motorcyclebloggers.com

No matter if you are a member or not of the AMA or you do or don’t support them they do provide a comprehensive list of information for everyone regarding your right to ride and legislation that could effect your rights. They offer easy links to send emails to most government officials about each of presented issue. If you disagree with AMA supporting or opposing a specific legislation you can change the email body to present your view.

On the website you can find state by state laws both on and off road. It’s interesting that Arizona has a law that state handlebars can not be more than 15″ above the seat height. I don’t think I have every heard of anyone getting a ticket for that, but there sure are plenty of ape hangers out there. Also there are no restrictions on radar detectors.

There is the AMA Rapid Response Center that has a list of present motorcycle related legislation. Each link allows you to send an email to your Senator, urging them to support to prevent a specific bill from being passed.
Presently there are the following;

S. 577 U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) recently introduced S. 577, “The HIPAA Recreational Injury Technical Correction Act.” Last Congress, the full Senate unanimously passed similar legislation. S. 577 aims at ending health care discrimination for individuals participating in legal transportation and recreational activities-activities like motorcycling, snowmobiling, horseback riding, skiing and all-terrain vehicle riding. This legislation addresses a loophole caused by a Department of Health and Human Services’ rule making it possible for health care benefits to be denied to those who are injured while participating in these activities.

Section 153 of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) punished states that did not follow the federal curriculum for motorcycle safety; including an unfunded mandate for state motorcycle helmet laws. This was done despite the fact that 42 of these states had motorcycle rider education programs. These states, in lieu of following the mandate, relied on the impositions of fees on motorcycle licenses and registration as a way of funding their motorcycle safety programs.

TEA-21 The AMA is urging Congress to prevent a mandate on motorcycle safety curriculum that includes the implementation of state helmet laws within the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) reauthorization process. This item was repealed under the National Highway System law and did not receive any further consideration under the original passage of TEA-21.

The National Recreational Trails Fund was established in 1991 by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA). The Trails Fund was designed to return a portion of the estimated $167 million in federal fuel taxes paid by off-highway recreation users-such as fuel used by snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles (ATV’s), off-highway vehicles (OHV’s) and off-road light trucks, to the states for both motorized and non-motorized trail-related projects, including trail reconstruction and maintenance.

Motorcycle Crash Study On March 27, 2003, Rep. Mark Green (R-WI-8) distributed a “Dear Colleague” letter regarding the inclusion of an in-depth motorcycle crash causation study within the framework of the upcoming Transportation Equity Act of the 21st Century (TEA-21) reauthorization. 63 Members of Congress signed the letter. The letter was sent to Chairman Don Young (R-AK-AL) of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for his consideration.

The letter stated that this new study must be in accordance with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD) Common Methodology, which will provide detailed knowledge about all aspects of motorcycle crashes.

Defending Motorcycle Access to any highwayThe AMA is urging Congress to defend motorcycle access to any highway or portion of highway that utilizes federal highway funds. The AMA believes that Section 1206 of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), which prohibited anti-motorcycle access activity, remain unchanged during the reauthorization process.

The AMA is also urging Congress under TEA-21 reauthorization to establish a separate toll class for motorcycles in recognition of their legitimate access to federal funded highways and minimal impact on the highway.

Motorcycle Safety FundingThe AMA is urging Congress to maintain motorcycle safety as a priority under the Section 402 Highway Safety Grant Program, within the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) reauthorization process. The Section 402 Grants provide funds to all states, territories, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Indian Nations for performance-based highway safety programs. They help support planning to highway safety improvements, provide start-up money for new programs, give new direction, support to existing safety programs, and fund analyses to determine progress in improving safety.

Ban on NHTSAThe AMA is urging Congress to keep the lobbying ban on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in place. Under the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), the U.S. Congress agreed that it would allow NHTSA to appear as a witness, only if invited, to a state’s legislature, and NHTSA could not support or oppose any specific piece of legislation.

Support NHTSA The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is an agency within the Department of Transportation. The primary mission of NHTSA is to reduce fatalities, injuries, and monetary losses resulting from accidents on America’s highways.

As background, in 1966 William Haddon, an epidemiologist, testified before Congress that traffic safety is a science. Dr. Haddon focused on injury prevention through new design changes in automobiles and other forms of transportation. On the strength of his testimony and others, Congress passed the Highway Safety Act of 1966 to address the rise in highway fatalities. The National Highway Safety Bureau, later called NHTSA, was vested with the responsibility of administering the statute. Haddon became the first Administrator.

The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) believes that the means to accomplish this mission is fundamentally flawed. To focus on injury prevention as opposed to accident prevention is the proverbial “cart before the horse.” The statutory goals NHTSA attempts to achieve are doomed for failure. It accepts the ideal that accidents will occur and therefore there is a governmental need to mitigate its affects.

The AMA believes that the statutory limitations on NHTSA have and will continue to prevent the agency from fulfilling its stated mission. That is why the AMA is encouraging you to enter your zip code in the “Take Action Now” icon, click “GO!” to write your Member of Congress, and urge them to support a change in NHTSA’s direction within the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) reauthorization process.

In the Rapid Response Center there is a Issues link. This not only lists the upcoming legislation but state by state issue like:

Kentucky Increasing the minimum age for ATV Operation to 16.
New Hampshire has proposed legistration that could hurt road racing.
All totaled there are 25 action alerts

Although I am not an off-road rider it appears there are several bills/acts that could effect your right to ride.

Here is a great article on a study that could lead to new legislation on Exhaust Sound levels.

I suggest everyone visit the AMA site on a regular basis and support your right to ride.

A good tip when sending these emails change the subject line enough to make it different and not recognized as a “form email”.