Meetings: 1st WEDNESDAY at 6:30 pm –The Brat Stop, I94 & Hwy 50.

 

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Meetings: 1st WEDNESDAY at 6:30 pm –The Brat Stop, I94 & Hwy 50.

 

I hope this informational column finds you enjoying the slightly warmer weather of spring. We have had a fairly cold winter so far. I attended a few regional events and had a great time talking with a lot of great people. My hope is that some of you did also. Our Soup/Dessert Cook Off is April 18th at The Kenosha Beer Gardens. We will kick it off at noon as always, and we are ready to welcome new faces. If you haven't made it in year’s past, please come out and join us to raise a couple bucks for ABATE. I am confident our Lobby Day was successful again this year. Our underlying message of freedom is underscored in all our legislative concerns. Be it Right to Repair, Autonomous Vehicle Expansion or Power Plants of devices, we believe that we should be able to choose the best course of action for ourselves. In the case of expanding autonomous vehicle testing, being first does not seem to be the best course of action. Technology does make mistakes and with the myriad of problems other states have seen, caution appears to be well warranted. Especially when it concerns their behavior around motorcycles. Despite repeated requests for reports on how these systems perform, we have heard virtually nothing. Requests from NHSTA and several congressmen have largely been ignored. Why? We must make our valid concerns more of a priority to our elected officials. The experimental nature of these rushed deployments of technology are already being abused on the roadways you and your family travel on. There have been many crashes with vehicles equipped with driver assist Level 1, 2 and 3 systems. People are being injured and killed. Almost no one knows if the vehicle operators or the technology they may be using are at fault. Why? How much longer are we all going to be used as Guinea Pigs. These systems do offer an opportunity to help transportation be safer in the future. However, it’s clear to this mild-mannered reporter that we are not there yet. When new technology or drugs are tested, it is usually in a volunteer program. No one I know has volunteered to be a field test for unproven driverless systems. We need to make our friends and family aware of these issues. There will be decisions made on the topics we are concerned about in the near future. Those decisions will affect every citizen’s freedom to choose, not just motorcyclists. Let’s stay free in the wind.

 

Mike