Legislative Update

Read in this mornings Galveston Daily News an interview with Senator Carona. He was quoted as saying he will introduce a Bill to reinstate the helmet law in Texas this coming session.
Get ready for a fight.

Sputnik
State Chair
Texas Motorcycle Rights Association

http://galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=3a47e87e2baaafc5



This is my response to Mr. Paschenko concerning his Article

Mr. Paschenko;

Senator Carona’s desire comes from an attitude problem rather than any facts. He professes to want the helmet law reinstated to save lives. His committee took our Dedicated Funds, which only motorcyclist pay into, and moved it from the 402 status to the 601. This allows DPS to take 25% of our budget for their use. This amounts to a $250,000 loss to our training budget.

We asked for a law to increase the punishment for those who cause a collision resulting in death or serious injury due to inattentive driving.
Currently if a driver fails to yield the right of way and injures or kills someone they pay only a small fine and go home. This Bill was killed.

Insurance companies reserve the right to not pay benefits if you are injured in an accident while participating in a dangerous activity including riding a motorcycle. We offered a Bill to correct this problem and it too was killed. Thus we have to carry insurance that may not pay benefits if we are injured on our motorcycles.

Maryland introduced a strong Motorcycle Awareness campaign in their state, cutting the number of accidents by 50% in the first year. We have argued for the same type program in this state for years and have been rebuffed.
So much for the Senator’s claim that he is concerned about rider safety.

The legislature established a Traumatic Injury Fund to help pay for injuries not covered by insurance or patient pay. The funding comes from added cost of traffic tickets and other fines. The same committee which moved our Training Fund also moved this fund out of the dedicated class along with several other dedicated funds. This was done to show a balanced budget when one did not actually exist. So much for his concern about cost.

I met several times with the Senator’s Staff and staff members from Baylor College of Medicine during the last session concerning his Bill. We were given the cost of motorcycle injuries to the hospital but they couldn’t give us the same cost breakdown on those injured in auto accidents saying that information was not available. We again expounded on the benefit of a strong Motorcycle Awareness Program and were told by the representatives from Baylor that if we would accept the Bill they would pay for an awareness campaign. How would that save them money.

We will once again oppose his Bill and soundly defeat it. This isn’t about wind in your hair. It is about the constitution which government refuses to accept.

Respectfully,
Sputnik
State Chair
Texas Motorcycle Rights Association
512-971-6777