 Where real journalism meets italicized smart-assed comments. by Gus Breiland |
*Andy Goldfine Elected to AMA Board of Directors *California Helmet Bill Amended, Organ-Donor Provisions Out *AMA Reacts to Janklow Sentence *Leave Your Electric Vest at Home *MMM Wants YOU to Write Your Elected Officials *MMM Staffer Feared Near Death |
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Andy Goldfine
Elected to AMA Board of Directors The AMA Board of Directors consists of 12 members. Six individual Directors are elected by the general membership in their respective regions and serve three-year terms. Six corporate Directors are elected by the corporate membership and serve two-year terms. The AMA Board of Directors meets four times a year. MMM would like to congratulate Mr. Goldfine (or Gandhi Oldfine as he is know as in Northern California). Andy's continued effort to give us quality motorcycling gear allows us to travel on our preferred form of transportation with greater comfort and ease. We believe he will represent motorcyclists well and are happy to see him elected to this position.
California
Helmet Bill Amended, Organ-Donor Provisions Out The amended Assembly Bill 1200 proposes allowing adults 18 and older to decide whether to wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle. The organ-donation provisions, which had outraged the AMA and motorcyclists nationwide, stated that those who chose not to wear a helmet are "deemed to have consented to the making of an anatomical gift under this act." The AMA worked directly with Assemblyman John Longville (D-San Bernardino) to remove all of the organ-donation provisions from AB-1200, which was granted reconsideration and has been referred again to the Assembly Transportation Committee. "The AMA applauds Assemblyman Longville for his support of voluntary helmet use, and for responding to our concerns about compulsory organ donation," said AMA Western States Representative Nick Haris. "We encourage California motorcyclists to support the amended AB-1200." To express support for the bill via e-mail, go to www.AMADirectlink.com and click on "State," under "Rights."
AMA Reacts to
Janklow Sentence On Saturday, August 16, motorcyclist Randolph Scott of Hardwick, Minnesota, was killed in a collision with a car driven by Janklow. The fatal crash took place at the intersection of two county roads in eastern South Dakota. Reports released by investigators indicated that Janklow's car, traveling at speeds estimated at more that 70 mph, did not stop at the stop sign and continued into the path of the motorcycle, giving the rider no chance to avoid the fatal collision. Janklow's resignation from the U.S. House of Representatives took effect on January 20, 2004. "The AMA is extremely disappointed with this sentence," said Edward Moreland, AMA Vice President for Government Relations. "This South Dakota court has handed down a judicial insult to motorcyclists nationwide, and to the memory of Randolph Scott, the motorcyclist who paid the price for Mr. Janklow's criminal conduct." According to a recent Associated Press review of South Dakota court records dating back to 1989, 80 percent of those convicted of second-degree manslaughter have been sent to jail or prison. Average jail time was six months, and the average prison term was almost seven years. In the days following the accident, the AMA called on motorcyclists nationwide to contact South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds and Attorney General Larry Long, urging them to seek justice in the case. Using AMA Rapid Response, motorcyclists and other concerned citizens can send e-mail messages directly to South Dakota officials. AMA Rapid Response, which allows users to contact lawmakers, government officials and the media with the click of a button, is available on the Association's website, AMADirectlink.com. The AMA notes that tragic crashes like the one involving Janklow, in which a car or other vehicle violates the right of way of a motorcycle, are all too common on the nation's highways. The most comprehensive study ever conducted into motorcycle accidents found that nearly 75 percent of motorcycle accidents involve another vehicle, and that in almost two-thirds of those crashes, the cause could be traced to the other vehicle violating the motorcyclist's right-of-way. For more than a year, the AMA has been involved in a campaign called Motorcyclists Matter that focuses attention on the dangers faced by motorcyclists and other vulnerable road users, including bicyclists and pedestrians, as a result of drivers who violate their right-of-way. The Association is also campaigning in Washington, D.C., for funding for a new study into the causes of motorcycle accidents -- the first in more than two decades.
Leave Your
Electric Vest at Home - Plane Lands Safely Following Terror
Scare Fighter jets escorted a flight from France part of the way into the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport Tuesday afternoon. The two F-16 fighter jets were called off before Delta flight 043 landed. According to reports, a woman was removed from the flight before it took off from Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport because she had a coat with wires protruding from it. The coat turned out to be an electric motorcycle jacket and the woman was booked onto a later flight. Officials were notified after the woman was removed "out of an abundance of caution," a U.S. official said.
MMM Wants YOU
to Write Your Elected Officials Other instances that stand out include the 2002 death of a motorcyclist on a California highway where the driver of a pickup slammed into Gary Michael Kunich, killing him. The pickup driver's lawyer was quoted in an AMA article as saying "It's a tragic traffic accident" but "it's a risk that motorcyclists take.'' One final reference was the 2000 case of the late Senator Carl Koella from Tennessee getting a stretch of Interstate 140 renamed in his honor. Interstate 140 is near County 321, the road where Senator Koella was involved in the hit and run accident that killed motorcyclist Terry Barnard in 1996. Later, Senator Koella pleaded no contest to leaving the scene of an accident. We at MMM have a homework assignment for you this year. We want you to write a letter to your elected officials and explain to them, in your own words, that motorcyclists are part of the transportation system in the United States. We pay for the right to use our interstate, county and local roads through the same sales, fuel, and license taxes as any other vehicle on the road and trivializing the deaths of motorcyclists because it is "a risk motorcyclists take" is not acceptable. The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) has also asked that you "take constructive action to help prevent similar injustices from happening in the future." Edward Moreland, Vice President of the AMA Government Relations stated "The sentence imposed on Mr. Janklow is an affront to all motorcyclists, and it's time to act. But protests and symbolic gestures aren't enough&emdash;we need to take the kind of action, nationally and locally, that changes the way the justice system sentences drivers who kill motorcyclists." Links to your elected officials are as follows: US House of
Representatives: US Senate: Minnesota House of
Representatives: Minnesota
Senate
Sev, pictured to the right testing a possible alternative to his ST1100, was a quiet man known for his love of chrome, tattoos and all things chopper. My favorite memory of Sev is his uncanny ability to imitate Colombo when looking for his wallet at business lunches. His Barney Fife style of management and editorial decision making will be missed but with his demise imminent, who knows what the future may hold for MMM. Friends gathered in tribute of their aged brother in the wind where Sev dispensed some of the wisdom of his countless years on this earth. He told one young rider, "Remember Billy, Loud pipes do save lives." He then recounted a tale of running from some revenuers that had discovered his still, "And there I was, nothin' I could do, so I had to lay 'er down." Then recounted how he had Kenny Roberts in his MSF class and taught him everything he knows. Happy birthday Sev from all of the readers and writers of MMM.
M.M.M. |
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This article originally appeared in the March
2004 issue of Minnesota
Motorcycle Monthly.
MMM
Staffer Feared Near Death