motorists

The “Biker Lives Matter” Organization

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Click Here to Get Involved – http://www.bikerlivesmatter.com/ Article by Rogue – Founder of Biker Lives Matter, Sturgis Motorcycle Hall of Fame I have been asked a lot why I and some others started an organization named Biker Lives Matter and why it is important to me. My answer is simple, there is a need for an organization that calls attention to the tragic loss of lives and livelihoods from motorcycle crashes. In the 1970s, I became involved in motorcycle rights and safety. At the time, motorcycle injury and death rate were high so the government and insurance companies began trying to pass laws that they hoped would help protect motorcyclists when crashes happened. I have been riding motorcycles for 69 years and both my life and that of the others who ride has always been important to me. I have seen many people injured and I know too many that have died. I consider myself one of the lucky ones to still be riding at the age of 83 years old. CLICK HERE To Read this insightful feature article on Bikernet.com SUPPORT Biker Lives Matter – Visit website to know more: http://www.bikerlivesmatter.com/

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Why motorcycle lane-splitting is Legal in California but Not in 49 other states

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Why California lets motorcycles legally split lanes while 49 other states do not from https://ktla.com by Tony Kurzweil If you’ve ever been startled out of the doldrums of your afternoon commute by a thundering, lane splitting Harley Davidson and cursed whoever is responsible, you’re not alone. But before you blast the California Highway Patrol with emails listing all the reasons why that congestion-cutting biker should be given a ticket and told to stay in his lane, there are some things you should know. First, not only is lane sharing or lane splitting legal in California but the CHP wrote the safety guidelines as instructed in AB51, which was approved by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2016. In fact, although lane sharing occurs in other states, California is the only place where the practice has been made legal. But why? Well, one reason is that lane sharing has been going on in California ever since motorcycles have been on the freeway, so it was important to set some ground rules, CHP Motorcycle Officer Brian O’Toole said. The second, and maybe more interesting reason, is that it makes time spent on the freeway shorter, not only for motorcyclists but for us four-wheel motorists as well. “As motorcycles are moving through, splitting the lanes … that’s one less vehicle occupying that lane,” CHP Motorcycle Officer Brian O’Toole said. “It’s saving the average motorist in a car time … If we were to all of a sudden not allow lane splitting anymore, that’s a motorcycle sitting in the lane ahead of them,” O’Toole said. But just because the motorcyclist has the CHP on their side when it comes to lane sharing, it doesn’t mean they can recklessly speed past you. “It’s still a privilege … We’re the only state left, so it’s a privilege for

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Contact Governor Gavin Newsom TODAY about AB43- Traffic Safety Bill

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National Motorists Association (NMA). California Immediate Attention: Contact Governor Gavin Newsom TODAY about AB43–the Traffic Safety Bill Dear California NMA Members, AB43 is a “hair on fire” situation. The bill, generically titled “Traffic Safety,” was passed by the state Senate and Assembly earlier this month by votes of 30 to 5 and 68 to 5 respectively, with a few abstentions in both chambers. AB43 was forwarded to Governor Newsom on September 17th and is awaiting his action. That’s why the urgency. (Please send this out to family and friends as well). Members should email their opposition to the bill to: Governor Gavin Newsom c/o Ronda.Paschal@gov.ca.gov –Deputy Legislative Secretary The main issue is that the bill would reverse nearly 100 years of California speed limits being based on fact-based engineering by allowing the lowering of limits without any particular rationale. By disregarding proven traffic engineering standards and posting unrealistic limits, many more drivers traveling at conventional, safe speeds will be stopped and ticketed for noncompliance. Police and community relations will be poorly served by a dramatic increase in traffic stops that serves no safety purpose. Speed traps will become much more prevalent. The forced lowering of speed limits will also create a surge in traffic accidents. Most drivers obey their instincts of what is a safe rate of travel on a particular road. That’s why the prevailing methodology for setting the safest speed limit is based on the prevailing behavior of 85 percent of drivers. Studies have shown repeatedly that the 85th percentile rule for establishing speed limits minimizes crashes. By reducing speed limits below those levels, there will be a wider variance of driving speeds on the road, some obeying the new numbers on the speed limit signs and more following natural driving patterns. The result will be more vehicular

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The IIHS: When a New Study is Not New and Not a Study

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By Gary Biller, NMA President Every two or three years, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) splashes the media with a recycled report of how many deaths have occurred due to raised speed limits. And reporters dutifully echo it as gospel because sensational headlines like, “Speed limit increases are tied to 37,000 deaths over 25 years,” grab attention and generate views. That is the current press release title from IIHS for a just-issued report that is a rehash of a similar effort from 2016. The claim from the insurance industry advocacy group made back then, with uncanny precision for a methodology based almost entirely on assumption and extrapolation, was that 32,894 people died from higher speed limits since the 55 mph National Maximum Speed Limit (NMSL) was repealed. This skeptical review of that IIHS claim three years ago could serve just as well in critiquing the 2019 IIHS repeat of the “speed kills” mantra. Perhaps my favorite quote in the current reporting of the IIHS release is this from Axiom’s “Slow the hell down:” “ ’Every time you raise speed limits, you see more deaths,’ said IIHS vice president for research and statistical services Charles Farmer.” It isn’t necessary to stretch our advocacy muscles even a tiny bit to show this as provably false. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System Encyclopedia publishes annual highway fatalities rates. Speed limits have climbed steadily since the full repeal of the NMSL in 1995, commonly reaching 75, 80 and even 85 mph, and yet fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled have plummeted: 1995                1.73 2000                1.53 2005                1.46 2010                1.11 2015                1.15 The 2017 fatality rate of 1.16 marks a 33 percent reduction over the past 22 years. Mr. Farmer sees statistics differently than most, but then again,

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War on Cars Watch for March 20, 2019

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The national stories from across the country. War on Cars Watch, a weekly blog to bring together all the stories that affect motorists with regards to street planning such as road diets, and traffic calming as well as programs such as Vision Zero and Complete Streets. Since its founding more than 30 years ago as the Citizens Coalition for Rational Traffic Laws, the National Motorists Association has been the voice of thousands of motorists who stand up for key principles of drivers’ rights. READ the NMA News Report by Clicking Here – Subscribe to Bikernet Cantina Today Support NMA

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