One Hour = Biker Power

Imagine what takes up about an hour of your time. Something you actually do. Say ... check out a bike show, have a couple of beers, or watch a TV show.

Priorities

Why do you spend time doing these things? Because they're important enough for you to want to do them. Or it's just simply because you feel like it.

Whatever the reason, that one hour somehow makes it to the top of your list of things to do. Even if it's only for the moment.

Despite the many things that demand your time, one hour is a small investment. Especially if it's only one hour a month. But let's talk about one hour per year.

Campaign Work WORKS

Repealing the universal helmet law takes effort. No surprise there. But did you know that you can get it repealed with only about an hour of work? I know this sounds ridiculous, but give me just one more minute of your time and I'll prove it.

State legislators are the only politicians that give us helmet laws. And they are also the only ones that can repeal them. Whichever way they vote, the majority wins. That's the key -- building a majority of support for repeal.

Political candidates need campaign volunteers to win elections. And the campaign season is the only time anyone can help them win. It's also the only time they seem to listen to voters. Bikers can easily find out where they stand on issues by simply asking them.

Whichever candidate runs the best campaign usually wins the election. And the life-blood of any campaign is volunteers:
- Walking door-to-door to drop off pamphlets.
- Working phone banks to get out the vote.
- Planting campaign signs along the streets.

They can't win without campaign volunteers!

Many of these legislators win office by a narrow margin of victory, and quite often by less than a few hundred votes. The closer the race, the more campaign volunteers make a difference.

Make it Count

One hour on Saturday morning won't kill you. In fact, it won't even hurt (unless you have a hangover). And it's not like it's every Saturday. Just once a year.

Now imagine a dozen bikers in one voting district. About the same manpower you'd see at your average ABATE meeting. Only instead of talking about issues, they're helping a biker-friendly candidate get elected. And that means getting one vote closer to repeal.

There's a little more to it, of course. Somebody's got to find out which candidate is worth your time. But your SMRO probably knows who the good candidates are. Ask them. Better yet, join them.

And RIDE2REPEAL.COM can let you know who they are ... as long as you click on the red "Subscribe" button (above) and give us your email and zip.

That only takes a second.

When Will Those Who Ride Decide?

This sounds like a trick question, but it really isn't. We always say "Let those who ride decide," hoping that someday someone will give us that right.

But there isn't any "let" about it, because the decision is already in our hands. The real question is whether bikers will decide, or continue to leave that decision to others.

Just to clear things up, I'm not talking about violating the helmet law. That's a whole other story. And I'm not talking about court challenges, where a judge decides the law.

I'm simply talking about the easiest way to take charge of the helmet law -- and all bikers rights issues -- with one simple act. Whether we do it or not, it is still our decision.

Letting Others Decide

Most of the time we let others decide for us. When we write to a newspaper, we hope the editor will decide to print our letter. And in our letter we ask the public to see things our way, hoping they will decide to respect our rights.

But neither the editors nor the public has the ability to change the law. Whatever they decide doesn't matter outside the court of public opinion.

Biker's rights advocates usually go straight to the state legislature. They know that's where state laws come from, and state laws affect motorcyclists the most.

During lobby day -- and throughout the legislative session -- bikers ask state legislators to decide in our favor when they consider bills affecting motorcyclists. And these decisions are important, because legislators are the lawmakers.

When to Decide

There is one time period, however, when bikers can decide for themselves. That time is the campaign season -- when legislative candidates need our help. And that means more than just voting for them. It means delivering votes -- through campaign work.

That's the only time we can help them, too. Whichever candidate has the best volunteers wins the election, and there are no better volunteers than bikers. But if bikers ignore candidates during the campaign season, legislators will surely ignore bikers during the legislative session.

There's a difference between what you say and what you do. When it comes to freedom, a pair of flags on a bike can't top a pair of campaign signs in the ground. While "the pen is mightier than the sword," it's also obvious that "actions speak louder than words."

Every little bit helps. And one hour is all it takes -- the same manpower it takes for one bike wash, one afternoon putt, or one chapter meeting.

When bikers work as campaign volunteers, they decide who the state legislators will be. And when they help candidates win, they get the helmet law handed to them on a silver platter -- along with virtually every other bikers rights issue there is.

It's Really Up to You

Every biker that can draw breath can spare one single hour. If they say they can't, they're really just choosing to let someone else decide for them. But that "someone else" includes YOU!

What can you do right now? For starters, join an SMRO. If you're already a member, ask your SMRO which campaigns need help. Talk about campaign work at your next meeting, or write about it in your newsletter.

Best of all, you can lead by example. If you make it a priority, you'll find the time. Or you can choose to let others decide for you.

Either way, it's totally up to you.

New York Election Results

UDATE: NY ELECTION RESULTS

Two Bronx Democrats Win Special Elections to Assembly
New York Times - ‎Jun 2, 2009‎
By AP Two New York Assembly staff members have succeeded their Democratic bosses in special elections in the Bronx held on Tuesday, easily beating their ...

NY Bikers Had No Effect on Outcome

Sadly, no bikers in or around New York responded to the May 7 Legislative Alert (shown below). The two new NY Assemblymen will have no reason to show bikers any more consideration than everyone else that's standing in line to lobby them.

Sound familiar? It doesn't have to be that way next time.

But there will always be more elections, which means there will always be more opportunities. But until NY bikers rise to the occasion, lobbying the Assembly will be little more than begging from strangers.

(Original May 7 Legislative Alert)

Media-Newswire.com says "Governor David A. Paterson announced today that a Proclamation has been issued calling for two Special Elections in the Bronx to be held Tuesday, June 2, 2009. The elections will fill the vacancies in the 77th and 85th New York State Assembly Districts."

Special elections are special opportunities, of course. Very few people vote in special elections and primaries, so which ever candidate gets the most volunteers will probably win. This means a small number of bikers can make a big difference. All it takes are a few.

I passed along the news about these special elections to the State Legislative Officer for ABATE of NY. We'd be happy to help them mobilize their members for what could be some easy victories ... and some pro-biker allies in the NY State Assembly. What with the discriminatory police roadblocks, we sure could use some friends in Albany.

< MO > Legislative Alert

Here is a special call to action that we're passing along. It's from Mark Chapman, Chairman of the Freedom of Road Riders.

Mark's call to action (below) requests your support for the helmet bill that just recently passed through the Missouri state legislature. Scroll down to find the links to the Governor's contact form.

Legislative News and Call to Action

This is the bill we are trying to make into law. Currently it is on the Governor of Missouri's desk awaiting his signature. If he signs it that would be fantastic but if he ignores it, it will still become law.

If he vetoes it we are done till next year.

SCS/SB 202

This act provides that operating a motorcycle, in and of itself, shall not be considered evidence of comparative negligence.

The act also provides that when investigating an accident or settling an automobile insurance policy claim, no insurer, agent, producer, or claims adjuster of an insurer shall assign a percentage of fault to a party based upon the sole fact that the party was operating a motorcycle in an otherwise legal manner. This provision is similar to SB 505 (2007).

This act also exempts persons 21 years of age or older from wearing protective headgear except when operating or riding motorcycles or motortricycles upon interstate highways. The motorcycle helmet exemption expires on August 28, 2014 (Section 302.020).

The opposition to SB 202 has started, I received word today that the opposition is asking for people to contact the Governor and ask for him to veto SB202.

If you want our comparative fault and helmet mod bill to become law NOW is the time to take action.

Here is what I would like for you to do:

Contact the Governor and Lieutenant Governor using the links below.

You, your friends and neighbors should to go to www.governor.mo.gov/constituents/ for the Governor and www.ltgov.mo.gov/question.htm for the Lieutenant Governor.

Fill out the form the subject would be "Legislation." Then simply ask for SB202 to become law.

That is all there is to it. I did it and it took about 2 minutes.

As always thanks for your support,

Mark Chapman,
Central Committee Chairman: Freedom of Road Riders, Inc.