News Bytes
-- even if you have never thought about road safety before-- to dive in to these data and help answer these important questions, especially on tough issues like pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities.” Interested organizations, companies and concerned citizens can download and analyze the data( ftp:// ftp. nhtsa. dot. gov / fars / 2015 /) and share your insights at opendata @ dot. gov.
GEORGIA EXTENDS HANDLEBAR HEIGHT Affective July 1, 2016 legislation in Georgia has modified the state’ s handlebar height law to allow for taller bars. Signed into law by Governor Nathan Deal, House Bill 166, the“ Motorcycle Mobility Safety Act” increased the maximum measured height of a motorcycle’ s handlebars from 15 inches above the seat to 25 inches. Georgia is among 30 states that limit the height of handlebars. Without a federal standard, the regulation of handlebars on motorcycles rests with the states. Currently, 11 states limit the height of handlebars to 15 inches above the saddle. Five others require the handlebars to be below the height of the shoulder. Last summer, South Dakota, which hosts the annual Sturgis Rally became the most recent state to repeal its shoulder level statute, legalizing so-called“ ape hangers” just in time for the 75th annual rally. Discriminatory in nature, handlebar height laws have no impact on rider safety, and most were adopted by states decades ago to provide police with an excuse to pull over bikers on choppers.
VULNERABLE ROAD USERS COMPONENT ADDED TO ACT DRIVER’ S LICENSE TESTS Young drivers in the Australian Capital Territory( ACT) around Canberra, Australia’ s capital city, will have to be able to prove they can share the road safely with cyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians before they’ ll be granted a license, the ACT government has announced. People applying for learner permits or provisional licenses must
demonstrate they can drive around vulnerable road users or risk failing their test, the ACT’ s Road safety Minister Shane Rattenbury told The Sydney Morning Herald.“ It’ s really exciting that more and more Canberrans are choosing to walk and cycle around Canberra,” he said.“ However, it’ s important that we ensure that our road rules can accommodate all road users safely, and that all road users are aware of these rules.” Twenty extra questions will be added to the road rules knowledge test. Applicants must score 100 % on this section to gain their learner’ s license. During their practical driving test, learners going for their“ Ps”( Provisional P1 license) must demonstrate they can navigate roads with bicycle lanes and move through areas of slow traffic where motorcyclists may be lanefiltering. Applicants will be tested in areas frequented by cyclists and pedestrians, including shared zones, town centers, group centers, aged-care facilities and school zones.
DO YOU TRUST YOUR NEWS SOURCE? When Gallup pollsters recently asked the question:“ How much trust and confidence do you have in the media?” respondents cited“ Great Deal / Fair Amount” by only 32 %, the lowest number on the subject in Gallup’ s 34 year history. In contrast, the National Coalition of Motorcyclists( NCOM) has been disseminating timely and accurate motorcycle news and information for over three decades, and the AIM / NCOM Motorcycle E-News Service now reaches over a million motorcyclists across the country and around the globe with each monthly edition of NCOM Biker Newsbytes, Calls-To-Action, and important news releases of interest to ALL motorcyclists in the riding community. Concerned clubs, organizations and riders’ rights activists are encouraged to subscribe to this free biker news service at www. ON- A-BIKE. com or by calling AIM / NCOM at 1-( 800) ON-A-BIKE.
QUOTABLE QUOTE:“ The law will never make men free, it is men that have to make the law free.” ~ Henry David Thoreau( 1817-1862) American naturalist, poet and philosopher www. thunderroadscolorado. com October 2016 Thunder Roads Magazine ® Colorado 31