TN helmet law info. UPDATED 4/22/04 and the latest: 4/29/04

[jrhardie]

NASHVILLE — The state Senate on Thursday approved legislation to allow some motorcyclists to ride Tennessee roads without helmets, despite objections from several lawmakers that the change would be costly to the state.

The Senate voted 24-8 in favor of the measure, with one member, Sen. Joe Haynes, DNashville, declaring himself present but not voting.

The House has not yet scheduled debate on the helmet measure.

Te nnessee law currently requires all motorcyclists to wear a helmet.

The bill approved Thursday would allow riders age 25 or older to travel without them as long as they meet several other conditions.

"Part of the pleasure to the motorcyclist is the freedom of the road, the freedom of air rushing past you, of being in touch with where you are instead of being enclosed in an automobile," Sen. Douglas Henry, D-Nashville, said before voting in favor of the measure. The bill would require motorcyclists to register with the Department of Safety, where they would present both proof of age and proof of private health insurance. They also would be required to take a motorcycle safety course.

Once approved, riders would receive a "special designation" on their driver’s licenses they could present if pulled over by police.

[Scarecrow]

Jim,

How would this law apply to out of state riders. With the Hoot coming up, this will be a big issue.

Scarecrow

[jrhardie]

I don't think it will be an issue this year. It still has to pass the House and according to recent info on the news yesterday, the Governor says he won't sign.
It can still pass but I'm reasonably confident it won't happen before June.

This is a link to ABATE's Tennessee website. They have updates fairly frequently.

http://www.cmtabate.com/

[jrhardie]

Received this from the CMT/ABATE office Thursday night 4/22/04:


Our sponsor, Representative Tidwell, made a fantastic plus for our bill yesterday. He provided every committee member with an adjusted fiscal note to our bill. When a fiscal note is placed on a bill, that means state leadership has identified it as a potential financial burden to the state.

With the amendments that have been added to our bill, Rep. Tidwell was able to reverse the fiscal note to show that this bill would make money to the state rather than risk money.

Technically, we no longer need to be in a committee about finances but we still need to get out of this one. With such late breaking news of this big change, we did not have time to confidently take a vote. We are rescheduled for Budget Subcommittee next Wednesday. Mr. Tidwell states that there is still time and hope for this to get through this year.

We can still be doing something about this. How about those letters to the editor of your paper? I've only received two copies via email. I'll write one for you and we'll put your name on it. It needs to be from you, the neighbor who counts in a community.

Another new big threat to our freedom is that House Bill 3104 passed through the budget sub-committee yesterday. This bill will allow law enforcement to pull us over and ticket us for no other reason than not having our seat belt on. That's right... tag, you're it! Tennessee is the next state under assault by NHTSA and AAA to mandate that free Americans have more government in their lives!

I've called my Senator and House Representative and told them that I've had enough freedom robbed from me and my family. Uncle Sam is not holding any federal highway dollars as extortion to this vote. Simply stated, this is 'feel good' government in an election year. It gives them a feather to wear in their cap on a campaign platform this summer.

So for those of us who have already called our House Representative once, twice or even repeatedly, we now have a new reason to call, email or fax. If you haven't called yet, there are now two freedoms you need to politely encourage your Representative to protect for you: HB952 & 3104

So here are the points about our HB952 bill:
This issue is not about insurance dollars and injuries
Financial impact to the state of Tennessee has gone from negative to positive in the last week
You spend your money riding in neighboring free states
It's about restoring freedom to over 234,000+ motorcyclists in the state
How many soldiers have given up their lives to protect that freedom this week?

There is one way our helmet bill can bypass this committee and go directly to the House Floor for a vote. We had six co-sponsors to this bill at the conclusion of last years assembly. We put out an-all call out for motorcyclists to get commitments from their House Representatives to co-sponsor (which means having their name added to the sponsorship of the bill). I only know of four additional Representatives who have agreed to their constituents to become co-sponsors. But that is already one fifth of our need.

After you supply these facts to your Representative in the next couple of days, respectfully ask them to co-sponsor the bill. Tell them you need their name on there and you'd like for them to be approaching co-legislators for the same purpose.

Tommy Head has indicated to several legislators as well as your team that he no longer cares to fight this bill. But there are still three districts we really need to impact right now. That is Mr. Speaker Jimmy Naifeh in District 81; House Majority Leader Kim McMillan in District 67; and Budget Sub-committee Chairman Craig Fitzhugh in District 82. Do not contact these legislators if you are not in these districts. You will do more harm than good. If you are not in their district, the best thing you can do is ask your out of state friends to write tourism letters to these members if they haven't yet.

Those letters need to specifically (and respectfully) note that they understand that amendments to the bill have removed the risk of financial burden. They understand that tourism in every state that has restored freedom has grown into the hundreds of millions. They need to say that's because they are one of those motorcyclists that help contribute to other states tourism by taking their vacation travels to states who respect their freedom.

It's my hope that with this email you remember one more friend, badger one more cousin about if they wrote an email, persuade one more employee or call in one more poker debt to get another wind burst under our wings! If this aint enough, well then we're all gonna have to be on a campaign trail this summer.

Keep praying Patriots!
Rhonda Rae Williams
YOUR Corporate Secretary
CMT/ABATE Inc

[jrhardie]

From email rec'd from secretary Tennessee ABATE:

Today our helmet modification bill was put behind the budget. Does this mean it's dead? No, but barely breathing. Our sponsor worked tirelessly to get the favor we needed to vote on it today. The final blow was that House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh said he couldn't let it go through because the Governor was against it. Yet the Governor has publicly spoken that he doesn't care about our head injuries as long as it does not cause a financial burden to the state tax payers.

This is typical election year double speak... blame somebody else so you won't hold it against me at the polls.

Our sponsor told us the only way to revive our bill would be through cautious approach to our Commissioner of Tourism. He suggested that Miss Whitaker should be given the power to highly recommend to the Governor that this bill should go through for the sake our state tourism. He suggested that letters authored by commissioners of tourism in other states such as Kentucky, Florida, etc with the undeniable increase in tourism revenue as a direct result of helmet freedom. Your team is still working to that end as we speak and there are still nine session days left to work with.

He also suggested that our state residents approach our local Chamber of Commerce to gain support by sending requests to our Commissioner. Due to time constraints, this is more of a long range plan for next year's legislation.

Mr. Tidwell committed to sponsor our helmet legislation next year. He said this year has been a good learning curve. If we submit a bill next year with language removing any false claim to financial impact of the tax payer, we can bypass the finance committee. Even it's own members commonly refer to it as 'the black hole' since it so commonly can be used by leadership to kill a bill.

In the meantime, he encouraged us to know our candidates before we go to the poles this year. We should have a commitment of support from a candidate before we vote for them. He gave very precise instructions on how to do this and how NOT to do this. More to come on that soon. Most importantly, we should help keep those who support us in office or help get ones in who promise support.

That's the noose around the neck of our freedom at this moment. In the meantime, we just might have to continue to take our weekend touring dollars out of state as often as we can.

If you're hopping mad right now, that's a good thing. We need that. Once the Southern Thunder Rally is behind us, your team will begin in June to work on the campaigns and commitments. Again, we can do it WITH you but we can't do it WITHOUT you. We need to be a force all over the state at one time by proxy of you.

Weather permitting, I'll be riding helmet free in Indiana this weekend for my 38th birthday. Surely that reminder of freedom will rejuvenate my inspiration to continue this battle until we can claim it as our own!

Thanks Patriots!
Rhonda Rae Williams
YOUR Corporate Secretary
CMT/ABATE Inc