AMA Government News & Notes

March 2005

Connecticut would ban all-terrain vehicles, and possibly off-highway motorcycles, under two proposals introduced by state Sen. Bill Finch (D-Bridgeport) in this year's General Assembly.

Finch, vice chairman of the Transportation Committee, introduced Senate Bill 330, which would completely ban the sale and operation of ATVs in the Constitution State . Depending on which definition of an ATV is used, the ban could also include off-highway motorcycles.

Finch also introduced Senate Bill 565, which would ban the sale and use of mini-motorcycles, known as pocket bikes, in addition to banning ATVs.

You can write to your state lawmakers urging them to oppose the bills at: Legislative Office Building , Hartford , CT 06106-1591 . To see the AMA's testimony, go to http://www.amadirectlink.com/. For more information, visit the CT Trail Users website at http://www.cttrailusers.com/.

South Dakota Training and Education Funding Bill, HB 1078, HB1078,would increase the motorcycle registration fee from $4.00 to $7.00. If enacted, the additional revenue would be used to expand the basic and advanced motorcycle riding courses offered by the state Safety Council.

ABATE of South Dakota has been working closely with the South Dakota Safety Council and the South Dakota Roadway Committee toward improving and expanding motorcycle rider training to keep up with the annual increase in motorcycle sales and riders.  The additional funds would enable the South Dakota Safety Council to train more qualified instructors and provide additional basic and advanced motorcycle rider courses.

The Specialty Vehicle Institute of America reports that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) 2003 Annual Report of ATV Deaths and Injuries shows that while the number of four wheel all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) in use increased by 700,000 units between 2002 and 2003, the estimated injuries per 10,000 ATVs declined for the second year in a row. The report indicates that the ATV injury rate has declined 6.2% from 2001 to 2003.

At the same time the popularity of ATVs continues to increase. The number of ATVs in use grew 13% in 2003 from 2002. Since 1998, the number of ATVs in use has doubled.

Although the overall number of injuries has increased, when the rising popularity of ATVs is ta ken into account, there has been no appreciable upward trend in injury risk during the six year time period since CPSC's new injury sample and methodology has been in place. As noted, the injury risk has in fact declined from 2001 to 2003.

Further, the report shows that the proportion of total ATV injuries sustained by riders under 16 has fallen from 37% in 1998 to 31% in 2003. The report also indicates that the risk of fatality per 10,000 ATVs has declined 21% from 1999 to 2002.

  The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) has determined that vehicle emissions testing for motorcycles, collectible vehicles, and vehicles more than 25 years old provides a significant air quality benefit and will therefore not recommend that they be exempted from existing state implementation and maintenance plans for air quality.  To learn more about the history of this issue and to view the complete report, visit ADEQ’s website at www.azdeq.gov/environ/air/vei/index.html.

New York motorcyclists have a victory on tolls for motorcycles on the New York State Thruway. Beginning May 1, 2005 motorcycles will pay about half of what cars pay as long as the motorcyclist has an E-Z pass. Right now, a car driver with or without an E-Z pass pays almost four cents a mile. Motorcyclists have been paying the same amount. Come May motorcyclists with an E-Z pass will pay 1.9 cents per mile. To get an E-Z pass, motorcyclists can go to www.e-zpassny.com for the application. The efforts of AMA Community Council – Capitol Area and AMA District 3, President Lawrence Schwartz assisted in making this reduction possible.

The AMA Board of Directors has awarded the Motorcycle Riders Foundation the AMA's first organizational Motorcycling Advocate Award for its years of service fighting for the rights of motorcyclists.

AMA Board Chairman Rick Gray and AMA Vice President for Government Relations Edward Moreland presented the award to MRF President Karen Bolin .

The honor was bestowed on the MRF at the 20th anniversary of the Meeting of the Minds held in St. Louis , Missouri .

Based in Washington , D.C. , the Motorcycle Riders Foundation is a leading voice for street riders. The organization stands for freedom of choice, freedom from unsafe highways, and freedom from unfair and overly restrictive federal and international regulations. For more information on the MRF, go to the organization's website at http://www.mrf.org/.

A Tucson, Arizona jury found the Center for Biological Diversity, a well-known environmental group, guilty of making “false, unfair, libelous and defamatory statements” against Jim Chilton, a fifth generation Southern Arizona Rancher.

In the judgment the jury awarded Chilton $100,000 in actual damages, and $500,000 in punitive damages for defaming him and his family business in a two-page press release and 21 photographs posted on the Center’s website in July 2002 that were false and misleading regarding Chilton’s 21,500-acre Montana grazing allotment northwest of Nogales.

The suit was filed, according to Chilton, because he wanted to challenge the way the Center for Biological Diversity does business. “They don't use science, they use scare tactics,” said Chilton. “They also use endangered species as surrogates to obtain their own goals and to raise money,” he added.

According to last year’s annual statement, the Center for Biological Diversity has an annual budget of $2.9 million, and assets of $2.4 million.

The jury agreed with Chilton’s claim, citing the Center did make false statements in a news advisory, and that misleading photographs were used in an unsuccessful effort to block renewal of Chilton’s grazing permit. (PRfect Media)

  The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released a plan would close more than 90,000 acres to off-road vehicle users in central Oregon, including a desert area known as the Badlands that has been identified as suitable for wilderness designation. The closure would prohibit trucks, off-highway vehicles (OHVs), motorcycles and cars from being driven on any of the roughly 50 miles of roads and trails that run through the 32,000-acre area.

The OHV ban is part of the Upper Deschutes Resource Management Plan, which will guide the long-term management of about 400,000 acres of public land in central Oregon . The agency is seeking public comment on its final environmental impact statement (EIS) for the plan. BLM officials expect to officially adopt the new resource management plan sometime this summer.

Overall, vehicles would be prohibited on 93,776 acres under the plan, compared with 6,550 acres currently. The new plan would also prohibit vehicle use off roads and trails on all BLM-administered lands, changing the management of 153,600 acres currently open to all OHV use.

European Parliament has introduced legislation whereby young adults will be banned from riding larger motorcycles. Riders under 25 will have to gain two years’ experience on a low-powered bike before they can use the road on larger models. The plans are designed to simplify licensing laws across the European Union.

The proposed changes could mean that people will lose the right to ride a motorcycle with an engine size larger than 125cc until they are 19. Older novice riders may not be able to directly gain a full license to ride larger motorcycles after rider training until they are 25. In addition, new car drivers will lose the right to ride mopeds with a full car license, which they can do after completing compulsory training.

Currently, novice riders in Britain can take a motorcycle test at 17 and are able to ride motorcycles and scooters of modest power (approximately that of a 350cc machine) for two years. After this experience period, they can ride the motorcycle of their choice. Novices can opt to take a Direct Access course to ride larger motorcycles when they reach 21 years old. (Motorcycle Industry Association)

A Verona, Michigan company that offers tools to demonstrate the debilitating effects of drugs and alcohol will work with state officials to help to reduce motorcycle fatalities across Wisconsin according to their press release.

Innocorp, maker of Fatal Vision goggles, a device that simulates alcohol impairment, has received a $100,000 contract from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to develop a marketing campaign to make motorcyclists think twice before they drink and ride.

The product is going to be marketed to tavern owners and motorcycle dealers so they will have something in hand that will help motorcycle riders remember and make commitments to not ride while impaired.

Ron Thompson, manager of motorcycle safety for the Transportation Department, said Innocorp was selected for the company's expertise in developing programs to change not only how people think, but how they behave.

  The Washington state legislature is considering several bills that would have a dramatic impact the ability to use both on and off-highway motorcycles and ATV’s.  The most egregious of these proposals, and one that requires your immediate action, deals with the ongoing lawsuit between State and County officials to either re-open or pay back the money owed ($1.6 million dollars) to the NOVA fund due to the closure of the Thurston County ORV park.

In a memo to colleagues, State Senator Karen Fraser, D-22^nd District, and chair of the Capitol Budget Committee, has proposed allocating another $1.6 million dollars directly out of the motorized NOVA funds portion of the state budget to cover all costs associated with this lawsuit!

The AMA is encouraging all Evergreen State riders to contact their elected representatives and demand that no such “deal” be allowed to occur. Insist that the motorized community of Washington State deserves to be treated fairly and honestly, and this type of double dipping goes against all standards of common sense and fair play. 

For more information on these bills please visit www.AMADirectLink.com.  The Blue Ribbon Coalition at www.sharetrails.org and Northwest Outdoor Coalition are also taking an active role in the ORV-related bills.  For further information, contact AMA Western States Representative Nick Haris at nharis@ama-cycle.org, or 530-626-4250.

New Jersey off-highway motorcycle, ATV and four-wheel drive enthusiasts recently met to rebuild a statewide OHV association. The National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council and American Motorcyclist Association sponsored the two-day OHV Association Development Workshop and Ride Into Political Action seminar.

The workshop participants elected as interim officers to develop the necessary documents and coordinate a formal incorporation meeting. A one-day incorporation meeting will be held in mid-Spring in Bordentown. The agenda will include approval of the association name, mission, by-laws, election of officers and recommendation on the association’s 1-year and 5-year goals. All OHV enthusiasts are welcome.

Goodfellows Motosport, the Jersey Devil ATV Riders Association, X-treme Habitat, Pine Barrens Motorcycle Club and Meteor Motorcycle Club each donated $100.00 to fund the association through the incorporation meeting. If you are interested in helping with the planning or would like to be placed on the distribution list for further information please contact Dennis Farmer at (732) 506-6595, or dennis@NJORVP.org.

A North Carolina bill to prohibit children under the age of ten (10) from riding as passengers on motorcycles has been sponsored by Representative Nelson Cole ( D-Rockingham County ). House Bill 39 was introduced on February 2, 2005 and referred to the House Committee on Transportation.

HB39 assumes that legislators know better than parents when a child should be allowed to ride as a passenger on a motorcycle.

Your letter in opposition to HB-39 may be sent to: The Honorable Nelson Cole, 1218 Legislative Building , Raleigh , NC 27601-1096 and follow up personal calls to his office can be made at 919-733-5779 or through e-mail message to Nelsonc@ncleg.net. 

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, Grassroots Manager,
13515 Yarmouth Drive, Pickerington, OH 43147; fax 614-856-1920 or e-mail to tcook@ama-cycle.org.