THE RALLY KING BILL DUTCHER’S LIFE ON TWO WHEELS
EAGLERIDER MEMBER DISCOUNT
Congratulations, Ralph Werner, you’re the winner this month!
Get a Char-Broil
Left to right, top to bottom: 1) Peter
and
Left to right, top to bottom: 1) Allan Stern and Susan Scrimshaw. 2) Vincent Morris in Yosemite National Park. 3) Jim Siffring, Drew, Dave, Dan, Mike, Leif and Russ in Utah. 4) The Tama Rigler family at the Delaware Gap on the Pennsylvania-New Jersey border. 5) Doug Pippin on N.C. Route 80. 6) Matthew Murchison, 10, of Connecticut. 7) John Williams of Ohio. 8) Danielle Dunbar (center) and friends, Michigan Cycle Conservation Club Kids Camp. 9) Walk Skupski (sixth from the left) and group from Lakehurst Navel Air Engineering Center in Lakehurst, N.J., visiting Lancaster, Pa. 10) Jeremy Nixon says, “Thanks to the Baker City (Ore.) High School for letting us pitch
such” While in Oregon for the Hell’s Canyon Rally. 11) Eric Thomas. 12) Rick Stuart photo. 13) Kenwood Thayer atop Cooper Hill in Vermont with a beautiful view of New Hampshire. 14) Charles Goman blasts the berms. 15) Adventure-tourer Anne Kinchen of Ohio in Santiago, Chile. 16) Tom Whittles from Arden Hills, Minn., and Cheryl Whittles on a Harley-Aermacchi 125cc Rapido. 17) British motojournalist Paul Blezzard puts an electric motorcycle through its paces. 18) Nicole Radford hangs out with vintage trials riders. 19) Michael Schriebman just couldn’t resist this giant spud. 20) Ron Naslund takes in the mountain views. 21) AMA Board of Directors Chairman Stan Simpson (center) with son Kerry (right) and AMA President and CEO Rob Dingman. Kerry had the helmet, donated by Simpson Helmets, decorated after Stan was named “AMA Motorcyclist of the Year.”
EDITORIAL OFFICES
American Motorcyclist 13515 Yarmouth Drive Pickerington, OH 43147 (614) 856-1900 submissions@ama-cycle.org
Grant Parsons, Managing Editor
James Holter, Associate Editor
Bill Kresnak, Government Affairs Editor
Mitch Boehm, Contributing Editor
Mark Lapid, Creative Director
Nora McDonald, Production Coordinator Jen Muecke, Designer
Ray Monroe, Advertising Manager (815) 885-4445, rmonroe@ama-cycle.org
Misty Walker, Advertising Assistant (614) 856-1900, ext. 1267, mwalker@ama-cycle.org
All trademarks used herein (unless otherwise noted) are owned by the AMA and may only be used with the express, written permission of the AMA.
American Motorcyclist is the monthly publication of the American Motorcyclist Association, a 300,000-member organization representing TV[VYJ`JSPZ[ZUH[PVU^PKL-VYPUMVYTH[PVUVU(4(TLTILYZOPWILULÄ[Z call (800) AMA-JOIN or visit www.AmericanMotorcyclist.com. Manuscripts, photos, drawings and other editorial contributions must be accompanied by return postage. No responsibility is assumed for loss or damage to unsolicited material. Copyright© American Motorcyclist Association, 2009.
crossing the country like a FedEx cargo plane to capture some of the best images of the sport available anywhere. When he’s not doing that, he’s hanging out with his family, including 4-year-old son Ryder.
JAMES MCENTEE, Photographer James specializes in photography on location worldwide of people and places. With over 15 years of experience, he has realized that if you mix work and pleasure, you get the most out of your subject matter. When not on assignment he splits his time between New York and South Florida. Info: www.jamesmcentee.com.
BIG MUSKIE, Roadside Attraction When it comes to luring visitors, reeling in the competition, hooking up and
No, he didn’t write anything in this issue—he’s not actually real and they don’t make keyboards big enough for his
this month’s issue your own personal “Where’s Big Muskie” book. Enjoy.
BILL KRESNAK, Government Affairs Editor “We wanna be free to ride. We wanna be free to ride our machines without being hassled by The Man!”
AMA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Stan Simpson, Chairman P.O. Box 1028, Cibolo, TX 78108
Jon-Erik Burleson, Assistant Treasurer 38429 Innovation Ct., Murrietta, CA 92563
Jim Williams, Assistant Secretary 9950 Jeronimo Rd., Irvine, CA 92618-2084
Erik Buell 2799 Buell Dr., East Troy, WI 53120 (UK`.VSKÄUL 8 S. 18th Ave., West, Duluth, MN 5580
Charles Goman PO Box 81, Winder, GA 30680
Perry King c/o AMA, 13515 Yarmouth Dr., Pickerington, OH 43147
Michael Lock 10443 Bandley Dr., Cupertino, CA 95014
Arthur More 16153 Starlight Dr., Surprise, AZ 85374
John Ulrich 581-C Birch St., Lake Elsinore, CA 92530 Bill Werner +
(800) AMA-JOIN AmericanMotorcyclist.com
MARK LAPID, Creative Director “Look, I don’t care what the telly says, all right? We have to get out of here. If we don’t, they’ll tear us to pieces, and that is really going to exacerbate things for all of us.”
GRANT PARSONS, Managing Editor “Now, a clever man would put the poison into his own goblet, because he would know that only a great fool would reach for what he was given. I am not a great fool, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you.”
JEN MUECKE, Designer “Typical, innit? I’ve been out of jail Ä]L TPU\[LZHUK HSYLHK`0»T PU H OV[JHY¹
NORA McDONALD, Production Coordinator “Just when I thought you couldn’t possibly be any dumber, you go and do something like this...and totally redeem yourself!”
JAMES HOLTER, Associate Editor “I was the last one left after the nuclear holocaust, eh. The whole world had been destroyed, like U.S. blew up Russia and Russia blew up U.S. Fortunately, I had been offworld at the time.”
Other contributors include: Diane Pearson, Marios Savva, Jim Kimball, Scott Hoffman, Shane Circle, Wild Angels, Shaun of the Dead, The Princess Bride, The Italian Job, Dumb and Dumber and Strange Brew
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People who want to shut motorized recreation out of public land are nothing new. The AMA
HUK V[OLYZOH]L ILLUÄNO[ P UN[OL T MVY KLJHKLZ
Unfortunately, the tactics used by anti-access groups are changing. What used to take months and involve public hearings and input from land managers is now taking weeks—and sometimes only days. Worse, it often involves absolutely zero public debate.
The result is that off-highway motorcyclists and ATV riders—along with mountain bicyclists and other classes of forest users—are getting closed out of vast acres of public land with little more than the stroke of a pen.
What’s changed? Congress. Our legislators now appear more than willing to suddenly use little-known parliamentary procedures to fasttrack anti-access legislation without debate. And that means motorcyclists and other off-highway vehicle operators are often left holding an empty bag while potential riding acreage dwindles.
The latest example of Congress’ new tactic came earlier this year, when a U.S. senator introduced a bill to block trail riders, and even
Words by Bill Kresnak
mountain bike riders, from ever riding on 2.1 million acres of public land in nine states. The AMA and others rallied to help defeat the bill in the House, only to see the bill revived practically overnight with a little-used procedural loophole, then passed and signed into law in an astounding 11 days.
There was no public debate on a bill that was a daunting collection of some 170 pieces of legislation and more than 1,300 pages of text.
“Clearly, there’s plenty wrong with how this happened, and what the law itself does by unreasonably banning motorized recreation on 2.1 million acres of public lands that are now inappropriately designated as Wilderness,” said Ed Moreland, AMA vice president for government relations. “What’s particularly disturbing about this land grab is that the Senate leaders subverted what is supposed to be an open process to push legislation through Congress quickly and without the opportunity for full public input and congressional debate.
“This is not the way to produce thoughtful legislation.”
REID AND OTHER SENATE LEADERS THEN TOOK THE ENTIRE 170-BILL, 1,300-PAGE TEXT OF THEIR FAILED WILDERNESS LEGISLATION AND ADDED IT ONTO A MINOR—AND ENTIRELY UNRELATED—TWO-PAGE REVOLUTIONARY WAR BATTLEFIELD BILL AS AN AMENDMENT. MORE AMAZINGLY, THANKS TO THE BATTLEFIELD BILL’S PREFERENTIAL STATUS, THE 1,300-PAGE “AMENDMENT” COULD NOT BE ALTERED.
In this latest blow to off-highway motorcyclists, Senate Majority (Democratic) Leader Harry Reid of Nevada wanted to get legislation approved that would, among other things, make sure that riders could never operate motorcycles and ATVs on certain lands.
To accomplish his goal, he put together a patchwork of more than 170 separate bills, hoping that the legislation would offer something that everyone in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House could support.
The package, introduced on Jan. 7, was designed to create more than 2.1 million acres of designated Wilderness land, which would shut out all motorized vehicles. The legislation also attempted to make the National Landscape Conservation System permanent, which could further lock up another 26 million acres of public land. This system creates an additional level of bureaucracy in the already muddled Travel Management Rule for the national forests, and would remove much of the authority of existing agencies in managing public lands.
The legislation also offered some oddities for a land bill, such as millions of dollars for spinal cord injury research and money for St. Augustine, Fla., to celebrate its 450th birthday.
The mishmash of bills stuck into the legislation, coupled with the bill being fast-tracked through the legislative process, raised the ire of the AMA, its sister organization the All-Terrain Vehicle Association, and other groups, including Americans for Responsible Recreational Access, the BlueRibbon Coalition, the Motorcycle Industry Council, the Specialty Vehicle Instititue of America, the Off-Road Business Association and the American Council of Snowmobile Associations.
Despite the best efforts of these groups, OV^L]LY<:ZLUH[VYZKPKPU MHJ[ÄUK things they could support in the legislation. The Senate approved the massive bill— Senate Bill 22: The Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009—by a vote of 73 to 21 on Jan. 15 and sent it to the House for consideration.
The AMA and other groups then took
House Members Say “No” To Omnibus Public Land Bill (M[LYÅ`PUN[OYV\NO[OL :LUH[L[OL 1,300-page bill reached the House and was PTT
V[L HU odd move since more than 70 bills in the 170-bill package had never been discussed.
But thanks to the growing efforts of AMA members and others, who were making their feelings known to their legislators through a push by OHV (off-highway vehicle) organizations, House members were ready to put the brakes on the bill.
In fact, a number of representatives spoke out against the bill, including U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah).
“Poor process produces poor product, and this is an example of congressional process at its worst,” said Bishop. “Parts of this bill are good, and parts are very bad. Each part deserves to be discussed and voted on its own merits.”
Thanks to such efforts, and increased pressure from AMA/ATVA members and other OHVers, the bill was defeated. It failed to get the required two-thirds vote of House members for approval, and went down 282 yes votes to 144 no, with six abstaining.
It was a victory that OHV advocates could not have won alone.
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role in the defeat of this bill,” Moreland noted. “We asked all AMA members, off-highway motorcyclists, ATV riders and everyone who supports responsible outdoor recreation to immediately contact their congressional representative and ask them to reject the bill. And people responded, ÅVVKPUN[
vote ‘no.’”
Bishop noted the bill would have cut off reasonable access “for a whole host of activities” on our public lands.
“I think it’s correct to say that the defeat of this bill today was a victory for Americans
“There are many people out there who do not like this sport and are working hard to shut us down.”
—Dan Kleen, president, National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council
who appreciate access, such as the millions of folks who enjoy responsible recreation on our public lands,’’ he said.
He noted that grassroots lobbying had
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Senate Maneuvering Relaunches Bill And End-Runs Motorcyclists’ Concerns
How right he was.
5V[VUS`^HZ[OL IH[[SL UV[V]LYI\[MVY the Senate, it was just getting started.
0U HU LMMVY[[V YL]P]L[OL IPSS HZX\PJRS` as possible, the bill’s original sponsor, Sen. Reid, did something with the blessing of Senate leadership that, while technically legal, was aimed at fast-tracking the bill by bypassing the usual process to create laws.
Reid found another bill that was ZJOLK\SLK MVY H X\PJR]V[L PU[OL :LUH[L JHSSLK¸;OL 9L]VS\[PVUHY`>HY HUK>HY VM )H[[SLÄLSK (JX\PZP[PVU .YHU[7YVNYHT¹
Because that bill had already passed the /V\ZLP[OHK¸WYLMLYLU[PHSZ[H[\Z¹·TLHUPUN any amendments added by the Senate ^V\SK VUS`ULLK HZPTWSL THQVYP[`]V[L PU [OL/V\ZLUV[H[^V[OPYKZ]V[LHZ: needed.
Reid and other Senate leaders then took the entire 170-bill, 1,300-page text of their MHPSLK> PSKLYULZZSLNPZSH[PVU HUK HKKLK P[ [V[OL TPUVY HUK LU[PYLS`\UYLSH[LK·[^V WHNL 9L]VS\[PVUHY`>HY )H[[SLÄLSK IPSSHZHU amendment.
4VYL HTHaPUNS`[OHURZ[V[OL IH[[SLÄLSK bill’s preferential status, the 1,300-page ¸HTLUKTLU[¹JV\SK UV[IL HS[LYLK
Thanks to this rarely used parliamentary LUK Y\U VU UVYTHS WYHJ[PJLZ[OL> PSKLY ULZZ bill passed the Senate again on March 19 and was shot back to the House with a much lower threshold for passage. It then passed six days later, with House members UL]LY KLIH[PUNZVTL VM[OL IPSSZPUJS\KLK in the package.
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Moreland noted that the procedural changes that allowed the bill’s passage were unusual, to say the least.
¸;OL WHYSPHTLU[HY`THUL\]LYZ\ZLK on this bill were clearly aimed at winning passage of a bill that had already failed I`JVU]LU[PVUHS TLHUZ»»4VYLSHUKZHPK
“The Senate leadership changed the rules halfway through the game, purely for reasons that ejected outdoor recreationists’
JVUJLYUZMYVT[OL WYVJLZZ¹ 0[»ZILSPL]LK[OH[[OPZWYVJLK\YL OHZUL]LY been used before on a natural-resources bill, according to the House Minority (Republican) Natural Resource Committee.
“This is a sad result not only for responsible motorized recreation but also for a democratic process that is supposed to welcome public input and the opportunity MVY JVUNYLZZPVUHS YL]PL^¹4VYLSHUKZHPK
The AMA Fights The Ones That Clearly Shouldn’t Have Federal Protection
Responsible off-highway motorcyclists and AT Vers are environmentalists, too, and also believe in preserving expanses of land for the enjoyment of current and future generations.
But too many times, attempts to force motorcyclists and AT Vers off public land are simply efforts by people to make a forest or other public area their own private recreation areas, notes AMA Vice President for Government Relations Ed Moreland. It’s those efforts that the AMA/AT VA and its TLTILY ZÄ NO [
“The AMA/AT VA doesn’t oppose Wilderness designations for public land that meets the requirements of the National Wilderness Act of 19 6 4,” Moreland says. “Those requirements include land that generally appears to have been affected primarily by the force of nature, with the imprint of man’s work substantially unnoticed.”
However, too many attempts are made to apply the Wilderness designation to land that isn’t the pristine terrain covered by both the letter and intent of the Wilderness law, he notes.
After the Wilderness law was passed, Congress looked at all the land in the United States that should be designated as Wilderness, and lawmakers made those designations, resulting in more than 100 million acres of Wilderness land
Recreational Riding Banned On 2.1 Million Acres Of Public Land
<UKLY[OL UL^SH^·^OPJO WHZZLK^P[O [OL MVYTLY[P[SL VM¸;OL 9L]VS\[PVUHY`>HY HUK>HY VM )H[[SLÄLSK (JX\PZP[PVU .YHU[7YVNYHT¹TV[VY]LOPJSLZHYL IHUULK from 2.1 million acres in nine states: California, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, New 4L_PJV6YLNVU<[HO=PYNPUPH HUK>LZ[ Virginia.
(YLHZ^OLYL TV[VYPaLK]LOPJSLZHYLU»[ allowed include parts of the Monongahela
5H[PVUHS -VYLZ[PU>LZ[=PYNPUPH"1LMMLYZVU
5H[PVUHS -VYLZ[PU=PYNPUPH"ZL]LYHS HYLHZ around Mount Hood, Ore., as well as the state’s Badlands, Spring Basin and *VWWLY :HSTVU HYLHZ":HIPUVZV PU 5L^
4L_PJV"9P]LYZPKL*V\U[`PU*HSPMVYUPH"HUK >HZOPUN[VU*V\U[`PU<[HO )PZOVW UV[LK PU H/V\ZLÅVVYZWLLJO that “there are recreation restrictions in [OPZIPSS¹[OH[^V\SK PTWHJ[ZL]LYHS NYV\WZ VM V\[KVVY LU[O\ZPHZ[ZPUJS\KPUN (4( members.
nationwide.
Wilderness designations since then V M [ LU KV U V[ TLL
law, Moreland says. “Continuing efforts to designate Wilderness are simply efforts to keep riders off the land.”
Utah motorcycling rights advocate Rainer Huck agrees.
Referring to the Canaan Mountain area of Utah that is now off-limits to motorcyclists and AT V riders, thanks to the bill that Obama signed into law in March, Huck wrote in a column for the Salt Lake Tribune: “Although violating both the ‘roadless’ and ‘pristine and untrammeled’ Z
19 6 4, this public land has long been targeted for Wilderness designation by cruel environmentalists who care nothing HI
the American people through the ruthless pursuit of their agenda.
“They heartily celebrate having denied the vast majority of potential visitors access to this great place,” he wrote. “They are happy to work with the federal N
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that reserves our public lands for the elite few whom they deem worthy of admission: the strong, the healthy, the young and those with a psychological bent for paying, through strenuous exercise, for the privilege of scenic wonder.”
“These groups’ members include millions VM VMM OPNO^H`LU[O\ZPHZ[Z]HJH[PVUPUN MHTPSPLZHUKZTHSS I\ZPULZZLZPU]VS]LK PU the system.
¸(UK^OH[[OL`OH]L WSLHKLK^P[O\Z [V KV PZX\V[PUN MYVT[OL SL[[LY[OH[THU` groups signed, ‘It is our sincere hope that [OPZ*VUNYLZZ^PSS KL]LSVW H[OV\NO[M\S approach to managing our public lands more than simply eliminating public access and creating additional layers of I\YLH\JYHJ`¹OLZHPK
Continued reasonable access to public SHUKZPZ]P[HSS`PTWVY[HU[MVY J\YYLU[HUK M\[\YL NLULYH[PVUZ»¹OLZHPK
¸:V^O`[OL Y\ZO VU[OPZWHY[PJ\SHY IPSS&¹ Bishop asked.
¸(UK^OV HYL[OL SVZLYZV[OLY[OHU (TLYPJHUZ^OV LUQV`YLJYLH[PUN VU W\ISPJ SHUK&¹OLZHPK
Expect More Of The Same From The Current Congress 4V]LZSPRL[OPZTH`ZLLT L_[YLTL HUK
they are—but they’re also a clear indication that these threats aren’t going to end, Moreland noted.
“This land grab is just the latest effort by the federal government to restrict recreational access to America’s public lands,” he said. “AMA and ATVA members responded to our calls for action and helped shape the debate of this legislation.
“Our voice must grow stronger if we are to head off these and other threats in the future, and I encourage all motorcyclists to sign up for the AMA’s legislative alerts,” he said.
Through the AMA/ATVA Government Relations Department’s Action E-list, riders JHU IL UV[PÄLK I`L THPS^OLU[OL`JHU make a difference on important issues. To sign up, go to the AMA website at www.AmericanMotorcyclist.com, click on “Rights,” and then “Issues & Legislation,” and then “Action E-list” at the bottom.
Trying to build on the momentum of the passage of the Wilderness bill, other federal lawmakers have, or said they will, introduce legislation to create even more Wilderness, which would shut out motorcycles and ATVs even further.
Senate Bill 799 and its companion measure, House Resolution 1925, would designate some 9.4 million acres of Bureau of Land Management land in Utah as Wilderness.
House Resolution 980 would designate as Wilderness certain national forest land in Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming.
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Wash.) are pushing Senate Bill 721 and House Resolution 1769 to add 22,000 acres to the 394,000-acre Alpine Lakes Wilderness
There’s “no substitute for the voice of each and every OHV rider helping to protect your riding opportunities.”
Kathy Van Kleeck, senior vice president for government relations, Motorcycle Industry Council
Area in Washington state.
“There are many people out there who do not like this sport and are working hard to shut us down,” said Dan Kleen, president of the National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council. “As a result, riding areas are disappearing.
“If people do not start to get involved more, we are going to lose many more areas,” he said. We may not feel the impact, but our children and grandchildren will. Apathy in our own organizations is our biggest enemy.”
Kathy Van Kleeck, senior vice president for government relations for the Motorcycle Industry Council and the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America, agrees that the current Congress probably will attack off-highway riding more than any other Congress has.
“The Motorcycle Industry Council and Specialty Vehicle Institute of America work closely with the AMA and other OHV advocacy groups to make the voice of OHV recreation heard on Capitol Hill and within the federal land management agencies,” she said.
“But it’s no substitute for the voice of each and every OHV rider helping to protect your riding opportunities,” Van Kleeck said.
Van Kleeck suggested riders join a local club, get to know the land management agency staff at their favorite riding area, make their thoughts known when asked for public comment on land management decisions, and let their members of Congress know that responsible OHV recreation is important.
Every action helps.
5L^([[HJRZ/H]L (SYLHK` )LLU 3H\UJOLK;V *SVZL ,]LU 4VYL 7\ISPJ 3HUK
After their recent success in ram-rodding a massive bill through Congress to close 2.1 million acres of public land, anti-access lawmakers are already readying new attacks designed to shut motorized recreation out of even more land.
In fact, Wilderness bills are currently targeting the closure of an incredible 3 6 million acres—an amount that would dwarf even the 15 million acres closed off in the California Desert Protection Act in the 1970s.
Major threats include: / V\Z L 9L ZV S \[ P V U ·[ OL 5 V Y [ OLYU 9 V JRPL Z ,J VZ`Z[ LT 7YV[ LJ [ P V U (J [·[ OH [ would designate as Wilderness some 2 6 6 million acres of public land in Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming. Interestingly enough, this bill, which only affects Western states, was introduced by < : 9LW * HYV S ` U 4HS V UL `V M 5L ^@V YR :LUH [ L )PSS (TLYPJH »Z 9L K 9 V JR > PS K LYUL ZZ (J [· HU K P [Z J V TWHUP V U TLH Z\ YL / V\Z L 9L ZV S \[ P V U ^V\ S K designate as Wilder ness some 9.4 million HJYL ZV M ) \ YLH \V M 3HU K 4HUHNLTLU [ SHU K PU [ OL .YLH [ )H Z PU YLNP V U V M ^ L Z[ LYU <[ HO :LUH [ L )PSS ^ H Z PU [ YVK\ JL K I `< : :LU 9PJOHYK+\ YIPU + 0SS / V\Z L 9L ZV S \[ P V U ^ H Z PU [ YVK\ JL K I `< : 9LW 4H \ YPJL /PUJOL `+ 5 @ :LUH [ L )PSS HU K / V\Z L 9L ZV S \[ P V U 17 6 9 aim to add 22,000 acres to the HJYL (SWPUL 3HRL Z> PS K LYUL ZZ (YLH in Washington state. The bills are sponsored I `< : :LU 7H [[` 4 \ YYH `+>H Z O HU K < : 9LW + H ] L 9LPJOLY [ 9 >H Z O
To prevent being shut out of even more land, concerned motorcyclists, AT Vers and others must let their lawmakers know that they enjoy motorized recreation and want a full public debate, with citizen input, before any more land is designated as Wilderness.
9P K LY Z JHU J V U [ HJ [[ OLPY ML K LYHS SH ^ THRLY Z I ` N V PUN [V[ OL ¸ 9PNO [Z¹ HU K [ OLU ¸ 0 ZZ\ L Z HU K 3LNP Z SH [ P V U ¹Z LJ [
V M [ OL AMA website at www.AmericanMotorcyclist. J V T ;OLYL `V\ JHU Ä U K[ OL UHTL ZV M [ OL members of your congressional delegation as well as their addresses and telephone numbers, and you can let them know how you feel. For hot issues, pre-written letters are provided for your use.
Individuals can also sign up for the AMA/ (; =( . V] LYUTLU [ 9LSH [ P V U Z+ LWHY [ TLU [»Z (J [ P V U , SP Z[[V IL U V[ P ÄL K I ` L THPS ^ OLU their support is needed to make a difference on important issues.
When my son, Gene Adam Pearson, was killed on May 19, 2005, while riding his motorcycle with a group of friends, I never realized that months later I would become an advocate for all motorcyclists.
My son was killed by a motorist who pulled out in front of him. The driver’s explanation to the police was, “I never saw him.” Soon after, a bumper sticker that I saw on a car—“Look twice. Save a life. Motorcycles are everywhere”— became my personal motto.
It became my mission to make other road users in Florida aware that there are motorcyclists riding our roads alongside the other, much larger, vehicles that we all see every day. I wanted to educate the operators of these larger vehicles that they need to share the roads safely with the more vulnerable motorcyclists.
For advice, I contacted Kathy Malone, who originated the bumper sticker in Georgia when her son, Lance, was killed while riding. I decided to help build on her idea the best I could.
Around that time, someone told me that
I was a “mom on a mission.” That was exactly how I felt. I was a mom trying to help others, even though it was too late for my son. So I adopted the signature “Mother on a Mission” and started using it on all of my correspondence.
The rest is amazing. I tried to think of new ways to make the public aware of the message. I started contacting advertising companies who wanted to help by donating the space—which is very costly for a year—if I would purchase the signage for the life-saving message.
In addition to the bumper stickers, the message can now be seen on bus benches, bus shelters, transit buses, billboards, taxi cabs and heard on radio programs. A local cable company even shows the message on their network.
+LWHY[TLU[VM 4V[VY=LOPJSLVMÄJLZPU three counties help get the word out, along with Full Throttle and Born to Ride magazines, and Quaker Steak and Lube.
by Diane Pearson
At the Suncoast Motorcycle School in Clearwater, Fla., they give a bumper sticker to each graduate. According to
who have taken the course, the “Look Twice—Save A Life” message is one that people see most often and remember more than any other.
To date, 90,000 bumper stickers have been handed out, and in October 2008, I received a grant from the Motorcycle Safety Foundation that will support our efforts for a whole year.
Gene was a good son with a heart of gold. He loved his family, God and friends. He did not deserve to leave us all so early in his life. He made his family proud, and I just wanted to give back all of my efforts to those who love to ride, because that is what my son loved to do: ride.
The comments and letters I receive from grateful motorcyclists are a tribute to my son and the foundation I set up in his name. I never wanted his name to be forgotten, and I know it never will.
Diane Pearson runs the Gene Pearson Motorcycle Awareness Foundation. Info: www.genepearson.org.
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