Skip to main content
search
Tag

highway

Mar 17
Love0

NHTSA Responds to Questions from Congress

By General Posts

Just before the end of 2022, Rep. Tim Walberg of Michigan and 26 of his colleagues in Congress sent a letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) regarding recent crashes that involve motorcycles and cars believed to be in self-driving mode.

The response from government regulators has some key takeaways:

  • “NHTSA is actively working to educate consumers and the media that automated driving system (ADS) technologies are not self-driving technologies, and that drivers must always remain engaged in the driving task.”
  • “Crashes involving motorcycles account for less than 2 percent of all reported crashes involving ADS.”
  • “NHTSA is conducting research on how vehicles equipped with crash avoidance technologies react to motorcycles, bicyclists and other vulnerable road users in various scenarios.”

The Motorcycle Riders Foundation is committed to aggressively working with lawmakers to address obvious safety gaps in the deployment of this new technology. While we appreciate that NHTSA is conducting research on this topic, on this topic, motorcyclists are not “vulnerable road users”, motorcyclists are simply road users.

Additionally, it’s unacceptable that consumers falsely believe this technology, deployed on our roads, allows them to sit back and relax while in the driver’s seat. The safety of the nearly 10 million bikers on our nation’s roadways requires that all roadway users act in a responsible manner.

As always Ride Safe and Ride Free.

About Motorcycle Riders Foundation: The Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) provides leadership at the federal level for states’ motorcyclists’ rights organizations as well as motorcycle clubs and individual riders. Visit http://mrf.org

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Stay updated, stay ahead of the curve. Click to Sign up for the Weekly Newsletter from Bikernet Blog for free.

Apr 13
Love0

Mobile Application For Road Safety Enforcement

By General Posts

Known as the Public Eye Enforcement Programme (PEEP), the mobile application will empower anyone with a smart phone to record road traffic violations and forward to the Authority for the prosecution of offenders.

by ghanamma from https://www.ghanamma.com/

NRSA To Introduce Mobile Application For Road Safety Enforcement

The National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) is developing a mobile application to improve road safety across the country.

Known as the Public Eye Enforcement Programme (PEEP), the mobile application will empower anyone with a smart phone to record road traffic violations and forward to the Authority for the prosecution of offenders.

The Board Chairman of the NRSA, Jeremaine Nkrumah, made this known when he led a team of officials from the Authority to commend the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Henry Quartey, for his leadership and determination in championing road safety in the region.

Their visit was also to recognise the minister for his productive collaboration with stakeholders in managing the operations of motorcycles and tricycles on major roads as well as bringing some sanity to the Madina Zongo Junction within the La Nkwatanang Madina Municipality. A citation was presented to the Regional Minister.

PEEP mobile application

Touching on the mobile application, Mr Nkrumah said it would be piloted in the Greater Accra, Eastern and the Ashanti regions immediately after the new legislative Instrument, drafted by the Authority is approved by Parliament.

“We are currently developing a website and mobile application and we are going to take advantage of the constitution aspect of citizens’ arrests and empower anybody who owns a mobile device to be able to record,” Mr Nkrumah noted.

He added that the sender of a video which led to prosecution would be rewarded.

“If a person sends in a video and the video leads to prosecution, the mobile number of the sender if registered with the mobile money, will get a percentage of the fine,” he said.

Mr Nkrumah explained that statistics have shown an increase in the number of vehicles registered as compared to expansion works on roads across the country.

“What is scary in statistics is that for a country of 9,200 square miles and road network of 78,000 square kilometres, roads do not expand as rapidly as the number of vehicles added onto the industry every day,” he said.

He added that 16,000 new vehicles were registered every month, accounting for over 500 vehicles every day into the system.

Tricycle directive

For his part, Mr Quartey thanked the Authority for the recognition and appealed to the officials to support the Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council (GA-RCC) to revisit the implementation of restrictions on tricycles on the Tema highway.

“We had a meeting with the Police Regional Command and we want to revisit the directive. We believe three months’ moratorium is enough.

So I crave your indulgence to avail yourself as quickly as possible for us to move into action, possibly we can do this after the Easter festivities. The RCC has donated a pickup truck and two motorbikes to the Greater Accra Police Command to be used to patrol the stretch of the motorway,” he added

He, however, appealed to corporate bodies and stakeholders to support the activities of the RCC in ensuring safety in the region.

“Operation Clean Your Frontage is also in play. We have had four months of sensitisation, which is enough moratorium. After the Easter holidays, all assemblies in the Greater Accra Region will go into full force to ensure the implementation of the Operation Clean Your Frontage by-law,” he added.

Aug 21
Love0

Bandit’s Cantina: Episode 95

By General Posts

Change is in the Wind
By K. Randall Ball

Bandit couldn’t wait to peel back to the Cantina. He had a ton on his mind, but the ride felt good. The bike and his mental load lifted without the yipping Melody around, but there was way more.

The highway up the Grape Vine blistered with heat but contained mild traffic. He leaned through the curves as if he floated on air unincumbered by the world around him.

Click Here to Read the New Adventure in the Bandit’s Cantina Biker Fiction Series.

Join the Cantina for more exclusive motorcycle content – Subscribe Today.

https://www.bikernet.com/pages/custom/subscription.aspx

Aug 20
Love0

NCOM Biker Newsbytes for August 2021

By General Posts

Legislative Motorcycle News from Around the World

The Highway Bill passes but…, Feds investigate auto-pilot car accidents, anti-profiling in California, lane-filtering, Sturgis Motorcycle Rally turnout, bad-driving and road-rage post-lockdown, fuel prices at a high, International Motorcycle Show, news you should use.

Click Here to Read the NCOM News on Bikernet.com

Join the Cantina for more – Subscribe Today.

https://www.bikernet.com/pages/custom/subscription.aspx

Aug 17
Love0

New Zealand Hoar Run 2021

By General Posts

by Graeme Lowen

My fears of there being ice over the pass were unfounded and the road was dry. It was the stop at Tarras that provide us with chilly clues. I got talking to a lady who drove from Tekapo in the morning. She told us that the first club group ran into dense hoar frost and thick fog all the way from Tekapo to the Ohau turnoff. The guys who left 20 minutes later missed most of it.

Click Here to Read this Photo Feature Travelogue only on Bikernet.com

Join the Cantina for more – Subscribe Today.

https://www.bikernet.com/pages/custom/subscription.aspx

Aug 16
Love0

NHTSA Report on Tesla Crashes

By General Posts

MRF Flash Alert – Tesla Crashes

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) wrote, in a document released Monday, that it has identified 11 crashes since 2018 in which a Tesla vehicle using the company’s driver assistance system, struck one or more vehicles involved in an emergency response situation. Four of those crashes occurred in 2021.

NHTSA now plans on studying the Advanced Driver Assistance System, otherwise known as “autopilot,” in the nearly 765,000 Tesla vehicles produced between 2014 and 2021.

For several years, the Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF), in cooperation with our state motorcyclist rights partners, have warned of the need for increased oversight of this new technology. Allowing vehicles to be deployed on our nation’s roadways, that cannot adequately detect and respond to all roadway users, is dangerous. Regulators and auto manufacturers should work together to ensure tragic crashes, like the ones found in this report, never happen again.

To read the brief report from NHTSA on the Tesla crashes click here.

About MRF: http://mrf.org

Jul 01
Love1

House Passes Highway Bill – Biker Priorities Included

By General Posts

Thursday morning the full House of Representatives passed H.R. 3684 the Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America Act or the INVEST in America Act. This bill is more commonly referred to as the highway bill. The bill is over 1,500 pages, spends $715 billion and includes five beneficial provisions for motorcyclists. The final vote on passage was 221 for and 201 against. Two Republicans voted in favor and no Democrats opposed.

The Senate has begun work on their version of the highway bill and the two chambers will eventually need to work out the differences before an agreed upon bill is sent to the President for his signature. Traditionally, a highway bill has a five-year lifespan before Congress must fund and reauthorize programs again. Typically, highway bills occur in years ending in 0’s and 5’s. The last highway bill expired in 2020 but was given a one-year extension as Congress was unable to reach a compromise. Congress now faces a September 30th deadline to pass a new highway bill and reauthorize crucial transportation and safety related programs.

Below is a brief recap of the five motorcyclist related items that the House of Representatives approved and included in this major piece of legislation:

Profiling: The bill includes an update to current federal law on the issue of motorcycle only check points. The bill passed today includes language that prohibits state and local governments from using funds from the Department of Transportation to “profile and stop motorcycle operators or motorcycle passengers using as a factor the clothing or mode of transportation of such operators or passengers.”

Traffic Stop Data Collection: An amendment to the bill by Congressman Tim Walberg (MI-R) and Congressman Michael Burgess (TX-R) added the term “mode of transportation” to a newly created grant program for racial and ethnic profiling. The program allows states to use federal money to collect data on traffic stops. Originally the only information that states could use the funds for was to record was the driver’s racial and ethnic makeup. With this added language, states will have access to funds to collect the “mode of transportation” of the person being stopped. If states choose to participate in the program, motorcyclists will have access to data on traffic stops and determine if motorcyclists are stopped disproportionally by law enforcement. This amendment was a joint effort by the Co-Chairmen of the House Motorcycle Caucus and was added just hours before the final bill was passed.

Motorcyclist Advisory Council: H.R. 3684 includes a section that reestablishes the Motorcyclist Advisory Council (MAC) and makes needed changes. The MAC has existed for over a decade and allows federal policymakers, state highway officials, and motorcyclists to discuss the unique demands of riding a motorcycle and how roads, bridges, and other infrastructure can be built to better account for motorcyclists’ needs. The bill creates dedicated seats on the council for motorcyclists’ rights groups and manufacturers. It also requires a report every two years be made to the Secretary of Transportation and Congress.

Autonomous Vehicles: The INVEST Act includes specific language requiring that when the Department of Transportation conducts safety studies on autonomous vehicles, motorcycles must be considered as unique roadway users. Additionally, a newly formed working group on autonomous vehicles must include a motorcyclist safety group as part of its membership. As with the MAC, motorcyclists need a seat at the table when our safety and freedoms are being debated.

Motorcyclist Safety Funds: The bill, as passed, would increase the 405 safety funds made available to states for motorcyclist safety by $1,470,000 for the next fiscal year with increases through 2025. This is an increase in the program of roughly 34% over current funding levels. Under this bill, the total amount available to states in the next fiscal year would be $5,760,000.

Visit and join Motorcycle Riders Foundation at https://mrf.org/

Jun 07
Love0

Highway Bill Unveiled for 2021

By General Posts

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure unveiled its 2021 highway bill, titled the Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation (INVEST) in American Act. As you may remember, every five years Congress is required to reauthorize many of the highway related spending bills it passes. The current highway bill, known as the FAST Act, was given a one-year extension last year and is set to expire in September of 2021. The bill introduced Friday is a key component of the major infrastructure spending push the Biden Administration has made a top priority.

For the last two years, the Motorcycle Riders Foundation and its members have diligently educated and lobbied lawmakers about the need to include motorcyclist specific priorities in a new highway bill. These grassroots efforts were given a boost with the inclusion of three major motorcyclist specific items in the bill. The Democrat lead bill includes the following provisions in its nearly 1,300 pages of text:

  1. Expanded prohibition on motorcycle only check points, including prohibiting using the clothing or apparel of riders or their passengers to profile or target bikers.
  2. Reestablishment of the Motorcyclist Advisory Council, which gives bikers a voice within the Federal Highway Administration. Included in the bill, a seat on the council is specifically designated for a “representative of a national motorcycle foundation.”
  3. Inclusion of motorcycles as a specific category that autonomous vehicle studies must account for during the testing of this new technology. Additionally, a motorcyclist rights organization is assigned a seat on an autonomous vehicle working group at the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The road ahead for a massive infrastructure plan remains uncertain. Negotiations between the House, Senate and White House will be contentious and as always political. However, what is certain is that the work of MRF members has ensured that motorcyclists are being heard in Washington, D.C. and as this newly released legislation shows they are being prioritized.

May 06
Love0

May Motorcycle Bikernet Weekly News for May 6, 2021

By General Posts

Hey,

What’s the deal today? It’s motorcycle month. The sun is shining in Deadwood. The news is packed, and I’m waiting to close on our Sturgis property so I can unpack.

The Bikernet Weekly News is sponsored in part by companies who also dig Freedom including: Cycle Source Magazine, the MRF, Las Vegas Bikefest, Iron Trader News, ChopperTown, BorntoRide.com and the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum.

Click Here to read the Weekly News on Bikernet.

Join the Cantina for exclusive content – Subscribe Now.

https://www.bikernet.com/pages/custom/subscription.aspx

May 04
Love0

More Motorcycle Safety Awareness campaigns by authorities

By General Posts

California Highway Patrol asking motorists to drive with caution

from https://www.kget.com

The California Highway Patrol is recognizing May as Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month.

The department says as the weather warms up, more and more motorcycles and cars are expected to be hitting the road. Preliminary data from the CHP’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System show more than 500 people were killed in motorcycle-involved crashes in California in 2020 and more than 11,500 people were injured.

Here in Kern County, at least eight people have died in motorcycle crashes so far this year.

The CHP is asking motorcyclists to be responsible and properly equipped. They’re also asking drivers to watch out for motorcyclists on the road.

CHP: Motorcycle safety requires everyone’s attention
by Jaime Coffee, Information Officer II, California Highway Patrol from http://antiochherald.com

The warming weather and increasing number of vehicles traveling on California’s roadways offer a timely reminder of the importance of motorcycle safety awareness for motorcyclists and motorists alike. By recognizing May as Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) emphasizes safe riding and driving practices for everyone.

“Motorcyclists who are responsible, informed, and properly equipped can help reduce rider deaths and injuries,” CHP Commissioner Amanda Ray said. “Motorists are also key to reducing crashes by being aware of the dangers and challenges of motorcycle riding. Taking the time to look twice for motorcyclists can save a life.”

“Motorcycle riders are more vulnerable out in the elements, which is why it is important for drivers to always be mindful of riders,” California Office of Traffic Safety Director Barbara Rooney said.

With more than 1.4 million licensed riders, motorcycles are a popular mode of transportation for Californians, another reason motorcycle safety awareness is paramount. Preliminary data from the CHP’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System show more than 500 people were killed in motorcycle-involved crashes in California in 2020 and more than 11,500 people were injured.

As part of its continual motorcycle safety program, the CHP strongly encourages all riders, new and experienced, to enroll in the California Motorcyclist Safety Program (CMSP). The CMSP has 98 training sites throughout the state and trains approximately 55,000 motorcyclists each year. For more information or to find a training site near you, visit californiamotorcyclist.com or motorcyclesafetyca.com.

Motorcyclists can help protect themselves by always wearing the proper safety gear, including a U.S. Department of Transportation-compliant helmet, observing the speed limit, riding defensively, and always riding sober. Drivers should always look at their mirrors and blind spots before changing lanes and always keep a safe distance.

The CHP promotes motorcycle safety with the Get Educated and Ride Safe (GEARS) program, funded by a $750,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. All eight CHP field Divisions will hold outreach events to promote motorcycle safety throughout 2021 under the GEARS grant.

The mission of the CHP is to provide the highest level of Safety, Service, and Security.

TxDOT urges motorists to ”Share the Road: Look Twice for Motorcycles’
from https://www.heraldbanner.com

Despite less traffic on the road in 2020 and a 2% reduction in motorcycle crashes, safety officials are alarmed by a 17% increase in Texas motorcycle fatalities compared to 2019. On average, a motorcyclist is killed in a crash on Texas roads every day—last year 482 died. Motorcyclists account for 12% of all traffic fatalities statewide.

May is National Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month, and the Texas Department of Transportation’s annual “Share the Road: Look Twice for Motorcycles” campaign gets underway to call attention to the safety precautions motorists can take to protect motorcyclists and themselves. In 2020, in the 7,481 motorcycle crashes in Texas, 1,856 motorcyclists were seriously injured and 482 were killed.

“May through October is an especially dangerous period for motorcyclists in Texas,” said TxDOT Executive Director James Bass. “Of all the motorcyclist deaths in Texas during 2020, more than 61% happened in that period. It’s so important to remember that these motorcyclists don’t have the same protections that drivers in vehicles have, and that’s why we’re urging all motorists to stay watchful and alert when traveling alongside motorcycles so everyone can reach their destination safely.”

The Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) reports that fatal crashes between motorcyclists and drivers often occur when drivers misjudge the motorcycle’s distance and speed and make left turns in front of an oncoming motorcyclist. Last year, almost one-third of Texas motorcycle fatalities occurred in an intersection or were intersection-related. TTI also points to driver inattention as a contributing factor to motorcycle crashes.

TxDOT has these safety tips for drivers to protect motorcyclists and prevent crashes:

  • Take extra care when making a left turn. It’s safest to let the motorcycle pass to avoid turning in front of the rider.
  • Pay special attention at intersections. Nearly one in three motorcycle fatalities happens at a roadway intersection.
  • Give driving your full attention. Even a momentary distraction, such as answering a phone call or changing the radio station, can have deadly consequences.
  • Look twice when changing lanes. Check mirrors, check blind spots, and always use turn signals.
  • Give motorcyclists room when passing them. Move over to the passing lane and don’t crowd the motorcyclist’s full lane.
  • Stay back. If you’re behind a motorcycle, always maintain a safe following distance. When a motorcyclist downshifts instead of applying the brake to slow down, it can catch drivers off guard since there are no brake lights to signal reduced speed.
  • Slow down. Obey posted speed limits and drive to conditions.

The “Share the Road: Look Twice for Motorcycles” campaign is a key component of #EndTheStreakTX, a broader social media and word-of-mouth effort that encourages drivers to make safer choices while behind the wheel, like wearing a seat belt, driving the speed limit, never texting and driving and never driving under the influence of alcohol or other drugs. November 7, 2000 was the last deathless day on Texas roadways. #EndTheStreakTX asks all Texans to commit to driving safely to help end the streak of daily deaths on Texas roadways.

Texas Motorcycle Fatalities Increased by 17% in 2020
by Demetrius Harper from https://www.nbcdfw.com

More than 2,300 motorcyclists were killed or seriously injured on Texas streets and highways last year.

The Texas Department of Transportation says the number of motorcycle riders killed on Texas roadways spiked in 2020.

TxDOT said 2,300 motorcyclists were killed or seriously injured on Texas streets and highways in 2020. Of the nearly 7,500 crashes involving motorcycles that were reported in 2020, 482 were fatalities — a 17% increase over the year before.

The Irving Police Department made a similar plea last month after a motorcycle officer was seriously injured when he was struck by a driver who turned in front of him.

Nov. 7, 2000 was the last deathless day on Texas roadways.