ABATE of the Garden State Press Release
We were just notified by Senator Madden’s Legislative Aid Jenna Lihvarcik that a bill has been introduced by the Senator to make “The month of May Motorcycle Awareness Month in New Jersey”.

Contact:
State Headquarters
71 Franklin Street
Annapolis, MD 21401
Mailing Address
Post Office Box 1733
Annapolis, MD 21404
Telephone
(800) 843-0252 Toll Free in MD
(410) 263-9185 Outside of MD
(410) 263-8965 FAX
Email: mdabate@erols.com
Web site: http://www.abate-of-maryland.org

ABATE of Maryland State Director - Marty Schultz - Motorcycle Fatality

Marty Schultz who was the State Director of a motorcycle rights organization known as ABATE of Maryland, Inc., was killed by a car driver who violated his right-of-way. Since that time there has been considerable speculation in print and heard over the airwaves about whether or not he was wearing a helmet. Yes, in fact he was wearing a helmet that came off during the collision or its devastating aftermath. Although this topic is especially significant because of Marty's position with ABATE, the same thing happens every time there is a motorcycle accident.

Why is it always about the helmet?

Whenever there is a motorcycle accident, nearly every person asks whether or not the rider was wearing a helmet. Later on, they might get around to inquiring about the well-being of the rider or the circumstances that caused the accident. Some never bother to go beyond the helmet topic.

The vast majority of motorcycle accidents have nothing to do with whether or not the rider wore a helmet. They are caused by inattentive drivers. More than 64 percent of multi-vehicle accidents involving a motorcycle are due to the actions of the driver of the other vehicle. Additionally, in approximately 10 percent of single-vehicle motorcycle accidents another vehicle was at fault even though no contact occurred.

There is an attitude of indifference and sometimes downright malice towards motorcyclists that many government officials and members of the general public convey through their words and actions. Many times statements made to and by the media infer or blatantly state that an injured motorcyclist is somehow responsible for his or her injuries when the motorcyclist's only role may have been to attempt to avoid a collision.

What should happen instead?

We live in an environment that presents daily challenges that have a dramatic effect on transportation and commuting. Motorcycles are becoming increasingly more popular as fuel and space efficient vehicles. The number of frequent, daily riders has increased dramatically as people try to cope with rising fuel prices. Many motorcycles achieve mileage rates that exceed 40 miles per gallon making them an attractive, economical transportation alternative.

Over the next months and years it is likely that there will be more incentives for individuals to explore transportation alternatives.
Motorcycles have already become part of the evolving transportation landscape. An increasing number of individuals commute almost daily on motorcycles because of rising gasoline prices. Motorcycle parking areas in many workplaces are overflowing now when they were previously under-utilized.
Some of these riders commute year-round and only avoid riding on days when snow or ice makes commuting by motorcycle impossible.

Drivers, law enforcement, government officials, legislators, and the general public need to acknowledge that motorcycles are a viable form of transportation that have many positive attributes when navigating crowded roads and parking lots. They also need to acknowledge that these vehicles are more vulnerable and the consequences should an accident occur rarely favour the motorcyclist.

The focus should not be on the helmet which in many cases provides little or no protection. A helmet can become dislodged or come off during a collision; which is precisely what happened in the collision that took Marty's life. Instead, shift the focus to what happens before an accident occurs and strive for accident prevention. Rather than perpetual emphasis solely on helmet use, accentuate awareness by all road users of the strengths and weaknesses of each vehicle type on the roads today; whether that vehicle is a car, truck, tractor-trailer, bus, bicycle or motorcycle.

It's all about safer driving and riding, not safer crashing.

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A Brotherhood Against Totalitarian Enactments (ABATE) of Maryland, Inc. is the largest association of motorcycle riders in Maryland, whose members have joined together to advocate training as the foremost means to reducing accidents and injury, to put an end to discriminatory legislation, to explore ways to improve the overall motorcycling experience in Maryland, and to provide for and assure a continuing freedom and affordability of motorcycling. ABATE of Maryland is the only organization in Maryland exclusively engaged in representing the rights of Maryland motorcyclists.
We perceive the risks associated with motorcycling as being manageable through programs of rider and driver education. The only effective method of reducing motorcycle injuries is accident avoidance.

Legislation advocated by ABATE of Maryland, Inc. during the 2006 session of the Maryland General Assembly sought to increase the penalties for right-of-way violations that result in serious injury or a fatality. The House of Delegates and Senate bill numbers were HB 1383 and SB 429 respectively.

ABATE of Maryland, Inc. is responsible for legislation that established the Maryland Motorcycle Safety Program (MMSP) in 1983 and continues to monitor the program and mitigate events that have threatened the existence and viability of the MMSP since that time.

ABATE of Maryland, Inc. is an active participant in the Maryland Motorcycle Safety Task Force.

The discussion was fairly brief, however, and in the end Pennsylvania made the right call by letting riders choose whether to protect themselves.

But that's about where the similarities ended.

The parking lot was filled with two-wheeled chrome and steel, not Lexuses and Escalades. And there wasn't a business suit to be seen, just a lot of black leather.

But make no mistake. These bikers were all business. The 50 men and women who attended the monthly meeting of the Caloosahatchee chapter of ABATE of Florida had given up a Sunday morning of riding to focus their energies on fighting for the rights of motorcyclists. And the "right" that concerned them the most was the right to ride the roads without being run over by a car and killed.

More motorcycles have been on the road since the price of gas has gone up and baby boomers have hit their stride. The local chapter, which has about 80 members, has been around for just over a year. The first ABATE group was started in 1971 by one of the editors of Easyriders magazine. Since then the group has spread throughout the states.

for full article

Posted July 18, 2006
Missouri passes "Clutch's Law," raising fines for right-of-way violations

Missouri Governor Matt Blunt has signed a bill that includes "Clutch's Law," in memory of John Michael “Clutch” Clubine, who was killed by an inattentive driver. The new law, which takes effect January 1, 2007, increases penalties for drivers who injure or kill others by committing right-of-way violations.

for full article

But that's about where the similarities ended.

The parking lot was filled with two-wheeled chrome and steel, not Lexuses and Escalades. And there wasn't a business suit to be seen, just a lot of black leather.

But make no mistake. These bikers were all business. The 50 men and women who attended the monthly meeting of the Caloosahatchee chapter of ABATE of Florida had given up a Sunday morning of riding to focus their energies on fighting for the rights of motorcyclists. And the "right" that concerned them the most was the right to ride the roads without being run over by a car and killed.

These coincidental trends have led authors of a new legislative study to shy away from making definitive conclusions on whether the helmet law repeal itself is responsible for more carnage on the highways.

for full article

"We usually have about 85 percent voting," said Jim Rhoades of Milford-based ABATE of Michigan, which stands for American Bikers Aiming Toward Education.

"We affiliate with other organizations with as many as 75 percent voting," Rhoades said. "In the last cycle, we supported 90 candidates and had a 92 percent success rate."

But the report cautions that motorcycle registrations rose by 48 percent, to 318,000 riders, by 2005, so there were considerably more cyclists on the road than before.

During an 11 a.m. news conference conducted in the State Capitol Rotunda, AAA Michigan joined a broad coalition of safety and insurance stakeholders to denounce the legislation as bad public policy.

for full article

Posted June 23, 2006
AAA Michigan Thanks Michigan Governor For Her Veto of Helmet Repeal

AAA Michigan today thanked Governor Jennifer Granholm for her veto of legislation that would repeal Michigan's 37-year-old mandatory motorcycle helmet law.

for full article.

AAA has always fought against personal freedom of choice. Remember this next time you go to write them a check. Stop funding your enemies!

for alternatives to their services.

To: Dal Smilie, AMA Chairman & Karen Bolin, MRF President

America may be democratically governed, but it is celebrity driven. Every day, hard-working tax-paying citizens riding motorcycles are maimed and killed by inattentive and negligent automobile drivers, while calls for increased measures to mitigate inattentional blindness go unheeded. But let that injured rider be a star football player, and everything changes: The media reports he wasn't wearing a helmet--as if wearing a helmet would have prevented the guilty driver from turning in front of him--fueling a public frenzy that compells politicians and bureaucrats alike to act or risk losing position and paycheck.

So act they did. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has announced a two-day public forum on motorcycle safety beginning Tuesday, September 12, 2006 in Washington DC. They make no secret of the fact that their action was triggered by the recent accident involving Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger ... and no one should be surprised if at this forum a nationwide universal helmet law is once again proposed.
In fact, I think that we, the concerned motorcycle riders of America, should propose it:

As a bikers rights advocate, I am sick and tired of all the time, money and energy being wasted by parties on both sides of the helmet law debate. It drains us of precious resources better spent on motorcycle awareness ...
better spent on addressing the fact that 67% of all multi-vehicle motorcycle accidents are caused by the Inattentional Blindness and negligence of cagers [automobile drivers], and neither (1) wearing a helmet, nor (2) mandatory helmet laws do anything to reduce that statistic.

Helmets may save lives, but focusing on crash survival (by mandating helmets for motorcyclists only), rather than crash avoidance (through severe, specific right-of-way violation penalties, driver education and motorcycle awareness programs to mitigate the Inattentional Blindness of cagers), is not only (1) ineffective public policy and a waste of public resources, but also (2) discriminatory, and (3) tantamount to blaming the victim for the crime ... like saying it is okay to shoot people if they are not wearing Kevlar vests.

This seems simple and obvious to me, but some of those in the political trenches say legislators will not shift their focus to Motorcycle Awareness and mitigating Inattentional Blindness unless and until we concede on the helmet laws.

So, let's concede. LET'S SUPPORT A UNIVERSAL HELMET LAW. Let's be sure, however, that the law is truly UNIVERSAL. To that end, I propose two mandates:

Mandate 1: THE HELMET LAW MUST BE UNIVERSAL.

Few rational people will argue that in most situations a helmet offers some degree of protection to the head it covers. And since ALL Americans are entitled to equal protection under the law, let's make sure that wearing a helmet is mandated for ALL motor vehicle operators and passengers.
Excluding cagers from protection they should be equally entitled to would be discriminatory.

Mandate 2: THERE MUST BE A UNIVERSAL HELMET.

The only way to guarantee equal protection under this law is to give everyone the same helmet. I recommend a full coverage helmet and visor with electronics restricted. This may cause bikers to sweat in slow traffic, but the trade-off is that cagers will not be distracted by having cellphones stuck in their ears, and they'll be more likely to use their mirrors for rear views instead of putting on make-up.

It is time we put the SHOEI on the other foot. As a member and elite legislative supporter of the American Motorcyclist Association, and as a sustaining member of the Motorcycle Riders Foundation, I hereby respectfully request that these two organizations give serious consideration to the proposals presented herein as well as the implications thereof, and that these proposals and implications be properly incorporated into your respective MRO strategic frameworks as well as your specific joint and/or separate responses to the NTSB and our government as a whole.

Sincerely,

Bruce Arnold

Bruce@LdrLongDistanceRider.com
http://www.ldrlongdistancerider.com/

Please post comments and replies here:
http://pub42.bravenet.com/forum/3562429698/fetch/708594/

Posted June 11, 2006
AAA of Michigan opposes helmet law repeal

Our old nemesis, AAA (the American Automobile Association) has again stuck its nose in our freedom to choose. Michigan is only a governor's signature away from being the 31st free state!

"We are disappointed and saddened that state lawmakers undertook this
course of action," said Jack Peet, manager of Community Safety Services for AAA Michigan. "It makes absolutely no sense to make optional the only validated personal safety device available to a motorcycle rider."
Only a veto by Gov. Jennifer Granholm would prevent the helmet repeal
from taking place.

for full article

Are you as member of AAA?

If you are, then YOUR money is being used to take away your rights and freedom to make an informed adult choice.

ABATE has been successful in getting hundreds of members to drop their AAA subscriptions and to get family members, neighbors and friends to do the same.

VOTE with your money!

for information on how you can fight AAA in their efforts to take away your adult freedom of choice and for better alternatives to their services. This is still America!

For their benefit (and least the ones with open minds), here's a little lesson on helmet laws: They are only effective at reducing the number of bikes on the road. That's how they 'save' lives. Fewer motorcycles = fewer motorcycle accidents.

The proof is the FACT that:
- about 3% of motorcycle accident victims don't survive, regardless of whether they're wearing helmets
- motorcycle registrations typically double when helmet laws get repealed.
- novice and untrained riders are the most at-risk riders
- motorcyclists flock to states that respect their freedom (and they bring their wallets)
- rider training is the most effective way to increase motorcycle safety

People who don't ride have no reason to look beyond the hyped headlines, and they face no real risks regarding motorcycle safety.

Bikers have the most to lose, so risk management is a daily requirement for them. And all the arguments about safety, liability, taxpayer burden, etc., are based on the false premise that helmets are effective. They aren't.

The mandatory helmet law has been on the books here for 30 years; yet last year, Michigan's motorcycle fatalities were up 65 percent. Michigan's record 122 motorcycle deaths were 22 percent higher than neighboring Wisconsin - a state without a mandatory helmet law.

In fact, not one of the six states surrounding Michigan has seen this kind of increase in motorcycle fatalities - and not one of them has a mandatory helmet law, either.

Some of the most vocal of these organizations are in the medical profession. Among these medical organizations, the most active ones include the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), and the American Medical Association. Both of these organizations actively call for legislation to force mandatory wearing of helmets for all motorcycle riders regardless of their experience or driving records. Their justification for this position is that it could save as many 444 additional lives (in 2001), and $11.1 billion dollars if helmets were mandatory in all states. Their website often references the NHTSA figures which are suspect from the beginning, but let’s assume that these figures are correct.

There organizations are very willing to surrender OUR freedoms for the “greater good”. Would they be so willing to surrender THEIR freedoms the same way if even MORE lives and money could be saved? They say that they have to wear seatbelts, so we should have to wear helmets. The level of personal intrusion of having to wear a helmet is far greater that of having to wear a seatbelt.

FACT: Doctors are the third leading cause of death in the US, causing 250,000 deaths every year.
Most of these 250,000 deaths per year are from iatrogenic causes!!

Just look up IATROGENIC in a Google search and you will have reading for the next month on the staggering number of errors that take place in our hospitals.

FACT: Hospital-acquired infections is the second leading cause of death in the US.

In 2000, 2001, and 2002, an average of 195,000 DIED due to potentially preventable errors made in hospitals. This is according to a study of 37 million patient records by HealthGrades, a healthcare quality company.

A different analysis showed that between 4% and 18% of consecutive patients experience negative effects in outpatient settings. This included: 116 million extra physician visits, 77 million extra prescriptions, 17 million emergency department visits,
8 million hospitalizations, 3 million long-term admissions, and 199,000 additional deaths.

The costs of these “errors” for the public was $77 billion in extra costs, beyond our normal health care costs.

My argument here is that these doctors advocating the taking away of OUR freedoms to save 444 lives, should get their own house in order and save 250,000 lives and $77 billion, before meddling in our recreational activities and telling us we should give up our freedoms.

The American Obesity Association commissioned a study in 1999 and established the direct health care costs of obesity at $102.2 billion in 1999. This figure would be significantly higher today in both number of people affected and in dollars. This is by far a more compelling reason to take away our freedom of choice to eat what we wish than the small amount that motorcycle accidents costs. Would these same doctors advocate taking away our freedom to eat the foods we wish?
Is taking away our freedoms the American Way?

Even the NHTSA has confirmed that the vast majority of motorcycle/auto accidents are the fault of the automobile. Isn’t forcing motorcyclists to wear a helmet the same as punishing the victim rather than the perpetrator? This is patently un-American. The NHTSA has also admitted that education is the most effective method of reducing motorcycle fatalities. Wouldn’t it make far more sense to require auto drivers to be educated in motorcycle awareness?

I have a suggestion. Since 80% of all fatal auto accidents are head injuries, we could save far more lives by mandating helmets for all auto drivers. The ACEP and AMA should logically support this position since it will save even more money and lives than simply mandating helmets for a small fraction of al motor vehicles. Would these same doctors be willing to support legislation for mandatory helmets for all auto drivers and give up THEIR freedoms?

There are those who say that they have to wear a seat belt, so we should have to wear a helmet. I have a suggestion to those people: beg, borrow, or steal one of those nifty full faced helmets, put it on and try backing out of your driveway. You may now have a new sense of the peripheral vision and hearing loss experienced by motorcyclists. I then suggest that you try wearing one of those helmets on a 95 degree day with 90 percent humidity and the sun beating down on you while you are stuck in rush hour traffic. At least some of you will change your minds about how wonderful mandatory helmet laws are. There is no comparison between the personal intrusion of a helmet to that of having to put on a seat belt.

In the end, this is not a safety issue, but an issue of fundamental freedom. I have no problems when someone SUGGESTS that we wear a helmet, but I do mind when someone TELLS us that we have to. Do we really wish to have the government legislate the risk out of life by taking away our freedoms? It is very easy to take away the freedoms of a small minority when it does not affect you. Who will be there to protect your freedoms when the government legislates on: mountain climbing, skate boarding, hockey, golf, or helmets in cars? This is still America isn’t it?

Rudy Avizius
ABATE of the Garden State
http://www.gardenstateabate.org

Posted June 1, 2006
How Creepy Can It Get?

I hope that there are others out there who feel that this country is headed in the wrong direction.

We used to fingerprint felons -- now, we're "inking" traffic scofflaws.

Run a couple of mph over the speed limit in the state of Kansas (or even fail to "buckle up for safety") and you'll be duly entered into the Kansas Bureau of Investigation's (KBI) electronic fingerprint database -- a privilege once reserved for actual criminals, not ordinary citizens who commit minor violations of the motor vehicle code. KBI, authorized by the state government, will be "testing out" 60 automated fingerprint readers throughout the state beginning this month -- all of it funded by a $3.6 million grant from the Department of Homeland Security.

They are merely trying to protect us from "terror." Etc.

And so we must accept without question or complaint ever broader, ever more intrusive government -- up to and including being catalogued and monitored like paroled felons. Even if all we've done is run a red light or failed to wear our seat belt.

for full article

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Benjamin Franklin

"As nightfall does not come all at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the air - however slight - lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness." Justice William O. Douglas

For related articles:
National Worker DNA Fingerprint Database Proposed
Kansas to fingerprint traffic offenders?
National ID and master database
Liberty, Privacy, and DNA Databases

During the current session, in a show of the strength of the motorcycle lobby, lawmakers debated reducing the personal property tax on motorcycles and repealing laws that dictate handlebar height. Another bill would have allowed motorcyclists to treat red lights like stop signs when sensors don’t pick up the weight of their bike.

for full article

The Milwaukee-based motorcycle manufacturer said that the communist country agreed to lift an outright ban on large displacement motorcycles in negotiations earlier this month. It also said the country would adopt a licensing system for motorcycle operators, relax distribution restrictions and reduce tariffs on heavyweight motorcycles by 60 percent over time.

Posted May 23, 2006
No Motorcycles Travel In South Dakota?

(Washington, DC) As most everyone in the motorcycling community knows, the state of South Dakota hosts the largest motorcycle rally in the country in Sturgis. Ironically, the Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) has learned the State of South Dakota has reported ZERO vehicle miles traveled (VMT) for motorcycles in its annual reports to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) each year since 1997. In fact, according to information provided to the MRF by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there was absolutely no motorcycle VMT reported not only for South Dakota, but also for Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, Pennsylvania or Texas from 1997-2003.

for full article

for letter from NHTSA to to MRF acknowledging that their data is not inaccurate.

Posted May 23, 2006
BMW Has New Concept Car

This really does look like a true cross between a motorcycle and a car.

For the last few years, BMW and University of Bath have been hard at work on the CLEVER — a compact fuel-efficient vehicle for city driving. Somewhat overshadowed this week by the launch of the 2007 3-Series Coupe, BMW on Friday released the first images of the completed CLEVER. As the name — Compact Low Emission Vehicle for Urban Transport — suggests, the aim of the project was to create a vehicle that was practical, safe, and environmentally-friendly. Unlike the Volkswagen GX3 Concept — with one rear wheel and two front wheels — the CLEVER has two rear wheels and one front. If it ever makes it to production, the vehicle is expected to cost around $10,000 and would have a top speed of 50 mph. One fascinating aspect of the vehicle is its unique tilting design for stable, motorcycle-like cornering.

for full article

Monday, May 22
A group of Chester County ABATE members will leave from the Gap Diner on Monday morning, May 22, at 10:00, to ride to the rally in Harrisburg. We'll be back in Gap by 3:00. You're welcome and encouraged to participate! Bring bikes and cars. Invite your kids to go to the Capitol. Show that Freedom of Choice is important to you!

This is a Rain Or Shine event.

(Rain doesn't keep the legislators from making laws! )

A surveillance camera on the outside of the Taylor police station captured the image of a pickup and trailer similar to the one described by witnesses. The police station is on Texas 95, just a few blocks north of its intersection with Carlos G. Parker Boulevard (U.S. 79), where the crash occurred.

for full article

First, let me thank Dave Dwyer, Hawk, Dan "Spotman" Spotten, "Miss Red" Huttman, "Madd Ray" Henke and others who knowingly and otherwise provided input and inspiration for the following message...

On Thursday, May 4, 2006 the Wisconsin Assembly passed Bill 964, the "Roadway Users Responsibility Act". All that is needed now is Governor Doyle's signature for it to become law. This bill contains several provisions for which ABATE of Wisconsin (http://www.abatewis.org/) and allied bikers rights activists should be congratulated. The text of the bill with a summary analysis is available here:

http://www.legis.state.wi.us/2005/data/AB-964.pdf

Notable among the bill's provisions are right-of-way violation penalties which--although lacking mandatory minimums and not specific to bikers--are far more severe than the "hand-slap" laws recently passed in Florida and elsewhere. Once this bill becomes law, for example, a careless or clueless cager that kills a Wisconsin biker, bicyclist or pedestrian faces the possibility of a $10,000 fine and/or 9 months in jail, plus a 9 month license suspension.

Bruces Bikers Bulletin Board:
http://pub42.bravenet.com/forum/3562429698/fetch/692090

" I don't know how you would replace this if we ever lost this event," he told business and community leaders of the Lakes Region.

for full article

“Recently, I realized there’s a fascination I have when I look at these machines. ”

You could be talking to any new motorcyclist, full of enthusiasm and eager for new experiences. Except this isn’t any new motorcyclist—it’s the governor.

Meet Dirk Kempthorne.

When we set up our trip to Idaho, we quickly discovered that motorcyclists had thoroughly infiltrated the state’s government. But when we found out that the governor had recently taken up motorcycling, and that he’d be glad to sit down and talk bikes with us, we were impressed.

Senators demanding greater privacy protections gained traction late last year when it was revealed that the Bush administration has been secretly wiretapping Americans for years without any sort of court approval. In the end, though, nearly all settled for minor concessions that leave the worst features of the Patriot Act intact.

Lawmakers are betting that if forced to make a choice, Americans will favor security over liberty, haunted as they are by a post-9/11 fearfulness recently on display in the frenzy over the prospect of an Arab-owned company running some U.S. port operations.

Among the most important changes:
Recipients of court-approved subpoenas for information in terrorist investigations will have the right to challenge the requirement that they not tell anyone about the subpoena. In addition, recipients of such subpoenas will no longer be forced to provide the FBI with the name of their lawyer. Also, the civil liberties package clarifies that most general-purpose libraries are not subject to demands made in so-called National Security Letters for information about suspected terrorists.

But not even the secret seizure of library, medical and business records without probable cause was adequately addressed. So the job isn't done. And it won't be unless outraged citizens demand it.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter has offered new legislation that would demand evidence of a link to a foreign power before library, business and medical records could be obtained; eliminate a one-year period before gag orders on requests for such records could be challenged in court; and require that the target of a "sneak and peek" search warrant be notified within seven days of its execution.

Now that the expiring provisions of the Patriot Act have been restored, though, pressure for further action is off. Senator Specter's bill is likely to languish unless umbrage at the needless intrusion into the lives of innocent Americans makes itself heard.

Some of the Patriot Acts most important provisions will face another reauthorization in four years. Among them are Sections 206 and 215, which allow roving wiretaps and permit secret warrants for books, records, and other items from businesses, hospitals, and some libraries.

NCOM NEWS BYTES
Compiled & Edited by Bill Bish,
National Coalition of Motorcyclists

Testifying in opposition to the bill, Mr. McAllister used graphic images and strong words to prove his points.

"I am a front line emergency department registered nurse that has seen the blood oozing from every orifice, the intestines leaking out of the stomach and brain matter of your constituents that choose to not wear a helmet," he told committee members.

for full article

"But I soon realized that a helmet was not just an instrument of safety to some delegates, but also a form of government control. It was not just a question of whether we should wear our helmets or not. It was a question as to whether we wanted a government that controlled every aspect of our lives. It became a question of personal freedom.

"Suddenly, the answer was not so clear to me, and I began to think at a whole new level. I see now that many decisions in government are very difficult.

Delegate Harry Parrish represents the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park, and the surrounding neighborhoods in Prince William County.


for full article

Of course, security considerations are also a top priority. But riding a motorcycle on the turnpike is wrong!

Posted February 11, 2006
Maryland has 3 Motorcycle Bills Pending

There are three bills advocated by ABATE of Maryland, Inc for the 2006 Maryland General Assembly session. They are:

- The Helmet Law Modification (SB 163/HB 727)
- Right-of-Way Violation Penalties (SB 429/HB 1383)
- Helmet Warning Label (SB 538/HB 1007)

All three bills have been filed in both the Maryland Senate and House of Delegates. The Senate version of all three bills will be heard in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee Hearing Room on February 16, 2006 at 1 pm.

In the House of Delegates, two bills have been scheduled for hearings. They are the Helmet Bill and the Helmet Warning Label Bill. The hearings will be conducted in the House of Delegates Environmental Matters Committee Hearing Room on February 28, 2006 at 1 pm. The third House bill that addresses Right-of-Way Violation Penalties has not yet been scheduled for a hearing.

If possible, make plans to attend these hearings. It is essential for us to show strong support for these bills. Also, contact House of Delegates Environmental Matters Committee members, Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee members, and your local representatives and let them know that you want them to support these bills.

The links that follow will help you to locate the committee members and your local representatives.

Maryland General Assembly
http://mlis.state.md.us/#gena

Find Your Legislators
http://mdelect.net/
http://mlis.state.md.us/cgi-win/mail32.exe

For your convenience, lists of the committee members are located at the end of this message.

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SB 163/HB