To keep it short here you can catch Gary's Posting on B&R's re: Tennessee's new "stiffer Penalties joke (Excuse me law) for ROW violators here.Copied here is a posting from a Tennessee ABATE applying their spin to this wondrous accomplishment.
legislative@cmtabate.com Website: http://www.cmtabate.blogspot.com
"After having similar legislation shut down in the prior assembly of 05-06, CMT/ABATE members got busy and worked hard to get the above bill passed in 2007. The "don't throw granny in jail" mentality kept us from getting even stronger sanctions included in the bill.
Our main sponsor in the House, Rep Rob Briley, came on board after a constituent of his went with me to see him as head of the House Judiciary Committee. The Senate Judiciary Committee had been the achilles heel last year so we were looking for sponsor advice and ended up with more than advice, we got a champion. Senate sponsor Burchett is a long time champion of motorcyclists rights and an avid rider. He can often be seen tooling around on his hardtail Triumph bobber. This bill suffered a tie vote in the Senate Transportation Committee (one yea vote was absent) but the rules alloowed us to ask for a second hearing with a letter signed by 5 yes votes. After passing through that committee, we had little opposition in the House of Senate. This was a good example of grass roots activism getting the job done!"
My Response posted on the B&Rs:
WHAT? WHAT??? WHAT??????????? THIS IS A FREAKING JOKE RIGHT?
Name: rc Date Posted: Sep 7, 07 - 5:30 PM
Message: By failing to yield the right of way as provided in such statutes and such violation results in an accident resulting in serious bodily injury to or death of any person shall be guilty of a "MISDEMEANOR".
NOTE: the words SERIOUS BODILY INJURY!!!! NOTE: the word DEATH (at the hands of somebody else performing an illegal act)
c-1 A violation of subsection (a) is a Class B misdemeanor punishable by a fine of two hundred and fifty dollars ($250) if the accident results in serious bodily injury of another.
NOTE: the word freaking "MISDEMEANOR"! $250.00??? About the price of my last rear tire (including installation)!!!
2 -A violation of subsection (a) is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by a fine of five hundred dollars ($500) if the accident results in the death of another.
NOTE: The word DEATH!!! (through negligent action of another. It can't be intentional because hit men charge more than $500.00. But hey if ya want the do it yourself plan??) The lousiest credit card in the world will prob give ya $500.00 . Aw but hell I'm sorry I mean like this is a misdemeanor.
(e) Upon conviction, the court may revoke the license or permit to drive and any non-resident operating privilege of a person convicted under this section for a period of up to six (6) months if the accident results in serious bodily injury of another and up to one (1) year if the accident results in death of another.
Well damn a suspended license for a year for killing someone. Good God man. And ya know what I bet. Oh I probably bet the person is gonna drive on the suspended license, unless of course the penalty for driving under a suspended license is more than the penalty for killing someone. IF they even get stopped! Hell I've driven a year with an invalid tag without being stopped. Use to be a game. Well at lest til I married my current ol lady.
This was a good example of grass roots activism getting the job done!
You know what this was a good example of? This was a better example of "spin" than any politician in Washington could possibly contrive. Just exactly how many ABATE members did it take to buckle down, get busy and work hard to have the legislative lawmakers spit in their face only to call it a victory???
That ain't "grass roots" activism. That was "astroturfing" (Faking a grassroots movement is known as astroturfing. Astroturfing—as the name suggests—is named after a brand of artificial grass, AstroTurf. Astroturfing is similar in practice to the grassroots movement, except that the lobbyists behind it hide their agenda by pretending to be individuals voicing their opinions. The term has incorporated itself into common speech. ) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grassroots
This is a "most excellent" example of of wasted "biker capital" and the results of playing in an arena in which we are out manned, out financed, and apparently out smarted.
You guys ain't related to President/lobbyist of ABATE of Florida are ya?
You have just validated my posts at: http://pub42.bravenet.com/forum/3562429698/fetch/854038/
http://pub42.bravenet.com/forum/3562429698/fetch/854042/ http://pub42.bravenet.com/forum/3562429698/fetch/853613/
and most especially, http://pub42.bravenet.com/forum/3562429698/fetch/850894/
To which there was little response and I can only suspicion it was because so many ABATE and other MRO's were so actively engaged in kissing the asses of politicians.
O.k. now that I have got that off my chest and lowered my blood pressure a bit I should probaly apologize for the tone of the this post, offer my apologies for being such an arrogant asshole and commend you and your "bro's" (???) for a job well done. Not on a freaking bet.
I generally end most of my post with "Ride Free" however in this case my fingers would puke all over the keyboard trying to type it. However I will pray that no one you love gets killed due to the self centered negligence of some cager who ends up with a fine that doesn't even compete w/ inflation (hey maybe and illustration to make a point). A word of wisdom, next time ya'll to to visit ye olde "granny protectors" (unless of course she gets dead too) take some Vaseline with ya. rcAdd to Technorati Favorites
