UPDATE 2/14/08
Several Warriors attended the Motorcycle Safety and Awareness Seminar on Feb. 14th along with several other interested riders. Unlike other seminars it was more speakers and less interaction from the audience. Some talks, like the one from NHTSA were basically the same as past sessions and were only news to those who hadn’t attended one previously. It was the same routine about mandatory federal helmet laws and requiring additional insurance if you didn’t wear a helmet. Mr. Copeland came over, shook my hand and let me know he was not there to debate the helmet law.
Probably the biggest surprise for TxDOT and NHTSA was the presentation made by Gary Dupriest, President of Texas Motorcycle Roadriders Association. Gary was speaking on the Share The Road Program. He ripped TxDOT and Texas DPS a new one as he went over what had NOT happened with the Federal Safety Funds TxDOT had received in 2006. It was a well prepared presentation. He spoke of the stickers that didn’t get put up on the signs where they were to go. He pointed out that he didn’t want to see pictures of possible Billboards, he wanted to see Billboards put up.
We worked out a deal with a company to put up Billboards in Dallas and Ft.
Worth at a reasonable cost. We submitted the bid to Clif Burdette where it died. Gary also complained about the PSAs that ran a few times in May, stating that we get ran over every day of the year. He also pointed out that if this were "The Wizard of Oz" we would still be at the Munchkin level. He questioned how TxDOT could spend millions of dollars of taxpayer money working against us on the Trans Texas Corridor and couldn't afford to spend any for Driver Awareness. Thanks Gary, it was a great presentation and we could all see that they didn’t expect it nor did they appreciate it.
There were two very positive meetings that came out of the Seminar:
We met and spoke at length with Mr. John Young, the man who replaced Clif Burdett as head of the Motorcycle Training Program. While working with Clif was enjoyable, Mr. Young is going to be a God send. He is a long time rider, an ex-police officer serving his last ten years as a motorcycle officer. We found that he agrees that officers need better training on how to interpret the helmet law and how to write accident reports and traffic tickets to coincide with the severity of the offence.
I had just finished telling Terri that we should go in that direction with our Failure To Yield this next session. We will have a strong ally in Mr. Young.
We also spoke to Senator Carona’s Chief of Staff about the battle last year over the helmet Bill. He admitted that they could have handled the situation a lot better but that is in the past. He claimed that the Senator wants to work with us on issues we can agree on. He also told us the senator wanted to set up a committee on motorcycle safety issues with us being a part of it. We’ll see how that works out.
Thanks to Budweiser for the fine meeting place they provided for the seminar. Thanks also for the fine meal and unlimited supply of non-alcoholic beverages that they also provided. The little gifts were appreciated also.
I said on the show last night that I felt Mitt Romney was just a very wealthy man who wanted to test the waters and after spending $40,000,000 he realized he wasn’t going anywhere and dropped out. Or possibly a worse scenario he wanted to take enough delegates from Huckabee to ensure a victory for McCain. If that was the case then he would throw his support behind McCain. That is what he did today. He endorsed McCain and asked his delegates to vote for McCain. Guess we figured that one correctly.
Next Wednesday Obama and Clinton will hold a debate at the University of Texas in Austin. Of course the average person will be excluded from the audience but you will be able to watch it on CNN. Colin Powell recently said everyone should pay attention to what Obama is saying. He stopped just short of endorsing him.
HAPPY VALENTINES DAY
Sputnik
