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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jeff Hennie, MRF Vice-President of Government Relations jeff@mrf.org (e-mail)

07LR04 - MRF LEADERS REPORT - MAC Reconvenes - May

MOTORCYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE RECONVENES

The Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) is pleased to announce that the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Motorcycle Advisory Committee (MAC) held its second meeting in Washington DC recently. As outlined in the legislation that the MRF was instrumental in developing and passing through Congress, the MAC's purpose is to provide advice to the Secretary of Transportation, through the FHWA, on all infrastructure issues and how they affect motorcycles. The Council is comprised of 10 individuals representing all different facets of the motorcycling community including the MRF, the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA), The National Association of State Motorcycle Safety Administrators (SMSA), State Department of Transportation (DOT) officials and "road furniture" safety engineers. "Road furniture" refers to anything on the road other than the actual road – so signage, guard rails, bridges, light posts, striping, lane markers, etc. would be considered "road furniture." The best part is that ALL of the MAC members must be riders. MAC covered a lot of ground over the two-day meeting, and all of the meeting minutes, recommendations and action items will be available soon on the MAC website at http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/mac/index.htm.

A lot of the meeting was spent on retro-reflectivity of pavement markings, which is essentially the brightness of the markings when headlights light them up.
Apparently with materials currently used for pavement markings, when you increase slip resistance you decrease the level of retro-reflectivity. This fundamental issue puts motorcycling directly at odds with pavement markings the way they are thought of today. In the safety community brighter is better, and very little thought has gone into slip resistance except with pedestrian markings. For years, both public and private highway designers have forgotten to consider the small signature of two-wheeled vehicles. MAC was designed to change that mentality, and as a MAC member who has attended both meetings on your behalf, I can tell you with every confidence that is about to change.

Another issue discussed a lot was the cable barriers across the country that are commonly referred to as "bologna slicers" or "cheese slicers." I have to tell you that the state DOT folks and safety engineers do not agree with motorcyclists on this one. Obviously all types of barriers are bad, and when roadside departure occurs, things go from bad to worse in a fraction of second. Anything you strike with your bike, car or body is going to be a serious factor in the crash.
Other
potential hazards include signposts, telephone and utility poles, fire hydrants, or anything else commonly found occupying space on the side of the road.
According to
the engineers, there is no proof that concrete barriers are less deadly than cable barriers; in fact, they claim that the opposite is true. With the use of cable barriers in the state of Texas last year, they went from 54 deaths from vehicles crossing the median or double yellow line down to 2. With results like that, motorcyclists will have a tough time declaring cable barriers unsafe at any speed.
Cable barriers came from Europe, like a lot of things these days, and are undergoing many safety upgrades across the pond. Retrofitting wood, plastic and/or nylon to the cable barriers may decrease the chances of the rider being, for lack of a more glamorous term, sliced in half.

The MRF and its SMRO partners envisioned and helped create this Motorcycle Advisory Committee to bring the issues and concerns of motorcyclists to the people who design the roads we use. As you can see, the MAC is accomplishing exactly that goal.

Correction. Last weeks Leaders Report contained a blurb on the quarterly motorcycle safety meeting hosted by NHTSA in their DC office. The network meetings are held for members to share ideas they have and activities they are planning to make motorcycling safer and to coordinate activities where appropriate. Not to just update the motorcycle community on NHTSA initiatives.

Ride Free and Ride Often

Jeff Hennie

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(c)All Information contained in this release is copyrighted. Reproduction permitted with attribution. The Motorcycle Riders Foundation, incorporated in 1987, is a membership-based, national motorcyclists' rights organization headquartered in Washington, DC. The first motorcyclists'
rights organization to establish a full-time presence in Washington, DC, the Motorcycle Riders Foundation is the only Washington voice devoted exclusively to the street rider. The MRF established MRFPAC in the early 1990s to advocate the election of candidates who would champion the cause of rider safety and rider freedom.

The MRF proudly claims state motorcyclists' rights organizations and the very founders of the American riders' rights movement among its leading members. The MRF is involved in federal and state legislation and regulations, motorcycling safety education, training, and public awareness. The MRF provides members and state motorcyclists' rights organizations with direction and information, and sponsors annual regional and national educational seminars for motorcyclists rights activists, as well as publishing a bi-monthly newsletter, THE MRF REPORTS.