if you live in north carolina and you to choose whether or not you wear a helmet, now is the time to take action…
house bill 392, permitting motorcyclists and passengers 18 and older to decide if they want to wear a helmet, was introduced march 17 and referred to the house transportation committee. the crossover date for the bill is may 12.
in an effort to help this happen, if you’re a north carolina resident, you should contact the committee chairs as well as your representative.
from the american motorcyclist association web site (linked above):
What is needed?
In order to advance, HB-392 must be called for consideration and passed out of the House Transportation Committee before the crossover deadline of May 12.
What can I do?
Contact the committee chairs to request HB-392 be taken up for consideration and voted favorably out of the House Transportation Committee.
How do I contact the committee chairs?
Rep. Frank Iler: 919-301-1450; email: Frank.Iler@ncleg.net
Rep. Grey Mills: 919-733-5741; email: Grey.Mills@ncleg.net
What should my message be?
Consider using the following talking points:
- 30 states already allow adult motorcycle operators and passengers to make their own decision with regard to motorcycle helmet use
- Motorcycle rider education and motorist awareness are the keys to reducing crashes involving motorcycles
- As a responsible adult, I’m already making adult decisions regarding my personal protective equipment needs
- Add any other personal reasons why motorcycling is important to you and why you feel that you, not the government, should make the decision regarding helmet use
Remember, May 12 is the deadline for advancing HB-392 to the full House for consideration. Take a few minutes NOW to make your voice heard on voluntary helmet use in North Carolina.
As a follow up, contact your representative to make your position known on voluntary motorcycle helmet use. If your representative is already signed on to HB-392 as a primary or co-sponsor, say “thank you.” If not, respectfully request he or she consider doing so. Mention that as a constituent and registered voter, why this is an important issue to you.
Don’t know who your representative is? Click here and enter your Zip code in the box under “Find Your Officials” to learn more.
get out and do your part…
senator amy klobuchar recently introduced legislation, senate amendment 264, co-sponsored by senator jon tester, that would exempt youth off-highway vehicles from the consumer product safety improvement act (cpsia) of 2008.
call your senators and let them know you support sa 264. of course the american motorcyclist association is going to make this extremely easy for you. go to this form, enter your phone number and they’ll let you know who your senators are, how to contact them and some talking points.
the vote is supposed to take place this coming week so don’t waste any time contacting your senators.
on the heels of my last post and according to a rome news-tribune article, it looks like georgia is serious about setting up the motorcycle-only checkpoints. according to the article they have the budget to run six one-day checkpoints. about the only piece of good news to come out of this is the announcements of the date, times and locations for the first checkpoint:
yesterday representative jim sensenbrenner (r-wi) introduced legislation to prohibit the secretary of transportation funding the motorcycle-only checkpoints. of course if you want to do something about it, head over to the ama web site, fill out the form and let your representative know how you feel…
with the daytona 500 behind us, we can start the countdown to bike week starting next weekend. are you planning on riding down there?? for once, the better option may be to trailer your bike!! that or detour around georgia through alabama to get there. why?? because georgia is planning to use some federal funds to set up motorcycle-only checkpoints during bike week.
according to this action alert from the ama, georgia might be taking new york’s lead in setting up motorcycle-only checkpoints. and as if that isn’t bad enough, they want to set them up during daytona bike week to target as many bikers as they can.
what can you do?? besides trailering your bike – which of course was only mentioned in jest. i, for one, would never suggest someone trailer their bike over riding. the best option is to follow the ama’s suggestion to contact governor deal. you can send him a prewritten letter. once you follow the link, click on the contact tab –> click on ‘web form’ (contact governor nathan deal via web form) –> select ‘please suspend grant to conduct motorcycle-only checkpoints’ and click next step. fill out your contact information and send it on its way.
the other option is to contact him directly from his web site. fill in the contact information, select ‘transportation’ for the category, and the message section. the ama suggests the text below for the message section. i also suggest leaving the ‘i just want governor deal to know my opinion so it will be counted’ unchecked. i know i want to get a response from him.
As a motorcyclist, I understand the Georgia Department of Public Safety was awarded a grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to conduct a series of motorcycle-only checkpoints (MOCs). The NHTSA Motorcycle Law Enforcement Demonstrations grant is in the amount of $70,000 and Georgia is the only state to receive this grant for Fiscal Year 2010. I request that Georgia suspend the motorcycle-only checkpoint program until questions raised by the motorcycling community have been addressed.
Specifically, how do MOCs increase the safety of motorcyclists? Where does Georgia draw their authority to conduct MOCs? Will "probable cause" be required to stop a motorcycle under the terms of this grant program? If so, what will constitute "probable cause?" What types of infractions will be recorded by law enforcement officials at these traffic stops? What criteria will be used to measure the success of the MOCs? And, do states have the jurisdiction to inspect vehicles registered in another state?
Again, please suspend this program until questions raised by the motorcycling community have been addressed.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
hopefully with enough response no one will get hassled in georgia on their way to daytona… unless, of course, they deserve it!!
from the american motorcyclist web site:
The U.S. House of Representatives could vote as early as next week on a wide-ranging bill that could shut off-highway motorcyclists and all-terrain vehicle riders out of more than 2 million acres of public land.
"This bill was on the fast-track in the U.S. Senate and passed swiftly earlier this year without public scrutiny or debate," said Ed Moreland, AMA vice president for government relations. "The measure is now being steamrolled through the U.S. House without giving the public an opportunity to fully digest its impact and debate the many provisions in the bill."
Moreland called on all AMA members, off-highway motorcyclists, ATV riders and everyone who supports responsible outdoor recreation to immediately contact their Congressional representative and ask them to reject the bill. The measure should be defeated because it unreasonably bans motorized recreation on 2.1 million acres of public land by inappropriately designating it as Wilderness, and because the procedures used for fast-tracking the bill through the U.S. Senate and House violate the spirit of open and democratic government.
take action (quickly) here…
