02-07-2003

03LR02 - February 7, 2003

MRF LEADERS' REPORT
Motorcycle Riders Foundation
P.O. Box 1808
Washington, DC 20013-1808
202-546-0983 (voice)
202-546-0986 (fax)
wyld@mrf.org (e-mail)
http://www.mrf.org (website)

#03LR02 - MRF LEADERS' REPORT - Ride With The LeadersTM - February 7, 2003

TO: The Leaders of the American Motorcyclists' Rights Movement
FROM: Tom Wyld, VP-Government Relations, Motorcycle Riders Foundation

ABATE of Illinois . . . MRF President Buck Kittredge and his wife Carolyn, along with MRF Director of Communications Teri Stobbs, recently attended the ABATE of Illinois state seminar. Teri updated seminar attendees regarding the joint MRF-SMRO legislative agenda, and Buck presented the esteemed John "Farmer" Eggers award to Illinois native Craig Ashbaugh, who was unable to attend the Meeting of the Minds in Lansing last September to accept the award. The John "Farmer" Eggers award is the most prestigious award from the MRF, honoring individuals who go above and beyond in their support of the Motorcycle Riders Foundation. Recipients of this award have not served as MRF board members, but make significant contributions from the sidelines. Congratulations, Craig, and thanks for all your generous support of the MRF and motorcyclists' rights!

ABATE of Pennsylvania . . . I was thrilled to join my good friends in Pennsylvania a second time for ABATE's leadership and legislative seminar. I laid out the joint MRF-SMRO position on the major issues of the day - health care, TEA-21 and the EPA. EPA prompted the most questions during my seminar and continued to dominate the debate Friday night, when Rick Gray of AMA and MRF fame led a panel discussion on EPA emissions standards and noise standards. Riders are outraged at the threat of enormous fines for customizing our motorcycles - even though the resulting bikes fall well below the emissions standards for that model year. With all the concern over emissions standards, we never got a chance to talk about noise. I thank ABATE leadership for another outstanding seminar, and I thank Rick for moderating that panel discussion.

ABATE of Ohio . . . delivered another smash hit of a seminar last weekend. I was struck by a couple of things. First, Ohio showed a prototype television spot on motorcycle safety - the first of about a half dozen such spots in the hopper. Watch for their debut when ABATE kicks off motorcycle awareness day in a few months. Second, awards for grassroots excellence included a gent named Martin Meister from Region Five. Every SMRO should have a dozen Martins. This man is Region Five's do-it-all-no-matter-what volunteer. Topping his list of achievements, he travels nearly 1,500 miles every six weeks to drop ABATE materials at nearly 150 rider stops. Congratulations, Martin!

Rider Fatalities Big News at Major DC Meeting . . . I attended the annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board in Washington, DC last month. While there are loads of studies I am still pouring through, one thing stood out. Representatives of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) kept repeating the sad news that motorcyclist fatalities have increased 50 percent in the last four years. In a recent MRF Riders' Alert, I commented on NHTSA's final plan for motorcycle safety. Thanks to YOUR involvement, this plan is better than "McSIP," the plan NHTSA put out in May 2001. That said, I think the final plan falls far short of the mark. I think NHTSA took great pains to de-politicize it as much as they could, but their political slip still shows.

TEA-21 The Battle Royale . . . The columnist for a major motorcycle magazine touts a $2 million appropriation to NHTSA for a new in-depth study of motorcycle crashes as something that "could be the most significant motorcycle-related legislation in our lifetime." He's referring to an update to the "Hurt" study done decades ago, and I hope he's wrong. I hope the most significant motorcycle-related legislation in our lifetime will be passage of the joint MRF-SMRO agenda for TEA-21's reauthorization. SMROs nationwide are coming to DC soon, visiting over 200 Congressmen and Senators. Let your voice ring with their voices by scheduling a visit to DC. Call Bev for more details (202-546-0983).

Yours for the right to ride, and your friend,

Tom

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(c)All Information contained in this report 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.


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