A number of you Colorado Rider News readers are all-season riders but not everyone rides in through the winter season. For those that put the bike away for several of the winter months, the warming weather really creates an itch to hit the road.
Time to Review
Before you head out, please make sure you have your motorcycle insurance reactivated. One of the great things about living in Colorado is the fact that any given day can be beautiful. However, if you hail to the call of the road without insurance, you do so at enormous risk to yourself and your family. Reactivating your insurance can be as simple as calling your agent or activating an option through the insurance app on your phone.
Especially this time of year, when there is snow melting, sand and excessive debris on the road, you’ve got to be covered. More importantly, with fewer motorcycles on the road for the last several months, cagers just are less accustomed to seeing bikes on the road. Being seen is already a problem so don’t increase your risk.
For all riders, this time of year is a great time for an insurance review. Remember, I will sit down with you and review your coverage to make sure that you have what you need if the worst happens. I don’t sell insurance. I have just seen too many riders with the wrong insurance coverage and I want to help you make an informed decision.
I cannot stress to you enough that an estimated three-quarters of the drivers on the road are underinsured. This means you just cannot rely on others to carry enough insurance should they hit you. And have you seen all the hit-and-runs lately? All the more reason that you must be proactive and take care of yourself.
Win a Honda Monkey
I have been eyeballing the new, updated 2020 Honda Monkey for awhile now and just had to buy one, even if it wasn’t for me. Honda increased the size of the original Monkey and used the Honda Grom engine. This is 125cc bike has a ton of get-up-and-go and makes everyone who sees it smile.
Rider Justice has launched another motorcycle giveaway to benefit Biker Down. Register wherever you see BikerDown or Rider Justice at events. As well, you can register for free here: RiderJustice.com/Contest
The drawing for the winner will take place at the 7th Annual BikerDown Look Twice Save a Life Ride on May 23. Join us for a great time that starts at Avalanche Harley-Davidson and ends at Dirty Dogs Roadhouse. Advanced registration is $25 and includes a free t-shirt! Check out BikerDown.com for more details.
SB20-065
For the third year in a row, we are fighting to make holding an electronic device in your hands while driving illegal. We continue to work closely with Susan Dane of Coloradans Organized for Responsible Driving (CORD), ABATE, AAA, Bike Blue, and many other organizations to create safer Colorado roads. SB20-065 is also called the Limit Mobile Electronic Devices While Driving law.
We hear regularly that “texting and driving is already illegal.” The current law does make texting and driving a ticketable offense; however, it does not address other interactions with a device or holding a phone while talking, so it makes enforcement difficult. If SB20-65 passes, all drivers would be prohibited from doing any of the following with an electronic mobile device:
- Holding the device in the driver’s hand
- Physically supporting the device with the driver’s body
- Watching a video or communicating by video
- Text messaging of any kind
With SB20-065, you can use hands-free technology and still use your device on the road. Navigation systems would be permitted as long as the address information was entered prior to operating the vehicle or emergency situations.
Dedication
Creating and supporting a new bill and help pushing it into law is a massive undertaking that takes incredible dedication. Pushing is the exact word because motivating the public to write to Senators and making one’s self available for weekday meetings on short notice is no small task.
I do my part but no one’s efforts compare to Susan Dane’s. Susan is always present at meetings and hearings and sharing updates through the CORD Facebook page. Thank you, Susan!
So far in 2020, our distracted driving bill has successfully passed through the Senate Transportation Committee (Feb. 11) and the Senate Appropriations Committee (Feb. 25). Between the printing of this month’s Colorado Rider News and your reading this, it will be presented on the Senate Floor. After that, the bill is assigned a House Committee to which the case for the bill must be made again. As you can see, this is an exhaustive process but we are all proud to do this important work.
We make efforts to announce meeting times through our Facebook page, so keep an eye out. We also have an online petition on our website. If you support ending distracted driving, we ask you to sign the petition to help us illustrate that Colorado wants safer roads!
Accident Scene Management Classes
Rider Justice is committed to safety for Colorado bikers. Our ongoing Accident Scene Management (ASM) classes is one way we try to help prepare riders in the event of an accident such as if they see a friend go down. It’s a common saying that, “it’s not a matter of IF you go down, but WHEN you go down.” If you see someone go down, are you prepared to help?
March 7 & March 28
In an effort to engage riders before the weather gets beautiful and the sacrifice of a Saturday gets harder, we have two classes scheduled in March. As usual, we are subsidizing the cost for the $85 valued class making your investment only $35. We even supply breakfast and lunch!
These training classes are through Road Guardians, the largest Motorcycle Trauma Training organization in the world, and are taught by our local ASM certified instructor, Don Enninga.
Class size is limited to 20 participants. Don’t wait and miss out – register now from our Facebook page event or on our website.
