Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

the field of motorcycle safety education, testing, and licensing. On that basis, California questions the right of the Federal Governme nt to wi thhold highway aid funds for the purpose of 'blackmailing' the State into enacting legis lation, when t he electorate of that state rejected it on eight separate occasions. We at the M.O .R.E. Capitol Office are indeed heartened that Governor Brown's Administration has so thoroughly re searched t his matter and has responded to the federal government in such a way as to reassure us that a person's in divid u al rights are paramount, even with the threat of financial lo ss to the State. The nex t time you write to the Governor, p lease ex press your ap preciation of his su pport in our behalf. At the Washington hearings there were presen t at io ns by the AMA, the MMA, and by Chuck Clayton of Cycle News and Biker. M.O.R.E . was represented by 01' Russ, who presented a series of statistics gathered fro m m an y , states, supported by official documents from those states. All of these sta ti st ics 'p oin t out that there is strong evidence that tho ugh the wearing of h elmets may reduce fatalities from head injuries, there is an offsetting increase in fatalities from neck and spinal injuries. The M.O.R.E. position is that no one knows for su re that wearing a helmet at all times is more safe than wearing a helmet under ce rtain conditions, as determined by the operator of the motorcycle. Therefore, motorcyclists should not be forced to wear a helmet at all times (or ever) just because some well-meaning civil servant thinks it is a good idea. Whe n th e hearing was co ncluded, the h ear in g officers thanked everyone for coming, picked up the written material that had been submitted, and left the room. It is a far different situation than the ac t of lo bbyin g at the state level where a vote is taken and you know o n the spot whether you have won or lost. In Washington, D.C ., you are just left standing there with your adrenalin hanging o ut . It b oils down to the fact that we won't know the outcome of the helmet hearings until sometime around the first of the year. Russ Sanford and Ch uck Clayton had lunch later that day with Mr. Lew Buchanan, who is the 'Godfather' of the man da to ry helmet law. Many questions were asked and answered, but three important facts emerged from the discussion: 1. The material gathered from the hearing, along with all of the letters, telegrams, mailgrams, and other data sent to the Docket Section, will be accumulated and presented to Lew Buchanan for his review. From that, Mr . Buchanan will make his recommendation to the Director of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, who in turn will make · his recommendation to the Secretary of Transportation, who in tum has the power to withhold highway aid funds from the State of , California. 2. When asked if he had any idea of what his recommendation would be, Mr. Buchanan answered to t he effect that he had not yet seen or heard anything t hat in any manner changed his opinion that the wearing of helmets should be mandatory. 3. .When asked whether he thought that the pending House and Se nate repealers (covered later) would pass, 1 Mr. Buchanan felt that these laws would not, because to do so would create a precedent that co uld then be ,a p p lied to other subjects (For , ex am p le , the federal government . n ow has the authority to withhold , ed u ca tio n funds to states and I, m unicipalities that re fuse to bus p upils). I I ' I One other item that just sort of 'emerged' w as that if the NHTSA was no longer in a position to 'push ' the mandatory helmet law, certain jobs would be abolished and this would probably include that of Mr. Lewis Buchanan . . . . . the same person who is going to review the information that has been submitted and then make his recommendation to hi s superiors. We couldn 't help but draw the comparison to lettin g a bank manager audit his own books! What do you think? Following his presentation, Russ Sanford was approached by a lad y from the audience who asked fo r a copy of his p resen t ation . She t old Russ th at 'her co mmittee' had received a few letters from motorcyclists co mplai ning about madatory helm et laws, and 'her committee' could not un der st an d why, when all of the information that they had received (from the NHTSA and other ' federal agencies) made it appear that th e helmet was the greatest thing since sin. She co m mented that Russ' presentation had offered the first evidence (or kn owledge) that may be hel mets were not as safe as had been purported. When Russ expressed interest, t he lady gave him her business card and briefly mentioned the function of 'her committee'. Originally it was known as The Special Subcom mittee on the Federal-aid Highway Program. It was established to mo n ito r construction of the Interstate System, authorized by the Public Works Committee in 1956, to make sure the man date of Congress was being carried out. The Subcommittee maintained a dose and contin uous watch on highway de sign and engineering practices, and this is still a part of th e Subcommitte's activities. However, in 1971, its responsibilities were broadened to involve the full range of th e Public Works and Transportation Co m m ittee jurisdiction, in order to provide fiscal control and objective, in-depth information on every n at io nal program that comes under the heading of "public works." Needless to say, the Subcommittee is always looking for factual materi al t o help in carrying out its function. Anything you might h ave to back up cyclist claims that hearing and vision are im paired or that neck and spinal injuries increase with helmet use should be sent to Miss Martha E. Downie , Subcommittee on Investigations & Review, House Public Works and Transportation Committee, B-3 75 Rayburn House Office '- Build in g, Washington, D.C . 20515. It seems that, almost by accident, 01' Russ has located t he office that we should have been sending our information to in order to have th e tr ue motives of the NHTSA (National Highway T raffic Safety Administration) , examined. Miss Downie has made it quite clear that 'her subco m mittee ' is interested in facts and statistics - n ot persona l sentiment. So, we are calling upon each of you to forward whatever information that you might have to Miss Downie at the address given above. Please do this at . yo ur earliest convenience. as the NHTSA will be rendering its decision by the end of the current year and we need to 'head them off at the pass '. Helmet law repea l legislat ion Currently, there are three b ills before the U. S. House of Representatives (HR 3869 , HR 6211, and HR 6918) which wo uld prevent the Department of T ransportatio n fro m the withho lding of highway aid funds from states that fail to enact a mandatory helmet law. A similar law has been in t roduced in th e U. S. Senate as S 2293 . Senator Alan Cr an st o n (one of California's two U.S. Senators) is a co-sponsor of S 2293. Senator Cranston has never before listened to what the motorcyclists have been t ellin g him, on any issue, but he has really jumped on the bandwagon to work for the repeal of the mandatory hel met law . He has in d icated that he is now of the opinion that there is too much 'big brotherism' and that he would like to start repealing some of these laws, starting with the mandatory helmet law. Senator Cra nston had indicated the desire to work for ~ 00 ...... ~ II.) ..0 S II.) > o Z Complete line of Cheng Shin tires & tubes, plus Goodyear tires & tubes. Also complete stock of ND & NGK Plugs. Munari & H.H. Cycle Boots, and Helmets like Templar, Shoei & Premier. All at unbelievably low prices! _&NGKPLUGS CHENG SHIN TIRES ROAD DIR T 350. 18 U"i•... . $14.53 450.18 Uni•. . • . $21.85 350/400. 18 ... $17.23 Six Day 400/450.18 . . . $21.73 Six Day 300.21 MX . . . . $13.91 510. 16 Univ. : . . $23.46 460.18 MX • • • • $21.73 325. 19 Uni•. . . . $12.74 300x14 Trials . • . $ 8.70 400.18 Uni•. . . . $17.90 GASPRING AII.,IUMIRI • COYOTE • DISTRI.UTIM5 4082278722 PO BOX 28A . COYOTE . CA L. ZIP 9~01 3 '*' * STANDARD - 65. ea. FINE WIRE - $1.50 ea,;, ~ (GOL D SERI ES) ~ Due t o low prices o n t hese plugs. we must sell the Stan dard plugs in quant it y of 10 and th e Gold Series in lot s of 4 . R ich Thoncaldson * * * 13 fll- ..&a. 'TI" Hell-Arc Wel d i n g - Frame Alterations Cylin der Borin g - Whe el Laci n g .4. Engine Wor k - MaChining "'II.r," s., 6 8 95·H O slo Circle Bu en a Park , C A 9 0701 714-522--4571 +to * ~ enterprises 4

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