October is always the month that makes me wonder where the year went. The mountains are getting a dusting of snow and Christmas is only 90 days away. In a couple of weeks, I will begin BikerDown’s Adopt a Family for the Holidays, and in a blink of an eye, The Children’s Hospital Toy Run will be upon us.
Laurie Montoya, Publisher
I am the owner and publisher of Colorado Rider News, but, as many of you know, my passion is BikerDown and motorcycle safety. It is also about this time that after being “Sturgitized,” that my husband says I am suffering from BikerDown burnout.
September was a tragic month for this riding community, we have exceeded last year’s record number of biker fatalities, and it seems like there is never a Saturday or Sunday that biker’s accidents aren’t going viral on Facebook and prayers and tears are widespread.
Motorcycle Riders Foundation
A couple of weeks ago, our community, with the help of Abate of Colorado, hosted the Motorcycle Riders Foundation’s Meeting of the Minds 2018 conference. Riding groups, motorcycle clubs and Abate members came from all over the country to meet, learn and discuss the challenges we are all facing in our states with governments, motorcycle accidents and department of transportation statistics that to me are incorrect. As I sat in these seminars with friends from Rider Justice and other groups, I paused and thought why aren’t more of our Colorado riders here? The answer is that the powers that be aren’t doing a good enough job getting this message out, getting our riding community involved, and communicating just how important these issues are to your FREEDOM OF THE RIDE. Governments in all states are constantly making decisions that affect the motorcycle rider and helmet laws, safety law and fees are on the top of that agenda. Most riders don’t complain until it is too late for them to get involved and be part of protecting motorcycle rights.
Voting in the next election
When was the last time when you went into vote, you knew the candidate’s opinions on helmet laws, knew their record on voting for increased penalties for texting and driving or mobile hand- held devices. In Colorado, many of our Colorado General Assembly are up for re-election, and these are the representatives that vote on the Bills that are important to us. Certainly, bills go through many layers before they make it to a full vote, but do you know how they voted in the past years on bills that are important to us? Many legislators are voting on party lines and not voting on bills that will help wake up this community to drive more responsibly. I would ask voting motorcycle riders to do a little research on the candidates and issues to investigate how they voted on bills that passed or were killed in committee. Here are some issues that ARE important to the riding community:
- Texting and Driving – In 2017, our community of bikers were actively involved in increasing the penalties for texting and driving. How did the candidate you are supporting vote?
- Reckless driving causing severe bodily injury or death – Drivers that take the life of a motorcycle rider (depending on the situation) may never see the inside of a jail cell. They may walk away with probation or an insulting $40 fine.
- Hit and Run accidents are at an all-time high, and we need to increase the penalties for these drivers who flee the scene and leave a motorcycle rider or pedestrian there injured and alone.
- DUI penalties – We have motorcycle riders and drivers who are being killed and injured by drivers who have had more than 2-3 DUI’s and are still behind the wheel of a car.
- Driving without insurance – the number of motorcycle riders that are hit by someone who has no insurance is beyond comprehension. Instead of CDOT and legislatures telling motorcycle riders they need more training, why don’t they fund law enforcement to have more insurance checkpoints?
- You can’t turn on the TV and not see ad after ad about the election coming up, but, as a motorcycle rider, aren’t our issues just as important to us as other issues are to someone else?
Motorcycle Profiling Project
CRN asked Davide “Double D” Devereaux from Motorcycle Profiling Project to share an article he posted on his website called, Texas Jury Says It’s Illegal for any Bandido to Possess a Weapon. This is a perfect example in our riding community where profiling a motorcycle rider because of the vest/ cut they wear and at the same time violating their constitutional right to carry a firearm. The 2nd Amendment is at risk, and now our civil liberties are again being violated.
Enjoy your October riding, stay safe out there and remember CRN wants to cover the topics that are important to you.
