|
AND THE SAGA CONTINUES
Yes, unfortunate, but true. I had hoped to be spreading the gleeful news about the slam dunk we achieved, but alas-- that isn't EXACTLY the case. In referring to the proposed amended Resolution, (Legislative File Number 4205-08) a/k/a Councilman Drozd's Proposed Helmet Law/Social Burden Resolution, a/k/a some other not fit for print names. Last month, I discussed this proposal which currently sits in the Public Safety Committee of Allegheny County Council.
True to his word, Committee Chair, Jim, Burn had this scheduled before the month of July was out. (He was concerned about some of our people going to Sturgis and didn't want the hearing on this matter to cause a conflict.) We were on for the 31st of July. It started at 4:00, which worried me a bit in that I didn't know how many people would be willing or able to cut out of work early. My worries were unfounded when we had a grand total of 24 people there in support! The meeting lasted two hours, which is quite lengthy and not the norm. Councilman Burn permitted testimony from seven individuals on our side, two who purported to support freedom but not very clear about anything other than their own agenda, and in support of the social burden myth you had the Allegheny County Medical Examiner, a neurosurgeon from one of the Pittsburgh trauma centers (gee, how unusual...) who testified via telephone, and the Director of Government Relations from the University of Pittsburgh. The former two, reluctantly gave (and tried to evade such giving) a few answers to Councilmen Burn's questions that seemed to weigh more in our favor than not, and the latter was pretty much there to give an excuse why Dr. Mertz (author of the now infamous University of Pitt study) could not attend.
Once again, our side performed at peak!!! Starting off was yours truly dismissing the social burden myth and requesting them to join forces with us to work on viable solutions towards crash reduction; Joe Heh, who went into why Drozd was full of bullhonkey when he claimed that his helmet was “crushproof” and also elaborated about the injuries that helmets can cause; John Duray, tearing up the Pitt study and discussing the impact of high profile vehicles in a m/c collision; Mike Duray, an impassioned plea to work with bikers to help save the people he loves; Dave Tuschell, our own personal legit rocket scientist, spoke about impaired driving (cell phones and other advances of technology which can have scary implications to the riding/driving world); Lenny Young legitimized the LB &FC's report. Then came Aaron, a gentleman who we didn't even know prior to his quietly saying to us that he would like a few minutes to tell his story. He was there to tell about his crash and to state, even according to his doctors, he wouldn't be alive today if he was wearing a lid. Jobo (Joseph Bokor) was prepared to go into just and unjust laws and the Fourteenth Amendment, but the clock ran out. Tell you what, if I thought I was proud of people before, they sure topped it this time. You all out-did yourselves!
Committee can perform the following actions: pass on to the full Council with a yes recommendation, pass on with a no recommendation (the desired one in this mix), pass on without any recommendation, or hold in committee. The latter is generally used to gather more information (and support, I presume) and that is where we fell.
Some highlights of the meeting were when Drozd kept referring to “all the emails he received - some from even as far away as Belgium”, and almost anytime Drozd opened his mouth. He once again was put on the spot on more than one occasion and really doesn't think quickly on his feet. (I sure do enjoy that way too much!) The other part I see as a strong positive on our side is that at one point I told Drozd that I would unequivocally prefer to take on a battle over reinstating our lid law as opposed to his discriminatory b.s. He, at first seemed amicable, then decided to poll his constituency (Yeah, imagine that -- the care and concern coming from the guy who stated, “Public policy isn't often dictated by public opinion!!!”) to see which of the following they would desire him to propose in this legislation:
• TRY (my emphasis) to reenact PA's mandatory helmet law, go for the no public moneys
• Prohibit any public health care dollars from going to a lidless rider who received any head injury (the scope of which has changed numerous time) regardless of the factors or cause of the crash; or
• Put in place some kind of Personal Injury Insurance (and here he'll receive one hellified battle too!)
It should go without saying ABSOLUTELY NONE OF THE ABOVE ARE VIABLE OPTIONS!
Looking at the wealth and amount of evidence, we blew the opposition out of the water, but in the end the battle will still continue. Chairman Burn left the decision to Drozd if he wanted to move the bill to full council for a vote or to keep it in committee for a while longer. He opted for the latter. I'm thinking he felt a loss coming on so in order to try and generate more support, stalling tactics do sometimes work. What REALLY bothered me was that the only members present were Councilmen Drozd and Burn out of a possible seven member total. It was mentioned at the last meeting that Council conducts most of its “real business at committee meetings”. They proceeded to say that this is where the information is gathered and sorted out.
So we'll have to gear up for another round. No worries, we've got some really good folks standing up to this and so far, have covered a lot of ground. We were hoping for this to end with a positive outcome by now. Well, it isn't quite over yet, but we did achieve a VERY POSITIVE point. Councilman Burn eagerly agreed to our request to form some sort of joint task force. (In all fairness so did Drozd, but he didn't have much of a choice.) Partnering with us to have a Motorcycle Awareness Coalition to come up with not only proven successful ways to help stop the crashes before they happen, but to work with us and try things other than the magic helmet! We are waiting for the details, and are all very excited about this prospect. We've got some great ideas just ready to lay on the table. If they are serious about making a difference towards helping to save lives and reduce injuries to motorcyclists, then we can make that happen. Stay tuned. You can bet the details will follow.
|
LYNN WESLEY
ASSISTANT STATE LEGISLATIVE COORDINATOR
Lynn Wesley
412- 513-6979
Email Asst Legislative Coordinator!
|
