Governor’s Conference

Governor’s Conference

WI 44th Annual Governor’s Conference on Highway Safety – Aug 21/23 2018

By Jack Hayward ABATE of WI RiderCoach

I attended the conference with Gary Klinker and Larry Geist.  Thanks to Gary and ABATE for allowing me to attend. The conference ran Tuesday through Thursday Aug 21-23, 2018.  The Conference was set up with 1.5-hr breakout sessions of various topics relating to improving traffic safety, police issues relating to traffic safety, and documentation of traffic accidents.  Tuesday afternoon we attended the Motorcycle Issues Peer Exchange and Motorcycle Safety Advisory Council (MOSAC).  The MOSAC  discussion focused on Trans 129, which is the statute for motorcycle training, licensing, and RiderCoach  qualification requirements.  As a RiderCoach, one of the changes the State will require is re-certification every 2 years with 2 basic rider courses taught each year vs. every 3 years.  The State’s 2-year requirement will coincide with the MSF’s requirement of every 2 years with 2 full basic courses taught each year.  The MSF is being specifically named as the curriculum to be used for motorcycle training in Wisconsin,  for both licensing and advanced courses.  It was also discussed that a 3-wheeled RiderCoach preparatory class is to be held at Road America during the last 2 weekends in September (Larry and I will be attending).  I personally believe the aging baby boomer group is transitioning from 2-wheels to 3-wheels to extend their riding enjoyment.  The primary issues discussed – which are a serious concern for motorcyclists – is auto cars being classified as motorcycles and autonomous vehicles.  Wednesday started off with a keynote speaker from the National Safety Council.  They now have a concern for traffic safety along with their primary concern of workplace safety, which was how the council got their start.  Thursday’s keynote speaker was the Director of the Forensic Toxicology Program from the WI State Laboratory of Hygiene.  She spoke in depth of lab testing for OWI incidents and how it is a given that marijuana, in her opinion, will be legalized. The speaker stated that at a .04 BAC plus any amount of THC in the blood stream, makes a driver is too impaired to drive safely.  She also spoke of an oral roadside test, which is in a pilot program, to test for substances that leave the bloodstream quickly after having been inhaled, injected or snorted.

I attended breakout sessions on Wednesday and Thursday which included Distracted Driving, Dept of Justice’s Prospective on Recent Court Rulings, the Life Cycle of the Driver, and Crash Data – the Pursuit of Quality Control.  On Wednesday evening we attended a demo of the Walworth County drone, which has a recordable camera and FLIR (forward looking infrared).  It was an interesting demo of the capability of their 4 drones which they use in search and rescue, body recovery, and accident management.  The county invested approximately $70,000, not including man hours for training, to safely operate and meet Federal requirements, such as reporting NOTAN (notice to airmen) any time they deploy a drone so as not to not interfere with the air space.  The FLIR portion of the drone is quite sensitive and very capable of picking up heat signatures.  They showed actual videos of the recovery of a suicide victim’s body located in a large field.  AAA presented Distracted Driving, where I learned of the studies they conduct for traffic safety and studies conducted with the University of Utah. Their largest takeaway is new vehicles, especially those equipped with GPS, take up too much of the drivers’ time and attention while operating the GPS, radio and other items in the vehicle, rather than driving.  The vehicle-manufactured GPS required the most time with which to interact.  Their studies with the University of Utah have shown that 27 seconds after interacting with GPS, using the cell phone or texting, our minds are still not back on the primary task of driving.  When I am riding my motorcycle, I scan aggressively for anyone that could interfere with my right of way, and especially for vehicles that vary their lane position – most likely texting, etc.  Probably the most interesting session I attended, was the DOJ’s perspective on court rulings.  The majority of the session included two DOJ attorneys who spoke on implied consent and what it means for a law enforcement officer, and how recent court rulings have changed implied consent.  My understanding is that if we are driving a vehicle on the highway, we have given implied consent to be tested for OWI.  We have the right to refuse, but exigent circumstances allow LEO to draw blood without a warrant.  Let me back up a bit – you CAN refuse to perform OWI testing, and generally a warrant must be drawn from a judge to draw a blood sample.  But if the LEO believes the exigent circumstances exist, such as a drug that metabolizes and leaves the blood stream quickly, you can be taken in and have a blood draw without a warrant.  Of course, OWI driving which is perceived by the LEO includes more than just alcohol.  It could be OTC medicines, and illegal or prescription drugs.  It was an excellent presentation and I would not want to be on the opposite side of the courtroom from the two attorneys that spoke.

The presentation on the life cycle of the driver focused on the young attempting to get their license and the seasoned driver whose driving lifetime is coming to an end.  The primary discussion focused on the lack of driver education in schools coupled with the lack of parental involvement for the younger generation trying to obtain their driving license.  The new norm is that the age of new drivers gaining their license is increasing to their late teens.  It was stated that younger persons are primarily concerned with being with their friends and, with the advent of social media, they can do that without driving. The exception to this is rural areas.  The discussion on Seasoned Drivers focused on how to tell that someone is no longer safely able to continue driving.  I just experienced this with my mother. It’s extremely difficult to take away someone’s ability to drive as it is perceived as taking away their independence.

Crash Data – the Pursuit of Quality Control.  Something I was unaware of is all vehicular crashes are now electronically reported in Wisconsin.  This statute came to fruition January 2017 and requires crash data reporting within a 10-day period.  Having gone from 10.7 days to a little over 7 days, this immediate data collection allows spin offs of mapping of the actual accident location, fatality reports, and other incidents which cause vehicular crashes.

The greatest takeaway from attending this conference was that the State needs our input as motorcyclists.  Contact your Representative regarding right-of-way violations, auto car classifications, autonomous vehicles, and statute changes without our input.  It is my opinion that certain work groups within the State want to impose more regulations, perceived as safety requirements, upon us without our input as taxpayers and highway users.  We need to give them the input from the motorcyclists’ perspective.