 
Posted: July 4, 2012
Wisconsin Needs to Put Its Money Where Its Mouth Is
By Dean Bartosh
The Wisconsin DOT continues to falter when it
comes to motorcycle awareness.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation and its
Motorcycle Safety Program continue to blindly cite
the same old statistics put out by the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
regarding motorcycle fatalities. They continue to
push motorcycle helmets along with bright clothing
and the like as some type of "silver
bullet" to solve the motorcycle fatality
problem even though they are unable to produce any
hard evidence that those practices create any
measurable difference. If the Wisconsin DOT and
its Motorcycle Safety Program were really serious
about saving lives, wouldn't you think that
they would take a page from programs that are
actually working and stop wasting valuable time
and money pushing an agenda that has questionable
results?
What has actually worked in reducing motorcycle
fatalities then? Let's use Florida as a
shining example. The state of Florida has made a
concerted effort to lower the motorcycle
fatalities in its state by launching a massive
billboard campaign, state-wide distribution of
public service announcements on radio and
television as well as creating a massive
"Share The Road" program to educate
young automobile drivers. Florida's
Motorcycle Safety Coalition also ramps up their
activity during the busier months of the year. So
what have been the results? Florida has dropped
their fatalities by over 200 per year using this
approach and continues to improve! Now those are
real numbers you can get excited about! This is
exactly what ABATE of Wisconsin has been doing for
years and all with donated dollars.
So, how does the state of Wisconsin stack up? As
far as a billboard campaign, the state of
Wisconsin Motorcycle Safety Program has created no
motorcycle awareness billboards while ABATE of
Wisconsin has put up over 150 to date. In the
public service announcement arena, the state of
Wisconsin Motorcycle Safety Program has created
none while ABATE of Wisconsin has PSA's
playing in all major markets in the state on radio
and television. ABATE of Wisconsin is very proud
of its "Share The Road" program where
it has educated over 45,000 drivers education
students about motorcycle awareness while the
state of Wisconsin Motorcycle Safety Program has
done nothing. And while motorcycle fatalities are
rising in the state, the Wisconsin Motorcycle
Safety Advisory Council has suspended their
meetings instead of increasing their efforts.
The state of Wisconsin and its Motorcycle Safety
Program spends thousands of tax dollars every year
yet they continue to sound the alarm that
fatalities are out of control. Well then, maybe
it's time for them to admit that the things
they're doing aren't working. If the
state of Wisconsin was really serious about
motorcycle fatalities, then they should reallocate
funds to programs that actually work or give it to
motorcycle organizations that know how to get the
job done.
ABATE of Wisconsin, Inc. which was founded in 1974
is a motorcycle rights and safety organization
dedicated to "Freedom of the Road." ABATE of
Wisconsin's goal is to give the motorcyclists of
Wisconsin a strong, united voice with regard to
their future, their way of life, their safety, and
their legal rights as motorcyclists and citizens.
###
For more information on how you can join ABATE of
Wisconsin, please contact Dean Bartosh at
deanbartosh@aol.com
 414-416-2940
or check out the
website at abatewis.org.
|
