MAY IS MOTORCYCLE AWARENESS MONTH!
DID YOU KNOW THAT??
Well, as an
ABATE member you should. You should
also have been helping your region
get the word out about it! I look
forward to seeing the signs pop up
around town here and across the
state. I also look forward to
seeing what other states are doing
as I head south for a week. Last
year Tennessee and Indiana’s
governors had messages on the radio
regarding motorcycle awareness
month. Kentucky usually has the
electronic over head signs on I-65
with the total number of accidents
for the previous year (includes
cars, not just motorcycles) and also
has signs warning motorists to watch
out for us. I want to commend
Marlene in Region 7 for getting
approval to set up during May at a
local roadside park to spread the
word and I hope members in her
region will help her out in manning
the table she will have set up.
Please make
note that in June, Terry and I are
planning on attending the board
meeting at the field meet. We will
be having an awareness meeting
afterward, similar to the one we
have Friday night at the Seminar in
January. So if any of the awareness
directors, or anyone else interested
in the program wants to attend, it
will be open to everyone. We would
like to keep it positive and help
share ideas amongst the regions as
to new ideas or old ones or any
suggestions to help us further the
awareness program. I am hoping that
the contacts I have gotten from
Regions 3, 6 and 8 means that those
regions will be starting up the
program.
A note to the
awareness directors: Terry and I
would like it if you could keep
track of any awareness fund raisers
you have during the year (kind of
fund raiser, e.g. Poker run, bake
sale etc…) a rough idea of the money
that was raised and what you used it
for (purchased bill board space, air
time on radio etc..). I would like
it if you could get me that info
when you send your totals for the
year and list of instructors. We
are trying to put together our own
propaganda to be used not only for
the helmet issue (we are about more
than just helmet choice) but also to
help draw new members to the
organization. Over the years there
has been record keeping about the
program and when I started compiling
the totals from the beginning, it is
quite impressive the number of
students that have been taught.
Just a reminder, that this is not a
competition as we are all in this
together and your fund raising ideas
may help another region with theirs.
Kathy
Now a word
from Terry:
LET THE OTHER GUY DO IT, OR THE GIFT
THAT KEEPS ON GIVING.
Hey, this
awareness program is a good thing,
glad you guys do it.
How many times have we heard that?
Have you ever said that? Well, Bull
S__t. Get off your butt and do
something to save it. The gift that
keeps on giving (even though
unwanted) is a wreck. Yes, it
can happen to you, no matter
how careful you are. It goes
something like this: June 26, 2004
a jerk runs a stop sign and T-bones
you on your bike. You did
everything you could think of to get
out of his way, but he hit you
anyway. You spend 3 days in the
hospital while they take x-rays
(should glow in the dark by now), CT
scans, blood tests, poking,
prodding, twisting and not to
mention the scrub brush and
antiseptic they use to scrub the
dirt out of your road rash, and then
they ask “Does this hurt”? The
doctors come in for 3 days and tell
you the leg must go until you insist
on finding a Dr. willing to try to
fix it. June 28, 6 ½ hours of
surgery and 2 days in bed with no
movement and they tell you they
fixed it as best as possible. June
31, Rehab starts, they teach you how
to walk with a walker, how to use
stairs, how to use the bathroom, how
to get in and out of bed, chair car
etc.... You practice their
techniques every day. Wow it is now
ironically July 4th,
Independence Day! You get out of
the hospital and spend the afternoon
resting up for the long ride home
(the accident happened out of
state). The next day you drag your
sorry and mangled behind in the back
(the cargo area) of an SUV and
bounce around for 8 ½ hours only to
be halfway home. Each rest stop
takes a while as you cannot move
very quickly and have to be helped
in and out of the vehicle and into
the restroom. On July 6th
you get up early to get a start on
the 2nd half of the
journey home. Spend the next 8-9
hours riding in the back of the SUV,
your leg, knee, sternum, face and
nose are all aching as you have
fractures in all, but you must push
on.
Now you get
home and drag yourself up 3 steps
and into the house. Sleep in
recliner in living room as too many
stairs to get to bed. You get to
enjoy reruns and think about the
pain you are in. Just a trip to the
bathroom is a major effort. Several
days of waking up, hurting, reruns,
hurting, nap, hurting, eat, hurting,
more reruns, dinner, pain, another
nap, more pain and reruns. Hospital
bed arrives but is too painful to
sleep in so you spend the next
several days and nights in the
recliner. July 14th,
took first trip outside today, and
then had to rest. Evening comes and
on your way back from the restroom
you collapse, unable to breathe.
Ambulance comes, takes you to
hospital, spend several hours while
they try to decide what is wrong and
what to do with you. 10 days in the
hospital with a silver dollar sized
blood clot in each lung. Friday
night you get to go home. Spend
Saturday in pain and try to rest.
Get up Sunday and cannot breathe
again, head back to hospital ER, we
already know what is wrong and
evidentially the blood thinners are
not working. Spend 14 hours in the
ER and gee, get to ride in the
ambulance (no siren this time) to
main hospital. Spend 3 more days
there, getting poked and prodded and
they send you home with a different
blood thinner, one you have to
inject yourself twice a day and a
case of pneumonia too! You get home
and spend the next 13 months going
through rehab to bet back about 60%
range of motion and that’s all you
get, you are told you are lucky to
be walking at all let alone riding
those dangerous motorcycles.
Now it is
January 2006, you get to go to the
hospital voluntarily this time for a
3 hour surgery to remove all the
screws and plates from your leg.
These are a great visual for the
awareness classes by the way (the
surgeon let us have the hardware
that was removed).
Fast forward
to 2009, almost 5 years from the
accident. Knee is so bad the
orthopedist cannot believe you can
even walk. Very painful, can’t walk
as much or as far as you would
like. Haven’t ridden in 7 months as
this is of course your left leg and
it is just too painful to push bike
off kickstand. So you decide you
have to do something, can’t live
like this much longer, cannot put up
with pain, swelling and lack of
mobility and NO RIDING.
April 6, 2009 1-1 ½ hours surgery to
replace knee, doctor not sure what
he will find going is so you are
prepared for the worst. Doctor does
find a small surprise, a hole in the
bone, he has to fix this before he
can do joint replacement. Surgery
takes around 2 hours, spend 2 nights
in hospital with rehab twice a day
and get to go home Wednesday. Now
the rehab starts again. THIS
SUCKS! I DID NOTHING WRONG! I
fought like hell to get away from
the jerk, but he still hit me and
gave me this gift that keeps on
giving. I hope and pray you will
never know this first hand but IT
CAN HAPPEN TO YOU! The answer,
TEACH AWARENESS
and stop the slaughter
Stay tuned for
updates.
Terry
If you need
anything pertaining to the awareness
program please contact:
Terry & Kathy
Lotz
(517) 546-6608
(the answering machine is always on
so please leave a message)
E-mail:
region14abate@yahoo.com
(please put awareness in the subject
line so I know it is not spam)
Or check out
the group site at:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/MOTORCYCLE_AWARENESS/
Ride Safe and
Aware
Kathy & Terry
WANTED!
FORMER AWARENESS INSTRUCTORS!
To help with your region’s awareness
program. Perhaps you can help guide
someone in the region on either
starting up the awareness program or
helping them with the existing one,
be a mentor if you can.
LOOK
TWICE!
In
your closet, the garage, the
basement, the attic or anywhere you
may have left over awareness items.
Please get any pens, tri-folds,
bumper stickers or key rings to your
current awareness director so that
they may be used in the classes
today. If you no longer are doing
the awareness program in your
region, give me a call and I will
get you in contact with the nearest
region so these supplies can be put
to good use.
SAVE
A LIFE!
You can possible help save a life or
at least help with our budget by
getting any unused supplies into the
hands of those that can use them.
MOTORCYCLES ARE EVERYWHERE!
With funds
being somewhat tight this year, we
will not be getting bumper stickers
for the classes. We really are not
seeing them on vehicles in Region 14
and we have handed out over 5000 in
the 5 years. If anyone has any
ideas on fund raising or a sponsor
for them, please contact me and I
will see what we can put together.
If you have any ideas that may be
something that a teenager would be
more interested in that would get
our message out there, please let me
know. Perhaps something smaller
that would fit on a cell phone
(similar to a helmet sticker), check
with your kids and see what ideas
they may have.
THANK
YOU!
A
GREAT BIG THANK YOU TO LARRY
KATKOWSKY COR COMING THRU AND
HELPING TO ADD TO OUR BUDGET AND
SPONSORING THE KEY RINGS FOR THE
AWARENESS PROGRAM. WE COULDN’T KEEP
THIS PROGRAM GOING WITH OUT THE HELP
OF OUR VOLUNTEERS AND SPONSORS!
I
have updated the regional spread
sheets on the Awareness Group and am
in the process of adding some of the
info given to me at the seminar. If
you would like to be part of the
group send me an e-mail or check it
out and ask to become a member. Be
sure to tell me who you are and what
region you are from so I can keep
the spammers out.
If
there are any suggestions, gripes,
comments or whatever… our contact
information is below. Do not
hesitate to call us!
If
you need anything pertaining to the
awareness program please contact:
Terry & Kathy Lotz
(517) 546-6608 (the answering
machine is always on so please leave
a message)
E-mail:
region14abate@yahoo.com (please
put awareness in the subject line so
I know it is not spam)
Or
check out the group site at:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/MOTORCYCLE_AWARENESS/
Ride Safe and Aware
Kathy & Terry
Happy Easter everyone! I know some
of you have already been out riding
as I see several bikes go by as I
write this. I hope you all have
your programs up and running for
what I hope will be a banner year
for the Awareness Program. I will
have an updated proclamation on the
awareness group site for you to use
if you choose for May as Motorcycle
Awareness Month. Thanks to Ann
Tobian in region 18 for this updated
version as well as the step by step
directions for getting a
proclamation.
I
am attaching a paper I received from
Region 7 that they use in their
awareness program. It gets one
thinking and hopefully the students
thinking too. Feel free to us in
your classes if you choose ( copy of
just the paper will also be in the
files section of the yahoo group
site, see address below)
From Region 7:
Let’s imagine that you’re driving
with your instructor, or maybe your
parents, it doesn’t matter. There’s
a car in front of you, & it gets
your attention because it’s
constantly hitting the brakes,
swerving or drifting from side to
side in the lane and driving too
slow. If I were to ask you to tell
me what’s wrong with the driver,
what would you say? (Wait for some
answers). Odds are the driver is
drunk or high right? Cops are
taught to watch for those 3 things
as telltale signs of and reasonable
cause to stop a drunk driver. They
are taught that any one of those
behaviors will show a 50/50 chance
that the driver is drunk.
Now a couple of stories…..
Before his accident, Austin Barker
had loved riding motorcycles for
most of his life and he considered
himself to be an experienced, safe
rider. Today he’s a paraplegic,
confined to a wheelchair for the
rest of his life. He was rear-ended
by a driver while he was stopped at
a red light. He’ll never ride
again.
A
Honda sport bike rider was moving at
a little over the posted speed when
a VW driver suddenly pulled out in
front of the bike. The timing was
such that the bike rider had no
reaction time and he hit the VW
broadside. The VW flipped over from
the impact and when it finally cane
to rest, about 20 feet from the
collision, there were 3 people found
in the car. The car driver, a
passenger and the bike rider, plus
his bike, all were in the car & all
3 were killed instantly.
OK, back to the 3 telltale
signs…what I described here, were
signs of drivers talking on a cell
phone or texting while they were
driving. Research has shown that
talking on a cell, whether it’s
hands free or not, or texting while
driving, increases the possibility
for an accident by 400%! That’s the
same possibility for an accident
while driving with a blood alcohol
content of 0.08, which is the legal
definition of drunk driving in
Michigan. Austin Barker was hit
from behind by a driver using a cell
phone. The VS drover was also on a
cell phone.
The penalties for the drink driver
or the driver using a cell phone are
not the same, but most likely they
are the same for people who
are victims of the drunk driver or
the cell phone user…either serious
injury or death. Please don’t use
your phone while you’re driving,
hands free or not, you need all of
your attention and focus on the
road.
If
you need anything pertaining to the
awareness program please contact:
Terry & Kathy Lotz
(517) 546-6608 (the answering
machine is always on so please leave
a message)
E-mail:
region14abate@yahoo.com (please
put awareness in the subject line so
I know it is not spam)
Or
check out the group site at:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/MOTORCYCLE_AWARENESS/
Ride Safe and Aware
Kathy & Terry
February 2010
STOP THE
PRESSES: HELL HAS OFFICIALLY FROZEN
OVER!
Mike Poage in Region 20 was actually
setting up a computer at his house
the other night. Just last month he
sent his first e-mail and now he is
moving into the current century.
Hope things go smoothly for ya Mike.
Well for the numbers for 2009. I
can only share the figures that were
forwarded to me so if there are any
regions out there that are not on
this list, it is not because I
forgot you or left you off for some
reason; it is simply because I did
not receive any info from your
region.
TOTAL STUDENTS TAUGHT FOR 2009: 5689
TOTAL PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS:
3060
APPROXIMATE TOTAL SPENT BY ABATE AND
IT’S
REGIONS ON AWARENESS IN 2009: OVER
$33,000.
Region 1: 0 (they are working on
getting back into the schools)
Region 4: just getting started
again, looking forward to 2010
Region 7: Sanilac/Shady Shores
626 Tuscola/ Huron 467 total 1093
Region 11: 396
Region 13: no report, but I know
they were working on a bike to take
to classes once they get up and
running again.
Region 14: 1126
Region 15: See total for region 18
as they have been working together
this year
Just Jim Pigeon: 460
Region 18: 708
Region 19: 0
Region 20: 1907
Region 21: 3060 Public Service
Announcements that ran all summer.
Here are the numbers by region, and
I just want to remind everyone that
this is not a competition, we are
all on the same team and working
toward the same goal, safer streets
for all of us! I know the class
sizes are getting smaller in our
area and I am sure it is due to the
economy. $300 for drivers ed and
then your auto insurance rates go up
because there is a newly licensed
driver in the household. This can
be unaffordable for a lot of folks
these days.
Way to go Region 21; they had little
or no schools to get into so they
have improvised. I know that for
the two radio stations to stay on
the air they have to have more than
one listener per hour and their
public service announcements run 10
times per day, 7 days per week times
2 stations for 5 months, well lets
just say that that is a lot of
people who have heard about
motorcycle awareness in our state.
I
know Terry and I, every chance we
get with our local radio station
along with WRIF we try to get a
shameless plug in to be more aware
of us motorcyclists. Hopefully more
of the regions that perhaps don’t
have many or any schools to teach at
can learn from Peggy in Region 21
and help to spread the word.
GREAT JOB IN 2009 EVERYONE! LET’S
HOPE WE CAN TOP IT AGAIN IN 2010.
If
any of the regions (even those
reporting above) need any help with
getting into schools or starting to
teach, please contact us and we will
do what ever we can do to get you
the help you need. If you need more
info on how to get the public
service announcements going, we hope
to have some form of guidelines set
up to help you do what Region 21 is
doing.
If
there are any suggestions, gripes,
comments or whatever… our contact
information is below. Do not
hesitate to call us!
If
you need anything pertaining to the
awareness program please contact:
Terry & Kathy Lotz
(517) 546-6608 (the answering
machine is always on so please leave
a message)
E-mail:
region14abate@yahoo.com (please
put awareness in the subject line so
I know it is not spam)
Or
check out the group site at:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/MOTORCYCLE_AWARENESS/
Ride Safe and
Aware
Kathy & Terry
January 2010
Happy 2010 and
Happy Sweet 16!
Do
you know who or should I say what
turns 16 this year, none other than
our Motorcycle Awareness Program!
And I am pleased to say that there
are still 3 active members who have
been at this from the beginning. So
if you happen to see Chuck Manning,
Butch Brown or Danny Brown, give
them a pat on the back, a hand shake
or some form of congratulations for
sticking with this program for all
these years.
First I want to thank Marlene and
Karen in Region 7 for being the
first to get me their information
for the certificates for this year,
and this was done with out e-mail
too. I also want to thank Mike in
Region 20 for taking a big step and
sending his first e-mail (with the
help of the folks at Kinko’s), well
done Mike. I want to thank all the
other region awareness directors for
getting me their info so we can
recognize those folks that volunteer
their time for this program.
I
received an e-mail the other day
from Vicky Cosner in Region 4 giving
me an update of her progress in
getting the awareness program going
again up there. Sounds like you
folks have quite an organized lady
running things and I am sure that
you will have one heck of a
program. Again if you need any
assistance from us or from any other
region, please let us know and we
will try to get you what you need.
I
should have had information for the
region directors at the state
seminar for billboard prices from
CBS. Russ Martin in Region 11
forwarded the contact info to me for
the lady they deal with on their
awareness billboards and she did a
special pricing for ABATE. Their
sizes are somewhat limited in some
areas, but hey, it’s a start. If
any of you have contacts with any
other billboard companies, please
get them to me so I can compile a
list for the regions to use to
compare prices and see if they can
get a good deal in their area. If
you did not get to the seminar and
get the info from me, please let me
know and I will be glad to forward
to you.
In
the February issue I should have the
totals listed for each region as
well as our grand total for the year
and the estimated grand total from
the beginning of the program.
Great work in 2009 everybody, see
you in 2010!
If
you need anything pertaining to the
awareness program please contact:
Terry & Kathy Lotz
(517) 546-6608 (the answering
machine is always on so please leave
a message)
E-mail:
region14abate@yahoo.com (please
put awareness in the subject line so
I know it is not spam)
Or
check out the group site at:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/MOTORCYCLE_AWARENESS/
Ride Safe and Aware
Kathy & Terry
December 2009
Happy Holidays
all you faithful awareness team
members.
First I would
like to say Welcome to the Program
again Region 4. I have spoken with
Vicky Cosner who is going to try to
get the program up and running in
your region again. After a long
conversation with her she sounds
like she is going to do a great
job. She says she has some help
from the members who were active in
the awareness program before and I
hope she gets additional help from
other members in her region.
Unfortunately right after I spoke
with her I received the e-mail
stating that Region 4 Gary Slawter
was hit. We are all pulling for a
speedy recovery for him!
On a good
or bad note, depending on which side
of the budget you are on, I am
running low on supplies so I will
have to place an order soon. Chuck
ordered 2 years worth, which I
received in January and February of
this year. I don’t know exactly as I
have many boxes still in the
basement, but I am guessing that we
have gone thru approximately 75%.
The good note is that means we are
increasing the number of people we
are reaching with our program; the
bad note is that we will be
increasing the cost of the program
(that isn’t a bad thing when you
consider the two).
I hope
that all the regional directors will
have their members lists to me by
the time you receive this edition of
the Michigan Rider and that you will
have your final 2009 figures (total
students taught and fund raising
info) into me before the end of the
year. Again, if there are any
members in your region that have not
received their 1st, 5th
or 10th year certificates
from a previous year, get me their
names as this is the last year I am
going to do retro certificates.
Any ideas
or suggestion you have for the
program, please call or e-mail me or
better yet bring them to the Friday
night meeting at the state seminar
in January to share with the other
regions. Friday night will be our
kick around meeting. Bring your
ideas, questions or whatever (please
try to come sober), and meet
instructors from other regions. I
am going to try to have a draft of
the guidelines we are putting
together for the program and would
like any input regarding them. On
Saturday we will be having a 45 min.
breakout session to show those who
do not know about the awareness
program what we are doing.
If you are
going to need supplies, please let
me know well in advance so I can
plan on how to pack the car as I
would like to bring them to the
seminar to save on shipping costs.
If you need
anything pertaining to the awareness
program please contact:
Terry & Kathy
Lotz
(517) 546-6608
(the answering machine is always on
so please leave a message)
E-mail:
region14abate@yahoo.com (please
put awareness in the subject line so
I know it is not spam)
Or check out
the group site at:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/MOTORCYCLE_AWARENESS/
Ride Safe and
Aware
Kathy & Terry
November 2009
Happy
Thanksgiving to all our
ABATE members and Awareness
Team members.
Again we
would like input from the awareness
directors of each region and the
instructors and helpers for the
booklet we are trying to put
together. We want your thoughts as
to what you think your job/duties
are and also what you think our job
as the state directors is. To
simplify things and reduce
redundancies please give your
ideas/suggestion to your regional
awareness director and have them
forward the entire regions
suggestions to us. We would like to
have all the information from the
regions as soon as possible as we
would like to have this together for
the seminar in January. I want to
thank Marlene Krause for forwarding
me the information she had received
from Chuck Manning previously, and
we will be combining this with the
ideas Terry and I have come up
with. We are trying to get
everything together so we can have a
set of guidelines so anyone new to
the program will know what is
expected from them and what they
should expect from the other
awareness team members in their
region.
I also
want to remind the regional
directors to get your totals
together and to us before Christmas,
preferably by the middle of December
if you have your classes all wrapped
up by then. I would also like to
have your list of awareness team
members for 2009 by November 30 so I
can get started on the
certificates. We have been getting
inquiries for certificates for
previous years, we were not in
charge of this program at that time
and do not know what happened in
prior years. So if you have been an
awareness team member and did not
get a first, 5 or 10-year
certificate, get your info to your
regions awareness director for
verification and have them submit
the info along with the year you
should have received the certificate
and we will have these at the state
seminar. Just make note that this
is the last year we are going to do
retroactive certificates. We have
enough to do with trying to move
this program forward without having
to go back and redo prior years
work. We are also looking for any
information on fundraisers done in
your region (e.g.: poker run, bake
sale etc.) that raised money for
your awareness program and what the
money was used for (billboards,
space at the fair etc…) so we can
get this information together to
further our efforts in repealing the
mandatory helmet law. We are not
looking to use this information for
anything other than ammunition to
use with our legislators to show
that we are serious about making the
roads safer for all motorcyclists.
At the
seminar in January we are going to
try to have the meeting Friday night
to kick ideas around so please try
to make it if you can. On Saturday
we will be having a presentation on
the awareness program to introduce
the program to those members that
may not be familiar with what we
do. Any ideas or suggestions would
be welcome for this also.
If you are
not currently active with the
awareness program in your region, or
if your region does not have an
active awareness program, please let
us know what it would take to get
you or your region involved. The
life you save may be your own!
If you need
anything pertaining to the awareness
program please contact:
Terry & Kathy
Lotz
(517) 546-6608
(the answering machine is always on
so please leave a message)
E-mail:
region14abate@yahoo.com (please
put awareness in the subject line so
I know it is not spam)
Or check out
the group site at:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/MOTORCYCLE_AWARENESS/
Ride Safe and
Aware
Kathy & Terry
October 2009
Happy fall
fellow ABATE members and Awareness
instructors.
This past
month we spent a few days in the
thumb area. I want to commend
Region 11 and Region 7 (at least I
assume your members are responsible)
for all the awareness signs that are
out there. We spent the night in
Harbor Beach at a friend’s house and
then spent the following day in
Caseville at the state park with
Region 19 for their luncheon. I was
pleasantly surprised to see several
of the small yard signs between
Lapeer and Marlette and then east to
Harbor Beach. There is one of the
banners just down the road from
Evergreen Park. I saw another of
the banners but don’t remember
exactly where it was. There were
several more of the smaller yard
signs south of Caseville.
On
September 6 I attended the 9-11 ride
in Oxford. Met up with Chip, Sylvia
and Rennie from Region 19. We
passed several more of the yard
signs on the run. We had lunch at
the Firehouse in Fostoria and I
think it was the Tribesmen’s
Clubhouse had one right on the front
of their clubhouse. We stopped for
gas in Brown and there was one of
the banners hanging on the front of
the gas station (I think it was a
BP, not sure though). Basically if
you travel anywhere in the thumb you
will probably come across one of our
awareness signs. Great job folks!
Again we
would like input from the awareness
directors of each region and the
instructors and helpers for the
booklet we are trying to put
together. We want your thoughts as
to what you think your job/duties
are and also what you think our job
as the state directors is. We would
like to have all the information
from the regions as soon as possible
as we would like to have this
together for the seminar in January.
I also
want to remind the regional
directors to get your totals
together and to us before Christmas
and to also get me your list of
awareness personnel in your region
so I can get started on the first
year, 5,10 and 15-year
certificates. I will need the list
of active people for this year to
update the records I have. We are
also looking for any fundraisers
done in your region (e.g.: poker
run, bake sale etc.) that raised
money for your awareness program and
what the money was used for
(billboards, space at the fair etc…)
so we can get this information
together to further our efforts in
repealing the mandatory helmet law.
Ride safe
and treat every cage out there like
they are aiming for ya! Be careful
with the wet leaves and the temp.
changes when you are out there
riding too. You never know when the
pavement is going to feel like ice.
If you need
anything pertaining to the awareness
program please contact:
Terry & Kathy
Lotz
(517) 546-6608
(the answering machine is always on
so please leave a message)
E-mail:
region14abate@yahoo.com (please
put awareness in the subject line so
I know it is not spam)
Or check out
the group site at:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/MOTORCYCLE_AWARENESS/
Ride Safe and
Aware
Kathy & Terry
September 2009
Hi there
fellow ABATE members. I hope you
have all had an uneventful riding
season so far. I know a few here in
Livingston County have not had good
experiences with cagers not paying
attention. Two accidents in two
days, one resulting in a fatality.
Alcohol was probably a factor in the
first and “not seeing the
motorcyclist” the second.
I don’t have
too much for this month’s article,
as Terry and I have been busy trying
to put together some guidelines for
the awareness program. We would
like to have a handbook for who ever
eventually ends up chairing the
program after us (and no we are not
stepping down yet, just trying to
get things in order for the next
guy). We would also like to have
some guidelines for the regional
awareness directors and the regional
instructors.
What I would
like from those working the
awareness program in each region to
send me any ideas or suggestions you
have that you thing should be in
this handbook. I would like to know
what the regional awareness
directors think should be in here
and what they think their duties and
responsibilities are. I would like
the same from the awareness
instructors. We will take all
suggestions into consideration and
try to have this handbook for the
state seminar.
A follow up
on the chili cook off challenge that
we are trying to pull off here in
Livingston County. The under
sheriff thinks it is a great idea
and even expanded it beyond the
sheriff’s dept to include fire,
local police and even the state
boys. The only positive response
was from the State Police, they were
the only one’s interested in taking
on the bikers (and yes they did know
this was with ABATE)! Go figure.
Anyway, we are working on some other
avenues to possibly put this event
in conjunction with another event
here in the county. Watch for
future updates.
If you need
anything pertaining to the awareness
program please contact:
Terry &
Kathy Lotz
(517)
546-6608 (the answering machine is
always on so please leave a message)
E-mail:
region14abate@yahoo.com (please
put awareness in the subject line so
I know it is not spam)
Or check out
the group site at:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/MOTORCYCLE_AWARENESS/
Ride Safe
and Aware
Kathy &
Terry
August
2009
I want to
thank everyone that donates their
time to this program for the
wonderful job you are all doing. If
anyone has any ideas for the
awareness program please let us know
or if you have an article for this
program I would be glad to get it in
the Michigan Rider for you.
We have
purchased a VHS/DVD recorder so we
can now copy the awareness video
from VHS to DVD. I will also be
working on getting some other videos
put on the DVD that you can use for
other events like membership drives,
swap meets etc… If any of the
regions need any additional tapes or
DVDs please let me know, but give me
time to get them copied because
right now we are still learning how
to operate the machine and it takes
between 30-60 minutes to copy one
DVD.
By now some
of you have heard that we are trying
to pull together a fundraiser for
the state awareness program. We
have contacted the Livingston County
Sheriff’s Department and have
challenged them to a chili cook off
this fall. We are currently working
on the detail and will hopefully
have a date and place lined up
soon. This will be open to any
ABATE member (if you don’t cook,
bring someone that can as anyone can
stir the pot). We hope to have a
small concession sales table for
beverages and activities for kids as
we want to make this a family
event. We will also be looking for
volunteers to help at the gate and
with set up and clean up afterward.
We plan on having the public vote
for their favorite chili. Each side
(the badges or the bikers) can have
several teams. The side whose team
gets the most votes will take 60% of
the profits; the losing side gets
40% so it is a win-win for
everyone. If you think you can help
us with this let us know and watch
for updates as we sure do hope the
biker’s side wins. Proceeds will
help to supplement the awareness
budget.
If anyone
has any ideas or suggestions please
let us know.
If you need
anything pertaining to the awareness
program please contact:
Terry &
Kathy Lotz
(517)
546-6608 (the answering machine is
always on so please leave a message)
E-mail:
region14abate@yahoo.com (please
put awareness in the subject line so
I know it is not spam)
Or check out
the group site at:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/MOTORCYCLE_AWARENESS/
Ride Safe
and Aware
Kathy &
Terry
July
2009
Hello there ABATE members,
Boy have I been getting orders
for supplies. Looks like some of
you have been very busy. Thing are
picking up in my region and we even
have a couple of new volunteers
(thanks Debra Revard and Bob Powers
for giving a s_it!) I know there is
at least one new instructor in
Region 20 and hopefully other
regions are seeing more volunteers.
Spoke with Herb Rials at the
Freedom Rally and he is going to try
to get the program up and running
again in region 9. Any members that
way that want to help out be sure to
let Herb know. Terry and/or I will
try to be available to offer any
assistance we can.
By the time this goes to print
we should have had our 2nd
awareness meeting this year (it is
still 2 weeks away as I am writing
this). I hope we cleared up any
misconceptions, hashed out any
problems and have come up with some
new ideas. This meeting will have
been like the one we have in January
where we share ideas and bring up
new ways of teaching the classes. I
hope to have had time to get a
directors guide together in time for
the meeting. This will be just a
guide for the regional directors to
let them know what some of their
responsibilities would be and to get
down on paper what type of info we
are looking for on the state level
so we can use it to leverage our
legislators.
Terry and I will also be
looking into some of the federal
funds that are supposed to be
available for safety and awareness
and see what we can get and where we
can put it to use. We are also
trying to get one of our classes
filmed so we can use it to show at
swap meets, fairs etc… to get the
word out about ABATE’s Best Kept
Secret! This could also be used for
those regions that need help getting
started, so they can see what we
actually do in the classes.
That’s all I have for now, and
if you have any problems, questions,
concerns please call us and let us
know how we can help. If your
region needs help getting started,
by all means, call us and we will
offer whatever help we can.
Just an FYI, you don’t have to
be in front of drivers ed students
to spread the message. Terry
actually taught an abbreviated class
while he was at Physical Therapy.
This brought our message to 12
adults of varying ages, and guess
what, they all drive and a few have
friends/relatives that ride and they
appreciated the information.
If
you need anything pertaining to the
awareness program please contact:
Terry & Kathy Lotz
(517) 546-6608 (the answering
machine is always on so please leave
a message)
E-mail:
region14abate@yahoo.com (please
put awareness in the subject line so
I know it is not spam)
Or
check out the group site at:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/MOTORCYCLE_AWARENESS/
Ride Safe and Aware
Kathy & Terry
June
2009
Well with the
amount of supplies that I mailed out
in April it appears that things are
going very well. If anyone in
Region 3 is interested in helping
Wally (he is your RC) with the
program please give him a call. I
am hoping that both Region 8 and 6
are in the progress of getting their
programs up and running again. I
hope all the regions had success
with their Motorcycle Awareness
month projects. We did see Region
20’s billboard in Flint.
One
observation that I have as we were
in Florida the end of April. On the
way home there was an announcement
on the radio in Alabama for an
awareness event that included
getting people in the safety classes
to get licensed. In Tennessee, the
Governors office on Highway Safety
had a very good PSA on the Radio
about looking out and sharing the
road with us. They also had a 76
cities in 76 days event in which
they traveled to 76 different cities
across Tennessee promoting
motorcycle safety. We usually see
the electronic signs in Kentucky
warning to watch for us, but they
didn’t have anything on them this
year. So we are not the only ones
promoting awareness in this
country. I am sure there were
plenty of other states having events
too, but it was nice to hear as
someone traveling thru the state
that they cared enough to air these
messages.
REMINDER:
AWARENESS MEETING FOLLOWING THE
BOARD MEETING AT THE FIELD MEET.
THOSE THAT ARE NOT ATTENDING THE
FIELD MEET CAN STILL ATTEND THE
BOARD MEETING WITHOUT HAVING TO PAY
TO GET INTO THE FIELD MEET. THIS
MEETING WILL BE OPEN TO ANYONE
INTERESTED IN THE AWARENESS
PROGRAM. WE WILL BE KICKING
AROUND/SHARING IDEAS, SUGGESTIONS,
ETC TO MAKE OUR PROGRAM BETTER.
If any regions
need supplies and are planning on
being there please let me know well
in advance so I can bring them with
me and save on postage costs.
If anyone
wants to submit an article for the
awareness column please contact us
and if fitting the program you may
see it here in the future.
THE GIFT THAT
KEEPS ON GIVING:
Well a short
follow up to Terry’s article last
month. He is doing remarkably well
following his third (and hopefully
last) surgery. It has been a long 5
weeks but he is making great
progress with his physical torture.
It is rough because like any typical
man, it isn’t working fast enough.
Hopefully he will be able to ride
again, but we will have to wait and
see. Please remember to ride like
you are invisible and everyone is
out to get you.
Kathy
If you need
anything pertaining to the awareness
program please contact:
Terry & Kathy
Lotz
(517) 546-6608
(the answering machine is always on
so please leave a message)
E-mail:
region14abate@yahoo.com
(please put awareness in the subject
line so I know it is not spam)
Or check out
the group site at:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/MOTORCYCLE_AWARENESS/
Ride Safe and
Aware
Kathy & Terry
April
2009
Well here it
is April already.
How many of
you have been out there, in traffic,
out on the back roads, enjoying
being out in the air? Hopefully you
didn’t have any near misses or worse
yet, have contact with that
inconsiderate motorist who did not
see you. I am like the rest of you
as I look forward to spring and the
weather warming up, the roads drying
up and the snow/ice being over with
for several months, but I also dread
that first really nice, sunny, warm
day when so many of us get out there
take a ride. I dread it because I
know that I will read about someone
who was run off the road here,
another hit at an intersection there
and the dreaded “f” word that
describes those of us who did not
survive that chance meeting with a
cage.
This just
makes me more hopeful that more and
more of our fellow ABATE members
will get involved with the awareness
program. Whether you want to help
with fund raisers, or actually help
out in the classes, every little bit
does help. Any little thing you can
do to help promote the awareness
program helps us all out there on
the road. Perhaps you are good on
the computer and can put some
graphics together for a poster for
your region, or the state. Perhaps
you have one of those great speaking
voices and could help out with
public service announcements to
spread the word to even more
people. Maybe you know of a church
youth group, or scout troop or other
your organization that you can help
get our instructors in front of.
Next month is
motorcycle awareness month. I hope
you all have checked out the step by
step instructions that Ann Tobian in
Region 18 supplied us with for
getting local proclamations. They
should be on the state web site. If
you want a copy let me know and I
will send or e-mail it to you.
Several of the regions have
purchased billboards that they get
up for May and some of us have large
yard signs we put in strategic
places. Some other suggestions I
have gotten: check with the local
store that has the sign out front
where they can change the message,
see if they will put “motorcycle
awareness month” and/or “Look Twice,
Save a Life” up there. Even if it
is only for part of the month it
will help remind car drivers to
watch for us. Perhaps you could put
together a flyer with Motorcycle
awareness month on one side and
information about ABATE’s Awareness
program on the other. I have done
this and gotten the local pizza shop
to put them on every box. You could
check with the local donut shop, sub
shop, bagel place. Anywhere people
get something to carry out, offer to
already have them folded or leave
flat depending on what the store
would want. I work in a medical
office and I am allowed to put one
in every statement I mail out (I try
to do it in April and May). It
doesn’t take me any longer to put
the extra piece of paper in the
envelope and the office has gotten a
positive response. I also write and
editorial and send to the local
papers. They don’t always get
printed, but most of them do and we
have gotten contacts for the schools
we teach at from these. Find new
ways to spread the word and help us
get ABATE’s best kept secret out
there.
To steal a
couple phrases from some famous
speeches: “I have a dream”, that
every ABATE member will help with
the awareness program and that this
state will become the 21st
choice state because we did such a
great job of getting people to be
more aware of us that the accident
rate in Michigan fell dramatically
and that all motorcyclists in the
state take a safety course, get
licensed if they are not, and ride
as safely as possible and straight!
We cannot do anything about the
wildlife we sometimes meet up with
but I do believe we can do something
about the other humans out there.
Ask not what
AWARENESS can do for you; ask what
you can do for AWARENESS! Contact
your local awareness director or RC
and see how you can help.
If you need
anything pertaining to the awareness
program please contact:
Terry & Kathy
Lotz
(517) 546-6608
(the answering machine is always on
so please leave a message)
E-mail:
region14abate@yahoo.com
(please put awareness in the subject
line so I know it is not spam)
Or check out
the group site at:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/MOTORCYCLE_AWARENESS/
Ride Safe and
Aware
Kathy & Terry
January
2009
Hello fellow
ABATE members and Awareness
Instructors.
By now some of
you may have heard that Chuck
Manning has stepped down as State
Awareness Coordinator. To the best
of my knowledge he has generously
worked in this position from the
beginning. That’s 14 years folks of
trying to get and keep this program
running and saving your butts out
there on the road.
Thank
You Chuck for stepping up for all
these years and “giving a sh_t”
about our safety out there on the
road, and doing a fine job to boot,
eh? If you happen to see Chuck
please thank him for his dedication
to this program.
|
Now
for some updates on the
awareness program:
I have the following regions
reporting their totals for
2008:
Region
1- 75 students
Region
7- 548 students
Region
11- 442 students
Region
12- 0 students **
Region
13- 150 students
Region
14- 1075 students
Region
15- 507 students
Region18- 1239 students
Region
19- 150 students
Region
20-1454 students
Region
21- 0 students**
STATE
TOTAL FOR 2008 – 5640
STUDENTS
TOTAL
SINCE THE PROGRAM BEGAN IN
1995- 57,210 STUDENTS.
|
This is an
impressive figure for a volunteer
organization such as ours! Great
job for all those involved with this
program. Just a hint folks, when
you contact your legislators about
our helmet bills, please use this
information to show what else we are
doing make the roads safer out
there!
I want to
thank the following for making it to
the meeting Friday Night in Saginaw
(I know some of you were not able to
attend because you are on other
committees who had meetings at the
same time and it is hard to be in 2
places a the same time): Region 7-
Karen Sheridan, Ken & Fran Gainforth,
Region 1- Linda Eads, Region 13-
Darlene Kenzie, Region 18- Mark
Buchanan (new coordinator for this
region, thanks for stepping up, or
not stepping back quick enough Mark)
and Shyny Bob, Region 20- Mike
Poage and Jo “mama” Bruce (hope your
knee is feeling better!). They all
had a lot of good ideas and we will
be seeing what we can implement in
the future.
With the
economy the way it is in this state
we have seen enrollment in the
private drivers ed schools decrease
as well as several schools close
up. We keep plugging away at ways
to reach the young driving age folks
out there but we will talk to any
age group that is close to driving
age or older (not much sense in
talking to kids younger than 13 as
they really don’t know a lot about
driving and are too young to yet
understand the ramifications of not
paying attention behind the wheel)
so if you know of any organization
that would benefit from our
free program, contact your
region’s awareness coordinator or
RC. If you do not have an active
awareness program in your region but
would like to start one up, give us
a call and we will try to get you
the help you need. The 2 regions
marked with ** above have not been
able to get into or don’t have many
drivers ed programs in their areas.
Linda in Region 12 needs more help
as she could do an assembly at the
local public schools if some others
in her region would step up to give
her a hand. Peggy in Region 21 has
been supplying the local radio
stations with public service
announcements about being more aware
of motorcycles on the road and has
probably reached more people of all
ages than all the regions combined
for 2008. These radio stations
cover Michigan from roughly St.
Johns (just north of Lansing) to the
Mackinaw Bridge. She will be
forwarding us info on what and how
she is doing this and we will be
supplying this to all the regions so
perhaps we can have the entire state
covered by these announcements!
By now some of
you may be wondering who will be
running the Awareness program since
Chuck is stepping down? Terry and I
have volunteered to take over the
program so in the future if you need
supplies or help in any way please
contact us. We will do whatever we
can to help you with your regions
program and are looking for ideas to
improve this program statewide. If
you are reading this and have not
seen what we do in our presentations
and my be interested in helping out
but don’t know who to contact give
us a call or send an e-mail, let us
know where you are at and we will
try to get you in contact with
someone near you. Our contact
information is below as well as the
Yahoo Group I have set up for
Awareness. We will try to update
information on the group as well as
post photos, links etc….that you can
use for your region. I would love
for this group to be an avenue for
all the regions to share ideas
information and to help improve the
program.
For those that
may not be aware of it May is
usually designated Motorcycle
Awareness Month and I know first
hand that Indiana, Tennessee and
Alabama recognize it as such. We
have heard radio spots from their
Governors and or other folks
reminding drivers to watch out for
us. Time to dust off the billboards
for those regions that have them.
Check the yard signs and clean them
up or do any repairs that need to be
done and get them ready to be put
up. Check with your local
businesses that have the changeable
signs in front of their buildings
and see if they will put up the info
(if not for the whole month a week
or two is better than nothing). Get
your local municipalities to
proclaim locally May is Motorcycle
Awareness month. I will be
forwarding info to all the RC’s and
Awareness Coordinators on how to do
this. Ann Tobian in Region 18 has
done a great job of giving me
everything you need to do and how to
do it so it shouldn’t be too hard.
I will also get this info posted on
the Awareness group and the state
web site.
If you need
anything pertaining to the awareness
program please contact:
Terry & Kathy
Lotz
(517) 546-6608
(the answering machine is always on
so please leave a message)
E-mail region
14abate@yahoo.com
(please put awareness in the subject
line so I know it is not spam)
Or check out
the group site at:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/MOTORCYCLE_AWARENESS/
Ride Safe and
Aware Kids, Lets all be safe out
there!
Kathy & Terry
Ps: When we
publish figures, numbers or
information. It is not to be a slam
or any type of determent to what you
are doing. It is information that
we have gotten. As you all know,
when information gets passed from
hand to hand there sometimes are
errors, typos etc… So if there is
anything incorrect, comments,
complaints, tips don’t sit back and
stew about it, contact us by any
means so we can work out any
problems, make corrections etc.. We
are open to any and all members of
ABATE and the awareness program for
their feedback. We aren’t thinned
skinned, we will take whatever comes
out way.
Terry
