What do we have to do to get noticed?

The two-day event included motorcycle skills demonstrations, lectures on the proper use of safety equipment and a motorcycle rally. Event organizers had motorcycle simulators available for participants to test their riding skills and learn about critical decision making in various traffic scenarios such as inclement weather and increased vehicle volume.

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Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month is a national initiative aimed at getting motorists and motorcyclists to “Share the Road” with each other, in an effort to save lives. Did you know:

* In 2007, motorcycle rider fatalities increased for the tenth straight year; during that year, 5,154 motorcyclists lost their lives in fatal highway crashes.

* Fifty percent of all motorcycles involved in fatal crashes collided with another type of motor vehicle in transport. In two-vehicle crashes, 78 percent of the motorcycles involved were struck in the front.

* Over 90 percent of all two-vehicle crashes involving a motorcycle and a passenger vehicle in which the motorcycle rider died occurred on non-interstate roadways.

* Helmets are estimated to be 37 percent effective in preventing fatal injuries to motorcyclists. For every 100 motorcyclists killed in crashes while not wearing a helmet, 37 of them could have been saved had all 100 worn helmets.

The “Share the Road” guidelines advise motorists to remember that motorcycles are vehicles with the same rights and privileges as any motor vehicle on the roadway. Expect to see motorcycles at any time, and search aggressively for them. Motorcyclists are advised to wear brightly colored protective gear and a DOT-compliant helmet. For more information and full guidelines, please visit: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/

The Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) has learned that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) voted last Friday, April 17, 2009, on the issue of banning sales of youth ATVs and motorcycles because of lead levels.  The CPSC voted to keep the ban in place; however, they did issue a two-year stay of enforcement of the ban.  This stay of enforcement will allow manufacturers and retailers of youth ATVs and motorcycles to continue building and selling these items.  It also gives the industry two years to comply with the new law and if, for some reason, it is technologically infeasible to manufacture a certain part with less lead than allowed by law, the industry will have a chance to make an argument to the CSPC.

The two-member CPSC board decided unanimously.  Both the acting Chairperson Nancy Nord and Commissioner Thomas Moore voted to deny the
petition from industry to completely overturn the ban; however, both cited safety as the reason for their votes to issue the two-year stay.  Nord and Moore both claim, “A bigger safety concern than lead exposure is that the elimination of youth ATV sales will likely increase the number of adult ATVs purchased to be used by younger children, therefore increasing risk of injury and death.”  Industry has 45 days to apply for the stay.

You can read the decision letter of the CPSC here:
http://www.cpsc.gov/library/foia/ballot/ballot09/atvexclusion.pdf

Legislation does currently exist that would force the CPSC to exempt all youth ATVs and motorcycles.  Denny Rehberg (R-MT) has introduced HR 1587,
and the bill has 35 co-sponsors to date. The MRF encourages you to ask your Member of the US House to co-sponsor this important legislation.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS

The MRF is collecting any public service announcements or other advertising media your group has put together or uses with regard to motorcycling.  The goal is to establish a clearinghouse in the MRF DC
office of the most effective motorcycling messages used today.  Please send all forms of media electronically to the MRF office at mrfoffice@mrf.org, including stickers, billboard images, radio, video,
virtual or otherwise.  Call the MRF DC office at 202-546-0983 if you have questions.

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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.

On July 29, Norman lost control of his 2008 Suzuki while on Herndon Parkway, slammed into a barrier and was killed instantly. The police report estimated that he had been traveling at 77 miles per hour, more than twice the posted speed limit.

Although annual Fairfax County motorcycle fatalities have remained in the single digits in recent years, police are concerned with the potential safety issues that may come with more two-wheeled vehicles on roadways being driven by inexperienced drivers.

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More motorists are trading in or parking their larger motor vehicles for motorcycles as a way of beating the rising cost of gasoline. Nationwide, there is an increase in motorcycle traffic on highways and countryside roads. Yet, with this increase in ridership there is an increase in motorcycle accidents. Although, the U.S., in recent years, has been successful in reducing automobile deaths, the National Highway and Transportation Administration (NHTSA — http://www.nhtsa.gov) indicates the rate of motorcycle fatalities has more than doubled in the past 10 years — 2,116 in 1997 to more than 4,800 in 2006 — offsetting the gain in lives saved from higher seat belt use and improved passenger vehicle safety. Currently, motorcycle fatalities are the nation’s greatest highway traffic safety challenge.

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“It’s cheaper overall to own and maintain a motorcycle and parking is cheaper,” said Vance, 25, adding that if he were to use a motorcycle, he wouldn’t have to pay to park on the streets of Arlington, Va., where he works.

Vance, a resident of Arlington, recently completed a course in the Rider School at Howard Community College, which teaches novices how to properly and safely handle motorcycles.

He is one of many recent students in the program who, thanks in part to the rise in gas prices, are taking a closer look at motorcycles, according to Jim Schmidt, the Rider School’s director.

“Before, when we would ask people why they would take the class, they would say, ‘To save money on gas — wink wink.’ That’s what they would tell their spouses to take the class,” Schmidt said. “But now people are saying they’re taking the class really to save money on gas.”

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Those efforts look like they’re paying off.

The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles reported preliminary numbers showing that half as many people died while riding motorcycles in the first five months of 2008 compared to the same time last year.

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