“This council meeting was significant because it was the first meeting since the charter was extended past its initial two year trial run” said Jeff Hennie. He added, “The likelihood of keeping this council intact well past the congressionally mandated 2 years is very good and gets better with each accomplishments of the council”.

This meeting began with a review of the results of the online motorcyclist road conditions survey that was opened for comment this summer. The survey was designed to get a national snap shot of what motorcyclists think about the state of the roads they ride. Some areas that the 10,000 respondents overwhelmingly agreed needs improvement are construction zones, slippery pavement markings, stuck at red lights and harsh road edge drop-offs. The areas that received positive marks were ample signage and plenty of lighting of the road. A follow-up survey is in the works for spring 2009. The MRF will let you know when that is available.

The next agenda item was a presentation by the leading expert of intersection design at Federal Highway Association (FHWA). Intersections are notoriously the most dangerous part of any traffic pattern. The standard four way cross intersection may very well be a thing of the past, not in any hurry though. Traffic control experts are working feverishly at making intersections safer. Some designs have been shown to significantly reduce crashes. For instance, adopting traffic circles or roundabouts has been shown to effectively reduce crash occurrences. It doesn’t stop there though; the experts are designing and implementing even more involved intersections that essentially eliminate a left hand turn through the
intersection. It’s a complicated system of lanes and stoplights that in theory will be safer. Few exist today, but Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Louisiana, Michigan, Virginia, New York and Missouri are experimenting with some of the European concepts. Bigger, more complicated intersections may be safer but they will also need more and more slippery striping that remains a concern to motorcyclists.

The council then had a lengthy discussion on Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). Essentially a PPP is any venture that involves the leasing of traditionally public services to a private entity to run, build or maintain. Historically PPPs have been found in services such as waste water treatment, garbage removal and disposal, even law enforcement. Now we are seeing an influx of PPP’s in the transportation world. Municipalities are leasing off sections of toll road to private, sometimes
foreign, companies. This poses a lot of questions. Take the Chicago Skyway for example, this heavily traveled elevated toll road provides a way in and out of the windy city for millions each day. The 7.8 mile highway was recently leased to a Spanish company for 99 years to the tune of 1.8 billion. The Spaniards are responsible for maintenance of the road but get to keep any and all tolls. Can the new owners invoke a helmet law for their road despite the fact that Illinois doesn’t require a helmet? Can they raise tolls as high as they want? The answers to those questions vary agreement to agreement, but it’s also difficult to overlook the issues involved with putting a foreign company in charge of our infrastructure Not only does it send profits overseas – it reeks of an anti-American ethos. The 1.8 billion that Mayor Daley got his hands on was spent on back debt the City of Chicago was carrying. It also constitutes another 1.8 billion removed from the transportation world. What happens to the next generation of Americans when they need to get out of debt and there is nothing left to lease? PPPs are here to stay but they need to be carefully regulated and observed.

The Council drifted off its charter of focusing on infrastructure for a bit when the topic of Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) came up. For years the MRF has been asking for a better VMT and recently the feds started listening. They admit the motorcycle VMT numbers are highly suspect at best. They held a three day meeting in DC last year on the very issue of improving motorcycle VMT accuracy.  They had a test day for vendors of traffic counting devices at a Department of Transportation (DOT) research facility this past spring. They know the numbers are extremely inaccurate yet they continue to use them to exacerbate the number of fatal motorcycle crashes. After a slightly heated exchange the Federal government refused to give a timeline for a better VMT number, they did agree that at the very least, a strong footnote indicating the frailty and gross inaccuracies of the number should be present when using the motorcycle VMT
number. While that’s not good enough, it’s a good start.

The meeting concluded with a brief presentation on what the State of Texas is doing to reduce pavement slab spreading which leaves a gap between lanes in the pavement large enough to capture a motorcycle’s front tire. The presenter informed the council on how the State of Texas can identify a potential road hazard like this and have it repaired that day or with in the next few days. A lesson that many municipalities should note.

This meeting was the last for the Council’s Designated Federal Official, Mike Halladay of FHWA. Halladay is fully retiring from Federal service. Mike has done a great job keeping the sometimes cantankerous group on time and topic over the past two and half years.  We here at the MRF wish him the best and encourage Mr. Halladay to go buy a bike and ride out his retirement.

For those of you who aren’t aware this council was created by the motorcyclists of  this country who lobbied Congress along with the MRF to include the authorizing language in the last highway bill, SAFETEA-LU which was passed in 2005. Congress is expected to begin the drafting process for the new highway bill in 2009 and the MRF will need the help of the motorcyclists of America once again to engage their federal elected officials on the importance of motorcycle safety. You’ve been warned.

For more info on the Council visit http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/mac/

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Ride With The LeadersTM by joining the MRF at http://www.mrf.org/join.php or call 1-202-546-0983

(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.

The meeting was attended by all government transportation officials as well as representatives from SMSA, MIC, MSF, AMA, IIHS, Honda, Harley and ASMI.

Tim Buche of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation reported that the MSF trained just over 400,000 individual riders last year and estimate now that about ½ of the riders on the road have now been through some form of rider education program.

FHWA had a lengthy report on the crash causation study that was legislated by Congress in the last highway bill. The seemingly straightforward request from Congress has found itself stuck between the FHWA and the executing institution, the University of Oklahoma.  The study originally had a price tag of about $3 million; however several issues have already doubled that to around $6 million, and at this recent meeting it was acknowledged that it could ultimately end up costing around $7.5-8 million.

Who’s picking up the tab for this study, anyway? Essentially you, the motorcyclist, are. Lets break down the funding streams; there’s the federal share of about $2.1 -2.4 million, the motorcycle industry has pledged $3.1 million, and the AMA has kicked in $130,000 cold hard cash to kick start the study. That’s about 5.5 million on a good day. When you look at it, really it’s the motorcyclists that are funding this. The federal share is from gasoline taxes, and the industry will ultimately pass the cost on to its customers. Where the additional $2.5 million comes from is uncertain but one thing should be certain, motorcyclists have paid more than enough and we deserve better. Another certainty is every day this study is delayed it gets more expensive. At this point getting the study moving seems impossible at best, but government and universities have a history of moving at a glacier’s pace and then pulling through at the last minute. The MRF’s message to the powers that be on this one; stop playing the blame game and wasting the money of the motorcyclists and get this study underway.

Some Positive News
The pilot study to the main study is set to begin in December – they will also begin training investigators within the next few weeks. The pilot study will be conducted by FHWA to test the methodology; the full study is going to be done by the University of OK. The pilot study will investigate
37 crashes or last three months, whichever comes first. The full study will investigate around 900 crashes. One senior DOT official in the room did caution the group to not put too much hope into the outcome of the study, as these types of studies rarely produce the single panacea many hope for. Expect a laundry list of contributing factors, not a silver bullet.

Studies Coming Soon.
The much anticipated Conspicuity Study will be released in just a few months. This is the study that tried to determine if universal daytime running lights (DRL) on cars reduces the conspicuity of motorcycles on the road. One segment of the study put an individual in a parked car on the side of the road and used eyeball tracking equipment to see what they looked at.

Braking Study.
This study, also due out soon, takes a look at antilock braking (ABS), combined braking (CBS) and conventional braking, and whether they stop a motorcycle differently and why.

Braking Follow-on Study
This study used a simulator to determine what brake riders used most in the last milliseconds before artificial impact. According to the 1981 Hurt report, 83% of riders don’t use the front brake in the crucial 1.9 seconds prior to impact. This study is also due out soon; noticing a pattern here?

Some future studies under consideration by the feds include an eyeball tracking study which would utilize a tiny camera aimed at the rider’s eyes to essentially see what they are looking at while riding. Another idea in the works is a similar study in which a camera would be worn by the rider, except that volunteers would wear the camera every time they rode for an entire year to get a sense of patterns and behaviors. Lastly, the feds are thinking of doing a study to determine if it’s even possible to employ some new Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) recording technology on a motorcycle. This is sort of a “let’s see if we think we can build it” sort of study. All of these are purely in the concept phase.

2010 Funds
The third round of the 2010 funds has been announced and it’s another successful year for 47 states and Puerto Rico. Again 3 states did not apply. The 48 grants are listed below. This round spent $6 million, the next and final round will spend $7 million. The deadline for that application is August 1st 2009, and the guide to apply is on the MRF website.
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FY 2008 SECTION 2010 MOTORCYCLIST SAFETY GRANTS
State     Year SAFETEA-LU     Programmatic Basic Criteria     Total Award
1. Alaska     3rd     Training, Impaired     $100,000
2. Arizona     3rd     Aware, Fees     $102,607
3. Arkansas     2nd       Aware , Impaired     $100,000
4. California       3rd       Training, Fees     $365,542
5. Colorado     2nd       Training, Fees     $101,815
6. Connecticut     3rd       Training , Fees     $100,000
7. Delaware     3rd       Training, Aware     $100,000
8. Florida     3rd     Training, Fees     $205,733
9. Georgia     3rd     Aware, Impaired     $140,234
10. Hawaii     3rd       Training, RFC     $100,000
11. Idaho     3rd     Training, Fees     $100,000
12. Illinois     3rd     Training, Fees     $180,184
13. Indiana     3rd     Aware, Fees     $118,289
14. Iowa     3rd     Training, Fees     $100,000
15. Kansas     2nd       Aware, Impaired     $100,000
16. Kentucky     3rd     Aware, Fees     $100,000
17. Louisiana     3rd     Aware, Impaired     $100,000
18. Maine     3rd     Training, Aware     $100,000
19. Maryland     3rd     Training, Aware     $100,000
20. Massachusetts     3rd     Training, Aware     $108,810
21. Michigan     3rd     Training , Fees     $156,129
22. Minnesota     3rd     Training, Aware     $116,293
23. Missouri     3rd     Training, Fees     $120,344
24. Montana       3rd     Training, Impaired     $100,000
25. Nebraska     3rd     Training, Fees     $100,000
26. Nevada       3rd     Training, Fees     $100,000
27. New Hampshire         3rd       Training , RFC, Fees     $100,000
28. New Jersey       3rd     Training , Fees     $126,221
29. New Mexico     3rd     Training, Fees     $100,000
30. New York     3rd     Training, Fees     $229,882
31. North Carolina       3rd     Training, Aware     $136,206
32. North Dakota       3rd       Training, RFC     $100,000
33. Ohio     3rd     Training, Fees     $167,043
34. Oklahoma     3rd     Impaired, Fees     $100,090
35. Oregon     3rd     Training, Aware, Fees     $100,000
36. Pennsylvania     3rd     RFC, Fees     $175,342
37. Puerto Rico     3rd     Aware, Impaired     $100,000
38. Rhode Island     3rd       Training, Fees     $100,000
39. South Dakota     2nd       Training, Aware     $100,000
40. Tennessee     3rd     Training, Fees     $113,809
41. Texas     3rd     Training, Fees     $283,221
42. Utah       2nd       Training, Aware, Fees     $100,000
43. Vermont     2nd     Training, RFC     $100,000
44. Virginia       3rd     Training, Fees     $121,987
45. Washington     3rd     Training, Fees     $114,149
46. West Virginia     3rd       Aware, Fees     $100,000
47. Wisconsin     3rd     Training, Aware     $116,070
48. Wyoming     3rd     Training, Fees     $100,000
Total               $ 6,000,000

Programmatic Grants: Training= Motorcycle Rider Training Course; Aware=Motorcyclists Awareness Program; RFC= Reduction of Fatalities and Crashes Involving Motorcyclists; Impaired= Impaired Driving Program; RFIM=Reduction of Fatalities and Accidents Involving Impaired Motorcyclists; Fees= Use of Fees Collected From Motorcyclists for Motorcycle Programs Total Applied: 47 States and Puerto Rico
Total Qualified:  47 States and Puerto Rico States which did not Apply: Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, and D.C.

Meeting of the Minds presentations are now online.
Most of the presentations given at this years Meeting of the Minds are now on the MRF website. Visit http://www.mrf.org/MOTM2008.php for more information.

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Ride With The LeadersTM by joining the MRF at http://www.mrf.org/join.php or call 1-202-546-0983

(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.