BIKER NEWS BYTES
UTAH LOWERS
DUI LIMIT TO .05%
FIRST IN NATION
C ompi l e d & E d it e d by
Bill B i s h ,
Nat io n al C oalit i o n o f
M otor cyc lis ts ( N C O M)
THE AIM/NCOM MOTORCYCLE E-NEWS SERVICE
is brought to you by Aid to Injured Motorcyclists
(A.I.M.) and the National Coalition of Motorcyclists
(NCOM), and is sponsored by the Law Offices of
Richard M. Lester. If you’ve been involved in any
kind of accident, call us at
1-(800) ON-A-BIKE or visit www.ON-A-BIKE.com.
THE IMPACT OF BREXIT ON BIKERS
It’s been two and a half years since the
referendum that started Britain on its journey out
of the European Union, and now time is running
out and “Brexit” is due to take place on March
29, 2019 – deal or no deal. With Parliament
squabbling, the prospect of a no-deal Brexit is
now looking increasingly likely, and that outcome
would affect many things including motorcycles.
You may have heard about the United Kingdom
reverting to ‘WTO’ rules when it comes to trade,
and British biker website www.visordown
explains what that will mean: “The World Trade
Organization (WTO) maintains an immense
database that records types of products and the
import duties that countries or trading blocs
impose on them. At the moment we’re part of
the EU, which means we can trade with other
European countries without incurring any tariffs,
but once we leave we’ll be outsiders, subject to
the taxes they impose.”
On motorcycles under 250cc, the EU charges
an 8% tariff, and on bikes over that size there’s
a 6% duty. Meanwhile, motorcycle parts and
accessories are taxed at 3.7% and bike tires are
subject to a 4.5% import duty.
For consumers, if you’re buying a bike made in
the EU -- such as a BMW -- there will be an extra
6% tax to be incorporated into its cost. Even a
UK-based manufacturer, like Triumph, would be
subject to an import duty on motorcycle parts
from EU suppliers, like their Brembo brakes, so
even British-made bikes are likely to become
more expensive in a no-deal scenario.
Exports might be less of an immediate concern
to the everyday bike buyer, but they have an
impact on the motorcycle industry in Britain, and
without a deal in place exported bikes would be
taxed by the EU at WTO rates.
Of course, once out of the EU the UK government
will need to negotiate their own trade deals not
only with Europe, but with other trading partners
such as Japan, the U.S. and China, but the bottom
line is that there’s little prospect that a no-deal
Brexit will make bikes or bike-related parts any
cheaper.
In the meantime, the uncertainty of Britain’s
economic future has negatively impacted
motorbike sales in the UK, plummeting 17.9% in
December following an overall 2.9% gain in 2018.
FEDERAL JURY DECIDES MONGOLS MUST
FORFEIT LOGO
In a first-of-its-kind verdict with far-reaching
legal implications, a federal jury ruled that
the Mongols motorcycle club must forfeit the
logo worn by its members, finding in favor of
prosecutors’ novel claim that there is a direct link
between the club’s crimes and its trademarked
insignia.
Last month, the jury in U.S. District Court in
Santa Ana, Calif., found the Mongol Nation guilty
of racketeering and conspiracy, classifying the
group as a criminal organization, and their verdict
on Friday, January 11, 2109 was the second phase
of a trial that focused on forfeiture of assets
in a decade-long quest by the government to
dismantle the club.
The verdict will lead to the forfeiture of the
group’s legal interest in the word “Mongols” and
some of their patches, as well as Mongols items
seized during the investigation, prosecutors
said. If upheld, this will give the right to any law
enforcement officer who spots a club member
wearing the logo to stop him and confiscate the
branded item.
The trial next moves to a third phase, in which
U.S. District Judge David O. Carter will decide
how the forfeiture is carried out. He declined to
immediately order the logos forfeited and set
a hearing next month to address possible First
Amendment issues raised by the verdict, agreeing
to solicit briefs from a variety of experts, including
trademark attorneys, law school professors, civil
rights organizations and think tanks.
The judge’s decision highlights the new legal
ground being broken in the unprecedented
case, which has attracted national attention and
is virtually guaranteed to go before the Ninth
Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals and perhaps the U.S.
Supreme Court.
CALIFORNIA TO BEGIN ENFORCING MODIFIED
EXHAUST PENALTIES
As of January 1, 2019, a modified exhaust on an
automobile or motorcycle in California, excessively
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loud, can no longer be cited as a correctable violation.
Previously, if you were cited you had time to get it fixed
in order to avoid paying the fine, but Assembly Bill
AB1824 carves out an exception for exhaust noise by
removing the opportunity to correct the violation and
requires a citation to result in a fine only.
AB 1824, which was sponsored by the Assembly
Committee on Budget and signed into law by then-
Governor Jerry Brown in June of 2018, does not change
existing laws pertaining to exhaust noise or sale and
installation of aftermarket exhaust systems, but
rather amends how excess exhaust noise violations
are handled by law enforcement. Beginning this year,
a vehicle cited for violating the current exhaust noise
law will no longer receive what is commonly known
as a “fix-it” ticket. Instead, violations will result in an
immediate mandatory monetary fine.
The fine for a California traffic ticket for “a loud
exhaust system” is up to $1,000 dollars.
HELMET-FREE SCOOTERS
Assembly Bill 2989, the e-scooter bill sponsored
by California Assemblyman Heath Flora (R-Ripon),
removes the requirement for riders of motorized
(electric) standup scooters in the Golden State to
wear a bicycle helmet, provided they are 18 or older.
The new traffic law also prohibits riding a motorized
e-scooter on highways with a speed limit greater than
25 mph, or roads with a speed limit greater than 35
mph, unless it is within a marked bikeway.
Meanwhile, Assembly Bill 3077, sponsored by then-
Assemblywoman Anna Caballero (D-Salinas) provides
law enforcement the ability to issue a “fix-it ticket” to
anyone under 18 who doesn’t wear a helmet while
on a bicycle, skateboard or skates. The newly enacted
violation is correctable if the minor completes a bicycle
safety course and gets a helmet that meets safety
standards within 120 days of the ticket being issued.
UTAH BECOMES FIRST IN NATION TO LOWER DUI
LIMIT TO .05 PERCENT
The Beehive State made history on December 30th
by becoming the first state to lower its blood alcohol
concentration limit (BAC) for drunken driving to .05
percent, just in time for New Year’s Eve.
Utah lowered the drunken driving BAC from .08, the
national limit imposed by former President Bill Clinton
in 2000, to .05, making it the nation’s strictest DUI
law. Utah’s new law also says anyone who “operates a
motor vehicle in a negligent manner causing the death
of another” will have committed criminal homicide,
which is a felony.
In 1983, Utah was the first state to lower its blood
alcohol limit from 0.10 to 0.08 for impaired driving. It
would take nearly two decades for every state to follow
suit, but as they did, the nation’s rate of alcohol-related
traffic deaths dropped 10%. Now, Utah is pioneering
the move to lower it once again.
Utah State Representative Norm Thurston (R-Provo)
sponsored the bill at the request of the National
Transportation Safety Board, which has been
urging states to lower DUI limits to 0.05 since
2013.
The American Beverage Institute says the new
lower limit targets social drinkers and calls the
law an “attack on the restaurant and hospitality
industries,” claiming nearly 70% of alcohol-
related fatalities in the U.S. are caused by drivers
with a much higher BAC of 0.15 and above.
SCIENCE PROVES THAT RIDING A MOTORCYCLE
IS GOOD FOR YOU
Motorcyclists have always said there’s no better
prescription for stress than riding a bike, and now
a study from the Semel Institute for Neuroscience
and Human Behavior, at the University of
California, Los Angeles, seems to confirm that.
The recent study, funded by Harley-Davidson
Inc., demonstrated potential mental and physical
benefits of riding, including decreased levels of
cortisol, a hormonal marker of stress.
Three UCLA researchers studied more than 50
motorcycle riders in tests that recorded their brain
activity and hormone levels before, during and
after riding a bike, driving a car and resting. The
bike ride resulted in a 28% decrease in biomarkers
of stress, according to the researchers.
On average, riding a motorcycle for 20 minutes
increased participants’ heart rates by 11% and
adrenaline levels by 27%, similar to light exercise,
as well as their focus and alertness.
Harley-Davidson says the study’s findings
validate what it’s known for more than a century:
that riding is good for your mental health.
This means the next time you are sitting at your
computer feeling sluggish or that you get home
after a long a stressful day, the answer to getting
back on track or relieving some of the tension
could be to simply go out for a ride…doctor’s
orders!
DO SELF-DRIVING CARS ‘SEE’ MOTORCYCLES?
Lane-splitting is an accepted maneuver by
motorcyclists all over the world, but in America
it is only practiced by riders in the Golden
State. California-based Tesla, whose cars are
well represented on California highways, seems
to be aware of motorcyclists’ unique filtering
capabilities there and has been working to ensure
their Autopilot systems detect the presence of a
lane-sharing rider in traffic.
However, YouTuber Scott Kubo recently posted
a video to test the functionality of motorcycle
detection while lane-splitting, and apparently
detecting an approaching motorcycle seems to
be hit and miss in Version 9 of Tesla’s neural net
Autopilot software. It’s clear from the clip that the
system confuses motorcycles with cars at times,
and can even miss a motorcycle entirely if the
motorcycle is moving at a good clip. It’s tough to
determine how useful this detection would be in
its current state in real-world application.
In the YouTube clip Kubo explains that the
current 360° camera system (2.0 and 2.5) can
process 200 frames per second (or 200fps) spread
across the eight cameras positioned around his
Tesla car. So, each camera has an equivalent
frame rate of 25fps -- a decent digital SLR camera
can have over 100fps and an iPhone can shoot at
up to 240fps. It might be that the current system
just doesn’t have a high enough frame to capture
fast moving motorcycles.
Self-driving cars are still a burgeoning field
of technology with some bugs to work out, and
Tesla warns that Autopilot should not be used
without some sort of human interaction, but
would you want to be rolling up behind a robotic
car knowing that an inattentive driver may not be
quick enough to take over the manual controls if
they “didn’t see the motorcycle”?
DRIVERLESS CAR KILLS ROBOTIC PEDESTRIAN
In what some are labeling “Robot-on-Robot”
crime, an autonomous self-driving Tesla car struck
and “killed” a robot roaming down the middle of the
roadway in a hit-and-run accident during the recent
consumer electronics show in Las Vegas.
Many mainstream news agencies worldwide
reported the incident as legitimately newsworthy,
though it is generally believed to be an over-the-
top PR stunt staged by Russian robotics company
Promobot ahead of the CES.
Stay tuned to NCOM Biker Newbytes for “real news”,
nothing FAKE, as we have provided bikers with reliable,
timely, relevant motorcycle news for over a quarter
century!
DUTCH POLICE CALL ON PARLIAMENT TO QUICKLY
BAN OUTLAW BIKER GANGS
Dutch authorities want Parliament to speed up a
legislative proposal that will allow the Justice Minister
to immediately ban “outlaw motorcycle gangs”
emerging in the Netherlands, said police chief Pim
Miltenburg, in charge of the motorcycle gang file at
the police.
Currently, banning an outlaw motorcycle club is a
lengthy job in the Netherlands. A court must decide
whether the ‘gang’ is acting in conflict with public
order. “The disadvantage of this type of procedure is
that we can not arrange it in a short period of time,
but it takes months or years before it is completed”,
Miltenburg told NLTimes.nl.
The police say they would prefer if the Minister
of Justice and Security can ban a motorcycle gang
immediately, with a judge testing the ban afterwards.
So far Dutch courts banned two well-known
motorcycle clubs, Satudarah and Bandidos. The Public
Prosecutor also stated plans to get the Hells Angels and
No Surrender banned sometime this year, adding that
some two thousand people in the Netherlands now
belong to an outlaw motorcycle gang.
QUOTABLE QUOTE: “Civilization is built on a
number of ultimate principles...respect for human
life, the punishment of crimes against property and
persons, the equality of all good citizens before the
law...or, in a word: justice.”~ Max Nordau (1849 -
1923) Hungarian physician, author and social critic
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