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THE AMA CORNER
So, winter finally got here. It’s January 31st and as I stare out my window, waiting for the 8-12 inches of snow they’re forecasting, I realize that our fight for motorcyclists’ rights is getting more intense despite some of the victories we have gained. Visions of springtime riding are swirling around in my brain, but they’ll have to remain just that for the next few months.
Meanwhile, legislative activity has begun and myself and Vice President of this District, Bob Boellner have begun our yearly sojourns to the capitol. As I have said many times before in this column, we’re appealing to AMA and ABATE members throughout the state to try and find a Tuesday during the months of March and April, when you can join us in our lobbying efforts in Albany. Just get hold of me by phone or e-mail and we’ll set you up with us, make appointments for you with your local legislators and generally show you how effective “constituents” can be when they take the time to see lawmakers. Remember, your local state senator and assemblyman(woman) all have district offices and you can be so effective there by making appointments and seeing them when they’re in the home district.
THE LEGISLATIVE REPORT
First things first. We have one new issue we’re attacking this year strongly. This is the “Yield the Right of Way” effort. The AMA began a “Motorcyclists Matter” initiative over a year ago. The key to that effort was to get stiffer penalties enacted in all the states for “yield the right of way” violations. I submitted the information to the offices of Deputy Majority Leader Ronald Canestrari in the Assembly and Senator Owen Johnson in the other chamber. Both agreed to carry the bill and it was drafted by Senator Johnson’s folks. The bill is going to be the same in the Assembly, so we’ll not have to through any problems trying to match up bills in both houses.
As you may or may not know, over two thirds of car-motorcycle crashes and nearly 50% of all motorcycle crashes are caused by the non-motorcycle driver. There were 1319 fatal car-motorcycle crashes in 1999. In 38% of them, another vehicle violated the motorcyclist’s right of way by turning left while the cycle was going straight, passing or overtaking another vehicle. As the AMA notes: “compounding this serious traffic safety issue is the attitude of indifference that permates law enforcement and the courts in matters regarding the violation of a motorcyclist’s right of way. The National Agenda for Motorcycle Safety recognizes this problem, noting “prosecutors and judges should be equitable when dealing with motorists who cause motorcycle crashes.”
So, we’re attacking the problem in an aggressive manner. And it will be applicable to all drivers; cars, vans, trucks and yes, motorcyclists, too.
WHAT THE LEGISLATION SAYS
Under the proposed legislation, if a driver causes any bodily injury in a right of way violation he or she is subject to a minimum fine of $200 and up to $350 with a thirty day suspension of the driver’s license.
If there is serious physical injury, the penalty jumps to $500 to $750 and a ninety day license suspension.
If there is a fatality, the penalty would be a minimum $1,000 fine up to $1500 and a license suspension of half a year.
There was a provision we wanted in the bill for violators to take a special class, but because it would cost money to set that up and implement it, we knocked it out. We were told by the best authorities that spending for that would not be approved considering the state’s fiscal situation since 9-11. Actually, I don’t buy that argument since you’ll no doubt discover in September that all of a sudden, just before elections, the adminstration will have plenty of money to give to it incumbent Republicans for special programs in their districts. That’s politics, folks.
In the lobbying I’ve done so far, the reaction to this bill has been good. There has been a big push on to increase penalties for drunk driving and so driving violations are on the radar screen. Aside from that there is an economic factor involved with higher penalty monies from our bill going into both the general Transportation Safety Fund and the Motorcyle Safety Fund, which helps finance the Motorcycle defensive driver’s course in this state. New York State, like many others since 9-11, is looking for revenue and with the threat of losing even more Transportation Funds in the offing, I think we’ve got a better than even chance of getting the bill passed and signed by the Governor.
The bill is being circulated in both houses, as I write, for sponsorship and will be given numbers shortly. I’ve only had to persuade one powerful senator to change his mind and sign on to the bill. So far, so good. We’ll keep you up to date on this one.
Another issue was one involving the placement of the annoying inspection sticker on the fork tube. Lots of riders don’t like to mess up their left fork tube with the inspection sticker. I’m in talks with DMV about this and fortunately for us, the Director of Technical Safety is a motorcyclist and a really nice guy. He’s got one problem. While he would love to get the department to permit placement of the sticker elsewhere, it would have to be somewhere that would be the same for all bikes and permanent. We talked a lot about those special plates some riders bolt on to either a crash bar or foot peg housing, but depending on the bike you have, that might not be possible. Generally speaking, the sticker would have to be on the left front quarter of the bike. He’s working on it to see if there is language DMV would accept allowing a modification, but it’s not going to be easy. Law enforcement folks will chime in too, noting that they have to be able to see the sticker clearly. So, this is going to take time. The Safety Director is going to Daytona soon and he’s going to take a careful look at where custom folks are mounting their stickers, just to get some possible ideas. If you have an idea, let me know right away and I’ll pass it on.
He’s already told me that bolting on has been questioned by his bosses as not being permanent. I’ve replied that license plates are simply screwed on with a small bolt and nut that can easily be removed and it’s considered “permanent”. We may have an opening there. We’ll see. He’s really trying to help us out.
I have an idea on insurance, but don’t want to get into it here until I research it with some insurance experts and lawmakers. However, I can tell you that I learned a lot when attending Pennsylvania ABATE’s legislative conference just a week ago in Harrisburg where I was invited to do my media seminar. Let me just say this right now. If you don’t have a substantial amount of uninsured and underinsured coverage, you’re in trouble. Get it! It’s what’s really going to protect you when or if you get hit and the medical bills are going unpaid. According to the expert we listened to, it’s a lot more important than either your comprehensive or collision insurance. More to come on this in the future.
We still have the road anti-discrimination bill which passed the Assembly , but was held up in the Senate Rules Committee. That bill number is S-706 and would communities, counties and the state from banning motorcycles on any road street or highway that used state funds to design, construct, operate and/or maintain that road. One Senator( we don’t know which one since the Rules Working Committee does it behind closed doors)said he thought it was a “mandate” and didn’t like that. The bill was sponsored for me by Senator John R.(Randy) Kuhl and his office says they’re going to try and get it through again this session. We’re working on trying to find out which Senator had the problem with it so I can get to that office and try to do some persuading.
Sen. Nancy Larraine Hoffman’s bill S-82 , sponsored in the Assembly by Bill Parment(A-2708) is on the waiting list. It would set up motorcycle road hazard advisory committees in each of State D.O.T.’s 12 regions to look for a report on such hazards for remediation. State D.O.T. opposes it.
The helmet amendment allowing choice for those 21 and over with riding experience remains as is. It will not be given approval in the Transportation Committee. Nothing has changed there at this time.
We’re still working hard to come up with a passable bill restoring the ATV trails and maintenance fund. So-called environementalists have stymied this bill, so far. It’s S-4922 and A-8781).
As you all know by now, the bills regarding tolls on the N.Y. State Thruway and for E.Z. pass on Triboro Bridge and Tunnel Authority facilities were vetoed by the Governor. They would have lowered toll charges for motorcyclists. The Governor said, however, that both agencies should try to make this happen administratively because the reasons we gave for the legislation were “compelling”. The Governor didn’t want to set a precedent for taking tollmaking authority from the agencies involved and there was some questioning about some revenue loss. (Any revenue loss since 9-11 is in practical terms a no-no)
ALERT…ALERT
The infamous NHTSA wants to control what you can WEAR when you ride. It’s the attack of the clothingcrats. A proposed rule has buried language which makes certain “off vehicle equipment” such as “retroreflective motorcycle rider apparel” under “replacement equipment” for motor vehicles. It’s a step closer to forcing you to buy it as part of the TREAD Act(Transportation, Recall, Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation Act) Neither AMA nor the Motorcycle Riders Foundation believe NHTSA has the statutory authority to grab this power. Deadline for filing comments is FEBRUARY 4TH…THAT’S NEXT WEEK!!!!!!!!! You’ve got to comment BY SNAIL MAIL. Review the poposed rule at http://www.access.gpo.gov/su docs/aces/aces140.html. Scroll down to “Search Terms” and enter NHTSA..choose “pdf” format for “Reporting of Information and Documents about Potential Defects” and scroll to page 66193. YOU MUST WRITE A LETTER TO : docket Management, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street S.W., Washington D.C. 20590 and YOU MUST TO THIS AS: “Docket NHTSA 2001-8677, Notice 2.” What a pain in the rear, right? But, if you and I and others don’t protest RIGHT AWAY we might find ourselves forced to buy a certain kind of clothing in order to ride. WRITE YOUR congressman too that motorcyclists had no idea they would be hurt by a rule governing vehicle and tire DEFECTS!
AMA ELECTIONS
Here’s the results of the recent election for AMA Board of Directors. Jeff Nash is rep for the South Central Region, Kevin Schwantz for the Southeast Region and John Ulrich for Southwest. The board consists of 12 members. Our Northeast rep is Chairman of the AMA Board, Rick Gray.
DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS We’re glad to report that the European Union Council of Ministers has unanimously voted opposition to daytime running lights(DRL’s) on cars made from 2002 on. DRL’s should be for motorcycles to make them more visible in traffic, not cars to screw up visibility even more.
UPCOMING
Here’s something all our novice automobile drivers should have to do. In Britain, starting October of this year, all novice drivers will be tested to see how good they are at scanning the road for motorcycles. They’ll be shown video clips filmed from the top of a car. How fast and appropriately do the novices react to hazards shown, many of which include motorcycles? Britain has long been promising a tougher test to reduce accidents caused by car drivers. Novice motorcyclists will have to pass the test too. On wasting money..BMW has patented a new airbag system and plans to fit its motorcycles with it. It uses ultrasound to picture how and where a rider is sitting on the bike and and if he/she is thrown forward or to the side too quickly, BMW claims its system can fire the airbag in such a way as to catch the rider safely. Yeah!!! That’s it for now. Until the next time, ride safe and be free and think Spring!
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