News Bytes
NCOM BIKER NEWSBYTES
Compiled & Edited by Bill Bish,
National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM)
MOTORCYCLE INDUSTRY PURSUES INTELLIGENT BIKES
The motorcycle industry recently took a major step toward
the “connected bike” when three major OEMs announced the
launch of a Connected Motorcycle Consortium (CMC), with
Yamaha, BMW and Honda entering into a joint agreement
to accelerate the development of intelligent bikes, whose
technology development and inclusion in the greater mobility
picture have lagged behind the connected-car movement.
Industry officials made the joint announcement at the 2015
ITS World Congress in Bordeaux, France, and the newly
formed organization follows the 2014 signing of a far reaching
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by all members of the
European Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers (ACEM)
stating that connected motorcycles will be available for sale
within the next five years incorporating smart safety devices
that speak with each other across brands and products. The
CMC will focus on sharing information and technology to
get Cooperative-Intelligent Transportation Systems (C-ITS)
applications onto powered two-wheelers by 2020, and the
three manufacturers are encouraging other motorcycle
OEMs to join the consortium in an effort to standardize C-ITS
protocols across the motorcycle industry.
“In order to speed up more motorcycle-specific safety
developments, we intend to cooperate to promote a successful
implementation of C-ITS in motorcycles and scooters,” said
Honda’s Tetsuo Suzuki. “The next logical step is to enter into
a cooperation dedicated solely to the challenges relating to
powered two-wheelers,” added Takaaki Kimura, of Yamaha.
“Our aim is to promote a timely and comprehensive use of cooperative
ITS systems in powered-two wheelers offering the potential to improve
safety. We therefore encourage other companies to join us,” said Prof.
Dr. Karl Viktor Schaller, of BMW Motorrad.
ITS technologies offer the potential to further increase safety,
security and efficiency in all transport systems, in particular for
motorcycles. Future systems development will further integrate
V2V features, in particular interoperable networked wireless
communication between vehicles to enable road users to make
coordinated and informed decisions about their route as well as
allowing safer maneuvering in busy urban environments.
DOJ CREATES NEW COUNCIL TO COMBAT “ANTIGOVERNMENT VIEWS”
“Americans motivated by anti-government views and racist
ideologies” will be the focus of a new Department of Justice position
to coordinate investigations into violent homegrown extremism.
Assistant Attorney General John Carlin, head of the
department’s national security division, told a George
Washington University audience on October 14, 2015 that
30 Thunder Roads Magazine® Colorado
while the international terror threat occupies the public
attention, federal officials remain just as concerned about
the prospect of violence from Americans motivated by antigovernment views and racist ideologies.
“We need to make sure we have the mechanisms in place
so that we can continue to remain just as focused on the
domestic terrorism threat while addressing the international
terrorism threat,” Carlin said in a question-and-answer
session following a speech at the university.
The new “Domestic Terrorism Council” will work with U.S.
attorneys nationwide “to identify trends that can be used to
help shape a national strategy.”
The new council should not be confused with another new
department previously created by former AG Eric Holder, the
DOJ’s Domestic Terrorism Task Force which also focuses on
“anti-government extremism.”
SURVEY CONFIRMS THAT BIKER PROFILING IS A
NATIONAL EPIDEMIC
The National Motorcycle Profiling Survey that began October
1st is already beginning to show some strong early trends
confirming that motorcyclist profiling is a prevalent and
widespread problem, and is expected to yield some very
interesting and telling statistics which can assist motorcyclists
in recapturing our rights base across the country.
The questionnaire posted on Survey Monkey is intended
to provide a clearer picture of motorcycle profiling from a
national perspective through a thorough and comprehensive
series of specific and detailed questions.
One very interesting statistic shows that 84.5% of the
nearly 1,400 surveyed so far feel that being a biker has a
negative impact on their civil rights, and report that riding a
motorcycle places them under a higher level of scrutiny from
both law enforcement and business owners. Importantly,
this is not just a club issue, as 41.5% of those surveyed were
independent riders and wear no identifying logo or emblem.
Still, some independents from groups like the Legion Riders,
ABATE, and VFW have reported being discriminated and
profiled due to their patches and other attire.
“The initial results are very informative and are starting to
paint the picture we have been seeing in our community for a
long time,” said David “Double D” Devereaux of the Motorcycle
Profiling Project (www.motorcycleprofilingproject.com), “but
this time our legislative representatives, who aren’t familiar
with the motorcycle community will be able to see it too.”
The National Motorcycle Profiling Survey, created by the North
Florida Confederation of Clubs and sponsored by the MPP,
will provide invaluable insight into the issue of motorcycle
profiling in America as we move towards an effort to pass a
national motorcycle anti-profiling law.
Your input will provide an important piece of evidence in the
November 2015
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