South Carolina Motorcycle Rights Association

RIDING FREE FROM DC:

Your Weekly Biker Bulletin from Inside the Beltway

Your Motorcycle Riders Foundation team in Washington, D.C. is pleased to provide our members with the latest information and updates on issues that impact the freedom and safety of American street motorcyclists. Count on your MRF to keep you informed about a range of matters that are critical to the advancement of motorcycling and its associated lifestyle. Published weekly when the U.S. Congress is in session.

Capitol Hill Update

A Meeting at HQ

With the help of MRF Vice President Jay Jackson, our Washington team secured a meeting this week at the headquarters of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Tiffany and Rocky sat down with Michael Fox, Highway Accident Investigator and Eric Emery, Chief of the Safety Research Division.

Michael is the lead investigator for motorcycle-related crashes in the United States. Michael travels around the country investigating motorcycle-related crashes and determining the cause of the accident and crafting proposals for preventing future accidents. Michael himself is a motorcyclist and is passionate about protecting motorcyclists.

Eric is the author of the 2018 NTSB safety report titled, “Select Risk Factors Associated with Causes of Motorcycle Crashes.” Eric asked what the MRF believed were some of the biggest future safety challenges facing motorcyclists. We discussed the rise of autonomous vehicles and the need for autonomous vehicle technology to recognize and react to motorcyclists.

What was most satisfying about the 2-hour long conversation was the willingness of the NTSB to work with the MRF on areas we have common ground. Both gentlemen understand that there are issues where the MRF and the NTSB may not be in agreement. However, they stressed their desire to find issues we can agree on and not get hung up on our differences.

The NTSB is eager to participate in our May Bikers Inside the Beltway program on Capitol Hill and offered a myriad of ways that the NTSB could raise the profile of our event. We hope that partnering with the NTSB on common ground issues will not only help raise the profile of our event on Capitol Hill but will also raise the overall profile of the MRF with lawmakers. As we get closer to May, we will have details on how this partnership will work.

Both Sides of the Aisle

Last year the MRF made a concerted effort to have both anti-profiling bills bipartisan. In both the Senate and House versions, we had both Republican and Democrat cosponsors. This year with our focus strictly on passing a House version we are taking the same approach.

This week the MRF met with Congressman Peterson of Minnesota’s office to ask if he will once again cosponsor the anti-profiling legislation. Congressman Peterson is a Democrat and member of the House Motorcycle Caucus. His office is scheduled to meet with Congressman Walberg’s office soon and finalize the anti-profiling bill for this Congress. When the bill is officially introduced, we will let you know.

MRF News & Events

Bikers Inside the Beltway 2019

The 11th Annual Bikers Inside the Beltway is just two months away! We hope you will join us and other freedom fighters from around the country while we embark on our journey in the halls of the Capitol to advance our legislative priorities with our elected representatives. We will kick off the event on the evening on Monday, May 20th with a prep session to get everyone up to speed on the legislation that we are working on this year and to pass out the leave behind packets for your meetings. On Tuesday, May 21st, we will head to the Capitol to lobby our legislators. If you are planning to attend this year’s event, we ask that you sign up online at www.mrf.org/events and encourage you to book your hotel accommodations before April 19, 2019, to receive our special event rate. You can download the flyer here: 2019 Bikers Inside the Beltway Flyer

Politics and Elections

Three Outs

Three prominent potential Democratic presidential candidates, almost in unison, said they would not join the 2020 campaign. Two of the decisions were expected, but the third was a surprise.
 
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who had hired staff, was in the process of designing a presidential campaign logo and planning an announcement tour to begin in his birthplace city of Medford, Massachusetts, said this week that he would not seek the Presidency in 2020. Instead, he will devote his efforts to founding a new organization entitled, “Beyond Carbon,” with the goal of virtually ending America’s reliance on oil, gas, and coal by the year 2050. He said he believes, through this group, that he can best help to defeat President Trump.
 
Former Secretary of State, US Senator, First Lady, and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton also confirmed that she will not be a candidate next year but will remain active on the political scene. This result was more expected even though speculation had increased recently that she might again become a presidential candidate.
 
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), another potential presidential candidate, announced that he would seek a third term in the Senate, which kills any chance of his entering the presidential campaign. His fate was virtually sealed when leaders of his own party, including Gov. Kate Brown (D-OR), refused to change Oregon election law to allow an individual to run for more than one office simultaneously.
 
The Bloomberg move could affect the overall campaign and may be a signal that former Vice President Joe Biden will soon be entering the race. Reports suggest that Mr. Bloomberg believed his path to the party nomination involved appealing to the more centrist element of the Democratic Party, a segment where Mr. Biden is strong.

The former Mayor indicated he believed his path to the nomination was a narrow one. He clearly assumes that Mr. Biden would be in the race, thus preventing the Bloomberg campaign from attracting large numbers of less liberal primary voters, though he felt his chances of unseating President Trump in the general election were strong.

Rocky & Tiffany

The Motorcycle Riders Foundation

About Motorcycle Riders Foundation
The Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) provides leadership at the federal level for states’ motorcyclists’ rights organizations as well as motorcycle clubs and individual riders. The MRF is chiefly concerned with issues at the national and international levels that impact the freedom and safety of American street motorcyclists. The MRF is committed to being a national advocate for the advancement of motorcycling and its associated lifestyle and works in conjunction with its partners to help educate elected officials and policymakers in Washington and beyond.

All Information contained in this release is copyrighted. Reproduction permitted with attribution. Motorcycle Riders Foundation. All rights reserved. Ride With The Leaders™ by joining the MRF at http://mrf.org or call (202) 546-0983