Re: take responsibility for ourselves
As motorcyclists, we are a minority. Our first impulse, when beset by the forces that outnumber us, is often
to enlist outside help -- namely, the government. But greater legislative involvement in motorcycling (and the motorsport and transportation industries in general), actual or threatened, here and abroad, inevitably leads to a lessening of the freedoms that draw us to the sport in the first place, e.g., diminished off-road access; restrictions on horsepower and top-speed; reduced speed limits; and in at least one instance so far, the virtual disappeareance of an entire class of vehicle -- the three-wheeled ATV. Whenever we encourage the government to look at motorcycling more closely, we are almost inevitably the ones who lose, since riding is, generally, more dangerous than driving.
There are certainly plenty of people who can't manage to safely operate a cellphone and a car at the same time. There are also plenty of riders who are just as dangerous all by themselves on a new license and an R-1. Or a Big Twin. Or a beer and anything. It's my personal belief that ensuring a healthy future for motorcycling involves our -- ourselves, the manufacturers, and such advocates as the AMA and the motorsport press -- improved efforts at education (i.e., public relations) and responsibility. And, failing that, the willingness to sue the hell out of anybody who wrongs us. Sure, litigation is a nasty process, but, for the sake of maintaining what freedoms -- even potentially dangerous freedoms -- we have left, better to take an issue to court that to Congress.