April 2016
A publication supporting the rights, safety and freedom of all motorcyclists through education and legislation
VOLUME XXIV, ISSUE XI
Nonprofit Org US Postage Paid Permit #1662 Phoenix, AZ
johnnyd at the capitol
abateofaz.org
ABATE of AZ. 7509 N. 12th St, #200 Phoenix, AZ 85020
By Johnny D ALMA MC ACMC Designated Lobbyist ABATE State PAC Officer
Hello again, by the time you read this the legislature will have ended the 2016 session. The good news is that the helmet bill and the prohibition on taking of video of police were killed early on. The bad news is that they have made a number of other laws that are harmful to Arizonans. Those other laws are not motorcycle related so you can find them on your own. I hope that by the publishing date a bill that codifies into law the prohibition of motorcycle profiling will have been passed. A strike-all bill is being reserved for that purpose. Here’s to hope.
In other news, the Arizona Motorcycle Safety Advisory Council has had a meeting recently. The Governor appointed a police colonel to
one of the open posts so they have a quorum now. I spoke with Alberto Gutier the day I wrote this article. He told me that he had sent a notice to one SMRO member who he assumed would spread the word. I said that the person in question did not. When he asked why I told him I had no idea. Two people from the SMRO community were in attendance and they have reported what was said. Alberto assured me that hereon there would be more notification. He asked for a list of names and email addresses of those interested in attending meetings. If you want to go send me your information and I will forward it to Mari Hembeck, Alberto’s assistant, for future reference. johnnydalmamc@gmail.com
One reason I wanted to talk with Alberto is that I heard a shocking statistic at our last Phoenix/Shadow Mountain meeting. It was said that from January 1 to the present we have had 200 biker fatalities in Arizona. My head spun when that statement was made. In recent years our fatalities in real numbers have declined while our registration numbers have risen. I was under the impression that our efforts at safety and awareness were paying off. 200 deaths in two and a half months is carnage on a grand scale. I was relieved to hear that this was false. While there are no actual numbers for 2016 yet, the numbers from past years are available. In 2013 there were 147 mc fatalities, in 2014 there were 127. As of October 2015 there were 113 mc fatalities and the numbers from the last months will be avail-
able soon. The Arizona Department of Transportation publishes their complete compilation of statistics in June of each year.
Recently there was a crash that involved two bikers who ran into each other. One bike caught fire and the riders were burned, one badly. Apparently the guy will lose his legs and one arm. That is hell for a biker. I wouldn’t wish that on someone I hate. We need to be more careful. The motorcycles we ride are powerful machines, our ability to control them is a learned skill. Anything that interferes with that ability should be avoided while riding. When news sources and law enforcement see this type of incident we are portrayed as wild animals in need of control. They start demanding helmet laws, motorcycle only checkpoints, increased surveillance of our events, and eliminating our freedom to congregate. Every motorcycle wreck shown on the news includes a statement of helmet use if no helmet is visible. This is true whether the result is a head injury or not. I hope you have all seen the Cronkite News report I gave the link for last month. In that article the cost to taxpayers for motorcycle fatalities sans helmets was put at $2.7 billion. An interesting fact I found while poring over ADOT records is that pedestrian deaths, year
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