Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

You'll ~• • .I••r s . . . . s.. It co • America's Only Weekly Motorcycle Newspaper" Publish..r•. •.• Charles (", na~ton .... '" Editor ia l sto ri e s , ca rtoons , photos , . Pt c . un- we l r-omod and will bp paid for upon publicati on (p xcppl pn'ss re l..aso s and " Vo i r-.. - lett..rs .) Add n-ssert, s tam ped e nvo lopo aSS UH'S Bust nexs !\1ana ~('r•• Sharon (' Ia\·ton Circulation M~r. • • Ga~'" Thoma';"n ST Flrn • • • <0 Editor. • •. •. • •• • • • Carol Sims :\ dvertisi n~ M ~r• . • ••• Tom Culp Photo Edi tor. •. • • I)t'nnis Gr....n.. Lab T"chni ~an •. • •RiII P .. Uil:f"" R e c....u om s t• .• • •Louis .. M arshal l &417 N. Lng Beaell BIYd, LollC Beaell. Calif. 50805 Or: Box 4!8, LOIIg Beacll, Calif. Publish e d we ekly e xc..pt th .. n rst and last wee k of the cal e ndar ye ar Pbone: 423-OQl by C&S PUblishing Co.. Post Offic e (Area Code 213) Box 498, L on a Beac h , California. Second Class From L.A, Phones: &3H844 Beach, Calif , postag e paid a t Long return . (·UP.\ pri er • • • • • • • • • 25(' Subs cri puon : One .\' p a r 2nd cl ass S i n ~ l t" \lail • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 7 . 50 (SU bsc ribers pl ea s e al to w three \\ f' ~ lt. s ror addre-ss c ha n~t" .) Advertis in g rat es and c irc ula t io n i ruc rma ti o n will be sent upon req ue s t. TH E NEW IMAGE By Chuck Cl ay ton . UNITED MOTORCYCLE ENTHUSIASTS OF CALIFORNIA TO LOBBY FOR YOU AND ME By Barbara Adams Dahms Following is th e text of BartJara Adams Dahms' tes timony to the Cal ifornia Assembly Trans portation Committee re garding AB289, the Motorcycl e Danger Bill: "We all agree that the idea of safety is an admirable one. But as the Motorcycle Safety Councll has pointed out, ' the use of helmets Is to save lives after the fac t of an accident. Wesuppor t trainIng and licensi ng to pr event accidents .' "We st rongly suppor t a motorcycle license pro vision. W blieve it should be e a special llc ense based on knowledge of the r ules of the r oad and one' s ability to handle a two wheel machine. W do not e favor a twowheel lic ense pr edlcated upon a four wheel one. "We do not believe Incompulsory helmet laws, even to save lives . Helmets will never pr event accidents. They can conceivably cause them. As was amply described to this committee last year, helmets Interfere dras tically with hearIng , The full helmet which will probably be the national stan dar d, has considerable rim aroun d the face which cuts orr per ipheral visio n as well as the view of objects behind in the quick-head-turn which is an absolute necessity for safe operati on. No number of rear view mir r ors can replace the look around. Furthermore the helmet decr eases head mobility; constant wear ing can cause headaches and gener al dlscomfor t. No machine can be operated as safe ly by an uncomfor table and Ir ri tated person. " And how about the lives helmets save? Sta tis tics are limited. The bes t study to date was recently completed by the c auror nra Highway Patro l. It is an excellent study and as In all excell ent studies gives no clear cut Indica tion of the answers. "From the consid er able mass of statistics In this stu dy, ther e Is an estima te made that 26.49% of all repor ted Injuries ar e head Injuries . This includes all kind of head Injurles •..not just fatal ones . Head Injuries Include bumps, abrasions, cuts, etc . The police did not consider themselves qualified to diagnose the extent of Injury so all head Injur ies are lumped together. .. The total reported motor cycle Injur ies Cal i forn i a motorcy cl e enth usiasts for t he firs t time will be gi ven the op po rtun ity to have thei r own lobbyi s t i n the state cap ito l to deal with t he c u rrent c rop o f moto rcycle l e gi sl a tion. B arbara Adams Da hms has agreed to repre s e n t ri de rs' interests in Sac ramento and ma nage a legislative advisory program to bridge the " o pi nio n gap" between en thusiasts and la wmakers. One Down, 3 To Go Dra wi n g on he r experience as a legislative advocate for Califo rnians Against State Execution s, Mrs . Dahms was in strumental" in defeating John F. Foran 's motorc ycle "Da ng e r Bill " in the state Senate last year. T hi s year moto rcycle enthu siasts were faced with not just one but [our separate anti-motorcycle bills. Aided by a lot of individual motorcycle riders who wrote letters, s e n t wi res and o the rwi s e brought th ei r view s i n the matter to th e attention of their legi slators, Barbara was able to have th e compul sory helmet passage s truck ou t of R a lp h Di ll s' Senate Bill 111, with the con s ent of its author. As thi s i ssue i s roll ing o ff t he pr esses, Mrs . Da hms i s again in Sacramento, testifying on behal f of motorcycle enthu si as ts before th e As sembly Ways & Mean s Committee , whi ch i s d ecidin g on th e new Foran Da ng e r Bill (AB289). All th re e of the mi stak en bills re maining c a n be defeated before th ey be com e law, B arba ra i s co n fi den t. Bu t it ma y be e xp ensiv e . To help defray the risi ng cost of legi slative i n fl ue nce, and to give eac h enthusiast co ncern ed a c han c e to make hi s voi ce heard, a new party has be e n foun ded - U. M. E . Th e Un ited Moto rcycle E n t hu s i a s t s of Cali fo rn i a. In the State of Cali!. In 1966 was 14,570 26.49% x 14,570 equal 3,860 estimated head Injuries of al l kinds . With helmets the es timated per cent of head Injuries would be 13.64% 13.64% x 14,570 equal 1,987 head Injuries of all kinds. Esti mated saving In head Injuries byhelmets Is 1,873 or 49%. " This Is from the CHP Report. That It is a total of all kinds of head Injuries cannot be stressed strongly enough. The total fatal Injuries of all kinds was only 319 that year . if preventing 49% of head injur ies means also saving 49%ortatalities the estima ted saving in lives would be 156. But there is nothing to s upport this cor relatio n because we do not r eally know what caus ed the fatalities . " However the National Safety Council has esti mated that about 70%ofboth cycle and auto fa talities are ca used by head Injuri es . Usi ng this and the figures let's make an estimate. 319 fatali ties x 70% MAILING ADDRESS: U.M.E., Box 498, Long Beach, Calif. r------------------.--.------~ ~: : Pl ea s e enrol l the following as a member of United Motorcycle • En thu s ias t s of Ca lifo rn ia : ~ • (na me of person, fami ly , de al e r or cl ub app lying fo r membe rs hip) • 3 . u> • I I (mail'ing ad dre s s, unless member wishes to re main anon ymo us ) I ;0;:: • · • (c ity) • I Type of Membersh ip Appl ied For Student or Associ a te•• •• • $3. 0 Ip F u II Mem be rs h · • • • • • • • 5. 0 : F ami ly Members hip • ..••• 10. 0 • Club Membership • • • .• . • 12.0 Dealer Membership • .•• • • 25.0 • Spon s or or Life Member • • 100 . 0 • I (s ta te) (Zip) P lea s e enc lose cu rren c y, c hec k or money orde r. I . l2 • • ~ ~ .I ....... ~ Z ~ I I • S? • ~ MAIL TO UNIT ED MOTORCYCLE I ENTH USIASTS, BOX 498 • • LONG BEACH, CALIFORN IA • • ._- --- -- - ------ - ------ - _ . _ . _ ~• ~ equal estimated 223 due to head Injurles . If hel mets saved half they would save 112 lives on cycles. How about automobiles ? Ther e were 6,284 automobil e fatalities In this state that year . 6,284 fatali ties x 70% equal 4,398 auto dea ths due to head Injuries . if hel mets saved half of these (and why not, if helmets prevent head Injuries?) the saving In lives would be 2,200 automobile occupants . "Motorcyc le accidents account for 5% or vehicle deaths in Cali!orni a . Motorcycle accidents account for 5% of re por ted vehicle accidents in Californi a. Nati onwide the perc entage Is 2 to 3%. if our goal is truly to save lives on the roads we must r equire helmets on the other 95%. It does not seem r eas onable to pro tect 5% and leave the other 95% unpr otecte d. ''it Is Inter esti ng to note that nationally 9,300 pedestrians were kille d in 1966. Many others died from fal ls In the bath, The majority of these deaths too, were due to head Injuri es . If we are to save lives it seems only logical to put helmets on cycli sts , autolsts, pedestrians , and people taking baths . Or we could leave the whole matt er uP to the individual, as indeed weshal l doin most of the aforementioned cases . A hel met Is a strikingly Individual matter . It becomes a part of per sonal wearing appar el , fitted to the Individual who owns it. It Is not Inter changable. crA motor cycle ri der will wear what Is comfor table to him, unless ther e is a r egulation affecting his choice . Andcomfor t Is an Impor tant safety factor . A r ider who chooses to wear a helmet will buy a good one and keep It In good condition. A r ider who Is forced to buy one can be expected to buy the cheapest one possible and have little concern for Its condition. H if California passes licensing provisions unencumbered by helme t requirements we will have a chance to test safety value of training and knowledgein motorcycle opera tion. This can be an impor tant contribution to the overall national safety pict ure." Keep California Free... JOIN! UME Membership fe e s will be us ed e xcl usi vely fo r lobbying p u rposes an d as suc h a re not tax deduc tible. United Mo to r cy c le En thu s ia sts is a non-pro fi t party. MEMBERSHIP FEES: Student or Associate Member..$3. 5. Full Membership. .. Family Membership••••••.••••••.l0. Club Membership 12. Dealer Membership••••.••.••••.. 25. Sponsor or Life Membership••100. What You Get When You Join What yo u get i s th e sati sfaction of kno wing that yo ur i nterests a re being looked out for in Sacramen to, and that you a re do ing your part to help protect the en joymen t o f motorcycle ri din g in the s tate of Cali fornia. If yo u joi n yo ur s uppo rt wi th U.M. E. , mistaken motorcycl e l aw s can be avoided . Yo u also get a U.M,E. membership card e ntitling you to all pres ent and future bene fit s . P l us yo u'll receive a nice letter from yo ur lobbyi st as well as a ll futu re mai lings . Clubs will get a n imp ressively engraved certi fi cate of membership su itable for fram ing. JOIN U.M.E. NOW (before it's too late) U.M.E. Is IIi. Favor Of: L egi sl ati o n which promo te s o r .e n ha nc e s the us e o f mo torcycl e s as a means o f tr an sport a nd/o r e njoy me n t i n Cal i forn ia. U.M.E. Is Opposed To: Any l egi sl a t ion whi ch would ten d to d egr ad e o r d i mi n i sh the progress o f the motorcycle movemen t i n Cali forni a. Unwarranted infringem ent of moto rcycle rid ers' righ t s to enjoy their property a c co rdi ng to t he dictates of th ei r own co nscience s as long a s th e y do no t i nterfe re wi t h t he right s of others • Fo rc i ng re spo n si bl e road us ers to we a r prote c ti ve app a rel ag ai n st thei r o wn judgement.

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