Passes & Canyons Blog

T-shirts make statements.

One thing that really struck me in the short time I spent at last weekend’s MRF Meeting of the Minds was how paranoid so many of these folks seemed. Of course, just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean someone is not out to get you. And I guess when you spend your days fighting actual efforts to put limits on your passion it’s easy to slip into that paranoid mindset. Anyway, “. . . a lot of people trying to take away our freedoms” was a common refrain.

I found it interesting when Megan Ekstrom was speaking on the issues the MRF is focused on that she–as many do–expects the Democrats to regain control of the U.S. House in the upcoming election, and so the hope is that in the following lame duck session the Republicans will push through a lot of legislation in a hurry. And among those bills are some that the MRF is working for.

T-shirts are a standard among motorcyclists so it’s no surprise that there were plenty with interesting and/or amusing messages:
• Freedom Ain’t Quiet
• You Ride Free Because of Me
• St. Urgis, Patron Saint of Motorcyclists (OK, this was me, with the shirt I had made, with my trademarked brand)
• #IRideIVote, with three choices–Democrat, Republican, Motorcyclist–with the checkmark on Motorcyclist
• The wide variety of designs and logos of many different state ABATE organizations

Biker Quote for Today

There may be more to life than motorcycles, but not to my life!

Between sessions at the Meeting of the Minds.

The Motorcycle Riders Foundation had its annual Meeting of the Minds this past weekend in Denver. As ABATE of Colorado was the host for the conference I went over to do whatever volunteer work I could but on being told that all was in hand I only sat in on a couple sessions and then left. After all, I had not paid to register, plus the opening session touched on most of the issues to be discussed.

The MRF, in case you are not familiar, is a national organization working for motorcyclist rights, or MRO. As such, they, along with the American Motorcyclist Association, are among the primary lobbyists in Washington, D.C. working on these issues.

In the Friday morning session, Megan Ekstrom, Vice President of Government Relations and Public Relations, touched briefly on six topics the MRF is primarily focused on for the coming year. The fact that these issues have been in the MRF focus for some time gives an idea of how this work requires slow, continued effort before success is achieved.

• Autonomous Vehicles: You’d have to be living in a cave not to know that self-driving cars are coming our way, and it is crucial that the programmers who determine how these things detect and avoid people and objects include motorcycles in their algorithms. That would seem obvious but it can only be good to have someone making sure that happens.

• Profiling: Is it legitimate for police or the state patrol to set up motorcycle-only stops to check registration, licensing, etc.? If you’re stopping all traffic to check for these things then fine, go ahead. But stopping only bikers? Most of us don’t think so. The MRF is working at the national level to have this outlawed, while local, state organizations carry the battle forward on the state level.

• RPM Act: The Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports Act clarifies that it is legal under federal law to modify the emissions system of a motor vehicle that is converted for race-use-only. This would seem obvious. If it is OK to build racing vehicles that do not meet emissions standards, how can it not be OK to take an existing vehicle and turn it into a racer? Megan said the MRF has hopes that this legislation will pass this year yet, and if not, next year appears hopeful.

• Motorcycle Advisory Council: According to Mark Gardiner on Revzilla, “The MAC’s a 10-person committee made up of traffic engineers and road-safety specialists — an advisory body brought together to provide information, advice, and recommendations to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) on ‘matters related to motorcyclist safety… and the implementation of noteworthy practices of highway infrastructure related improvements that will result in positive impacts on motorcyclist safety.'”

The issue, said Megan, is that of the 10, only 1 represents motorcyclists, although many of the others are themselves motorcyclists. The greater issue here is not entirely clear to me.

• Ethanol: As the Environmental Protection Agency pushes for higher percentages of ethanol in gasoline, motorcycles are at risk. Older bikes, especially, can be harmed by too much ethanol in the gas. While you could suggest that any alert rider can be careful not to use high-ethanol gas, some folks argue that that possibility should be forestalled so as to protect those who are unaware. And while I’m pretty aware, I recognize that there are people out there who don’t pay as much attention as I do. So I’m supportive of these efforts.

• Infrastructure Modernization: Similar to the RPM Act, it would seem obvious that as roads and infrastructure are built and improved, motorcycles are taken into consideration in the planning. But just trusting that to happen would be foolish. We need to keep an eye on things and ensure that what is so obvious to us is also clear in the minds of those doing the planning. “Oh gosh, that never occurred to us,” is not something we want to hear.

So. You may not belong to the AMA, the MRF, ABATE, or any other of these organizations. But be aware that you benefit from their efforts.

Biker Quote for Today

Love is all you need . . . oh, and a motorcycle.

“Welcome to Colorado Interstate W-470, brought to you courtesy of the Northwest Parkway Authority.”

What’s that? Aren’t interstate highways owned and operated by the federal government? Well, that’s the way it used to be, but in this age of trying to reduce spending and cut budgets, more and more of the public infrastructure is being handed over on long-term leases to private, for-profit entities. The Northwest Parkway Authority is not one of these; it is in fact a creation of several local jurisdictions, but this is a variation of the same theme.

The issue is whether these private operators will have to ability to impose different restrictions than those for federally operated highways. This was one of the concerns voiced last weekend at the Motorcycle Riders Foundation‘s Meeting of the Minds here in Denver.

What might happen? Well, in Chicago, for instance, several years ago the city council passed an ordinance banning motorcycles from Lakeshore Drive after a certain hour of the night. The issue was excessive noise from bikes disturbing the folks living nearby. The problem was that that stretch of Lakeshore Drive is a U.S. highway, and federal law prohibits the kind of restriction Chicago wanted to impose. The ordinance was overturned.

But what if Lakeshore Drive were operated by a for-profit “Lakeshore Drive Agency”? Would they have gotten away with it?

There really isn’t a clear answer but that’s what the MRF is concerned about. They want to make sure that there is a clear answer enacted into law, and that that clear answer holds that federal policies DO apply and cannot be ignored. It takes relationship building with legislators and congressmen, lobbying, and a lot of behind-the-scenes hard work.

Just figured you needed to know.

Biker Quote for Today

The battle for bikers’ rights is not about patches, parties, or poker runs. We fight to protect the freedom and promote the interests of American motorcyclists … to defend our right to choose our own modes of transportation, attire, and lifestyle … to deter and defy discrimination against us … and to vanquish those who violate our rights or right-of-way. — Bruce Arnold

A big part of the Motorcycle Riders Foundation’s Meeting of the Minds, which took place here in Denver last weekend, is looking ahead to the issues we as motorcyclists are likely to face in the near future. Rather than simply react, the MRF wants to be proactive. Rather than scramble in a disorganized fashion for responses when new legislation is proposed, the MRF wants to have its position and its talking points already determined and disseminated to its membership.

So just what are the issues that appear to be on the horizon? Here are the ones I gleaned from my discussion with MRF President Kirk “Hardtail” Willard, from the various speakers, and from the audience during open discussion.

• Rider and motorist training
  The MRF and the state motorcyclist rights organizations (SMRO) that are its constituent groups strongly advocate for rider and motorist training. However, they are concerned about a move to make such training mandatory, because they fear that the capacity does not exist to offer that training to that many people. This looks like it could be a balancing act.
• Health insurance
  Not so much on the horizon as current, this issue has to do with efforts to pass the HIPAA Recreational Injury Technical Correction Act, and end the legal ability of insurance companies to refuse to provide benefits when someone is injured while engaged in legal but so-called “risky” activities. I’ve written about this before.
• Protecting 2010 funds
  The so-called 2010 funds are the dollars earmarked by government for rider training programs. You’ll recall that I’ve written about U.S. Dept. of Transportation Sec. Mary Peters’ efforts to divert some of this money to promote mandatory helmet legislation. There are other threats to this money as well. When states run into budget difficulties these funds are attractive to politicians as a way to balance the budget, regardless of the fact that they are often paid solely by motorcyclists for motorcycle-related purposes.
• The Transportation Equity Act
  This pending bill will have major influence on highway spending in coming years. The MRF wants to ensure that motorcyclists are included in the planning and not just an afterthought.
• Graduated licensing
  From what I understand, graduated licensing is very common in Europe. This means that you start out on a small bike, learn to ride, and as you demonstrate competency you earn the right to ride bigger and bigger bikes. Frankly, I’m not clear on the issues here, or the concerns the MRF has about this. I’ll try to find out more and address this issue again.
• Right to repair
  This issue was raised during a panel discussion on Saturday, with two Harley-Davidson representatives on the panel being addressed. Speakers from the floor expressed their unhappiness with computer chips that shut down the bike when non-H-D mechanics work on them. The reps replied that the computer chips do allow some modification, whereas some governmental agencies are pressing for simply welding carburetors and exhaust pipes on permanently.

There’s more, but this gives you a bit of an idea about what’s going on. It is inevitable that you’ll be hearing more about these issues.

Biker Quote for Today

The biggest problem facing motorcyclists today is that we live in a nanny state, and if people think you can “save just one life” by banning motorcycles, they’d do it. — Jay Leno

Let’s start with two statements that I think we can all agree on:

1. Helmets would not be an issue if motorcycles did not get in crashes.

2. It is crashes, not the failure to wear a helmet, that kills motorcyclists.

Speaking Friday at the Motorcycle Riders Foundation‘s Meeting of the Minds here in Denver, “Doc Ski” Wasileski, Ph.D., addressed the issue of rider safety in a talk titled “A Failed Safety Paradigm.” And the point Doc Ski made can be summed up as such: “If you get in a bad enough crash, you’re gonna die. Crashes kill bikers. Crash prevention saves lives.”

Doc Ski argued that ever since the Hurt Report, “Motorcycle Accident Cause Factors and Identification of Countermeasures,” the government agencies involved in transportation safety have followed the approach of working for crash mitigation. That is, safer crashes. In cars that means seat belts and air bags and other clearly effective means. When it comes to motorcycles, however, the idea of safer crashes does not work as well. As Doc Ski said, you will die if you get in a bad enough accident, regardless of whether you’re wearing a helmet.

Thus the failed paradigm. Doc Ski, who serves as the MRF’s resident statistician, quoted his own studies that show no statistical difference in fatality rates between states with mandatory helmet laws and states with no helmet laws. And he echoed the MRF’s position that rider training, motorist share-the-road training, and impaired riding programs are what lower fatality rates, not stricter protective requirements and vehicle design modifications.

Nevertheless, as many speakers stated repeatedly over the course of the conference, stricter regulation is coming. The form that that regulation takes will be determined at least in part by how effectively the motorcycling community’s voice is heard. One purpose of the Meeting of the Minds is to ensure that that voice is heard, and effectively.

Issues the MRF is expecting to address in the near future include mandatory rider education, graduated licensing, and restricted access for motorcycles on some roadways.

Be grateful that someone is out there fighting for your rights. Consider joining them in the effort. You’ve got nothing to lose but your rights.

Biker Quote for Today

We want to be free to ride our machines without being hassled by the man. — Peter Fonda, The Wild Angels, 1966

I’ve been at the Motorcycle Riders Foundation Meeting of the Minds, which is currently in progress here in Denver, and I’ll have a lot to report over the next several posts. I figure I’ll start with U.S. Dept. of Transportation Sec. Mary Peters considering that I’ve written about her here on several previous occasions.

The word is cautiously good. As I’ve stated before, Peters is a biker herself but, having had a bad spill and escaping more serious injury due to her helmet, she had become somewhat of a helmet zealot. More specifically, she was urging that funds designated for rider training be diverted to efforts to pass helmet laws in all states. I won’t go into all the issues that raises, I did that earlier. Go read that post to get the details.

Her proposal was met with solid opposition from the various biker organizations, including the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA), the MRF, and numerous ABATE groups, to name several. Speaking today with Kirk “Hardtail” Willard, the MRF’s president, I asked about the status of this dispute.

As Hardtail tells me, Peters first backed off saying that the rider training money should not be spent to promote mandatory helmet laws but rather to promote voluntary helmet usage. That was an improvement but still evoked some of the same issues as her original proposal.

After further discussion, Hardtail said, she backed off further, apologizing for the whole misguided proposal and promising to send letters to all state governors explicitly nullifying her proposal.

The reason the word is cautiously good is that those letters have not been sent yet. “We want to see those letters,” said Hardtail. He added that Sec. Peters is planning a press conference today or tomorrow and the MRF is interested to see what she plans to discuss.

As for rider safety, the MRF president reiterated the organization’s position that the goal of lowering motorcycle fatality rates will be accomplished more successfully by working to reduce accidents through rider training, share the road programs for motorists, and impaired riding programs, rather than increasing helmet use. Fewer accidents, not safer accidents, will save riders’ lives.

Biker Quote for Today

Well-trained reflexes are quicker than luck.