SOS - Different Day

One day of work is all we need to get rid of the helmet law. But I'm not talking about working all day. I mean working on the right day.

For me, that day is today.

A lot of bikers work hard to get rid of the helmet law, day in and day out. Plus they work on a lot of other things affecting motorcyclists, too. After all, bikers rights is about far more than just the helmet law. So bikers work for the cause on a lot of days throughout the year.

Lobby Day

Consider Lobby Day, that special day in many states when bikers ride to the state capital to lobby their legislators. They go from staff office to staff office, fully prepared to discuss each proposed bill that could make motorcycling better ... or worse.

Much of the time our legislators aren't actually available in person. But there's almost always someone else there, like a staff member who can listen to us. And we will usually leave them with an information packet, containing important facts about each bill that legislators will vote on.

Bikers may even leave a small gift behind, the intent being for legislators to keep motorcyclists in mind during the legislative session.

Every little bit helps, and it's all in a day's work.

Lobby Day Support

It may take a few days to help prepare for Lobby Day. Perhaps even more, if there's a lot of data to gather, calls to be made, and locations to set up. Somebody's got to run the training sessions, too. And then there are all the bikers that actually attend the legislative training. That's a day each, too.

There are other types of support, too. Somebody probably took the time to write the language for each of the bills. Perhaps they occasionally met with the legislators who are sponsoring bills on our behalf.

Not just another day at the office.

While we're at it, let's throw in the communication network that gets everyone to show up at the same place at the same time. Writing, printing, and delivering flyers, posting updates to the website calendar and home page. It takes days and days.

Add It All Up

When you put all those days together, you end up with dozens if not hundreds of days. And that means thousands of man hours. A lot of people give up a lot of their precious time to fight for our rights.

But is it time well spent?

The last time a state repealed a helmet law, it was Pennsylvania, back in 2006. In the mean time, Missouri, Louisiana, and Nebraska have gotten bills as far as the governor's desk ... only to see their hopes dashed by a veto. In most helmet law states, bills only make it as far as a committee hearing, never to reach a full vote by either house.

And then there's total failure, when repeal bills are withdrawn. Then legislators don't have to go on record as supporting or opposing repeal. And bikers defeat themselves by killing their own bill.

Then it's "back to the drawing board!" It sure seems like a lot of work, year after year. And there is absolutely no assurance that it will turn out any better the next time around. Talk about having a bad day.

But what if there was an easier way? And by easier, I mean less time and effort. Let's suppose there was a way for bikers to spend only one day to get the same results. Then take it up a notch. Instead let's suppose that bikers could successfully repeal the helmet law in one single day.

Too good to be true?

Hardly. We already have a way to do just that. Just one day of work, and the helmet law is gone forever. Not only that, but every motorcycling bill that comes before the legislature would also go our way. And all for just one day of work.

There's a catch, of course.

That day has to occur well before the legislative session. Before Legislative Training Day and Lobby Day. In fact, it has to occur months earlier, even before Election Day. That's because once Election Day comes, the opportunity is gone. Game over.

We need a biker-friendly majority to pass laws that make motorcycling better. It can't happen any other way. And though Lobby Day is intended to influence our legislators, we spend that day talking to the people who already won their elections. For better or worse, we are stuck with them.

On Lobby Day we are powerless. This is because we come with nothing to offer, and our elected officials have nothing to gain. All we can do is plead our case before them. But no matter how logical, factual, or downright constitutional our arguments, we can only watch and wait for justice. After all, beggars can't be choosers.

We can't talk our rights back. But we can take them back.

Happy Days

There is one day when we can take our rights back. That's the day when we do have something to offer, and our legislators do have something to gain. But that day can only occur during the campaign season.

If bikers would simply think ahead ... and work ahead ... they wouldn't even need to have a Lobby Day. Or a Legislative Training Day for that matter. Only happy days, month after month, year after year.

We don't need an army of bikers to win, either. Just a handful will do, and a dozen would be more than enough. Three or four bikers, working in three or four races. That would do it, as long as they were very close races. And not only would we win many of these races, we would also send a clear signal to every legislator at the state capital: When it comes to winning elections, bikers matter.

Today's the Day

So guess what I'm doing today, right here and right now. I'm sitting and sipping at a coffee shop, waiting to meet the campaign manager of a biker-friendly candidate. He'll give me some campaign yard signs, and hand me a list of house addresses. Then I'll put the signs on my luggage rack, and ride around the neighborhood to deliver them.

The important thing to consider is that, by myself, I will accomplish more in one single day than dozens of bikers could during Lobby Day. And that includes all the work done by the bikers behind the scenes who make Lobby Day a reality. How can I make such a claim?

Results.

The reason is simple. With campaign work, we are convincing a candidate who's already convinced. The only difference is that we are helping him when he actually needs help. It's more than lobbying ... it's helping a friend in need. They won't need trinkets to remember us when they vote on motorcycle legislation.

So the real question is when more bikers will help biker-friendly candidates. For whatever reason, it hasn't quite sunk in yet. But new ideas take time to become accepted, and to become business-as-usual. By that time, bikers will wonder why anyone wouldn't do campaign work.

That'll be the day!

- RIDE2REPEAL@gmail.com