ABATE of Michigan

We had a successful booth at the International Motorcycle Show in Novi the first weekend of January.  We talked to a lot of people and let them know what we are doing in the several areas of motorcycle safety, education and legislation. It is sometimes tough to catch people’s attention, since we always have other companies with better eye candy vying for everyone’s attention, but when people hear the good work we are doing and the issues we are working on, they always are interested.

I really want to thank everyone who helped at the booth, because without you we would not have been a success. We had many volunteers and I want to thank you all, but I want to give a special thanks to Vince, Chip, Tristan and Dave who went above and beyond and put in long hours.

I got to take a break and look at the bikes; there are a lot of good bikes out there to choose from. Seems like the power is going up, handling is getting better, and the prices are not outpacing inflation, which are all good things.

As usual some people thought that we were “the helmet people” and did not know of our efforts in other areas of motorcycling.  We reminded them of some of our recent accomplishments:

1. We defeated two night-time motorcycle bans in Oakland County

2. We visited Washington DC fight for federal legislation that affects motorcyclists (HIPAA, NHTSA) and to fight against perils to our freedom (federal helmet law and other anti-motorcyclist legislation)

3. We submitted a formal complaint regarding NTSB’s illegal promotion of helmet laws and provided MRF with a strategy for them to use

4. We were instrumental in passing the “Justice for All” bill (SB104)

5. We promoted motorcycle safety through the “Ride Straight” program, Motorcycle Awareness, and Motorcycle Training programs

6. We fought to restore funding for the Motorcycle Safety Program. Interesting that this is happening all over the country; in each and every case it was the ABATE of each state that fought for the funding.

So the next time you ride in Oakland county, or you take a Motorcycle Safety course, or hear about an accident that was avoided due to driver awareness, think of ABATE.

Since the article deadline is a week before the annual State Seminar I won’t be able to talk about it this month. There will have been a lot of good sessions about legislation, safety & education and legal issues, and we will have held our state elections. The AMA and MRF always give us the up-to-date info on federal motorcycle issues as well as what challenges our neighboring states have, and we’ll even have other states at the seminar so we can hear first-hand what they are going through.

Here is how to get in touch with us:

1. Call the state office at 248 685-9150

2. Log on to our Website:  www.abateofmichigan.org

3. Visit a local ABATE meeting (log onto the Website for the nearest location)

Vince Piacenti

Treasurer