November 2004

AMA Government Relations News & Notes is a monthly service compiled and edited by the AMA Government Relations Staff to keep motorcyclists informed of happenings around the world. We welcome your news & views. Please submit all material to Terry Lee Cook, Government Relations Specialist, 13515 Yarmouth Drive, Pickerington, OH 43147; fax 614-856-1920 or e-mail to tcook@ama-cycle.org.

AMA is hosting a Washington, D.C., seminar for motorcyclists who want to learn how to influence governmental decisions, whether in Congress or their local councils.

The seminar is March 6-9, 2005 at the Phoenix Park Hotel in Washington, DC.  Participants will meet and learn from the AMA’s Washington staff, as well as other political experts. In addition to learning about state and federal issues facing motorcyclists today, participants will get tips on building relationships with government agency officials and lobbying elected officials.

Participants will also prepare to meet face-to-face with members of their congressional delegation.  But the seminar isn’t all work; there will be a welcome reception, as well as a luncheon and a banquet over the course of the seminar.

The seminar registration fee is $75. The registration deadline is February 11. AMA membership is required. For more information or to register, contact Sharon Titus at (614) 856-1900, ext. 1252 or by e-mail at stitus@ama-cycle.org.

The Pennsylvania Senate Appropriations Committee recently pulled SB216, introduced by Senator Greenleaf.  This bill would have expanded the state’s Automobile Lemon Law to include motorcycles. The bill was withdrawn after several members of the committee were contacted by Pennsylvania motorcycle dealers voicing objections to extending Lemon Law protection to motorcycles.

The AMA and ABATE of PA believe that motorcycle owners should have the same benefits of lemon law protection that are extended to automobile owners.  Motorcyclists are encouraged to contact members of the Senate Appropriations Committee and ask them to reconsider voting in favor of SB216.

The Vermont Attorney General is investigating actions taken in Vermont that stopped a dual-sport ride before it even started.

Cindy Maguire, chief of the criminal division of the Vermont Office of the Attorney General, told the Rutland (Vermont) Herald newspaper that her department is reviewing complaints from riders about actions taken in Windham County that blocked the ride.

The AMA and outraged motorcyclists sent letters to the Vermont state attorney general and the Windham County sheriff demanding to know why the Sheriff's Department intimidated riders and shut down the 5th annual AMA/New England Trail Rider Association-sanctioned Red Fox Turkey Run set for August 8, which was organized by the Pathfinders Motorcycle Club.

Before the approximately 300 riders could head off on the ride that morning, officers from the Windham County Sheriff's Department showed up in force at the staging area and told riders they would be arrested if they started riding.

The AMA and riders are also questioning whether Jamaica selectmen acted properly in passing a law banning travel by motorized vehicles from Class IV roads, which are dirt roads, unless a permit is obtained from the select board.

The AMA Board of Directors has awarded the Motorcycling Advocate Award to Clark L. Collins for his years of leadership in maintaining access to off-road riding areas and his role in founding the Blue Ribbon Coalition. Collins was presented the award by Nick Haris, AMA western states representative and Dal Smilie, AMA Board of Directors vice chairman.

Collins served as Idaho Trail Machine Association president several times and became more active politically when restrictions began shutting off-road riders out of public lands in Idaho in the 1980s.

Collins realized that the fight was larger than one state. In 1987, he incorporated the Blue Ribbon Coalition, which reached out to other users of public lands and now represents several hundred member organizations.

Collins is the fourth person to receive the Motorcycling Advocate Award, which was created by the AMA Board of Directors to recognize individuals and organizations fighting for the rights of motorcyclists.

         Chicago, IL is considering a helmet law for anyone entering the city limits, but Mayor Richard Daley thinks that it should also be tied to getting insurance by requiring a helmet to get insurance coverage. Daley says the City should do what the state has failed to do. The mayor also told WBBM Newsradio 780 that government officials should consider mandating helmets for bicyclists, rollerbladers and skateboarders.

Alderman Edward Burke (14th) introduced an ordinance that would require motorcycle riders to wear helmets within city limits. Burke said the Illinois General Assembly has repeatedly failed to pass proposals for helmet mandates and said the city should act to do so. 

The AMA and ABATE of Illinois are opposing this proposal.

Australia’s Motorcycle Council of New South Wales has expressed outrage at the Road Traffic Authority's (RTA) "neglect" of motorcycle riders in its planned cashless tollways, saying the RTA has "not considered motorcycle riders in their plans".

Sydney’s cross city tunnel is about to switch to an automated electronic-tag only and no other technology is being offered to motorcycle riders. According to the Motorcycle Council the standard e-tag devices are unsuitable for motorcycle riders.  (ZDNet Australia)

         The US House of Representatives passed HR 3247, the Trail Responsibility and Accountability for the Improvement of Lands (TRAIL) Act of 2003. TRAIL is designed to provide consistent enforcement authority to the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Forest Service to respond to violations of regulations regarding the management, use, and protection of public lands under the jurisdiction of these agencies, and provides for consistent enforcement and penalties on federal lands. 

TRAIL is a coalition effort of Americans for Responsible Recreational Access (ARRA), American Motorcyclist Association (AMA), Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC), American Council of Snowmobile Associations, United Four Wheel Drive, National Marine Manufacturers Association, and the American Recreation Coalition designed as an alternative to a bill that discriminated against the motorized community.

North Carolina’s  BikePAC announced a "Meet the Legislators Day" on opening day of the legislative session in Raleigh to be held on January 26, 2005. The event will be hosted by NC BikePAC and co-sponsored by Dixie Rider National Motorcycle News and Full Throttle Magazine of North Carolina. The idea is to help the motorcyclists of North Carolina make the biggest impression possible on the legislators of the Tar Heel State.

Among the other interesting activities, Bike PAC will be cooking a pig on the back lawn of the Legislative Building for the Representatives and Senators.

BikePAC has an ambitious legislative agenda for this session including introduction of helmet choice for adults, increasing penalties for drivers who kill and maim other road users (based on the AMA Justice For All), and other items of specific interest to all motorcyclists.

For further information contact Sam Nobles, State Legislative Director, CBA/ABATE of NC and Lobbyist for BikePAC at (910) 840-2277.

The French government has decided to recommend daytime running lights (DRL) for all vehicles during the six months of the winter season, and to evaluate its effects on road safety. The Federation of European Motorcyclists Associations (FEMA) is working to stop the proposal. FEMA cites the potential dangers of this measure for motorcyclists to both the automobile industry and the European Commission should all new vehicles sold in the EU be fitted with DRLs. A coalition has been formed by motorcyclists, bicyclists, and pedestrians against this measure. Since this campaign began, EU Member States have declared within the Council Of Ministers that further research was necessary to thoroughly review the effects of DRLs on vulnerable road users.

California US Senate Candidate Bill Jones was a VIP at the final round of the AMA National Outdoor MX at Glen Helen Raceway. Jones was well received, and ‘Off-Roaders for Jones’ stickers and information pamphlets were distributed to the thousands of race fans. Mr. Jones spoke about California’s environmental policies and the recreational use of land before acting as the official starter for the 125cc main event. Jones is seeking to unseat incumbent Barbra Boxer.

The Village of Gates Mills, OH recently considered an ordinance that would have prohibited bicyclists and motorcyclists from riding two abreast within the village limits.  Village Council member Ed Welsh (also an AMA member) worked with the AMA government relations department to introduce and generate support for an amendment to remove motorcycles from the proposed ordinance.  Mr. Welsh’s amendment was approved, thus allowing motorcyclists to continue to operate two abreast within the Village.

The US Forest Service said it plans to bill a teenager about $10 million to pay the costs of fighting a 16,000-acre wildfire.

Ryan Unger, 18, was cited last month for operating an off-road vehicle without a spark arrester, which officials believe started the August blaze in central Washington. Besides burning thousands of acres, the fire destroyed one home.

The Forest Service is required by law to try to recover costs of fighting forest fires. The state Department of Natural Resources has paid about one-third of the total $14.9 million it took to extinguish the blaze.  (Associated Press)

California and Arizona groups, led by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), have vowed to file an injunction that would eliminate all off-highway vehicle (OHV) use at the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area if the federal government reopens a 49,000-acre portion temporarily closed as a result of a lawsuit filed by those groups to protect a plant.

The statement came within one hour after the Yuma County Chamber of Commerce announced their plans to bring together OHV users and the United Desert Gateways Communities, a coalition of the Yuma, El Centro and Brawley chambers of commerce, to assist the BLM with monitoring tourism at the dunes. News of the partnership prompted the CBD to send an e-mail letter to the BLM stating: "We want to be sure you are aware if BLM moves to open conservation areas to ORVs (off road vehicles), it would create a legal situation where we'd likely have to move for complete ORV closure on the dunes. We would be forced to act, and we'd have a strong position, but we'd like to work cooperatively for alternatives."

The controversy centers on a pending decision by the Bureau of Land Management to reopen a portion of the land that has been closed since 2000 as a result of a lawsuit filed by the Center, the Sierra Club, and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. Aside from closing a portion of the dunes, the lawsuit forced BLM to revise their recreation plan and is currently waiting on a biological opinion from the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

            The US House of Representatives has passed HR 4571, the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act (LARA). H.R. 4571 would restore mandatory sanctions for filing frivolous lawsuits in violation of Role 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, requiring monetary sanctions against any party making a frivolous claim, including attorneys' fees. It would also allow Rule 11's provisions preventing frivolous lawsuits to apply to state cases in which a state judge finds the case affects interstate commerce by threatening jobs and economic losses to other states.

"Frivolous lawsuits filed under the guise of environmentalism actually hurt the environment and hinder economic growth at the same time," said House Resources Committee Chairman Richard W. Pombo (R-CA). "Because the environmental organizations that file these suits are entitled to recover taxpayer-funded attorneys' fees and court awards - win or lose - environmental litigation has become big business in America. The American taxpayer should not foot the bill for this, nor should our economy have to suffer the dampening affects these suits cause. These and other frivolous actions prevent the creation of good jobs, which is why I was pleased to support this legislation today."

Some environmental groups are largely unapologetic for this rampant, frivolous litigation. For example, Peter Morton of the Wilderness Society stated in a discussion on federal land use policy that, "If you bid on a lease on public land, you can expect (environmental litigation)" regardless of the merits. (Dow Jones, 1/20/2003)

The assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division has stated that there are 7100 active environmental lawsuits being litigated in the United States today. (Casper Star Tribune, 6/16/2004)

The flood of environmental litigation became so great that it bankrupted the Fish and Wildlife Service's fund for critical habitat in May of 2003, (US Department of Interior). In October of 2003, the US General Accounting Office (GAO) found that 59% of forest fuels reduction projects - performed to reduce the incidence of catastrophic wildfire - were appealed by environmental organizations in FY2001 and 2002. They were found to be overwhelmingly without merit, as 161 of 180 challenges were thrown out. The appeals delayed thinning projects by at least 120 days in FY2001 and FY2002.