Ladies & Gentlemen of the Motorcycling Community, We have working on a bill in Louisiana to amend the helmet law & and allow self-funded education of the  beginning rider  by means of Rider education course being mandatory for new riders.  It is not going well on the House of Representatives floor. They want to amend it by some outragous amendments, that we see as unconstitutional and certainly unfair.

We need you as a concerned motorcyclist to help by emailing these lawmakers and let them know this is unfair to the motorcycling community, since it very well  could affect you when passing thru Louisiana. Here is a brief description of what going on.

I have included a list of email addresses  at the bottom of this blog, Please email these reprentatives and let them know how you feel.

Yesterday our Bills suffered a tough time on the House Floor.
    HB 864, the Bill to move the Riders Education course out of BESE and into the DPS, didn't get the 2/3rd's majority vote required to pass on the floor. This was reportedly due to the fact that the fiscal note tied to it was over $900,000.00. This Bill would have secured our training funds that are paid for by motorcyclists’ endorsement fees, funds that BESE has raided every time the schools were in trouble (which was often) and it would have also created new course sites that are sorely needed. The Representatives decided that our safety wasn't worth the price tag.
   HB 1295, our Modified Helmet Bill, was withdrawn from the calendar temporarily when it became apparent that it was going to be attacked with amendments that would have rendered the Bill unpalatable to members of the motorcycling community. The amendments are as follows:
1.                         $50,000.00 personal health insurance policy that motorcyclists would have to carry to go lidless. Offered by Representative Neil C. Abramson (Democrat Dist. 98). This amendment would have been discriminatory due to the fact that it wouldn’t apply equally to all segments of the motoring public.
2.                          Denial of a lidless rider the right to sue for injuries suffered in an accident Offered by Representative Neil C. Abramson (Democrat Dist. 98). This amendment would have essentially allowed the guilty party to go unpunished while the victim would have had to either use their own insurance to pay for medical treatment or seek free (public burden?) medical care if their insurance was insufficient.
3.                         An amendment to require motorcyclists who choose to go lidless to sign an organ donor card (donor cyclists?) Offered by Representative Jean-Paul "JP" Morrell
Democrat - District 97. This amendment is not only discriminatory but could be construed as unconstitutional.
   You have to wonder what these people are thinking, how that got elected, and if they are even from the same planet as the rest of us.  We have until next Wednesday, 5/21/08, to set these Representatives straight and get our Bill back on the calendar or it will die on the House floor. While we are attempting to bring Freedom of Choice in a responsible manner the powers that be are being totally irresponsible in telling us how this should be implemented.
   Now more than ever we need to contact our Representatives and let them know how we feel about this Bill and the amendments being offered on it and we are requesting a nationwide call to action to accomplish this task. Without a massive ROAR this Bill is doomed to failure and we will continue to be burdened with wearing a piece of safety equipment that has done nothing to enhance safety and stop our Brothers and Sisters from dying on the highways of this great state.
   To find your Representative go to this link: http://house.louisiana.gov/H_Reps/H_Reps_ByName.asp, for continuous updates on the status of Bills affecting motorcyclists go to this link: http://www.abateoflouisiana.org/legislative.php.
 
Remember: One voice is but a whisper, but a thousand voices are a ROAR!
 
Ride Safe, Ride FREE
Poet
State Executive President
Abate Of La., Inc.

abramson@legis.state.la.us
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