''BEST BIKE WEEK EVER!'' Despite the gloom and doom predictions of the medical and insurance industries, and some politicians hoping for any justification to reinstate Florida's recently repealed helmet law, this year's Bike Week resulted in only six official traffic fatalities, almost a third of last year's record number of 15 traffic deaths.
''Authorities had worried that this Bike Week would be deadlier than usual because it's the first one since Florida repealed its helmet law,'' noted the St. Petersburg Times.
Two of the six fatalities were pedestrians -- one was a drunk homeless person struck by a motorcycle when he staggered into the street, even though the biker laid the bike down trying to avoid hitting him, and the other was struck by a car; at least two of the other four motorcyclists was wearing a helmet; and one rider was killed while passing tractor-trailers on Interstate 4 and was run over by two trucks, and it was reported that he wasn't wearing
a helmet. Two of the deaths occurred on the final Sunday of Bike Week, which ran from Friday, March 2 through Sunday, March 11, 2001.
In addition to an all time high 15 deaths last year, there were 281 crashes involving 570 people, according to the Associated Press (AP). This year the St. Petersburg Times reported that during the nine days of Bike Week there were 49 people admitted to the Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach. Twenty-five wore helmets and 15 didn't. It's unknown whether six others were wearing helmets, and three patients weren't injured on motorcycles.
An estimated 500,000 bikers poured into the Daytona, Florida area for the 64th Annual Bike Week, and many of them took advantage of Florida's newly won right to decide on helmet use.
ABATE of Florida, Inc. succeeded in modifying their 31-year old mandatory helmet law to allow Freedom of Choice for riders 21 and older who can show proof of medical insurance coverage. The law became effective July 1st 2000,
making Florida the fifth state in five years to repeal their helmet law.
''It was an excellent Bike Week,'' said ''Doc'' Reichenbach, President and Lobbyist for ABATE of Florida, who spearheaded the helmet repeal effort.
''At least one TV station proclaimed that this was the 'Best Bike Week Ever!'.''
''Hopefully this will take the wind out of the sails of those who want to put helmets back on our heads, at least for now,'' said Doc, who also serves as Chairman of the Board for the National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM), ''and we'd like to thank everybody who stayed at our ABATE Campground during Bike Week for helping ABATE of Florida raise the money we need to keep our state free.''
NATIONAL COALITION OF MOTORCYCLISTS (NCOM)

MASSACHUSETTS BILL WOULD REQUIRE EVERYONE TO WEAR A HELMET As reported here last month, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has a bill introduced to require the use of protective headgear for drivers and passengers of all motor vehicles. Motorcyclists rights activists are pushing H1263 to draw attention to the Commonwealth's current mandatory motorcycle helmet law, and they want legislators to be aware of the fact that over ninety percent of all automobile crashes result in a head injury, and that the state could save untold millions of dollars in public burden by requiring all vehicle occupants to wear a DOT-approved helmet.

OREGON UPDATE ''Our Oregon helmet bill I believe is about to pass our House,'' reports Oregon AIM Attorney Sam Hochberg, ''but we're holding it in committee in the Senate until we're sure we have the votes. Problem is, the same Governor who vetoed it in the last two sessions has come out and said he would veto it AGAIN.''
''So,'' says Sam, ''BikePAC is really focusing more on three other bills:
One would allow lane-splitting, another would allow motorcyclists to fill their own gas tanks, which we USUALLY do now anyway, in spite of our law that says NO self-serve. We're one of two states -- the other is New Jersey -- that forbid self-serve.''
According to Hochberg, the new bill would allow bikers to ''assist'' in filling their own tanks. ''The attendant would still have to hand the biker the pump handle -- which is what ordinarily happens now anyway. Problem is that the state Fire Marshall has started a crackdown, so more stations are refusing to allow us to pump our own. Our third bill is an anti-discrimination bill, for bikers in public accommodations, modeled after both the Minnesota law and Arizona's attempted one, and written by our civil rights lawyer, Spencer ''Spike'' Neal. It's in committee now.''

ILLINOIS CONSIDERS HELMET LAW Although no state has enacted a motorcycle helmet law since Maryland in 1992, Illinois lawmakers are considering a bill to require riders under the age of 18 to wear a helmet. Illinois is one of only three states that have no helmet law covering younger riders. Colorado and Iowa are the other two that have no helmet law on the books.
Two Chicago area legislators are reportedly pushing the helmet law in retaliation for ABATE of Illinois heading off a City Council attempt to ban motorcycles on certain Chicago streets, primarily Lake Shore Drive.
Rep. Julie Hamos (D-Chicago) introduced HB3084, which passed 7-0 in committee and will now go to the House Floor. Senator Donne Trotter (D-Chicago) is carrying a similar bill in the State Senate.
''Don't expect this to go anywhere, though,'' predicted Rich Miller in the political insider publication ''CAPITOL FAX'' on March 5, 2001; ''But, it will be a lot of fun to watch the ABATE folks go at it again. If you've hung around the Statehouse long enough, you know when ABATE's in town because all of a sudden a bunch of blue jeans-wearing bearded guys with leather vests, long hair and tattoos show up (OK, they don't all look like that, but enough do that it's impossible to miss noticing an ABATE lobby day).''
''Needless to say, they don't exactly fit in with the suit and tie Statehouse crowd, but they are probably the most well-organized grass roots organization in the state. The best evidence of this is Illinois has foregone millions of dollars in federal highway money because it won't pass even a watered-down helmet law. Just about every group is forced to compromise in Springfield, but ABATE keeps winning on its own terms.''
Miller goes on to write; ''They are a class outfit. Back when Senator Cullerton's helmet bill was an annual ritual, ABATE would flood House and Senate offices with phone calls before a committee vote. After the vote, the group would send flowers to the secretaries as thanks for all the trouble.''
''And, as I've told you before, the group has found a niche that allows it to be a player in the campaign game. ABATE constructs and then places thousands of political yard signs before every election - and then picks them up when the election is over. They don't have a lot of money, but they have become a force to be reckoned with.''
A couple of years ago, Senator John Cullerton (D-Chicago) decided to give up his years-long quest for a mandatory motorcycle helmet law, saying publicly at the time that he was tired of losing year after year, and admitting that his persistence had allowed the other side to become incredibly well organized.
''Like I said, they never lose,'' said Miller in closing.

NEW MEXICO REPEALS HANDLEBAR HEIGHT LAW Governor Gary Johnson signed a bill into law on March 12 that repeals sections of the vehicle code that restrict the height of motorcycle handlebars, making New Mexico the fifth state to repeal or amend their handlebar height law. The other four states are Iowa, Arizona, Oregon and Washington. The repeal becomes effective July 1, 2001.
Most states enacted handlebar height laws in the sixties to give law enforcement officers justification to stop and harass bikers because of the high handlebars on their choppers.
Representative Rick Miera, a long time rider and member of the National Coalition of Motorcyclists' Legislative Task Force, introduced and carried the bill. Miera also introduced a bill to allow special motorcycle license plates for veterans and disabled veterans, which he said he expects to pass, and a biker anti-discrimination bill which is still being heard.
Rick was a bikers' rights activist long before he became a politician, and is a perfect example of what can be accomplished when we elect our own people to public office.
''Around the State Capital they call me 'the motorcycle guy','' says Rep. Miera with a chuckle, ''But when anybody even thinks about introducing a helmet law here, they come to me and I tell them 'Hell No!' and they go away.''
NATIONAL COALITION OF MOTORCYCLISTS (NCOM)

DISC JOCKEYS SUSPENDED FOR ENDANGERING BIKERS ''A pair of San Jose afternoon radio deejays who said on the air that motorists should open car doors or run over motorcyclists and bicyclists were suspended from KSJO-FM,'' reported the San Jose Mercury News on February 21, 2001.
''Kramer and Twitch'' were the subject of several angry complaints from bicycle and motorcycle organizations, including the NATIONAL COALITION OF MOTORCYCLISTS, who said in a letter from executive director Bill Bish;
''This type of behavior is inexcusable, particularly when broadcast to thousands of listeners who were probably driving their cars at the time they heard you!,'' said Bish, continuing, ''Motorcyclists are licensed vehicles, just like your car, and are subject to the same rules of the road and also to the same courtesy and respect.''
In a press release announcing the suspension of the two on-air personalities, station manager John Sutherland said the pair made ''an error of judgment and missed the mark'' in an attempt at humor. He said the disc jockeys would be indefinitely suspended, pending an investigation.

SENATOR BEN CAMPBELL TO TAKE HILLARY CLINTON ON A HARLEY RIDE Just when she may need it most, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton could get a new image: biker babe.
It's all thanks to U.S. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO), America's No. 1 motorcycle advocate, Campbell recently told of his plans to transform the former first lady into a biker.
Clinton, now a Democratic Senator from New York, is all for riding around Washington on one of Campbell's Harley-Davidson motorcycles. She will do so ''as soon as the weather gets warm,'' she told reporters.
Campbell (who serves on the NCOM Legislative Task Force and is a champion of bikers' rights in Congress), was originally elected to the U.S. Senate as a Democrat, BUT later switched parties and was re-elected as a Republican.
Clinton said she had been on a bike years ago, when she was in college. And she said she plans to take Campbell up on a promise he first made to her about five years ago when she was in the White House.
''It would be good for her. It's a perfect way to relax,'' Campbell told the NEW YORK POST. ''But I can't do anything for her Secret Service (detail), with all their wires and guns.''
Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), cautioned Clinton to be careful because the Senate is tied 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans. To which Clinton replied: ''If we have an accident, it will be 49-49.''

EASY BITER By devising ''The Easy Biter,'' an invention that incorporates a set of motorcycle handlebar grips that make revving sounds while corn lovers nibble on their ears more easily, young Nicholas Kretschmer of Hales Corner, WI was crowned the winner of the National Veggie Eating Invention Contest held at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Museum last year.

NOW BOARDING Explaining luggage regulations to passengers can be aggravating for flight attendants. One day a woman tried to board with an enormous bag. The lead flight attendant told her why it would not fit, but the woman argued that her bag was a ''carry-on'' because it had wheels and a handle. Without blinking, the attendant said, ''My Honda has wheels and a handle, but that doesn't make it a carry-on.''
READERS DIGEST, Contributed by Analyse Davis

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: ''A plan to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule.'' H. L. Mencken


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