Why Your Support Counts
ABATE of Colorado State Representative Bruce Downs testifies at the state capitol.
I was going to put up another Examiner Resurrection about efforts by a few Congress members to put a damper on the then-new practice of setting up motorcycle-only checkpoints.
I thought that post would be worth resurrecting (Examiner.com died a couple years ago) because this is an issue we are still dealing with today. The point here, in case you are new to the subject or need a memory prod, is that law enforcement agencies sometimes set up checkpoints to look for a variety of issues: seat belt use, valid driver’s license, whatever.
The problem with motorcycle-only checkpoints is that they single us out, and for no justifiable reason. You want to check for valid driver’s license? Fine, stop everyone and check everyone. But don’t stop only motorcyclists.
I decided instead to tie this in with last week’s post about the Demise of District 10. The point being, these kind of policies go unchallenged if you don’t have people active in groups such as ABATE and the American Motorcyclist Association fighting them.
Just a few days ago I read a piece about how the American commitment to democracy seems to be fading as fewer and fewer people find themselves personally involved in associations. Years ago, it said, this country was sometimes called a “nation of presidents.” The meaning is that if you were a farmer you belonged to a co-op, and the co-op had officers and members voted on issues of concern. If you worked in a factory you belonged to the union and the union had officers and the members voted on issues of concern.
Cooperative groups like this flourished throughout society, to the point that everyone lived and practiced democracy and many, many people served as the officers of these groups: a nation of presidents.
This sort of participatory democracy has diminished. And it affects us as motorcyclists. District 10 of ABATE of Colorado died because there were not enough people who felt it worth their time to get involved. But really, is it not worth your time? How do you feel about motorcycle-only checkpoints? How do you feel about future infrastructure projects not taking motorcyclists into consideration in their planning? How do you feel about HOV lanes–which federal law says must be free to motorcycles–slapping you with a fee and fine for using them without a transponder?
These issues and many more are addressed by a very small percentage of riders–those of us willing to take our time to stand up for those who ride.
So back to the Examiner post I was going to run. The gist is in the lead sentence, “Laying it on the line, 11 Congressmen today questioned a grant program that provides money for law enforcement agencies to set up motorcycle-only traffic checkpoints and called on U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to suspend it.”
While we have made progress on this issue, we’re still fighting it. How much more effective might our efforts be if more of our fellow riders stepped up and offered their support, contacting their elected representatives to voice their concerns.
At the very least, lend your support via numbers. The more members the AMA has the more impact they are able to have. Here are three groups you might want to consider joining.
American Motorcyclist Association
Motorcycle Riders Foundation
ABATE of Colorado
Biker Quote for Today
And God said “Let there be bikers” and the Devil ran like hell.
Tags: participatory democracy
