BIKER WINS VOTING RIGHTS FOR PRISONERS The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that prisoners have the right to vote in elections. The challenge to the law was launched by Richard Sauve, a one-time motorcycle club member from Ontario who was sentenced to life in prison for murder.

He has since won parole, earned a university degree and has continued to campaign for voting rights for those who remain in prison.

By a 5-4 margin, the high court concluded Thursday that the federal government had failed to demonstrate any overriding social objective that could justify such an infringement of the Charter of Rights.

At issue was a section of the Canada Elections Act, passed in 1993, that denied prisoners serving terms of two years or more the right to vote in federal elections.

The ruling doesn't guarantee that federal prisoners will ever actually get to vote because Parliament could pass a new law before the next election -- although it's not clear how much room the government has to maneuver.

 

POLICE HARASS CONFEDERATION MEMBERS Although the Eastern Pennsylvania Confederation of Clubs has met at the VFW Post in Darby for two years without incident or any problems with the neighbors or the police, and no breach of the peace has occurred during that time, beginning with their June COC meeting the local police began a pattern of harassment by taking down the license tag numbers of all the bikes in the parking lot.

Then at the August 22, 2002 meeting, Darby police gave parking tickets for every conceivable violation while the meeting was in progress, including some parked on private property with the permission of the owner. After the meeting, they, with the help of law enforcement officers from about four other local townships and some federal agents, stopped every biker who left the meeting as soon as they started to ride away, held some for extended periods of time, and interrogated them as they were extensively photographed and unlawfully searched.

According to reports, the apparent architect of the police action was the Chief of Police of Darby Borough, Robert F. Smythe, who stated outside of the VFW that he did not want "bikers" in his town, and would enforce the rules so that they would no longer meet in Darby Borough.

Many of the bikers were told by officers that certain club's members were not to return to Darby. This is a clear violation of First Amendment rights to assemble and of association. Two bikes were impounded for high handlebars and one pickup truck was held for a day for lack of proof of insurance.

Aid to Injured Motorcyclists (A.I.M.) Attorney Boyd Spencer has filed a Civil Rights Complaint in the U.S. Eastern District Court for the District of Pennsylvania, requesting declaratory and injunctive relief to prevent further actions by the defendants (Police Chief Smythe, the Darby Borough PD, and 25 other officers), and for monetary damages for their actions.

The suit (02-CV-7707), which will be heard by the Honorable Judge Marvin Katz, alleges unconstitutional actions by the law enforcement officers, and further describes violations of the bikers rights protected under the First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.

"It has become evident that Defendants, and particularly Defendant, Robert F. Smythe, have developed and continued to engage in a pattern and practice of harassment, profiling, and selective enforcement intended to interfere with Plaintiff's constitutionally protected rights to freedom of association, freedom of assembly, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures, due process of law, and equal protection under the law," states the lawsuit.

Stay tuned for further developments.

 

MASSACHUSETTS MOTORCYCLISTS QUESTION INSURANCE DISCREPANCIES A motorcyclists' group has hailed new support from the auto-insurers industry as a major step toward ensuring motorcycle owners get fair access to coverage options, reported the Boston Herald in their October 22 Business News section.

The Massachusetts Motorcycle Association claims that insurance policies in the state have for years unfairly treated motorcyclists differently than car drivers, and sent advocates to participate in the insurance industry's annual rate hearings to voice their concerns.

On August 22, 2002, Betsy Lister and Paul Cote appeared and testified at the rate hearings, and distributed written submissions prepared by the MMA requesting that the Insurance Commissioner investigate "unfair, discriminatory, excessive pricing, and violations of public policy involving motorcycle coverages and rates."

Consequently, the auto insurers agreed recently with several key proposals that the motorcyclists' group sought, though the final decision still rests with state Division of Insurance Commissioner Julie Bowler.

Paul Cote, a spokesman for the bikers' group, said the insurers' support bodes well for a favorable decision from Bowler. "It's a major breakthrough," he said. "We're grateful that they see the inequities and are taking steps to address those inequities."

In an October 17 letter to Bowler, a lawyer for the Automobile Insurers Bureau of Massachusetts wrote that the group supports the following reforms:

Giving discounts to motorcyclists who install certain kinds of anti-theft devices, namely vehicle-tracking equipment. Currently, they don't receive any discount.

Allowing motorcycle riders to buy vehicle insurance with up to $25,000 in optional medical coverage. Currently, such policies can cover up to $5,000 in medical costs for bikers, while auto owners can buy coverage with a limit of $100,000.

Allowing motorcyclists to have their premiums based on appraised values of their bikes instead of book values. Car owners already have that option.

The motorcyclists also want to extend multi-vehicle discounts to bikes, similar to car owners, but the insurers didn't offer support for that change.

Chris Goetcheus, a Division of Insurance spokesman, said Bowler was receptive to the motorcyclists' concerns, and will likely issue a decision within the next few weeks.

 

BIKERS BOYCOTT MYRTLE BEACH During the early morning hours of May 18, 2002 a couple riding a motorcycle were killed at the Myrtle Beach Spring Bike Rally when Lance Cpl. James J. Costello proceeded through a yield sign and collided with them in his unmarked Horry County Police cruiser.

Just prior to the Fall Motorcycle Rally, Horry County Solicitor Greg Hebree decided not to charge the 15-year veteran in the deaths of the two motorcyclists, Victoria Lee Zickafoose of Georgia and Charles Eugene Heyde Sr. of Michigan.

"For many years the local government and police force have been far less than biker friendly," according to a press release by the Sons of Liberty Riders, a motorcyclists rights organization that rides the information super-highway as an Internet discussion group. "However, the latest incident and failure to bring appropriate charges has motivated bikers to take action."

SoLR has called for a boycott of Myrtle Beach, and bikers from across the country are now supporting the boycott action, including ABATE of South Carolina where the Myrtle Beach rallies are held.

"The purpose of the boycott is to educate the general public on some of the injustices served on only some classes of citizens, while bringing economic woe on those that promote the injustices," says the SoLR. "Horry County had the opportunity to prosecute the guilty and failed."

Police investigators insist that there is not enough evidence to support charges or disciplinary action, and an article in The Sun News suggests that, "Grand Strand officials say they aren't worried about motorcyclists' plans to boycott the Myrtle Beach area," and hope that their effort will fizzle as memories fade prior to the spring Harley-Davidson rally.

But bikers from as far away as Maryland, Pennsylvania and Iowa are upset about the way the two motorcyclists' deaths were handled during this year's May rally, the paper stated.

"Through the power of the Internet e-mail system, I was informed of this tragedy," Mary Bowen-Brown of Mechanicsville, Maryland, told The Sun News. "Once the e-mails are forwarded and contacts are made through different bike organizations, you can believe there will be thousands of bikers making their decisions not to return to Myrtle Beach this spring."

The Carolina Harley-Davidson Dealers Association Myrtle Beach Rally is scheduled for May 9-18. 2003.

Stephanie Durham of Jacksonville, Florida, Zickafoose's sister, doesn't ride a motorcycle but is planning on coming to the May rally. "[I want to] basically express my discontent with the way things were handled," she said. "I want it to be known that this happened and this is not going to be covered up or forgotten about."

 

FLORIDA CONSIDERS MOTORCYCLE RESCUES Rescue workers are hoping a motorcycle fleet will help them save lives on Florida's highways. Under a proposed program, Miami-Dade County firefighters would respond to emergencies on specially designed motorcycles, navigating through gridlock to accidents before other emergency vehicles arrive.

All county firefighters are trained as Emergency Medical Technicians and would have access to defibrillators, oxygen tanks and first aid kits.

"Here in (Miami) Dade County, traffic is a nightmare. There's a lot of construction. Often when there's an accident, it's difficult for emergency vehicles to get to the people," fire department spokeswoman Shari Holbert Lipner told the Associated Press (AP). "This is another way to get to citizens faster."

The motorcycle officers would handle minor injuries when larger units must focus on more critical situations, Lipner said.

Such programs exist in Europe, but there are none of similar scale in the United States, Lipner said. The Daytona Beach fire department has a program with four motorcycles that's used mainly on special events, such as Bike Week.

BMW has offered to donate 10 model 1100 RT-P emergency rescue motorcycles, which the firefighters would ride in pairs -- reminiscent of the late 1970s TV show "Chips."

The Miami-Dade County Commission will consider approval of the program in November, and the fire rescue bikes could be on the road by fall next year.

 

WEIRD NEWS OF THE MONTH: JUST YOUR AVERAGE JOE The average driver emits more than 912 pints of gas (farts) inside a car during his or her lifetime. This strange factoid, and others, was revealed by BBC Top Gear magazine in a list of statistics profiling the average driver.

The survey also found the average driver will have sex in a car six times in their lives. They will spend around two hours and 14 minutes kissing in their vehicles, researchers found. Mr. or Mrs. Average will swear or blaspheme 32,025 times behind the wheel. And peckish motorists each munch through about 21 lbs of chocolate as they trundle along. They will also nod off at the wheel 11 times and jump 181 red lights. The average driver will also honk the horn 15,250 times in a lifetime and be locked out of their car nine times.

Mr. or Ms. average driver believes their driving is better than 87% of other drivers and they pay attention to only 35% of road signs. In a lifetime of journeys, the average woman driver will throw two-thirds of her body weight out of the window as rubbish or other matter, while men will throw their entire body weight out.

No statistics were issued regarding motorcycle operators.

 

QUOTABLE QUOTES: "It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong."
Francois Marie Arouet (aka: Voltaire), French Author and Philosopher (1694 - 1778)