Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126786
Against Govt. B.S. (Continued from page 11) them you're too stupid to teach. ]n the face of narrowmindedness, there's plenty of evidence indicating that taking a formal rider ed course is probably the best thing a new rider can do to insure his plotorcyding longevity. Training can also help the experienced motorcyclist pick up a few survival tips, or simply see the mechanics of riding in a more illuminating light. (If you think you're too good to participate in one of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation's Better Biking Programs, then maybe you should sign up for one of the road-racing schools. Either way, when put to the test, many high-mileage street riders have found they can't ride nearly as well as they thought they could.) Because the safety hierarchy doesn't care for rider ed, bikers themselves have taken up the call. Increasingly, when interest groups come around asking for something special, lawmakers plead budget distress. But led by the AMA, the MSF and state and local motorcycling groups, riders have said they want statewide rider ed programs and that they're willing to pay for them. In the past few years, legislators in 19 states have found that offer hard to refuse. California's Assemb]y Bill 2489, sponsored by the flamboyant Dick • Floyd (D-Gardena) is typical of selffunding rider ed bills and at the same time unique. On the normal side, the legislation would increase motorcyderegistrations by $2 to fund voluntary rider training programs and motorcycle awareness campaigns throughout the state..While some rider ed laws provide for the hiring of a program coordinator or the appointment of a small steering committee, the California bill goes its own way by calling for a IS-member commission and authorizing that group to employ a staff. Beginning in the Assembly TransporationCommittee in February, AB2489 steadily made its way through the Assembly and is now before the Senate Finance Committee. Essentially, the bill is just two or three votes away from arriving on the governor's desk for enactment. Were California not ble sed by a virtually unlimited legislative session, AB-2489 would have wound up like similar bills in Delaware and West Virginia, victims of session deadlines. Obviously California would be the big plum for self-funding laws. Already, the owners of2.3 million of the nation's 5.6 million registered motorcycles can benefit from the self-funding training programs in their states. As the largest riding state, California's. 645,000 motorcycles will not only generate $1.3 million for the state's own rider safety program, but it will also put that nationwide total over the halfway mark, at $2.9 million. That's an impressive sum for a schexne that many safetycrats refuse to acknowledge as a method for decreasing motorcycle accidents. To keep this legislative ball roIling, California riders should mail a brief note in support of AB-2489 to Sen. Alfred Alquist, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, as well as to your own senator (Cal ifornia State Senate, State Capitol, Sacramento, CA 95814). Riders in other states can contact the AMA's Government Relations Department (P.O. Box 141, Westerville, OR 43081) to find out if they live in one of the self-funding states, or to learn how they can help get such a bill moving when their legislature opens again for business. We've got to keep on proving that we're willing to work and pay for what we know we need. • (c.ll~e{. ) 1 C. AGAJANAN'S SANCTIONED A~~ EL41iAphiA~ AND TOYOTA Pwf1it NATIONAL DOUBLEHEADER WEEKEND OF. DECISION? 25-.LAP TT STEEPLECHASE FRIDAY, SEPT. 21, 7:30 pin (RESCHEDULED FROM SILVERDOME) 26th ANNUAL 20-LAP HALF-MILE (RESCHEDULED FROM. LOS ALAMITOS) SATURDAY, SEPT. 22, 8 pin WITH ~UNIOR RACES RESERVED TICKETS ALSO AVAILABLE AT TICKET MAIL ORDER FORM QUANTITY TYPE OF TICKET AND PRICE TICKET~ON AMOUNT FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21 RESERVED SEAT ADULT $16.00 ea. 5 8.00 ea. 1':1 C\. \:III:' $ RESERVED SEAT CH)LD 5 5 5 8.00 ea. TELETRON Combination Adult Reserved 529.00, Child Reserved 514.50 if purchased in advance. General Admission Combination in advance only in groups of 20 or more @ 525.00 each or individually from 10 am to 5 pm, sept. 21 at Ascot race track. All other General Admission tickets on sale at Ascot on race day only. Race Night General Admission, sept. 21/22 Adults 514.00, Child 57.00. (All children 8 and under admitted free to general admission only.) Enclosed is my check for . Please enclose a self addressed stamped envelope along with check or money order payable to: AGAJANIAN ENTERPRISES, P.O. Box 98, Gardena, California 90247 · • • I _ ADDRESS PHONE lC.~'S _ _ _ • _ _ FREE VIP. 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