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March 2002
Region 5 Legislative News
There’s so much going on at the state and federal levels that it’s almost overwhelming, brothers and sisters! Let me first start off with a little information about two things that our friends (?) at NHTSA have done.
The
first thing is that after congress enacted the TREAD bill last year, a
piece of legislation designed to improve reporting and recall protocol
after the Ford/Firestone debacle, the bill was sent to NHTSA for
rulemaking. Just a week prior to the end of the public comment period
on the proposed rulemaking, language was found buried in the text that
would have us, as motorcyclists, wearing “retro-reflective
apparel” (as in REFLECTIVE ORANGE VESTS) while we ride. Now, I
don’t know about you, but I don’t particularly want to do that.
Actually, the REAL question here is, why would they put language
pertaining to motorcycle clothing in a tire recall bill?!? The answer,
brothers and sisters, is that those folks are aware that we, as
motorcycle rights activists, keep a watchful eye on any legislation
pertaining to motorcycles. They thought that burying this kind of
language in a bill that has nothing to do with motorcycles would
increase their chances to get this idiotic proposal in place and on
our backs before we knew what was happening! A blindside punch! How
enchanting of them. We have taken some steps to try to extend the
public comment period on this particular item, and if we are not
successful, you can expect a full-blown letter writing campaign to our
senators and representatives in Washington to get the language
stricken. The
second little item of note about NHTSA’s hidden agenda is the fact
that they are skewing facts for some of their reports by not including
all the data. It’s just like the old computer adage: garbage in,
garbage out. The recent NHTSA report highlighting the increase in
motorcycle fatalities in Texas and Arkansas since the repeal of the
helmet laws in those states was challenged in the USAA (an insurance
company) magazine. They reported NHTSA’s figures in one of their
columns, and an alert rider from Louisiana wrote to pose several
questions. Those questions were: 1. Did the report include the
increased number of motorcycles registered and on the road? 2. Did the
figures factor in the increased number of miles ridden? 3. Was there
ANY effort to determine whether a helmet could have saved any of those
lives? The response is pretty amazing, and here it is: “We
reprinted statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration on increases in the fatality rates of motorcyclists
following the repeal of helmet laws in Texas and Arkansas. After
receiving member feedback questioning these statistics, we took a
closer look at the NHTSA study results and found the statistics we
reported had not been adjusted for increases in registrations and
miles traveled. When registrations are factored in, fatality rates in
Arkansas dropped from 11.54 percent per 10,000 motorcycles in 1996 to
10.92 in 1998. In Texas, fatality rates increased from 6.99 per 10,000
motorcycles to 8.85 per 10,000. The NHTSA study does not attempt to
determine whether wearing a helmet would have prevented any reported
fatalities.” Well,
imagine that, brothers and sisters! A governmental agency purposely
omitting data and failing to investigate cause and effect while
purporting to publish a factual report! Of course, most folks,
especially our leaders in the statehouses and in congress, who are
bombarded with more reading material than they can handle, take the
report at face value, trusting the content without a second thought.
That’s how NHTSA, an agency that has never been a friend to
motorcycling, and the safety-nazis get new, more intrusive laws on the
books. Not so much by outright lying, but by the overt act of
incomplete, inaccurate, or purposely skewed data. It’s issues like
this, my brothers and sisters, that make it absolutely imperative that
you continue to stay committed and involved in ABATE! Now, do the
right thing, and get to your county ABATE meeting this month!
See
you at the meeting, Duke Jones Region 5 Legislative Coordinator Email: region5mcrights@legislator.com |
