The GUNNY'S SACK

September 2004 This month has been one of all kinds of progress in my own motorcycle world. I went to another Oregon Confederation of Clubs (COC) meeting, this time in Bend, Oregon. We had a great turnout and a warm reception. The COC's lawyer is Sam Hochberg, AIM Attorney. He gave a talk, with vital info about some terrible "Street Crime" and "Gang" bills in Congress. These are aimed straight at biker clubs, along with other groups these folks think are dangerous "gangs." It's very scary stuff. Sam distributed copies of the bills he got in the shipment he gets from NCOM (National Coalition of Motorcyclists) before every COC meeting. He had a sample letter to send to our Congressmen and Senators, to try to stop this. He also updated us on some of the problems goin' on around OUR fair state. See our "Newsbits" below, for details.

TRAVELING COC meetings started up this year in Oregon, and it sure gets me out on the scoot! This, in response to the motorcycle groups around the state. We had another meeting this summer down in Grants Pass, about 250 miles or so from Portland. Me and Sam and quite a bunch of us rode on down there, and we stayed overnight. Next day, we had our regular meeting, and we had a great reception from all the riders down there in that part of the state. Sure was gratifying – and that goes for Bend, too. These meetings get ME around the state plenty on my scoot, and the scooter gets some exercise. The whole thing is really about communications with our brothers and sisters.

NEWSBIT'S 'N' PIECES:

A PATRIOT ACT FORUM will be featured at the West Coast Regional Conference of the National Coalition of Motorcyclists, NCOM, to be held at the La Quinta Inn, in Federal Way, Washington, on October 23rd, 2004. The conference will be FREE to all bikers, and we expect riders as well as bikers rights leaders from throughout the West, with seminars on a whole mess of issues that affect riders. Wisconsin AIM Attorney Michael Mandleman will fly in to give a talk about the Patriot Act. Don't miss this one, folks, it's nearby for all of us here in the Great Northwest. Make an old Gunny happy and let me see your smiling mug up there, okay?

LOS ANGELES, CA: The old low power scooters of yesteryear have grown up and are now serious contenders for their share of the highways. Remember the Vespa? Piaggio, of Italy, was the builder. Their new "Piaggio X0 Evolution" is a screamer and capable of highway speeds all day long. Riding one of these things puts a BIG smile on Grandpa's face. In the first quarter of 2004, the company increased sales by over 70%. I'd like to have that kind of growth in my bank account. Look online for 'em, under Piaggio USA, and look with an open mind, you'll be surprised.

DOT Announces Historic Low Fatality Rate: The highway fatality rate in 2003, was the lowest since record-keeping began 9 years ago, according to a recent press release by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA). NHTSA made sure they took the credit for the new stats, which is fine. The fact that our nation's drivers might have had some small measure of credit for this wasn't mentioned. They also claimed that motorcycle fatalities were on the rise, with a 12% increase. Some folks were quick to blame that on the rise in helmet-free states. Of course, they failed to mention that motorcycle ridership has increased by leaps and bounds.

MAIDS: A Motorcycle Accident In-Depth Study was recently released in Europe, and it's interesting to contrast it with NHTSA's info here in the States. Of course, the object riders hit most often was cars. In half the collision accidents, the car driver made the error that caused the crash. He failed to even see the rider in 70 percent of the two-vehicle collisions! Here's a no-brainer: Car drivers who had some motorcycling experience are more likely to see and avoid motorcyclists. Makes sense to me. Now, the second most common point of impact was hitting that pavement itself. Some went down because the rider was trying to avoid hitting a car, but an awful lot of riders managed to crash all by themselves. In rural areas, over half the bike crashes happened without the help of another vehicle. This still leaves plenty of opportunity for serious injuries from curbs and all sorts of roadside crap, like those cheese-cutter barriers that are meant to corral out-of-control cars. A collision with one of these things will ruin your day. Rider inattention was cited in 10.6 percent of the crashes. The big surprise: It's not the speed! "There were relatively few cases in which excess speed was an issue related to accident causation." In the typical accident, speed was fairly low. In 70 percent of the crashes, the rider went down at under 30mph! Even at that speed you'll get a hell of a knot on yur noggin. Now, since this was Europe, 90 percent of the riders were wearing helmets 'cuz it's the law over there, but they'd surely do a better job if they stayed on top of your head! Many of the helmeted riders lost their helmets during the crash, either because they didn't fit properly, weren't fastened right, or were smashed off in the crash. Other protective gear was cited for reducing injuries – to arms and legs, that is. Wearing flip-flops doesn't work well at all. Your toes will wear out real fast. Rider ed came out ahead: Riders who took training classes were more likely to try some sort of avoidance maneuver. Untrained riders were more likely to sit there and crash without doing anything to prevent it. The full 173-page report can be downloaded as a .pdf file from the site of ACEM, the Association des Constructeurs Europeens de Motocycles, a European motorcycle industry group. Ya go through a quick, free online registration process for access. It's worth doin' folks! All you officers in the MRO's (the Motorcycle Rights Organizations), go git it! I bet there's a LOT of info buried in there that we can USE! Go here to download the report: http://maids.acembike.org/ . We found a nice comprehensive summary of the report at www.motorcyclistonline.com , so thanks to those folks for the rundown!

EUGENE BIKE SEIZURES, update: It just doesn't stop. Police love to stop legit motorcycles with "Assembled" titles. Sam Hochberg, Oregon AIM attorney, has been fighting one bike seizure for about three years. That's how long the cops have had this Eugene biker's ride. His bike was totally legal. It was inspected, it passed, and got an assembled title. This all started when the rider, Terry David, left the anniversary party at a local clubhouse, was stopped and the bike taken. Terry called Sam, and Sam sent his then-Associate, Leah Johnson, to get the bike back through the courts. The City of Eugene argued that there was at that time an "ongoing criminal investigation," entitling them to keep the bike.. Sam filed a filed a Notice of Appeal for Terry. NEXT SURPRISE: Maybe a month after that Appeal was filed, the bike builder was arrested, for using "stolen" or "un-numbered" parts. That, in turn, caused Sam to drop the appeal, since logic said that NOW, there really was an excuse to keep the bike. A YEAR went by, and it turns out that the guy arrested for using "stolen" parts on Terry's bike was never prosecuted! So, another lawsuit was filed – this time, in Federal Court – for what amounted to a civil theft, or "Conversion," among other claims. FINAL SURPRISE: after Sam filed that Federal lawsuit, the DA there DID prosecute the guy who built Terry's bike. The bike-builder wisely hired our former AIM Criminal Lawyer, Bill Redden. With the help of his client, Bill got the charges all dropped! STATUS, SEPTEMBER, 2004: Now that the bike's builder has had his charges dropped, the City of Eugene will give Terry his bike back; in a basket! It's in a million pieces, I hear! Well, Sam is back in court for Terry, with his new Associate lawyer, Dylan. Doesn't Joe Rider have ANY RIGHTS anymore? We'll keep you informed of whatever's next on this ongoing story.

NEW YORK: Oregon apparently isn't the only place cops steal motorcycles from us. Two bikers in NY were pulled over for some BS. The cops confiscated their rides for bogus reasons. After a few weeks, the riders hired a lawyer to help them recover the bikes. They were told they may NEVER see their scoots again. These were FULLY LEGAL, well-documented motorcycles, with legal riders. It's way past time for us to get some laws passed that will bring this thievery to an end! Michigan, I heard, leads the way with a law that makes the state put up or shut up within 30 days.

GOIN' DOWNSTATE AGAIN: Later this month, Sam will be giving his AIM talk to one of the ABATE chapters down there. All of our AIM Attorneys around the country are available to talk to your group about motorcycles and the law – everything from helmet laws to the different kinds of insurance you can carry on your bike; which type of coverage you really SHOULD carry; what to do at the scene if there's an accident, what to do afterwards, and so on. I've been to several of these, and it's always a treat.

GUNNY AGAIN: Speaking of AIM attorneys, their network is in place to help in emergencies. These guys all ride and live in our world. Without their support, the programs that NCOM (National Coalition of Motorcyclists) provides, and the AIM (Aid to Injured Motorcyclists) program, they'd bite the dust. Probably even the Confederations of Clubs (COC's) would stumble, since the AIM lawyers are their free legal counsel. If you find yourself in a jam call your nearest AIM Attorney before you talk to ANYBODY, especially insurance people. It can save you a ton of grief. The NATIONWIDE numbers are 1-800-531-2424, and 1-800-On-A-Bike. Online, www.aimncom.com or www.On-A-Bike.com.