Volunteers urge fellow bikers to Ride Straight

Since the American Motorcyclist Association partnered with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to warn motorcyclists about the dangers of drinking and riding, few individuals have contributed more time and effort to the Ride Straight cause than Mike Sifter and Veronica Goldwater.

The two members of the Wolverine Riders, a club based in Livonia, Michigan, have visited sites where motorcyclists hang out, explaining the Ride Straight message and getting motorcyclists to pose for photos with the three Ride Straight posters. They've gotten permission from business owners to place the posters in motorcycle dealerships, coffee houses, muffler shops, and even a police supply store — all places frequented by riders.

They began their personal support for the campaign after first explaining the Ride Straight program to their fellow club members.

"We don't have a big problem with drinking and riding in our club," said Goldwater.

"So we found we were preaching to the choir," added Sifter. "We wanted to go out to where the riders are."

"We come at people with a positive message," said Goldwater. "And we've had a positive response. People will listen to what we have to say."

Sifter and Goldwater plan to continue attending bike events through the summer and have a supply of posters and flyers to hand out.

"Mike and Veronica have gone far beyond what most people would expect from volunteers," said Sean Maher, the AMA's director of state affairs. "I believe their work will save lives, by getting riders to think twice before they drink and ride. They're a model for what individual motorcyclists can do for the entire riding community."

Get the full story on the Ride Straight campaign, including facts on riding while impaired, at www.ridestraight.com.

 

October 2007

    The Sequoia National Forest is asking for support on a grant application to the State of California Off-Highway Vehicle Commission. If awarded, the grant will help maintain and enhance the Forest’s existing off-highway vehicle (OHV) system of routes and trails and maintain facilities that support OHV riders. The funding will be used for facility operation and maintenance, informational signing, conservation including monitoring for resource protection and wildlife habitat, trail maintenance, planning, and law enforcement in OHV areas. The Forest is also requesting grant funding for OHV safety and education materials and support.
    Specifically, the Sequoia team is requesting a letter of support from local stakeholders regarding the proposed application. Letters of support should be mailed to Chris Sanders, OHV Project Leader, 1839 South Newcomb Street, Porterville, CA 93257 or emailed to: csanders@fs.fed.us.

    Philippines motorcycles are now banned on expressways, which the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) classify as "limited access highways." Radio dzBB reported that enforcers at the North and South Luzon Expressways have started flagging down motorcycles traveling along these expressways. But it said authorities admitted they could still not issue citation tickets to the motorcycle drivers as there are still no implementing rules and regulations for the new policy.

    Oregon Senate Bill 101 has been signed by the Governor. This bill includes a number of important provisions including the removal of all age based restrictions for ATV riders and creation of rider fit guidelines (the nation’s first) for ATV use. It was passed at the request of the Oregon OHV community with strong support from the AMA and ATVA. Additional provisions include requirements for mandatory rider safety training classes and supervisions of youth when riding on public lands. A previously considered measure, Senate Bill 49, included a provision to prohibit all riders under age 12 from operating OHV’s on all public lands.

    Orinda, California rider and AMA Community Council leader Wayne Phillips has secured designated motorcycle parking in that Northeast Bay Area community’s downtown.
Phillips successfully lobbied for the designated spaces to be marked in what were corners and end-caps of already marked parking spaces so that no car spaces were lost.
    For anyone who wants to accomplish the same thing in their municipality, Phillips gives some clear-cut advice: “One or two persons just go to the city council meeting and ask to speak, tell them that parking is inadequate and that you know how they can be part of the solution, suggest that they use all the snips and bits of space that are not big enough for an SUV as motorcycle parking, and then offer the use of you and your motorcycle to test out which of these small spaces could effectively be used. Then work with the city crews to mark such spots.”

    The Federation of European Motorcyclists Associations (FEMA) is organizing its 11th annual motorcycle ride with Members of the European Parliament (commonly called MEP RIDE). This ride across the beautiful Strasbourg Region will gather Members of the European Parliament (MEP) and Assistants from over 15 different EU countries and allow motorcyclist to discuss issues of major importance with their representatives like the integration of Powered Two-Wheelers in urban transport and motorcyclists views on how to improve safety on EU roads. For further information, please visit www.mep-ride.edu.

    Delaware House Bill 133, sponsored by Rep. Bruce C. Ennis (D- Smyrna), clarifies the definition and licensing requirements for three-wheeled motorcycles. Among other things, it requires a licensed operator to have a motorcycle endorsement if the vehicle has less than three feet between the tandem wheels.

    A group of retired federal and state land managers and forest rangers called reckless off-road vehicle operators the No. 1 threat to Western public lands. They reported an increasing number of riders combined with the growing power of the machines is endangering natural resources and public safety.
    Last month, a Tucson, Ariz.-based teleconference was organized by an existing organization of federal employees, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, which helped found the new group to combat off-road use of trails in the West. Its members said that damage from off-road vehicles was most severe when riders left designated routes and headed into sensitive areas such as fragile desert and riparian areas.
    As various agencies, in particular the BLM and the Forest Service, have seen budgets and staff sharply cut in recent years, there hasn't been enough money or staff to police legal trails or close illegal ones in a timely manner, members of the group said. Illegal trails are being blazed regularly, they said, making it difficult for future riders to distinguish legal from illegal routes.

    The first and only ticket that police have issued to a motorcyclist under Denver's controversial new noise ordinance was dismissed in early August.
    The city's decision to drop the case highlights a fundamental flaw - Denver police aren't equipped with the $1,000 noise monitors needed to make the charge stick, said Wade Eldridge, lawyer for the ticketed biker.
"In any case in which it's properly challenged, the city has an impossible burden," said Eldridge.
The reason Assistant City Attorney April Snook cited in her motion to dismiss the case was the city was "unable to prove charge beyond a reasonable doubt."
    The ordinance, which took effect July 1, was in response to rising complaints about ear-splitting motorcycle noise in areas such as downtown, where more people are living in lofts and high-rise condos.
It limits noise levels to 82 decibels from a distance of 25 feet and requires motorcyclists with bikes made after 1982 to have a muffler with an EPA noise-certification stamp. (Daniel J. Chacon, Rocky Mountain News, August 9, 2007)

    In the AMA's continuing effort to educate riders about how noisy bikes risk rights, the Government Relations Department has awarded nine sound-level test kits to AMA districts, clubs and promoters.
The kits are used to test the sound level of bikes to educate riders about how loud, or quiet, their bikes are, and to ensure that competition machines meet AMA competition sound limits.
    The sound-level test kits were granted to the CC Riders Motorcycle Club, Nutmeg Scramblers, Cheaha Trail Riders, AMA District 1 (New England), Congress Delegate Bill Haas, the Wisconsin Off-Highway Vehicle Association, Freestone County Raceway, Walden Playboys MC, AMA District 16 (Northwestern Michigan, Wisconsin) and AMA District 27 (Washington).
    This is the third year that sound-testing equipment has been available through this grant program. In the first two years, the Government Relations Department awarded only sound meters. This year, awardees got an entire kit that includes a sound meter, tachometer, instructional DVD and manual, spark arrester probe, personal protective equipment and a certificate for a free annual recalibration from the sound meter supplier.

    Australian Minister for Roads and Ports, Tim Pallas, announced recently that the Government would introduce new regulations for Learner and Probationary motorcyclists in Victoria through the introduction of a new Learner Approved Motorcycle Scheme (LAMS).
    Pallas said the new licensing scheme would encourage national uniformity and modernize the current regulations that restrict new and learner motorcyclist to an engine capacity of 260cc.
Rider advocate and interest groups have strongly supported the move saying it will give learner and novice riders access to more appropriate motorcycles and restrict them from high risk, race replica motorcycles.

    Illinois school districts must include classroom instruction on distracted driving as a major traffic safety issue in all driver education programs under recently-enacted Senate Bill 1557. Illinois Statutes already provide for driver education classroom instruction on the safety rules and operation of motorcycles or motor driven cycles.

    North Carolina Governor Michael Easley (D) signed into law provisions for the use of ATVs on certain public roads by public safety personnel and by certain municipal employees when operated in the course of their official duties. The legislation was introduced by Rep. Ronnie Sutton (D-Pembroke) and is available on the “Rapid Response” page of www.AMADirectLink.com.
    Also signed was Senate Bill 1359, authored by Sen. Austin Allran (R-Hickory) which allows motorcyclists stuck at intersections controlled by traffic-actuated signals to proceed through the red light under certain conditions. The change takes effect December 1, 2007.
    While he was at it the Governor signed into law, Senate Bill 1036, sponsored by Sen. Joe Sam Queen (D-Waynesville), authorizes Blue Ridge Parkway license plates for motorcycles. A minimum of 300 applications must be received by the Division of Motor Vehicles before the plates can be developed. Visit http://www.ncdot.org/dmv or call (919) 715-7000 for more information.

    The US Department of the Interior has announced the establishment of the Big Cypress National Preserve Off-Road Vehicle Advisory Committee. The committee is to offer recommendations, alternatives and possible solutions to management issues associated with off-highway vehicle use in the preserve. The committee is expected to begin meeting late this year. Meeting information will be available on the Big Cypress website http://www.nps.gov/bicy/. For further information contact the preserve’s Pubic Affairs Officer Bob DeGross at 239-695-1107.

    Tennessee legislation, championed by CMT/ABATE of Tennessee and in accord with the AMA Justice for All campaign, to increase penalties for right-of-way violations that result in serious injury or death has been enacted. Senate Bill 794, introduced by Sen. Tim Burchett (R-Knoxville), was signed into law by Gov. Phil Bredesen and became effective July 1.
    To find out more about the Justice for All campaign to reduce motorcycle accidents and punish those who cause these accidents go to www.AMADirectlink.com and click on the Rights Resources section.

    Illinois Governor Rod Bagojevich (D) vetoed Senate bill 627, which sought to protect the state’s Off-Highway Vehicle Trails Fund from future legislation that might change the proportion of the fund that can be spent on administrative functions such as law enforcement, planning and implementation. The measure was introduced by Sen. Michael Jacobs (D-East Moline).
    Activists from ABATE of Illinois and others are looking into the possibility of a veto override later this fall.

    Placerville, California was the site of a large group of forest users gathered to protest the proposed Eldorado National Forest travel management plan. The core of this grassroots demonstration was OHV users, but the alternatives discussed in the Draft Environmental Impact Study will potentially affect every forest visitor, who stand to lose access to thousands of miles of existing roads and trails throughout the forest. For more information about this group please visit www.ForestClosure.com.

    A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit aimed to re-open Surprise Canyon, (near Ballarat) CA to off road vehicle use. Environmental groups see the creek that flows through Surprise Canyon as a rare desert resource in need of protection from vehicle use.
    Off road vehicle travel in Surprise Canyon was banned in 2000 and 4x4 fans sued the Federal Government to re-open the Canyon under a civil war era law known as R.S. 2477. R.S. 2477 is an old statute that grandfathers in rights of way up until the law was repealed in 1976. R.S. 2477 is also the same law that Inyo County is using to sue the federal government over other roads in Death Valley National Park.
    The judge found that private groups and individuals, like the off roaders, can’t use the R.S. 2477 to claim a right of way. As for the county lawsuit against Death Valley National Park, while individuals don’t have the jurisdiction to claim a right of way, a public entity like the county or the state can.
 

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