 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." |
 |
Training, education - not helmets - will save motorcyclists' lives You see, it's like this: If you stick a monkey on a motorcycle, without any skills, he's going to crash and die. But if you educate the monkey through motorcycle training and teach him how to ride, he'll live be happy and won't end up someone's hood ornament. Then you have the people who think that by dressing the monkey in brightly colored reflective clothes and adding a helmet, the monkey is now safe. |
| Website Improvement This website has significantly improved and reorganized the legislative information pages. You can now easily view current and past legislative updates, calls to action, as well as quickly find your district number, and legislators' addresses and phone numbers. Click here to enter the legislative information section. |
|
|
to view a helmet law map of the US.
to view chart on total motorcycle registration information.
The Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) is the best organization representing bikers nationwide on the federal level. ABATE of the Garden State encourages all bikers and supporters to join and support the MRF.
for information on joining the MRF.
for links to to other motorcycle rights websites.
(Courtesy of ABATE of SC)
Florida Economy Boosted by $3 Billion Since Repeal of Mandatory Helmet Law
This is almost three billion dollars in five years that has been put into the economy of the State of Florida , and this is a low figure as it doesn't include antique motorcycle or mopeds that are licensed differently in Florida . Over one hundred eighty million dollars in taxes went directly into the state treasury for the general fund. This does not include the tourist money that has increased because of Florida being a freedom of choice state. In the past five years over 3 billion dollars has been put into the economy in general from Bike Week and Biketoberfest.
|
Cost of the War in Iraq
(JavaScript Error)
|
||
|
||
If you wish to contact ABATE, for all general communication, please email
 |
Bikers are Passionate |
| August-Sept Newsletter The August-September issue of the ABATE newsletter is now available. There are many new articles and this issue is just loaded with information. Click here to download. |
|
| Sunday August 10th 2008 Ace's Freedom Ride Wild Card Poker Run, Sponsored by ABATE Southwest Chapter District 6 Sign up 9:00AM to 11:00AM at Rack's Bar & Grill White Horse Pike, Atco NJ Donation $15.00 per person includes 1 platter & 1 drink End point Moose Lodge 2425 White Horse Pike, Lindenwold NJ. Click here for map. Live Entertainment, Door prizes, 50/50 Rain or Shine Next event Annual Toy Run Oct. 12th 2008 |
|
|
Rep. Joe Harrison, R-Napoleonville, Louisiana |
| Online Membership Membership in ABATE can now be paid for online using a credit card or PayPal. Click here to join ABATE or renew your membership. |
|
| Do you know how a bill becomes law in New Jersey? Click here to see the steps neccesary to move from an idea to a law. |
|
| NTSB calls for mandatory helmet laws in all states! Here is an agency that has just focused solely on helmets while totally ignoring cell phone use by auto drivers, cookie cutter guard rails on our highways, driver awareness, rider training, ignoring right of way violations, and other issues that could save far more lives than helmets. The NTSB website states that helmets should be required right at the top of their home page! Click here for the MRF response to this issue Click here for the AMA response to this issue Click here for Long Distance Rider response to this issue. Click here for Street Bikers United Hawaii thoughtful response to this issue. Click here to write the NTSB with your thoughts on this. The NTSB has no experience with motorcycles, has totally ignored them for over 4 decades. So whose agenda are they advancing? Now they make broad pronouncements on their safety that take away our freedom to make our own informed adult choices. The NTSB has investigated 124,000 airplane tragedies, 10,000 other surface transportation tragedies, but only 6 motorcycle tragedies in the last 40 years. They should stick to investigating airplane crashes.. |
|
| Click here for the results of the ABATE survey where you voted on what our priorities should be. |
|
| Have you ever had someone discuss motorcycle issues with and you find yourself at a loss of what to say? Click here for talking points to use to bolster your arguments for motorcycle rights. |
|
"There’s more head injuries for bicycle riders, snow skiers, water skiers, skateboard riders, gymnasts and cheer leaders than there are for motorcycle riders, should we have the state indemnify all of them?"Click here for US motorcycle registration figures.
Source: US Department of Transportation, 2004 figures.
NJMA has legally registered to start using the name, American Bikers Advocating Training and Education. We will be using A.B.A.T.E. of the Garden State. ABATE / NJMA plans to increase our presence, broaden our scope in New Jersey and align our state with the 38 other states with ABATE organizations. We welcome all New Jersey motorcycle Rights Organizations (MROs) and riding clubs to join us and encourage motorcycle rights minded riders to form new chapters throughout the state.
To enhance and protect the motorcyclist riding rights in New Jersey. To enhance the common good and general welfare of New Jersey ’s motorcycling community by promoting education, awareness, safety concerns and to foster a general understanding by motorcyclist and motorist alike. To make our voices heard on legislation affecting riders in New Jersey on a local, state and national level by creating a united community of motorcyclists connected through our organization. Furthermore, we address any legislation concerning motorcyclists locally, statewide or nationally. Finally, we will engage in charitable activities benefiting our organization, the motorcycle community and society at large.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
- Margaret Mead
We too, born to freedom, and believing in freedom, are willing to fight to maintain freedom. We, and all others who believe as deeply as we do, would rather die on our feet than live on our knees.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
(1882 - 1945),
32nd President of the United States
Life Flight gears up for the Sturgis Rally After purchasing a new helicopter in May, Black Hills Life Flight prepared for the coming Sturgis Rally by taking on a second helicopter for eight-day duration of the Rally. “The helicopter program is relatively new,” said flight nurse Kim Bugby. “It’s been in use about five or six years. “They’re very expensive to fly. We thought there wouldn’t be any need for it, but it’s been used twice as much as the fixed-wing” plane Life Flight uses for longer trips, she said. |
Driver who killed 2 cyclists fined $200 Andrea Lemons faces $200 in fines and will lose her license for 30 days in a sentence handed down Wednesday by the Monroe Township Municipal Court for hitting and killing a husband and wife riding a motorcycle last Thanksgiving Day. Monroe Prosecutor Robert Smith said Judge Nicholas Lacovara's sentence is the maximum available for Lemons' plea of failing to stop at a stop sign. An examination by the Gloucester County Prosecutors Office following the accident showed Lemons, who was 29 at the time of the accident, could not be charged criminally. |
Kill 2 bikers and get a $200 fine and lose your license for 30 days The sentence was the maximum allowed by law for Lemons, who pleaded guilty to careless driving and failure to stop, but was not found criminally liable for the death of Mark and Debora Shiplee. This sentence shows clearly the need to increase the criminal penalties if a driver violates someone's right of way and then injures or kills them as a result. ABATE is working to correct this glaring defect in our laws. |
Motorcycle Rights Activist Challenges Flawed Report Recently a report was released that essentially stated that repeal of helmet laws significantly increased motorcycle fatalities. This report was widely picked up by the corporate media and caused many articles to be written calling for return of mandatory helmet laws in many free states. As an American citizen whose tax dollars fund the grants that subsidize you, and having in addition paid $10.00 for the privilege of downloading a copy of your report entitled "Changes in Motorcycle-Related Head Injury Deaths, Hospitalizations, and Hospital Charges Following Repeal of Pennsylvania's Mandatory Motorcycle Helmet Law"...Your analysis did not factor in pre- and post-repeal helmet usage for the overall PA motorcycling population. And although you do mention that "helmet usage in reportable crashes in Pennsylvania declined from 82% in 2001-2203 to 58% after the repeal", I fail to see where you segregated your crash, injury and fatality data in order to develop independent statistics for the helmeted versus unhelmeted population segments. And without that segregation, I fail to see how you can make any objective comparisons--or draw any statistically valid conclusions--about the crashes, injuries or fatalities of helmeted versus unhelmeted riders over the course of the pre- and post-repeal periods that frame your "research" . |
Getting Ready For The Sturgis Rally |
Allstate Survey Offers Surprises, Insight into Who's Behind the Helmet So, bikers are loyal to their passion, but why? |
Sturgis Rally, A Brief History If you've ever been around motorcycles or bikers, you're probably familiar with Sturgis. The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is held annually in Sturgis, South Dakota. The first meeting was in the summer of 1938, and has been there every year except during WWII because of gasoline rationing. The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally was founded by Jackpine Gypsies Motorcycle Club and was created to promote racing and stunts by motorcycles. In the beginning there were very few spectators, and just a few racers over a 2 day event. |
How to reduce the risk of getting hurt on a motorcycle People considering riding a motorcycle to save gas should be concerned about safety. After all, motorcycles are inherently less stable than cars and riders lack any significant protection from impacts. In fact, motorcyclists are about 34 times more likely to die in a crash than passenger car drivers, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Injuries also are often much more severe. |
Georgia: Motorcycle chase reached 143 mph A motorcylist being chased by a state trooper on a crowded Interstate 75 this afternoon reached a speed of 143 mph before he later drove the bike into a ditch and was arrested. At one point a towel the rider had under his helmet came loose and ensnared in the rear wheel, but the trooper who intiated the chase said he did not believe that's what caused the rider to stop.The article is pretty straightforward, however I found the comments on this article going back and forth somewhat entertaining. To see all of the comments look for the "Read More" link near the bottom of the page. |
Motorcyclist warns about cable barrier threat to bikers Cable barriers can prevent an 18-wheeler from careening through the median into opposing traffic, but might prove deadly for a motorcyclist, some riders fear. David Die, a member of the Red Knights motorcycle club, said bikers often refer to the thick cords of cable as "cheese graters." Die's concern is that a rider thrown from his bike could end up being shredded like a block of mozzarella. |
Bikers are losing a helmet law poll in the Philadelphia Inquirer The last count was 532 to 80.
Bikers do not lose polls because we value freedom! Click here to enter your thoughts on this poll. |
Compensation Fixed in Rep. Janklow Motorcycle Accident Death Relatives of a man killed in a motorcycle accident that involved former representative Bill Janklow, have settled their wrongful death lawsuit for $1 million. The jurors at his motorcycle accident trial were not made aware of his record of reckless driving. This was a respected public figure who had a total of 20 speeding violations to his credit. He had also been involved in three previous accidents before the one that killed Scott. Janklow's predilection for speed, fast cars and motorcycles was well known in the state, but jurors didn't hear of it at the trial, although his bad driving record was splashed all over the media. This was a man who was completely unapologetic about his speeding, and bragged about it once during a speech to the state legislature, saying he loved speeding and when it got him a ticket, he paid it. Because Janklow was on official duty at the time of the motorcycle accident, he was spared any personal liability, which was instead ascribed to the government.I don't know about you, but this sort of settlement just makes my blood boil. The taxpayers paid for his reckless behavior, a motorcyclists is dead and he is back in business like nothing ever happened. What happened to personal responsibility? This is America isn't it? |
Soaring Gas Prices Kick-Start Run On Motorcycles More people are signing up to take motorcycle safety classes amid rising gas prices, which is creating a backup for those hoping to save a little extra cash. The face of the new commuter is neck tie in the wind and "have back pack, will travel." The wait for the riding test for motorcycles at the Department of Public Safety can take up to two months, which has the state guiding people to private courses to keep up with the demand for motorcycle licenses. At the Motorcycle Training Center, the wait list could take up to a month as soaring fuel prices have helped kick start a run on motorcycles.Video: |
Police seek information on motorcycle accident |
Helmet zeal kindles crusade to cook figures Simple math and logic become less simple if somebody is desperate to push an agenda. Latter-day puritans do not easily tolerate freedom in others, and they cannot stand the idea of adults being allowed to decide for themselves what sort of risks they want to take. Nothing shoves the image of freedom in the puritans' faces more painfully than a motorcyclist without a helmet. It's enough to tempt a puritan to cook statistics on motorcycle accident death rates just to whip up extra hysteria. |
Andrea Lemons was sentenced to a 30-day loss of license and $200 in fines for her role in a Thanksgiving Day accident that resulted in the death of two people, a husband and wife on their way to a charity motorcycle ride.
If you're in the Black Hills, look out for motorcycles. The 68th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally doesn't officially start for another two weeks, but coordinators are already seeing heavy bike traffic and expect it to last through the middle of August. The rumble of the rally shakes the streets of Sturgis every summer. Even before the last bike leaves town, a group of people are already preparing for next year. 
Virtually all hardcore riders answered they would give up their spouse or significant other before their motorcycle, according to the recent results of a consumer study commissioned by Allstate Insurance Company. Also, riders across all classifications were twice as likely to give up their television sets before their motorcycles - a testament to the passion many Americans feel for their bikes and riding.
NEPTUNE: Police are asking for the public's help in their search for witnesses to Saturday's fatal motorcycle crash on Route 35. Around 10:50 a.m. Saturday, Andre McKelvia, 19, Sixth Avenue in Neptune, was driving a 2008 Suzuki motorcycle north on the highway when it collided with a southbound 1998 GMC wagon, driven by Thomas Peterson, 54, of Toms River, authorities said.
Home | 2008 News | Events | Editorials | Issues | ABATE Speaks Out |
Talking Points | Legislative Membership | Supporters | Chapters | Products | Newsletters | Contacts |