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. For more information, call us at 1-(800) ON-A-BIKE or visit us on our website at http://www.ON-A-BIKE.com
NCOM COAST TO COAST BIKER NEWSCompiled & Edited by Bill Bish,National Coalition of Motorcyclists
THE PRICE OF FREEDOM ABATE of Florida, Inc. has concluded an economic impact study for the first three fiscal years of Florida’s amended helmet law, and the bottom line reveals that “freedom of choice” has generated over a billion dollars into the state’s economy from the increase in ridership. From 2000 to 2003 Florida’s motorcycle registrations went from 228,914 to 355,007, which represents a 55% increase. The motorcycle registration figures are compiled from the statistics of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. The monetary figures come from the license and registration bureau.
114,457 motorcycles at a low average of $10,000 each = $1,144,570,000
Sales tax on motorcycles at 6% = $68,674,200
Registration fees on motorcycles = $4,578,280
Change of Title = $3,406,094
TOTAL = $1,221,228,574
“This is a low estimate as it doesn’t include accessories and other items bought,” according to James “Doc” Reichenbach II, State President and Lobbyist for ABATE of Florida, and Chairman of the Board for the National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM). “This is over 1.2 BILLION DOLLARS in three years that was put into the economy of the State of Florida.”
Over 75 MILLION DOLLARS went directly into the state treasury for the general fund. This does not include the tourist money that has increased because of Florida now being a freedom of choice state. In the past three years, over 1.3 billion dollars has been spent in Florida for Bike Week and Biketoberfest.
“I hope this report will help anyone who has heard the bad publicity that has come out of our amended law,” said Doc. “The motorcyclists have certainly paid their fair share into the Florida economy and it can be done in every state.”
CHINESE MOVE TO BAN MOTORCYCLES China, the world’s leading motorcycle producer, has begun banning motorcycles in urban areas. Currently, nearly 100 large and medium-size cities, including Beijing, Guangzhou and Xi’an, ban or limit the use of motorcycles to curb increasing air pollution, accident rates and crime. Analysts estimate that China will not have an urban market for motorcycles by 2010 if more cities continue to ban their use.?
Since 1994, cities like Shanghai, Tianjin and Nantong have stopped issuing licenses to new motorcycles. In Shanghai, many motorcycle shops were even shut down recently.
In 2002, the city of Guangzhou (formerly Canton), shortened the service life of motorbikes to 8 or 10 years from the previous 13 years, and is offering cash rewards to owners who discard their bikes before their “end of life” expires. Within 3 months, the city will begin phasing out motorcycles, leading up to a total ban by 2007.
Nowadays, the Chinese government is following a “no encouragement and no support” policy towards the motorcycle industry, despite the fact that for the seventh year in a row China has produced more motorcycles than any other country — 13 million annually, with more than 3 million exported to foreign markets every year. The lucrative industry attracted nearly 200 producers during the 1990’s, but only 18 have an annual production capacity of over 200,000 units, and only three can make more than 1 million each.
“Under the current circumstances, where even county-level cities have started to restrict the use of motorbikes, we have no choice but to focus on the countryside and international markets,” Zhang Dahu, director of the Motorcycle Association under the Association of Chinese Automobile Manufacturers, told China Business Weekly.
In the meantime, American motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson has enlisted the U.S. federal government to fight what it calls protectionist Chinese trade practices, which include a 50% duty on imports, that make it nearly impossible for foreign motorcycle manufacturers to establish a foothold in the planet?s most populace nation?and potentially it’s biggest motorcycle market.
Orwell’s comin’ true!
DUTCH SAFETY EXPERT WANTS MOTORCYCLES OFF THE ROAD Dutch road safety expert Matthijs Koornstra wants motorcycles discouraged from using public roads, stating that “?all motorcycles should be removed from traffic or at least people should be discouraged from riding them through drastically increasing road taxes and insurance premiums.”
The Federation of European Motorcyclists Associations (FEMA) has criticized Koornstra’s simplistic views to improve the safety of Powered Two-Wheelers (motorcycles), which they say “favors marginalization of motorcycles to simply make them disappear from the roads.” Unfortunately, previous meetings with Koornstra have not been productive, reports FEMA.
MOTORCYCLES EASE LONDON CONGESTION Since February 17 last year, motorists driving into the heart of western Europe’s biggest city on weekdays between 7 am and 6:30 pm have had to fork out a toll of five pounds ($9.45 US, or 7.40 euros), but motorcycles are exempt.?
Transport of London, the body which oversees the congestion charge, says the fee has cut traffic delays by 30 percent and also reduced the number of cars entering the zone by 30 percent. Overall, traffic entering central London has dropped 18 percent and the average speed has risen by 15 percent.
Motorcycle sales are up 20 percent in London, and motorcycle traffic in the city has increased 20 percent, but there has been a 15 percent decrease in motorcycle casualties.
The toll is not popular with commuters, however, with 70 percent of drivers opposed to continuing the congestion charge, while 42 percent of retailers blame it for a drop in area commerce.
LA-DI-F***ING-DA A routine traffic stop last June 15 near Gate City, Virginia turned into a free speech issue when motorcyclist Roy Lynn Greene was pulled over for loud exhaust and the trooper noticed his leather jacket.
“While he had the gentleman pulled over, he noticed these two patches that were on his leather jacket that contained the ‘F’ word on both of them,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Marcus McClung. “He was riding his motorcycle on a public road on a Sunday, and those words were in plain view of everyone, including children. People coming out of church don’t need to see that,” McClung said.
In addition to the noise violation, Greene was issued a citation under the Code of Virginia, Section 18.2374, which is classified as possession of obscene material in a public place, a Class 1 misdemeanor.
The case has already been before the judge in general district court and was appealed by the Commonwealth to circuit court, contending that this is a violation of community standards.
“I believe that the statements on the patches were obscene and the arresting officer acted accordingly in charging the defendant,” said McClung. “I thought (this case) was separate from the other cases that the Supreme Court has ruled upon. They have agreed that statements like ‘f*** the war’ are appropriate because they have some social value. My argument was that the items, or the patches, were obscene by the community of Scott County and have absolutely no social value. The phrase ‘la-di-f***ing-da’ has no social value that I see. Whether or not the judge agrees with that, I don’t know.”
Circuit Judge Birg Sergent is expected to render a decision in an appeal made by McClung in the case next month. Greene faces possible jail time and up to $2,500 in fines if McClung’s appeal is approved.
FLORIDA BILL WOULD FUND ABATE SAFETY PROJECTS Trauma centers around the state of Florida would get a much needed financial boost from some of their most frequent patients — drivers who run red lights — under a bill that jacks up the fines for the crime. And House Bill 65, sponsored by House Speaker Pro Tempore Lindsay Harrington (R-Punta Gorda) would also turn the motorcyclist advocacy group American Bikers Aiming Toward Education into a major educator.
Under an amendment tacked onto the bill Tuesday, February 17, ABATE of Florida would receive $1 million per year “for the purpose of fostering motorcycle safety awareness, education and research programs relating to accident prevention.”
Last year, the organization had to “rob Peter to pay Paul” in order to spend about $150,000 on education programs, James “Doc” Reichenbach II told Greg Martin, a staff writer for the Sun-Herald. Reichenbach is the State President of ABATE of Florida, its capitol lobbyist, and Chairman of the Board of the National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM).
“I want to see this thing go to billboards,” Reichenbach said of the education campaign, noting that ABATE would post 250 billboards to remind motorists to watch for motorcycles. “I want to send my people into high schools. I want to hold safety seminars to see what we can do to reduce accidents and injuries.”
His comments came after the House Transportation Committee voted unanimously to pass the bill. Next, it must survive a review by the Finance and Taxation Committee before going to the House floor. A Senate version must travel a parallel road.
If passed, the increased penalties would generate an additional $57.6 million, according to an analysis by transportation committee staff. All but $1 million for ABATE would get put into a trauma center trust fund to be disbursed to each of 22 trauma centers in the state.
Harrington, who is confident of passage, said he sponsored the bill at the request of ABATE which expressed concern over judges who had fined motorists as little as $80 in accidents that killed motorcyclists.
NEWS OF THE WEIRD: HELMET SAVES MAN FROM GUNSHOT This newsbit from Dixie Rider may be evidence that wearing a helmet can save your life, at least if you’re being shot at. According to a Channel 13 Eyewitness News broadcast in Houston, Texas, an unidentified man was saved when he was shot by his girlfriend, because he was still wearing his motorcycle helmet.According to the TV news report, the couple had been riding together earlier in the evening, and an argument erupted when they arrived home around midnight.
Police say the girlfriend then shot the male in the head, but his full-face helmet protected him from serious injury. The female then barricaded herself in a nearby apartment until police hostage negotiation teams were able to convince her to surrender. She was charged with aggravated assault.
CAMPBELL ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT It is with heavy heart that NCOM relays the March 3rd announcement that U.S. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell will not seek re-election for health reasons.
Campbell is a longtime member of the NCOM Legislative Task Force and has been a champion for bikers’ rights for many years, having been actively involved in every piece of motorcycle legislation passed by Congress since the eighties. He was elected to serve as a Democrat in the Colorado House starting in 1982, serving two terms before being elected to Congress. After serving in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1987 to 1992, Campbell won the Senate seat he now holds. He switched to the Republican Party in 1995, and was re-elected in 1998 by nearly two-thirds of the vote.
Born April 13, 1933, in Auburn, Calif., Campbell is one of two children of May Vierra, a Portuguese immigrant, and Albert Campbell, a member of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Tribe. The senator is one of 44 chiefs of that tribe, and one of only eight Native American Indians ever to serve in Congress. He is a renowned jewelry designer whose Nighthorse signature pieces are prized by collectors of fine native jewelry.
Campbell served in the U.S. Air Force from 1951-53, and fought in the Korean War as an airman second class. He graduated from San Jose University in 1957 with a degree in physical education and fine arts, and later attended Meiji University in Tokyo in 1960 as a special research student. In 1964, Campbell competed in the Olympic Games as captain of the U.S. Judo Team.
Motorcycle enthusiasts everywhere will remember Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell as more than their legislative warrior, but as a fellow biker who rode his Harley to work in the Nation’s Capital, to events, and throughout Colorado, including the Four Corners Iron Horse Rally which he founded. Thanks for everything, Ben, best wishes and we?ll see ya down the road?
QUOTABLE QUOTE: “A man’s friendships are one of the best measures of his worth.”
Charles Darwin, British Naturalist (1809-82)
