost town were very
tough and showed the need for more work."
QUOTABLE QUOTES: "Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether
it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy."
Sir Ernest Benn (1875-1954), publisher and public speaker
AND THAT'S ALL THE NEWS THAT FITS!
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