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Motorcycle
safety training funds under attack
PICKERINGTON,
Ohio--U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters reaffirmed
her desire to lobby states for mandatory helmet-use laws in
testimony before the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee
Transportation Subcommittee on March 6, the American
Motorcyclist Association reports.
Peters'
testimony follows letters she sent in February to U.S. House
and Senate leaders urging Congress to allow states to divert
federal money away from motorcycle safety training and
awareness programs and instead push for mandated helmet use.
Under
federal law, the U.S. Transportation Department is barred
from lobbying for or against specific state laws. That
measure was passed by Congress at the request of
motorcyclists who specifically wanted to prevent the federal
government from lobbying for mandatory helmet laws. But when
asked whether she would support an exemption to the law to
allow her department to lobby the states for mandatory
helmet laws, she said she would.
"I
support giving the information to states so that they can
act on those laws," Peters testified. "And I
certainly have made myself available to a number of states,
and, in fact, have called governors when I see substantial
increases in the number of motorcycle deaths in a state,
especially a state that has repealed a helmet law."
Peters
is pushing to move funds out of motorcycle safety training
and awareness even though the money was specifically
approved by Congress at the request of motorcyclists who
wanted to beef up the nation's motorcycle safety training
and awareness efforts.
In
February, in response to the letters Peters wrote, Ed
Moreland, AMA vice president for government relations,
expressed concern that diverting federal motorcycle safety
funds to mandate helmet use could harm rider training
courses and motorcycle awareness programs that are already
underfunded in many states.
At
that time, he also expressed concern that Peters' proposal
could contradict sections of transportation bills passed in
1998 and 2005 that ban the use of federal motorcycle safety
funds to lobby state legislatures in favor of mandatory
helmet laws and could effectively reverse that ban.
"Banning
the federal government from lobbying for mandatory state
helmet laws was the very reason Congress passed this measure
in the first place," said Moreland. "What Peters
is asking for is not an exception to the rule, it's an
example of an exception completely circumventing the
rule."
Moreland
believes Peters is willing to push for mandatory helmet laws
at the expense of rider training and awareness programs
designed to teach motorcycling skills that would prevent
crashes from occurring in the first place.
"This
latest testimony reaffirms our fears--that the U.S.
transportation secretary wants to lobby for mandatory helmet
laws by diverting funding specifically set aside for
motorcycle safety training and awareness to further her
mandatory helmet-use agenda," Moreland said.
"Helmet
use is certainly one part of a comprehensive approach to
motorcycle safety, but the use of motorcycle helmets is
already advocated in existing motorcycle safety training
programs," Moreland said.
"Congress
decided to fund motorcycle safety training and awareness
programs at the request of the motorcycling community. This
effort by Secretary Peters to divert money away from those
programs is an attempt to circumvent the wishes of Congress
and those motorcyclists nationwide who wanted to
specifically augment rider training and awareness
programs," he said.
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The
American Motorcyclist Association: rights. riding. racing.
Founded
in 1924, the AMA is a non-profit organization with 290,000
members. The Association's purpose is to protect and
promote the interests of motorcyclists, while serving the
needs of its members. For more information, visit the AMA
website at www.AMADirectlink.com.
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