Baby, You Can Drive My Car…

And spring is here. As I sit and write this, it is sunny and 70 degrees out. I just got the bike out and the Little Flower and I had an enjoyable ride, but duty calls.
With issues going on in Madison we are being creative in our Lobby Day and trying to do this virtually. District Directors, Steve Panten, myself, and Doris along with others, are working hard to make sure our voice is heard in Madison. I am sure Steve’s article is much of this same message and I suspect we will still have a presence in Madison May 11th.
It has been a hectic month again, not sure if or when it really slows down. But things going on makes it exciting and keeps all of us on our toes. I participated in the Wisconsin DOT Highway Strategic Safety Plan meeting giving input from a motorcyclist’s perspective. There was some really good information that was shared, along with some spirited conversations on the impact of several things in regard to other transportation methods.
When participating in conversations about planning for autonomous vehicles or say the legalization of marijuana the comment always was, “we might as well start planning now so we are ready when it is approved, then we won’t have to play catch up.” Both of these are scary topics looking at it from a rider’s point of view. Autonomous driving does not have much of a track record going for it being fairly new and being mostly controlled by the manufacturer. The state does not seem to have a good grasp of what is going on in crashes with these types of vehicles.
ABATE of Wisconsin pulled information on Tesla crashes to see what was occurring and the information is scant. It does give a description of the crash but does not track if the vehicle was in autonomous mode, if warnings were given to the driver to take control, or even if the driver’s hands were on the steering wheel.
My concern on marijuana is how much of an impact does smoking it have on your ability to drive safely? States that have legalized it are having issues with motorist driving impaired and have an increase of crashes taking place.
Either subject needs much discussion, but it seems there is no one ready to listen to concerns. Both seem to be heading down a path that at some point and level will become legal without much concern for riders. Hopefully if we keep asking questions, people will join in with trying to get answers that will offer us, after some serious debate, a pathway to safer travels without the fear of an autonomous vehicle or of someone under the influence of alcohol and whatever cocktail of THC and drugs, getting in the way of your motorcycle ride.
S.T.E.A.M. – A Seminar to Educate and Motivate, was held the last weekend of March. It was hosted by ABATE of Wisconsin at the Sheraton Hotel in Brookfield. As usual it was a great conference, this year put together by Jen Dewitz and her cast of helpers. It was my inauguration as Executive Director to lead this conference and I think overall it went well. Of course, there were a few glitches, but they were not noticed by attendees, or they may have been too polite to say anything, but we got through the weekend without too many issues. The breakouts were very informative in educating the novice but also motivating the experienced freedom fighter to keep trying to achieve our goals. Breakouts on public relations and rider responsibility were wildly popular. Jazz, from Minnesota presented a popular breakout about the responsibility of leadership. The message I got from him was it is not about the leader, but the leader getting his members to focus on achieving great goals. The people are the real engine in getting things done, the leader just gives us the tools to focus.
Hardtail gave us great insight about what is going on right now in Washington DC and with our Federal Government. I wish they would all sit down, remove the politics, and have a serious non-partisan discussion on how to achieve a common goal without throwing piles of money at other things while discussing a repair that will be covered by a “billion” dollars. It seems if we can fix the politics of everything, it will go a long way in correcting what we are seeing.
Our own Seven did a round table discussion on profiling that also fit well as far as informing membership of the issues going on.
The hospitality suite was great, and I had some really good conversations “behind the scenes” talking to other executive directors. Having discussions about issues within the structure gave me assurance we are not doing anything wrong, and we shared among us how to keep our organizations on the correct path in achieving our goals. Some really good conversations were had, along with the exchange of numbers and emails to continue to share information if we come across ideas or concerns on an array of topics. Next year the S.T.E.A.M. Conference is in Springfield, Illinois and should be a great experience for anyone wanting to attend.
May is Motorcycle Awareness month and I hope you are planning to raise some awareness that motorcycles are back on the road. Along with that, I hope you are planning some sort of rider education for yourself that can also help you arrive home safely. Thank you all, for what you do.
One last note before I close. Wayne Haupt passed away this last weekend. Many of you know him as the owner of Suburban Motors, the Harley Davidson dealer in Theinsville, Wisconsin. He and his dealership family has been, and still is, a huge supporter of ABATE of Wisconsin helping us out with donations to events like S.T.E.A.M., the Summer Hummer, having ABATE Bike Nights at the dealership, in addition to quietly supporting many other community events. Keep his family in mind as they continue ahead with the loss of a husband, father, and business owner.
John