South Carolina Motorcycle Rights Association

Your tax dollars are hard at work! NHTSA released a study titled “Motorcycle Helmet Use in 2014-overall results.” NOPUS, or National Occupant Protection Use Survey conducted the study. The survey claims to be “the only nationwide probability based observed data on motorcycle helmet use in the Untied States.”

 The study observed certain stretches of road, at 1581 sites. They did the observing over 3.5 weeks last June. Over that time they ended up observing 684 motorcycles carrying 806 motorcyclists. So the survey isn’t really a survey, it’s a snapshot; a brief capture of bikes and bikers on the road. “Probability based” means they take the snapshot and enlarge it. They account for riding season length and so on before they extrapolate the numbers.

 Our government needs to get on the same page when it comes to statistics. In NHTSA’s last issue of their periodic “Traffic Safety Facts” series they identified that motorcycle fatalities had dropped 6.4 percent and injuries dropped 8.3 percent the report called the drops “not statistically significant.” Well this new report claims that use of non-compliant motorcycle helmets “decreased significantly from 7 percent to 5 percent”. Just another example of how government is biased against the most affordable and energy efficient modes of transportation Americans can use.

The survey goes into some detail about helmet use during different riding conditions, solo riders versus two up riders. You can read more here:

http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/812110.pdf

H.R. 21, the bill that would study the effects of ethanol on vehicles, is up to seven cosponsors. Keep the pressure on to cosponsor this important legislation.

Net Neutrality was a big issue this week with the FCC chairman Tom Wheeler circulating his proposed rules to regulate the internet like any other telecommunications utility such as cable, TV, telephones and other common carriers. The chairman summed up his proposal with this statement: “An open Internet allows consumers to access the legal content and applications that they choose online, without interference from their broadband network provider. It fosters innovation and competition by ensuring that new products and services developed by entrepreneurs aren’t blocked or throttled by internet service providers putting their own profits above the public interest. An open internet allows free expression to blossom without fear of an Internet provider acting as a gatekeeper. And it gives innovators predictable rules of the road to deliver new products and services online.”

 It’s a complicated issue but the simplest explanation is this. The government wants to be able to ensure the American public that their providers of internet access do not block or throttle access to lawful content and services. It also prohibits internet service providers (ISP) from allowing content providers to pay to get speedier delivery of their content, a practice known as “paid prioritization”. The ISP’s claim that the heavy regulation will only drive up costs that will be passed on to you, the user.

 The commission should vote on regulation on February 26th.