Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

• THE NEW IMAGE • By Chuck Clayton } As promis ed , your pub lisher journeyed to Washington, D.C . ove r the holidays to find out what , if anyt hi ng , could be don e abo ut > s oft ening" th eF' ederal Highway Admin istration's demands that states e nac t c ompulsory helme t la ws. We motorcycl e riders deeply ap preciate the attention Uncle Sam is giving to our safety on the hi ghway s . T ha nks to their urging, many states , by th e end of this year , will have s pecial drivin g tests a nd lice nses for motorcycle ope rators . I belie ve that this program alone wi ll c ut th e s mall ann ual number of motorcycle acc idents in half. In Washi ngton I found that ou r i nter ests. a re being well looked after by L ewi s S. Buchan an , who head s up the Motorcycle Safety Division of th e Hi ghway Saf ety P rograms Ser vic e. ' He ta ke s ca re of motorcyc le matters for President Johns on ' s ca bi net member , Lowell K. Bridwe ll, the sec retary of T ran sportation, a new cabi net pos t created by the P res id en t. Le w Buchanan is a young ,sincere motorcyc le ent h usiast who is making a care er in public service. He recent ly graduated from a Honda 90 to a Ya mah a 250cc which he rid es to work, a nd s ays he is looking forwa rd to co mpeting i n the popular 100 cc class scra mbles aro und th e D.C. a rea. It was s nowi ng li ghtly in th e nat ion's Capital, ye t more than a fe w of the ci tizens were out ri din g the ir two whee lers a nd sidecars on the ic y s treets i n tha t weat he r. W shin gtonian s a re a har dy lot. Th e Dis tri ct of Columbia , by a the way, doe s not ha ve a compulsory he lmet la w, yet all of the rid er s I saw were wearing hea dgear . One c urio us c ha p fashion ed a · hel me t" out of a waste bas ket and wore it o n his cycle rid e to work (nee dle ss to point out , this gove rnmen t e mp loyee doe s not work for t he Hi ghwa y Safety Depa rtmen t) , Lew Buch an a n kindl.Y ad vised the dunc e o f bet ter ways of prote cting his alleged brain a nd by th e ti me yo u read thi s I hope the guy will be wea ring some helmet more in ke e pin g with our ne w motorcyc le image . I co uldn' t_hel p feeling that his hea d probably bel onged in a was tebask e t. " Doe s n' t it c tit down yo ur vis i bil i ty? " B uc hanan a sk ed hi m. " Yeah ." the would -be in nov ator re pli e s . " Some ti me s tha t worri es me . This e pisode ill us trat ed a ve ry important point that has ofte n be en overlooked in the co ntrove rs ia l hel me t issue: You don ' t need to mak e people wea r TRASH HELMET Washington D m ,C, otorcycle rider puts head In wastebasket for rlde to work. Definitely not approved. - Photo by Lewis Buchanan i r . li& ~¥Jf¥ ~ F- . ' GRIPSTERS M.C. - - J .Il}\L * RIDE , TRUE GRAND PRIX I * 9 mile course through the town and surrounding countryside of picturesque Elsinore, Calif. City Streets - Highways F!!IO &II Rain - Byways ~e ~::~MA SANCTIONED lSA1~ DISTRICT 37 POINTS SCRAMBLES AND DESERT M.il el try Illy E y fee - S10"lIt, N ref,"ds o T - -.... A 'Wide World of Sport? E i.. 10. epen I" Closo Jal. 22 midnight Mail 10: GRIPSTERS M.C. 703 S. OLIVE S T. ANAHEIM, CALIf. 92805 will be there Start position determined by postmark We assign numbers i~ --~size trop~e s ~ I Motels ond ,omping available 'lSPE.CTATORS FR.EE" • A Na il In T he Co ffi n While we found many points of agre eme nt on the motorcycle safely a pproa ch , th e mono lithi c i njustic e of compulsory helmet la ws was a ll tha t preve nte d my comple te e nthusiasm for What the Dep t. of T rans portation is doin g for us. Manda tory helm e t laws a re a nail i n the co ffin of moto rcyc li ng. It app ears by now tha t the states tha t ha ve hastily pa s s ed helmet la ws proba bly di d so mor e to res tr ic t the growth of mot orcycl e ridin g, than to save citize ns ' live s . Only 20 states have provi ded s pecia l driv ers li censes for motorcycle opera tors . Only ei ght states require rea rvi e w mirrors on bik es. Yet thirty sta tes, as of J a n. I , 1968, will a rrest yo u i f yo u ri de yo ur motorcyc le wit hout a helme t! Wha t kind of non s e ns e is that? Head injuri es, death s ar e the re sult of accid ents , and a ccid ents a re mainly the fault of i nadeq uate riding s kills . F or so me reas on state l e gislature s ha ve beee n more co nc erne d wit h that's ON a rid er ' s head tha n wha t's IN it. In effe c t they are s ayi ng , ·You don't hav e to know ho w to ope ra te a motorcy cle , but you do hav e to wear this fun ny ha t." Hel me ts won't reduc e ac cid ent s o ne bit. It is not ha rd to predict what the next step in the anti-moto r cycle ca mpaig n will be: " E ve n wit h helmets on people got killed, the ref o re motorcycle s we re deemed inh er ently da ngerou s ; the refo re t he only thin g left wa s to declare motorcy c le s co ntra ba nd and force them off the road s altoget her ." Far-fe tch ed as it sound s , many of us ca n remember when the Hearst newspape rs wa ged- j us t s uc h an a nti-c ycle ca mpa ign to ge t motorcycles bann ed off th e roads of Ca lifornia, e xce pt for poli ce us e. I don 't beli e ve that mot or cycle s a re inh er ently dan gerous a ny more than a lawn mowe r is • inh erently" dan gerou s. Bu t it does ta ke more s kill and traini ng to operate one s afely . I am not a ski ng the sta tes to train rid ers, (d eale rs, cl ubs and private indi vid uals can ta ke ca re of tha t). I am only insisting that a s imple e xa mi na tion , to make s ure a person ca n rid e compe te ntly, is i n ord er befo re mor e dra sti c meas ures, s uc h as e nfo rced a rmor, a re calle d for. Defea t ist W ul d Se ll M/C in g Shor t o T her e are defea tis ts in our own i ndus try who would se ll moto rcycli ng s hort to gai n a crumb of satisfa cti on a t bein g able to s ay ·1 told yo u so." E ven as l umino us a dignitary as t he editor of Cycle World mo nth ly re centl y wrote that compulsory helmet law s are " Ine vit able " a nd we s hould ce a se our s t ruggle again st them. .As for why rape is in e vitable , he cites a 35 mill ion dollar bla ckjack threat to Californi a if thi s sta te does n't do a s Wa sh ing to n ad vis e s . California A s sembly man J oh n F , Fo ran als o us e s this as his chief argum ent for co mpulsory helmet legislat ion. But I l earned in Washingto n that Cycl e W orld and the .A ssembl y man a re misinformed as regar ds the latest devel opme nts in the co ntrove rs ia l 10% hi ghway a id pena lty which T ranspo rtation Secr e tary Brid we ll us es to urge the states to e nac t his depa rtme n t's sa fety progra m. .F ortuna tel y for the 20 s tat es a nd the Dis tri ct of Columbia which hav e not pa s s ed di s crimi na tory helmet law s in haste , Secre tary Brid well has indica te d his departmen t' s willingness to • tak e a rea s ona bl e app roa ch " to- the matter of s ta tes ri ghts in impl emen ti ng th e hig hway safety pro gra m, which calls for helm et la ws fo r moto rcy c Ie rid ers , among othe r th ing s . " , •. 1 Cann ot Imagi ne a St a te Being Penaliz ed . ; ." ephege ll ~g . ELSINORE 100 MILE ruiL~i GRAND PRIX . • ¥¥¥¥¥¥¥ he lme ts ; motorcycle rid ers will prote ct themse lve s voluntarily . But you do need to s e t standards for th e hel mets that th ey wea r. Mr. Buchanan is probably th e best authority on motorcy cle safely in the U. S. , a distinctio n fo r whic h th ere a re many co nte nde rs . Ser ving with him in the Hi ghway Safety Depar tme nt ar e Brad ford C ri tten den , a forme r hea d of the Califo rnia Hi ghway pa trol; Glen V. Carmi chael and Fred Koch, Mr. Cri tt e nden is a mot orcy cl e rid er, of co urse , a nd is a pionee r in car a nd moto rcyc le safety. He was chiefly re s pons ibl e for requ ir in g CHP officers to wear helm ets in moto rcy cles a nd cars . Alth ough my co nversa tio ns with a ll o f t hese men were • off the record ," I can report that my ge nera l impressio n was that th ey a re sy mpathe tic to our proble ms , yet i nflexible i n th e ir dedication to du ly. Sin ce we a re all, i n a way, payin g thei r salari es , I don't think we cou ld ask fo r a greater measure of devo tion than thes e me n a re now givi ng. Howe ver, .I receive d the impressio n that if the motorcycle comp ulsory helme t la ws ar e allowed, it will soo n be required that car drivers and pa s s e ngers buckle on their s kid-li ds too. ¥¥ ¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥ • A pl an does not hav e to provide full impleme ntatio n of t he sta nda rds ... by a ny speci fic point in time ," he said i n a s pe e ch to a U.S. Senate subcommit tee on Ju ly 18, 1967 . " In the fin al a nalysis , I cannot ima gine a State being penali zed 10 per cent of it s hi ghwa y funds e xcept in a very e xtre me s ituat ion. .. .As we go a lo ng, it ma y very well be that adjustments (in the highwa y safe ty a ct) wi ll be nee de d. " So we ha ve proof that re s tricti ve meas ures ar e no t " ine vi ta ble ." And .F ora n' s a rgument that a $3 5 mi lli on a x will fall on California 's head unles s it cl aps he lme ts on every cy cle rider and passe nge r this year is only hot a ir. Yet the ra ce is fa r from won. E ven now as yo u read thi s , F oran is fighti ng to hustle the he lme t pa cka ge into la w. It will tak e a det ermin ed effort by all Califo rni a enthus iasts to s top him. Your l e tter s and tele grams to yo ur state Senators and .As s e mblyma n ca n s a ve th e day again. as they did la s t y ear. Make no mistake about it , poli ti cans ar e infl uenced by your wi res and le tter s. Man y of them a re co mi ng up for reel e cti on this year and t he y will think twice ab out risking the los s of your vot e. It i s you r du ly as a citize n a nd a motorcycle e nthusi as t to call it to t heir attention that if they vote for compuls ory hel me ts they ' ll lose yo ur vot e in November. Reme mbe r th e Arabs vs . Israe lis? We motor cyc le riders may not ha ve the numbers or the organizatio n of the a nti-mo torcycle forc e s , but we ha ve justic e on our si de. If e very per so n reading this will writ e a le tt er or phone a te leg ram to his co ngressmen, we ca n ke ep our freedom intact. But if we give up a nd s ay · oh well , it is i ne vita ble ," t he n we' ll des erve ou r lo s ses• .And you road rid ers who cou ld care les s if he lme t laws a re pass ed a nd you co mpe ti tion ri der s who thi nk it won't affe ct you s hould wak e up ri gh t now. Unles s we beat the motorcycle ha ter s on the is su e of co mpulsory helmets , it'll be yo ur fun they 'll be taki ng away ne xt. Compul s ory helmet la ws a re unfair , unne ces sary and unworth y of these Unit ed States . St ates sho uld s et mini mum sta nda rds for helm ets and leave th e c hoice of whe n to buckl e them on to the deci sion of the individual. Th e state 's int er e s t would be far be tt er s erved if t he e ne rgy which has been wasted o n th e hea dgear folly wen t in to testing a nd e xami ni ng rid ers to be sa t is fied tha t they a re competent to ope ra te a motorcycle safely. As s emblyman F oran ha s handi c apped hi s good li cens e bill with th e dead-horse demand for compulso ry helme ts . I hop e Californians can kill the he lme t na g with out sac rif ic ing the re s t o f the safety regulati ons , for F oran obsti nately refus e s to separate the helme t i s sue from his omni bus bill. Wh ethe r Fo ran knows that W sh i ngt oa will be sa tis fied wit h what the res t of the bill provid es a (lice nse exami na ti ons , helmet standa rds , equipment standa rds) or no t, only he co uld say. But he ca nnot say that Cali fornia must make it s mot orcyclists wea r he lmets or los e $35 million . We .coul d in creas e the a lready grea t re sp ect which we have for Mr. .Fo r an if he would refrain from ma kin g it so und a s if our little free dom we re bein g ba rtered for 35 million clams . It never was a ni ce a rgume nt , a nd the re is no ne ed to prolo ng it . Sev era l rea der s hav e off ered hel p a nd some have e ve n sent donation s to help us in th is str uggle to pres erv e freedom by preventi ng poin tl e s s he lmet la ws . P leas e don' t send mon ey , we only hav e to s end it ba c k to yo u. If yo u real ly wa nt to keep the freed om to decide whe n and where you' ll wea r yo ur helmet s , inv est a do llar in W tern Union Publi c Opinion T el e gra ms to yo ur es electe d rep resentative s s ta ti ng yo u a re oppose d to compulso ry helm ets , (b ut in fav or of s pe c ia l li cen s e s , etc. for motorcyc le ri der s). And ke ep o n buying Cycle Ne ws and the products and serv ice s you s ee adv ertis ed he rein . \ 't 1 1' I -

• Cover