Thunder Roads LA Magazine July 2017 TRLA-JULY-Final-Web | Page 32

Biker News Bytes
“HOW TO INTERACT
WITH POLICE”
REQUIRED
EDUCATION CLASSES
bY: bILL bISH, ncom
THE AIM/NCOM MOTORCYCLE E-NEWS SERVICE is
brought to you by Aid to Injured Motorcyclists (A.I.M.)
and the National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM),
and is sponsored by the Law Offices of Richard M.
Lester. If you’ve been involved in any kind of accident,
call us at 1-(800) ON-A-BIKE or visit
www.ON-A-BIKE.com.
BIKER ANTI-PROFILING MEASURES UNDER
CONSIDERATION IN CONGRESS
H.Res.318/S.Res.154: “Promoting awareness of
motorcycle profiling and encouraging collaboration
and communication with the motorcycle
community and law enforcement officials to
prevent instances of profiling,” was referred to the
Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland
Security, and Investigations on June 2, 2017.
Concerned motorcyclists are encouraged to contact
their federal lawmakers in the U.S. Senate & House
of Representatives to co-sponsor and support these
bills.
Under the companion measures in the Senate and
House, “motorcycle profiling” means “the illegal use
of the fact that a person rides a motorcycle or wears
motorcycle related apparel as a factor in deciding to
stop and question, take enforcement action, arrest,
or search a person or vehicle with or without legal
basis under the Constitution of the United States.
FEDERAL LEGISLATION COULD PROLIFERATE E15
GAS
Despite objections that the proliferation of E15
gasoline into the U.S. marketplace will negatively
impact every American who owns a car, lawnmower
or boat, two new federal bills have been introduced
to expand availability of the higher concentrate
ethanol fuel.
Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE) and U.S. Representative
Adrian Smith (R-NE) introduced the “Consumer
and Fuel Retailer Choice Act” (S.517 & H.R.1311)
amending the Clean Air Act to allow the sale of E15
(15% blend ethanol gas) during summer months
(June 1 - September 15).
Motorcycle and ATV owners risk damaging their
machines by even inadvertently putting E15
in their tanks, as the higher blends of ethanol
can cause engine and fuel system damage, void
manufacturers’ warranties and violate federal law.
Motorcyclists should also be concerned about
the availability of compatible fuel supplies if gas
stations primarily provide E15 gasoline that’s EPA-
approved for the majority of their driving customers
-- but no on- or off-road motorcycles or ATVs appear
on the EPA’s list of vehicles approved to use E15.
ZERO MOTORCYCLES NEW “DON’T WAIT FOR
WASHINGTON” E-BIKE PROGRAM
The recently launched program was created to
advocate for electric motorcycles and assure buyers
they will get the Electric Motorcycle Federal Tax
Credit. “Don’t Wait For Washington” assures “up to
$1,869 on a Zero motorcycle if the government fails
to reinstate the Electric Motorcycle Tax Credit.”
The initiative serves the dual purposes of driving
the conversation on electric motorcycles forward
while legislation languishes in Washington, and of
motivating would-be electric motorcycle riders to
join the e-movement.
Should the federal government fail to reinstate the
tax credit by the end of the year, then Zero will step
up and send 10% cash back to buyers, matching
the expired tax credit for new, eligible 2017 Zero
motorcycles.
MAINSTREAM MEDIA PROMOTES RIDERSHIP
According to the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC),
a not-for-profit national trade association, their
2014 rider survey reports that “56% of Generation
Y riders use their motorcycles as a primary means of
transportation,” and that factoid recently appeared
in a Ride To Work Day graphic on the front page of
the June 19 edition of USA Today’s Life section.
“This major mainstream media placement is
especially significant to the MIC as the industry
30 Thunder Roads Magazine Louisiana | July 2017 | www.thunderroadslouisiana.com
association is actively promoting motorcycles as
transportation and seeking new generations of
riders,” says the MIC communications department,
which has previously worked on Ride to Work Day
segments with “Good Morning America,” ABC’s
national morning news show, and with “The KTLA
Morning News,” the biggest morning news program
in Southern California.
The MIC exists to “preserve, protect and promote
motorcycling through government relations,
communications and media relations, statistics
and research, aftermarket programs, AIMExpo,
development of data communications standards,
and activities surrounding technical and regulatory
issues.”
LOUISIANA TO TEACH NEW LICENSEES HOW TO
INTERACT WITH POLICE
Louisiana Governor Bel Edwards has signed into law
a requirement that driver education classes must
include a segment on interacting with police in
their course curriculum.
Introduced by Senators Ryan Gatti (R-Bossier),
Wesley Bishop (D-New Orleans) and Gary Smith
Jr. (D-Norco) on March 20, 2017, SB17 “Provides
for driver education to include instruction on
appropriate driver conduct when stopped by a law
enforcement officer.”
The bipartisan measure was signed by the governor
on June 16 as Act No. 286 with an effective date of
January 1, 2018.
HANDLEBAR HEIGHT LAW MODIFIED IN MARYLAND
Maryland has become the most recent state to
modify or repeal their antiquated and discriminatory
handlebar height law, which many states enacted
in the sixties to provide a law enforcement tool for
pulling over bikers on their choppers.
Governor Larry Hogan approved Senate Bill 668
on May 25, 2017; “Increasing, from 15 inches to 20
inches, the maximum height that the handlebars of
a motorcycle may be above a specified part of the
motorcycle seat in order for a person to lawfully
operate the motorcycle.”
SB668 was introduced February 3, 2017 by lead
sponsor Senator H. Wayne Norman, Jr. (R-D35) and
becomes effective October 1, 2017, and ABATE of
Maryland advises to “Remember that the height is
measured from the seat to the highest point on the
handlebars, not from the bottom of the handlebar
to the grips or highest point.”
NEW HAMPSHIRE OKAYS COLORED HEADLAMPS FOR
MOTORCYCLES, SAME AS CARS
New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu signed
HB458 into law on June 8, 2017, an Act relative to
motorcycle headlamps. Sponsored by Rep. James
Spillane (R-Deerfield), “This bill allows headlamp
colors approved by the director of the division of
motor vehicles for automobiles to be considered
approved for motorcycle headlamps,” with an
effective date 60 days after its passage (August 7,
2017).
OREGON ENACTS LAWS EFFECTING TRIKES &
AUTOCYCLES
In dealing with the increased popularity of three-
wheeled vehicles, Oregon lawmakers have passed
two new laws to make it easier for riders to get in
the saddle. House Bill 3125 was signed into law by
Governor Kate Brown on June 14, 2017 to define an
“autocycle” and provides that a person may operate
one without a motorcycle endorsement. The Act
takes effect immediately under the Emergency
clause.
Sponsored by the Committee on Transportation
Policy, under HB3125 “autocycle” means a
motorcycle that: (1) Is manufactured to travel on
three wheels; (2) Has a steering wheel for steering
control; and (3) Has nonstraddle seating, and (4)
is equipped with a manufacturer-installed three-
point safety belt or safety harness.
Senate Bill 36 “Provides that Department of
Transportation may waive skills test for person
seeking motorcycle endorsement to operate three-
wheeled motorcycle [trike],” and was also signed by
the governor on June 14.
LICENSE PLATE MOUNTING OPTIONS FOR SOUTH
DAKOTA RIDERS
Effective July 1, 2017, motorcycle owners in South
Dakota will be allowed to mount license plates to
their motorcycle “in any visible manner other than
upside down.”
Governor Dennis Daugaard signed Senate Bill 79
into law on March 9, after overwhelmingly passing
through both chambers of the state legislature.
FAIR WARNING: MOST DRIVERS KNOW THEY’RE BAD
DRIVERS
Millions of drivers admit that they don’t always
make thorough mirrors checks when pulling away,
according a driver survey, with 25% admitting they
don’t look in their mirrors when pulling out into
traffic.
Of 2,025 drivers polled, 15% admitted not always
looking at road signs, 68% admit rarely driving
with both hands on the wheel, and over half (52%)
believed bad habits such as these would ensure
they failed the driving test if they had to do it again.
poor judgment and a lack of road skills says David
Carter, spokesman for Accident Advice Helpline in
the U.K., which conducted the research, adding: “It
is worrying that more people don’t feel confident
in their own skills on the road and feel that they’ve
developed bad habits which would cause them to
not pass their driving test.”
GONE BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN
This year has been tragic for our bikers rights
family, suffering the loss of two past NCOM Board
of Directors; Butch Harbaugh (NCOM Legislative
Task Force) and Dennis “Big D” Watson (NCOM
Region IX), both recipients of the Ron Roloff
Lifetime Achievement Award (2003 & 2006) in
whose memory the recent National Coalition
of Motorcyclists’ NCOM Convention in Reno was
dedicated, and now we regretfully report the
passing of longtime biker advocate and Easyriders
magazine writer “Twiggy” Blakeboro (73, of
Lompoc, CA) who died June 11, 2017. Twiggy was
much beloved by his peers and was a past recipient
of the NCOM Silver Spoke Award - Media (1997).
“Nuff said.” R.I.P. Brothers, Ride In Peace.
QUOTABLE QUOTE
“If not me, then who?”
~ USMC 1st Lt Travis Manion
(Nov 19, 1980 - April 29, 2007),
upon his second Iraq tour;
KIA saving his men from ambush
(TravisManion.org)
Too many people are injured on the roads due to
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