Safety Report

by Gary Klinker

  By the time you get this we should be looking at our first weekend BRC. Registrations are going well, though are kind of slow. Maybe the long winter still has people in hibernation. Remember that May is Motorcycle Awareness Month. We need to have drivers be aware of us, but a much safer strategy is for all riders to observe Driver Awareness every month. Situational awareness is the best strategy for riders. Always know what is happening on the road in your area. Take note of any possible hazards and prepare to deal with them early.

I would like to remind everyone to use the smile.amazon.com site for your online shopping and designate ABATE Safe Rider Inc. as your favorite charity. I have been using the HuTerra Rewards app to get funding for Safe Rider and it is very easy to use.

  Last month John Reblin and I attended the Lifesavers Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. It is subtitled the national conference on highway safety priorities. It is much like our state’s Governor’s Conference on Highway Safety on a larger scale. It started on Sunday morning with opening ceremonies and an address by Elaine Chao, the Secretary of Transportation.

  The first workshop session, and the only motorcycle specific one, was titled “Effective Solutions for Improving Motorcyclist Safety”. One of the presenters was a motor officer from California who has developed an advanced riding course that appears to be much like our own Ultimate Bike Bonding class that was pioneered in Wisconsin by Waukesha Tech instructors. Another presenter was Dan Petterson, the CEO of SMARTER-Skilled Motorcyclist Association-Responsible, Trained & Educated Riders. The organization is in Michigan and has a web site containing a lot of information. I don’t agree with a lot of his points, such as rider training does not work, tougher enforcement, mandatory helmet laws, mandatory ABS and traction controls. I don’t have time to go into all of it, but you can check their web site: www.smarter-usa.org. Some of the things he says will work have been incorporated in the newest MSF curriculum that we have used for the last three years. He is also rather hostile concerning MRO’s. John did a good job of countering some of his information. I was proud to be with him. Another presenter was a state senator from Nebraska who leads the fight to maintain their mandatory helmet law. In my opinion he was a waste of time that really had nothing to do with the title of the workshop.

From that point we attended different workshops for the rest of the conference in order to gather as much information as we could. Between sessions we would go over what we just heard and saw. We spent time with Paulette Korte from ABATE of Illinois and the MRF. As far as we could tell, she was the only other MRO person in attendance.

  Other sessions I attended covered a wide variety of topics. Lowering the BAC to .05% seems to be a coming thing, even though it does not appear to make a big difference. Two thirds of DWI offenders never commit the offense again. The other third of offenders are the repeat, high BAC offenders. With the legalization of medical and recreational marijuana driving under the influence is a big concern. There are no effective ways to determine how much is in a person’s system as there is with alcohol. The other factor is the common practice of mixing drugs or mixing drugs with alcohol. There is a lack of research on how or how much drugs can affect driving. It will become an issue in Wisconsin if our governor gets his way. On a related note, Amy Miles, the Director of Toxicology at the Wisconsin State Hygiene Lab was recognized at an awards luncheon for her work on drug impaired driving. I saw her presentation at the Governor’s Conference last year. It was very educational and interesting.

  Another session I attended focused on innovative state safety campaigns. The Washington Department of Licensing has a good web site with a lot of video for their campaign-“It’s A Fine Line”. The title refers to the fine line between your best ride and your last ride.

  Check it out at: www.itsafineline.com . Another safety campaign from Tennessee was aimed at distracted driving. They used a State Patrol bus, like a charter bus, but all lettered and easily identified, to spot distracted driving. From the high vantage point it was easy to see distracted driving in surrounding vehicles. Using squad cars and motor officers ahead or behind the bus as chase vehicles they were able to apprehend texters, eaters, fugitives with warrants, phone users, and even commercial drivers. In just one week in November 2018 they issued 3317 tickets for distracted driving. With news media riding along, they got a lot of free publicity and spread the word that distracted driving is a crime that does not pay.

  Other sessions dealt with bicycle safety, child protection in vehicles, distracted driving, and aging drivers. Automated vehicles were also a big topic. One session I attended dealt with automated vehicles and law enforcement interactions. Many of the states where testing is taking place have differing systems in place to regulate the vehicles and test protocols. Some of the problems for police and first responders include how to identify these vehicles, how to disable the self-driving modes, dealing with the high voltage or different fuels used, or removing them from the roadway in the event of a crash. Uniformity and consistency from state to state is needed. Recognizing the difference between driver assisted technology and fully autonomous operation is confusing to many, including the public and the media.

  As with many of these types of events, a special tour and meal was included. Since we were in Louisville, Kentucky we were treated to a tour of the Churchill Downs track and museum, along with a dinner in the clubhouse. It is a very historic place and probably got me interested enough to watch the Derby this month. It’s not the Springfield Mile, but might be kind of cool.

  Get out there and ride, but also start easy and practice your riding and braking skills, along with brushing up on your situational awareness. We are all rusty after the long winter. Ride Safe,

Gary