NCOM Biker NEWSBYTES - April 2013 - by Bill Bish
May/03/2013
NCOM BIKER NEWSBYTES
Compiled & Edited by Bill Bish,
National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM)
FEDERAL BILL INTENDS TO STOP MOTORCYCLE CHECKPOINTS
On April 15, Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) circulated a “Dear Colleague” letter to fellow members of Congress to garner sponsors for legislation he intends to introduce on May 6, 2013 “To stop motorcycle checkpoint funding.”
“In the 112th Congress, I introduced H.R. 904, a bill to prohibit the Department of Transportation (DOT) from providing funds to state and local authorities for the purpose of creating motorcycle only checkpoints,” wrote Rep. Sensenbrenner to his peers. “Section 1 of the Stop Motorcycle Checkpoint Funding Act contains the same language as H.R. 904. However, this bill also contains language to force the DOT to focus motorcycle safety efforts on crash prevention programs, not national helmet mandates.”
Under GRANT RESTRICTION, Section 2 reads; “The Secretary of Transportation may not provide a grant or any funds to a State, county, town, or township, Indian tribe, municipal or other local government to be used for any program to check helmet usage or create checkpoints for an operator of motorcycle or passenger on a motorcycle.”
In addition, the new legislation amends Section 153 of Title 23 USC by removing “motorcycle helmets” from the title. “This change will prohibit the DOT from providing grants to a State to enforce helmet laws,” according to Sensenbrenner. “This will stop the DOT from manipulating State policies with federal money.”
CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE APPROVES E15 PROHIBITION
The U.S. House Committee on Science, Space and Technology approved H.R. 875 by a vote of 18-17 on April 11, which would revoke the Environmental Protection Agency’s approval of E15 alcohol-laden gasoline for sale to the public.
U.S. Representative Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) introduced H.R. 875 on February 28, which would require the federal EPA to stop the use of gasoline containing 15% ethanol (E15) until its harmful effects are investigated further.
NHTSA SEEKS TO SUBVERT PUBLIC SCRUTINY
The US Department of Transportation is looking to fast track adoption of rules, bypassing the public comment process and adopting rules directly. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has proposed to give itself "direct final rulemaking" authority which would allow the agency to declare a regulatory proposal, which carries the force of law, to be non-controversial and rush it into effect.
"NHTSA believes this procedural option would expedite the issuance of, and thereby save time and agency resources on, rules that are not controversial," the agency's proposed rule states.
NHTSA is responsible for a number of major rules, including the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) mandates that direct automobile manufacturers to meet certain mileage requirements. It also plays a major role in the design of vehicles by mandating various "safety" features such as rear-view cameras, “trunk entrapment” rules to foil kidnappers, and “quiet car” rules to require electric vehicles to make noise to alert blind pedestrians – Such rules cost the automobile industry billions of dollars in compliance costs, but could arguably be “noncontroversial.”
Under procedures that allow a measure to take effect within sixty days of its publication in the Federal Register as a final rule, the public would have just thirty days to file an adverse comment to slow the process down, otherwise the final rule would automatically become effective.
NEVADA CONSIDERS LANE-SPLITTING, FASTER SPEED LIMITS
The Silver State may soon adopt the Golden State ’s rule on lane sharing, as AB 236 has passed Assembly Committee on Transportation with only two committee members opposing the measure to allow motorcyclists to filter between lanes of slow-moving traffic. California is currently the only U.S. state that allows the practice, though “lane filtering” is commonplace throughout many other parts of the world.
Committee Chair and bill co-sponsor Richard Carrillo (D-Clark Co), a long-time rider, laid out one of the best reasons to split lanes -- avoiding a rear end collision -- saying “at the end of the day, I want to know that I’m going to come home and not be a part of the pavement or the back of somebody’s truck or car. To me, this really resonates.”
Next step – the bill goes before the full Assembly and the Senate.
In the meantime, the Nevada State Legislature may raise the maximum speed limit from 75 mph to 85 mph has passed the State Senate 15-6 on April 3 and the measure now goes over to the State Assembly for consideration. Introduced by Senator Don Gustavson (R-Sparks), a longtime advocate of bikers’ rights who was awarded the NCOM Silver Spoke Award for Government, SB 191 would fast track NDOT to up the speed limit to 85 mph some open stretches of freeways, matching some 85mph speed limits posted in Texas .
MOTORCYCLE LICENSE NOT REQUIRED IN ALABAMA , UNLESS BILL PASSES
Every state but one requires a motorcycle license or endorsement to operate a motorcycle, but in Alabama anyone 16 and older with a regular driver’s license can also drive a motorcycle in the state.
An oversight in the 1990s led to the gap in the law and now DPS is supporting legislation to fix the mistake. The state Senate in February passed a bill to require motorcycle drivers to have a Class M endorsement on their license. The bill is pending in the House of Representatives.
Under current law, drivers can ask to take the knowledge test to get the Class M endorsement on their license, but the law does not require the endorsement to operate a motorcycle. Those who don’t have the Class M endorsement are only legal driving a motorcycle as long as they are riding in Alabama .
Rep. Allen Farley (R-McCalla), House sponsor of the bill, said he would also eventually like to see a skills test. Forty states require a skills test for a motorcycle license, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
ABATE RECOGNIZED BY ARKANSAS LAWMAKERS
ABATE members from around the state gathered in Little Rock at the Arkansas House of Representatives on April 4, 2013 for the reading and vote on HR1040, which reads in part:
“The House of Representatives commends ABATE, the Arkansas Bikers Aiming Towards Education organization, for raising awareness of motorcycle safety issues; for promoting goodwill and mutual understanding among motorcyclists, law enforcement personnel, and the general public; for being an information resource for its members; and for working to benefit the less fortunate through various events.”
OREGON PROPOSAL WOULD MAKE IT A CRIME TO BE LINKED TO A “GANG”
In an attempt to crack down on violent criminal activity, Oregon lawmakers are considering a bill that would make it a crime just being linked to what it defines as a “gang”.
The big question is how would authorities decide who's a gang member and who's not, and the bill says any group of three or more people whose main purpose is criminal activity, has a commonly known name or symbol and regularly engages in criminal acts would be considered a "criminal street gang."
Police currently track gang members, but there's no law against belonging to any particular organization even if that group is repeatedly tied to criminal activity, but House Bill 2679 and its companion, House Bill 2851, would give authorities another tool for cracking down on gang members because under the proposed law, just being a member would be a felony and subject to stiffer sentences.
The Oregon American Civil Liberties Union told lawmakers it is concerned that the definition of a "criminal street gang" is too vague. "The breadth of the bill and the confusion that will result from its definitions, or lack thereof, risks violating a defendant's due process rights because that defendant is not on notice of what activity is criminal," said the ACLU, adding that current laws are strong enough and urged lawmakers to not advance the bills.
MOTORCYCLE CLUB PUBLICATIONS BARRED BEHIND BARS
Last month we reported that the NCOM Brothers Behind Bars monthly newsletter was being banned from prisons in Australia , but now word comes from one of our own New England states that biker-related printed materials are being systematically rejected.
Referring to a note received from a Connecticut inmate, The Aging Rebel quoted on his website www.agingrebel.com; “Here at our prison, last year they began to bar books about or by motorcycle club members. This includes the book “The Aging Rebel: Dispatches From The Motorcycle Outlaw Frontier” by Donald Charles Davis. These books are purely being banned because their subject matter includes motorcycle clubs. They use the ‘catch-all’ ‘promotes criminal activity’ while still allowing books on the Mafia, murder, kidnapping and corruption of government officials, all of which apparently promote NO criminal activity.”
Some people may be surprised to learn that among the other rights prisoners forfeit is the right to read what they want, but as TAR expresses; “The high court began to back track in 1987, in a decision called Turner v. Salley. After that case, the First Amendment right to read could be ‘reasonably regulated’ if prison officials asserted a ‘legitimate neutral interest’ and the Supreme Court ruling established something called the “Turner Test.”
In a letter from the Connecticut Dept of Correction, the Media Review Board determined that “The aforementioned publication was originally rejected in its entirety on November 9, 2012 under Section 6: It encourages or instructs in the commission of criminal activity. This publication was thoroughly reviewed and is determined to have met the criteria for rejection. The publication will not be allowed inside a correctional facility.”
WEIRD NEWS: ILLEGAL ALIEN RULED INCOMPETENT FOR TRIAL
An illegal alien in Massachusetts who was drunk driving when he hit and dragged a Mass. motorcyclist to his death has been ruled incompetent to stand trial. Insane? No. Mentally handicapped? Nope… “Unique cultural background”? YES!
Despite numerous previous run-ins with the law, Judge Janet Kinton-Walker ruled that Nicolas Guaman’s “unique cultural background” prohibits him from understanding the U.S. legal process. The judge also ruled that Guaman lacks the ability to effectively consult with his attorney, according to FOX 25 in Boston that broke the story.
Defense attorneys across the nation will undoubtedly be watching this case very closely, and if Guaman somehow avoids justice you can count on this defense coming to a courthouse near you – “¿me entiendes?”
MORE WEIRDNESS: SMART APPS
What do Lady Antebellum, Harley-Davidson motorcycles, the beauty store Sephora and the Facebook page "I Love Being a Mom’ all have in common? Well, researchers at the University of Cambridge are claiming that “liking” those things on Facebook may be a sign of a low IQ.
According to www.radio.com, researchers in the U.K. took a close look at 58,000 Facebook users between 2007 and 2012, and correlated their “likes” with the strength of their IQ’s. If you’re wondering what “likes” translated to a high IQ, the items include curly fries and thunderstorms, so this is one study nobody is taking too seriously.
NCOM CONVENTION HONORS FALLEN RIDERS; INVITES NAMES FOR TRIBUTE
With the 28th Annual NCOM Convention in Reno just weeks away, the National Coalition of Motorcyclists is requesting that MROs, motorcycle clubs, and riding associations submit the names of those members and supporters who have died since May 2012, so that we may honor their memories during the traditional “Ringing of the Bell” tribute to fallen riders during the opening ceremonies. Dedications can be hand-delivered at the Convention to “Doc” Reichenbach, NCOM Chairman of the Board, or e-mailed in advance to Bill Bish atNCOMBish@aol.com.
Attendees are also encouraged to bring an item on behalf of their organization for the Freedom Fund Auction, with proceeds benefiting the motorcyclists’ rights movement nationwide through Getting Our People Elected donations, NCOM Speaker Program, lobbying activities and other pro-motorcycling projects as determined by the NCOM Board of Directors.
The 28th annual NCOM Convention will be held Mother’s Day weekend, May 9-12, 2013 at the Silver Legacy Resort-Casino located at 407 N. Virginia St. in Reno , Nevada , so reserve your room now for the special NCOM rate of $95 by calling (800) 687-8733.
This annual gathering will draw bikers’ rights activists from across the country to discuss topics of concern to all riders, and ALL motorcyclists are welcome and encouraged to attend. Meetings, seminars and group discussions will focus on legislative efforts and litigation techniques to benefit our right to ride and Freedom of the Road.
To pre-register, call the National Coalition of Motorcyclists at (800) 525-5355 or visit www.ON-A-BIKE.com.
QUOTABLE QUOTE: “There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” - Elie Wiesel (b. 1928 in Romania ) Nobel Prize laureate
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