| Subject: |
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Request For Comments Re: USE THESE ... OR LOSE THESE |
| Name: |
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Bruce Arnold |
| Date Posted: |
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Apr 15, 06 - 7:57 AM |
| Email: |
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Bruce@LdrLongDistanceRider.com |
| Message: |
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Madd Ray,
With respect to putting teeth into the "Stiffer Penalties" laws, I like your suggestions below regarding
(1) Making the laws specific to "biker" injuries and "biker" deaths;
(2) Increasing the mandatory minimum fines to at least $10,000 (for maiming) and $20,000 (for killing);
(3) Extending the drivers license suspension period to a mandatory minimum of 2 years; and
(4) Combining the laws with, in your words, "... a public relations [and/or awareness] campaign, which would alert the auto driver to a real and substantial penalty, and a penalty which can be most effectively avoided by paying special attention to the protection of the vulnerable motorcyclist."
USE THESE ... OR LOSE THESE
My first thought on a PR campaign would be TV ads, billboards, posters, and other visual media associating
(1) a pair of eyes to "Use These", and
(2) a drivers license and set of car keys to "Lose These".
The intended message would of course be that if cagers don't watch for motorcycles, they stand to lose their driving privileges for 2 years.
Although I usually focus on strategies more so than tactics, it seems to me that an initiative like this would tie in nicely to our belief that it is time for bikers rights activists to GET OFF THE DEFENSIVE and GO ON THE OFFENSIVE. And after all, both reasoning and statistics suggest there's a much bigger payoff for us in Right-of-Way and Awareness Legislation (i.e. taking it to them) than there is in any Motorcycle Safety Programs (i.e. sticking it to us).
I am going to distribute this for comments, Ray, and see what kind of feedback we get...
Ride Long, Ride Free!
Bruce ;-)
Bruce@LdrLongDistanceRider.com
http://www.ldrlongdistancerider.com/
________________________________
From: RARELYL84AD8@aol.com [mailto:RARELYL84AD8@aol.com]
Sent: Friday, April 14, 2006 7:33 PM
To: Bruce@LdrLongDistanceRider.com
Subject: Re: Florida's Stiffer Penalties Law: Deterrent ... or License to Kill?
Dear Bruce,
On the Florida law providing this $500/$1,000 penalty per biker maimed or killed, I agree with you that it doesn't adequately test the theory that auto driver disregard for the safety of others can be modified by the threat of "punishment." Since it is also a general law, applicable to injuries and deaths suffered by auto drivers, pedestrians and motorcyclists alike, it is doubtful in my mind that many auto drivers would have been inspired to consider that they might limit their exposure to the penalty particularly by using special care for the protection of motorcyclists.
I think it might be a better test if the auto driver were to know that if he injured or killed a biker as the result of negligent driving that his drivers license would be suspended for 2 years. Of course that too would not approximate the suffering of the biker or his family, but I think it might be taken more seriously by auto drivers, and the penalty would equally threaten the rich and poor alike. This $500/$1000 penalty would be unlikely to modify anyone's driving behavior, and even a $10,000/$20,000 penalty would concern only the lower income and middle income drivers, only to be capricious ignored by those with a moderate amount of wealth. Suspension of one's drivers license, on the other hand, would effect everyone equally.
The other problem with the current law is that it is phrased just in terms of injury or death to another, and I find it doubtful that most auto drivers would go through the mental process to arrive at the conclusion that they will need to use special care for the protection of the more vulnerable motorcyclist. Certainly, if they were to consider that bikers are more vulnerable to injury, they might come to this conclusion. But I just don't think that such a general law, applicable to all motorist injury and death, will sufficiently raise the consciousness of auto drivers to use special care for the protection of bikers.
Ideally I would like to see a law such as this "specific" for injuries to bikers and biker deaths. I think that this would be as reasonable as a law "specific" to bikers requiring that they wear helmets. If the states would recognize that it is bikers who are most at risk of serious injury and death resulting from auto driver negligence, then it should make sense to have a biker specific law. I admit that this may be a hard sell to the auto driving state legislators. In the absence of an "injury or death to motorcyclist" penalty law, I would say that drivers license suspension, even contained in a general law applicable to all negligently caused injury or death to bikers and auto drivers might work IF it was combined with a public relations campaign designed to raise the public awareness both about the law and of the particular vulnerability of motorcyclists to serious injury and death in auto driver caused accidents.
The unfortunate thing about ill-designed half measures like this is that it may convince policy makers that penalties are not effective in modifying auto driver behavior. I think that what is needed to test this hypothesis accurately would be a law, or law and public relations campaign, which would alert the auto driver to a real and substantial penalty, and a penalty which can be most effectively avoided by paying special attention to the protection of the vulnerable motorcyclist.
Yours,
Ray Henke
RarelyL84ad8@aol.com
http://www.Motorcyclists-Against-Dumb-Drivers.com |
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