NCOM Coast To Coast Biker News for November 2014

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.

Compiled & Edited by Bill Bish,

National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM)

Driven by discontent, disillusionment and distrust, American voters saw red in November’s mid-term elections and whisked control of the Unites States Senate to the first Republican majority since 2006 and won additional seats in the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives, as well as favoring the GOP in numerous statewide races and a majority of gubernatorial contests nationwide.

While most of the electorate is simply happy to see an end to a record $4 billion in campaign ads appearing incessantly on television, radio and newspapers, and in in-boxes and mailboxes everywhere, motorcycle riders should be especially glad to have won at least a temporary respite from helmet law threats from Congress and in states where Republicans have remained or gained in governance.

As recently as this summer, the Obama Administration included a thinly-veiled attempt to impose a national helmet law through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) surface transportation reauthorization proposal to Congress, but the measure was derailed by the Republican-controlled House.  Three years ago, motorcyclists across America successfully opposed a proposed amendment to S.1449, the “Motor Vehicle and Highway Safety Improvement Act of 2011,” that would have called for a National Mandatory Helmet Law for all motorcyclists.

Although federal agencies like the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) will undoubtedly continue to advance their pro-helmet law agendas, lacking a Democrat majority in either chamber will likely curb enthusiasm for helmet law mandates from Washington, for now.

In a unique scheme to punish motorcyclists for exercising their right to ride without a helmet, a Discussion Draft of a Senate bill proposed for the 2015 52nd Legislature for the state of New Mexico would create a system of taxation for riders who opt not to wear a helmet.

Specifically, “The department [Motor Vehicles Division] shall make available distinctive motorcycle validation stickers that signify that any person age eighteen or older who operates a motorcycle on which that sticker is affixed are not required by law to wear a safety helmet.  The department shall issue validation sticker when a qualifying person pays the fee as provided for.”

A standard validation sticker is just $15 annually, but it would cost $692 per year for the “distinctive motorcycle validating sticker” that allows the rider to go lidless…the additional tax revenue to be distributed as follows: $541.60 to the trauma system fund, $135.40 to the brain injury services fund, and $15 as additionally provided by law.  Otherwise, the rider and passengers must wear a helmet, even though New Mexico law currently does not require helmet use for those 18 and older.

“My concern is this will turn into a helmet law in New Mexico,” said Annette Torrez, chairperson for the New Mexico Motorcycle Rights Organization (NMMRO) and a member of the National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM) board of directors, who reported on the effort at a recent NCOM Regional Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland.  “We found out that a lobbyist in New Mexico asked a senator to draft the bill, and though it does not have a sponsor yet, we are currently researching who is behind it.”

The Polaris Slingshot, a brand new three-wheeled sports-vehicle now just arriving at dealerships across the U.S., lacks componentry necessary to be considered “a car” and in most states you register it as a motorcycle; but the Texas DMV says “Whoa pardner, not so fast.”

Though Polaris says they’d already received approval from the Lone Star State to sell their Slingshot there, according to a letter to Texas Polaris dealers posted on a Slingshot forum on November 4th they were notified by the Vehicle Titling and Registration Division of the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles that the DMV is taking the position that even if dealers are licensed to sell it as a motorcycle, owners of the Slingshot will not be able to register it because it is not street legal as far as Texas “motorcycles” are concerned.

The conflict hinges on the wording used to define a motorcycle in Texas. The Texas Department of Public Safety Motorcycle Operator’s Manual says three-wheelers are defined by certain characteristics, one of them being “saddle seating,” meaning “seating in which the rider/passenger straddles the vehicle,” but the Slingshot’s seats sit side-by-side.  Because it doesn’t have a “saddle,” the DMV ruling prohibits the Polaris Slingshot from being registered as a motorcycle, so they will not be sold in the state until this “VERY urgent matter” is resolved.

The Texas precedence has the potential to sway other states to define the Slingshot similarly, a scenario Polaris is surely hoping to avoid.

Polaris has fought hard for their not-car classification, and have used the fact that their vehicles are legally considered motorcycles to ease their passage through regulatory waters, but this gray area has led to some other unintended legal consequences, such as operator licensing, vehicle registration and applicable helmet requirements.  Ultimately, it has everything to do with the way laws are written and how “motorcycle” is defined therein, which varies from state to state.

New 5-Ball Racing Shirts.

Indiana officials are warning motor scooter drivers that starting in January they’ll need license plates on those bikes.  Legislators have approved Indiana’s first license requirements for scooters, and under the new law drivers of scooters with engines of 50 cubic centimeters or less will need to buy license plates and pass a Bureau of Motor Vehicles test involving road signals and signs.  Operators of scooters with larger engines will be required to follow motorcycle requirements, including holding a valid motorcycle license or learner’s permit.

Evansville police officials told a legislative committee that scooters had often been involved in accidents and used in crimes such as robberies, but that the owners couldn’t be found because they lacked any registration.

The new law doesn’t require insurance for drivers of the smaller scooters, and the registration will cost $26.35, plus a $10 excise tax.

Law sponsor Rep. Dave Wolkins (R-Winona Lake) said not requiring a driver’s license for scooter operators was important because he felt it was necessary that those with drunken driving convictions still have a way to get to work.

Baja Inc. of Anderson, South Carolina, has agreed to pay a record $4.3 million civil penalty to settle a complaint from federal regulators that it delayed reporting safety defects on its go-karts and minibikes, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has reported.

The settlement resolves CPSC charges that the firm knowingly failed to report within 24 hours, as required by federal law, known defects and an unreasonable risk of serious injury involving 11 models of minibikes and go-carts sold nationwide from November 2004 through June 2010.

The defects in Baja’s products, which consisted of fuel leaks and unintended acceleration, resulted in the recall in 2010 of 308,000 Baja Motorsports minibikes and go-karts, which is when Baja filed its Full Report with CPSC.

Although the company agreed to pay the fine, it did not admit any wrongdoing and said it was paying to “avoid the cost, distraction, delay and uncertainty” of continued proceedings.

Previously, the highest penalty the safety commission had issued was a $4 million fine against Graco Children’s Products in 2005 for failure to inform CPSC about dangers to children.

U.S. Military installations worldwide require military members and employees to utilize a variety of safety equipment to ride motorcycles on base that is not required by laws outside their boundaries, but some new Army rules in Hawaii sound way off base.

On Nov. 1, Military Police and leaders at all levels began enforcement of U.S. Army-Hawaii Policy Letter 11 on Motorcycle Safety, consisting of four major changes to the pre-existing policy, including changes to required safety equipment and prohibited equipment.

“When operating a motorcycle on USARHAW installations, riders must wear a DOT approved helmet, protective eyewear, abrasion-resistant gloves, long pants (excluding PT pants), long sleeves, and leather/canvass boots or sturdy over-the-ankle shoes,” and such regs are typical of most military bases, but their new policy “prohibits riders from wearing high-top basketball shoes while riding.”

Additionally, the new policy specifies the use of reflective gear at all times, and riders must wear either a fluorescent (brightly colored) and reflective vest, jacket or upper outer garment, or they must wear a motorcycle specific jacket with padding/armor.

But what’s most concerning is “Prohibited Equipment” that is NOT allowed to be worn: “Riders on-post are not authorized to wear any garment that displays an affiliation with a motorcycle club or other group that offers or solicits membership.”

The new policy applies to all motorcycle operators on USARHAW installations. In addition, the policy applies to all 25th Infantry Division Soldiers, both on and off-post.

A series of new studies out of the University of California, Berkeley found that the practice of lane splitting poses no additional danger to motorcyclists.  California is the only state that allows for the maneuver, which is the act of a motorcyclist passing slow or stalled traffic by riding in between cars along the lane lines.

Two yearlong studies were recently released by UC Berkeley and were commissioned by the California Highway Patrol and the Office of Traffic Safety, and determined that the seemingly risky move of weaving in-between traffic to be no more dangerous than just riding a motorcycle, when executed in a safe and prudent manner.

The state-commissioned research considered thousands of accident reports and found lane splitting is poses no more risk than riding a motorcycle in a marked lane, with the exception when lane splitting (a.k.a.; lane sharing, or filtering) is done at speeds over 10 miles an hour in excess of traffic flow.

One report is a crash study that examined 8,262 motorcyclists who were involved in crashes while lane splitting between June 2012 and August 2013.  The second report examined lane-splitting habits among various groups in 2012 and 2013.

Researchers found lane splitters are less likely to be rear-ended (2.7% of crashes vs. 4.6% for average motorcyclists), and lane-splitting motorcyclists involved in crashes were notably less likely than other motorcyclists to suffer head injury (9.1% vs. 16.5%), torso injury (18.6% vs. 27.3%), or fatal injury (1.4% vs. 3.1%).

Lane-splitting in California appears to be on the rise, with 62% of motorcyclists admitting to lane-splitting on both freeways and other roads, a 7.5-percentage-point increase over 2013.

Data from the studies will be shared with the CHP, which this year began working on guidelines for lane-splitting.  Authors say the report, the first of its kind about lane-splitting, will be followed up by more in-depth analysis, including looking at rider age, rider gender, motorcycle characteristics and collision and roadway characteristics.

In many countries, lane splitting and filtering are normal practices for motorcyclists, particularly in highly urbanized areas of Europe and Asia.

Following consultation with riders, motorists and road safety groups, the government of Queensland, Australia decided to make changes to the laws regarding motorcycle riding, and beginning early next year motorcyclists will now be able to move around stationary or slow moving vehicles, as long as they are travelling less than 30 kilometres an hour (18.64 mph).

A trial in New South Wales found lane filtering could help ease traffic congestion and Transport Minister Scott Emerson agreed it should be rolled out in Queensland, but it will only be allowed for experienced riders and won’t be allowed in school zones during school hours.

Among other “sensible changes,” motorcyclists will also now be able to legally stretch their leg off the bike to help avoid fatigue, take both feet off the footsteps to reverse into a parking space and turn their head to do a shoulder check.

QUOTABLE QUOTE:  “Since when do we have to agree with people to defend them from injustice?”

~ Lillian Hellman (1905-1984), American playwright and memoirist