WERE YOU THERE?

by Steve Panten

On January 23rd the motorcyclists took over the halls of the State Capitol and brought attention to the issues that affect us. Were you there? Biker Day in Wisconsin is the most important day of the year for motorcyclists in the state and it was great to see so many people recognize what that means. Even more exciting was seeing that 10% of the attendees that completed the exit evaluation were first time attendees. The next question on the evaluation is “will you come back next year”, and I was very happy to see the number of people that said yes. Now I understand that it is difficult for some people to take time off from their jobs, and some cannot rearrange their calendar to join us, but the more people that are there, the more effective we can be.

The meetings with the legislators were very successful. It was great to see that the Legislative Offices were supportive of our issues and really took the time to understand what we need. As a direct result of our efforts, the paddle wheel raffle bill SB43 was scheduled for a vote in the Assembly on February 11th. As much as I would like to say it was a successful vote, it was not voted on. We are still trying to get Representative Steineke to schedule it.

Also, because of the great work by those that showed up, Representative Considine was joined by Senator Erpenbach in drafting a joint resolution addressing the issue of motorcyclists’ being profiled by law-enforcement agencies in Wisconsin. Since this is a resolution, there is no enforcement or penalties if someone is profiled, but it was where we want to start. Our message at Biker Day was clear, ABATE of Wisconsin is working with law-enforcement agencies to raise awareness to the fact that some agencies are clearly pulling over motorcyclists strictly because of apparel or the fact that they are operating a motorcycle. This resolution is raising awareness that there is a problem brewing in Wisconsin, and the fact that the State Legislature is listening is a testament to our efforts over the years.

Success like this does not come without the support of many. Of course, we could not be effective without motorcyclists and supporters showing up. Thank You to everyone that recognized how important this day is and were able to take the time to show up. Thank you to Mike Hupy and Hupy and Abraham for covering the cost of the busses from Milwaukee. Also, thank you to the AMA District 16 and the Saint Croix Valley Riders for their very generous donations. These 3 groups have been supporting our Biker Day for many years. Thank you to the CC Riders for opening their clubhouse for us to use for parking and gathering, and to the ABATE State Office workers for all the help they give us every year. Thank you to the bus captains for taking on that important job and finally, thank you to Dave Dwyer for his help. After all the meetings are done and most attendees have left, there are usually a few offices that were not visited. We typically have a couple people doing this but this year we got a late start on it and our usual help had to leave, so Dave took the folders for all those offices and made sure every office had the same information.

Our final agenda item at Biker Day was reminding our representatives that everyone needs to be responsible when introducing new technologies on our roadways. Proper discussions need to happen before any new rules are introduced which would allow more implementation of driverless technologies on Wisconsin roads. We expressed the need for motorcyclists to be represented during these discussions. ABATE of Wisconsin had a similar discussion with the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Transportation last year and they were committed to including us in the discussions. This Biker Day was our opportunity for us to let the State Legislators know about the meeting with the DOT and use them to make sure we are at the table. At one meeting, a Senator said to the group “if you are not at the table, that means that you are on the menu”. Think about that…. all the previous meetings held by the DOT did not have input from a motorcyclist’s group. What does that mean for our future? Technology is moving quicker than the legislature, which is causing them to be reactive rather than being proactive. The motorcyclists are trying to get ahead of what technologies are going to be allowed on Wisconsin roads and how that is going to be implemented. The future of motorcycling in Wisconsin is not being addressed properly and raising our concerns at Biker Day helps keep the issue on everyone’s minds. After Biker Day, John Reblin reached out to the DOT to get more information about what discussions are happening and he was reassured that right now there are no discussions, but we will be included when they start. As Chair of the State Motorcycle Safety Advisory Council (MoSAC), John has many discussions with the State DOT and that has helped us make inroads with them.

One final thing for this month. At Officer’s Training the catch phrase was from Hardtail. He said that when the soccer team that he is coaching is falling behind he says “Soak it up…. fix it….be better”. I would like to use this slogan to address Calls to Actions. With all the motorcyclists in the state we need to be better when responding to ABATE and MRF calls to action. Soak it up…. we recognize that we are not getting enough people to make the calls. Be better…we know what needs to be done. Fix it…. let’s all make a stronger effort at following through on all calls to action. Please sign up for alerts on ABATE’s website as well as the Motorcycle Riders Foundation website and take the time to help when a call to action is sent. We are only as strong as our members and the motorcyclists in Wisconsin choose to be. You do not have to be an ABATE member to sign up for alerts or to respond to them. That means when a call to action comes out, forward it to your friends and family with a note asking them to complete it because it is important for motorcyclists in the state.

The STEAM conference is in Illinois on April 3rd and 4th 2020. I hope that you have made your reservations since it is so close. Next year it will be held in Wisconsin and we will need help, so understanding how great this conference is will be important to ensure that our event is as successful as it can be. This is a great conference to learn what is happening in other states in the Midwest, and we can learn from the struggles and successes that they had. Sign up and join us in Springfield, Illinois.

That’s it,

Steve