ABATE of South Carolina, Inc. is the motorcyclists' rights organization of South Carolina. Our members brought freedom of choice to South Carolina bikers in June of 1980; ABATE amended South Carolina's mandatory motorcycle helmet law to allow adult freedom of choice. ABATE stands for A Brotherhood Against Totalitarian Enactments. Our philosophy is to defend liberty; while we do not oppose safety devices we oppose laws that mandate the usage of devices.
Referring to the City of Myrtle Beach losing their case over the unconstitutional helmet law, "The ruling should remind the Legislature to extend the state requirement for motorcycle helmets to all bikers, not just those under 21. Riding without a helmet is a safety hazard for all motorcyclists."
"On Tuesday June 15 The Law Offices of Tom McGrath filed suit in Horry County South Carolina asking the Court to find an ordinance enacted by the City of Myrtle Beach South Carolina unconstitutional and therefore invalid. This ordinance was enacted for the sole purpose of driving motorcyclists out of Myrtle Beach. The plaintiff's in the law suit are numerous residents of the City of Myrtle Beach as well as ABATE of South Carolina, Inc. and ABATE of South Carolina, Inc., Horry County Chapter.
You may be asking yourself why are filing suit when we, with the help and sacrifice of many dedicated riders, already succeeded in overturning the helmet ordinance along with other anti-motorcycling ordinances. The ordinance which is the focus of this suit has nothing to do with helmets. Myrtle Beach also enacted its very own exhaust ordinance."
4 U.S. Senators from big Ethanol-producing states are pressuring the EPA to mandate a 15% blend of Ethanol in gasoline. This, in spite of the fact that the EPA has tested a TOTAL of 18 vehicles with this new blend, and they say it is safe for automobile engines made after 2001. No mention of any or planned testing of motorcycless.
Here is the full press release from the Motorcycle Riders Foundation:
MRF E-MAIL NEWS Motorcycle Riders Foundation 236 Massachusetts Ave. NE | Suite 510 | Washington, DC 20002-4980 202-546-0983 (voice) | 202-546-0986 (fax) | http://www.mrf.org
10NR17 - MRF News Release - Washington Update
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 24 June 2010
Contact: Jeff Hennie, Government Relations and Public Affairs
"MYRTLE BEACH—A Virginia-based lawyer filed a lawsuit on behalf of several bikers and bike groups in Myrtle Beach, claiming city ordinances passed nearly two years ago don’t follow state law.
Myrtle Beach City Council passed stricter noise ordinances two years ago."
"As Myrtle Beach prepares to adjust some of its ordinances passed in 2008 to quell the May motorcycle rallies, it faces another legal challenge that could require more changes.
Some residents and other motorcycle enthusiasts are suing the city, hoping the Horry County Circuit Court will overturn the city's noise ordinance."
As everyone knows the Supreme Court of South Carolina invalidated many of the anti-motorcyclists ordinances passed by the City of Myrtle Beach. However a few of the ordinances remain, one of which is the exhaust ordinance. Myrtle Beach has passed an exhaust ordinance which is far stricter than that enacted by the state legislature. The result of this is that motorcyclists whose exhaust systems are legal everywhere else in the State of South Carolina can be ticketed in Myrtle Beach and in some instances have their property confiscated.
On Tuesday, The Law Offices of Tom McGrath filed suit in Horry County asking that the court find the ordinance to be unconstitutional and therefore invalid. The plaintiff's in the law suit are numerous residents of the City of Myrtle Beach as well as ABATE of South Carolina, Inc. and ABATE of South Carolina, Inc., Horry County Chapter.
As always thank you for supporting the rights of motorcyclists everywhere. I will provide updates as the information becomes available.
Absentee ballots are due Friday. Don't get complacent, even if you voted in the primary, everyone needs to vote again for the runoff elections. Please vote absentee if you can't vote on the Primary runoff election day, June 22nd!
"The S.C. Supreme Court today unanimously ruled Myrtle Beach's motorcycle helmet law is invalid because it is superseded by state law...
The court ruled that all the ordinances -- 2008-61-67 -- were affected by the repeal of the administrative court hearing, but since 61 and 65, the rules about parking trailers on city streets and partying in parking lots, were made into misdemeanors, those are not invalidated."
but Mayor John Rhodes is unrepentant:
"It's not going to change much," Mayor John Rhodes said. "We've already made it clear we don't support rallies and won't support rallies. We're very pleased that we had very few accidents and no deaths within the city this year during the rallies, and our residents were able to sleep and teachers were able to teach.
ABATE does not advocate riding without a helmet; ABATE advocates that you have the right to decide. ABATE does not condone drinking and driving or riding. Contributions to ABATE of South Carolina, Inc., or any of its chapters are not tax deductible.
"MYRTLE BEACH—A Virginia-based lawyer filed a lawsuit on behalf of several bikers and bike groups in Myrtle Beach, claiming city ordinances passed nearly two years ago don’t follow state law.
Myrtle Beach has passed an exhaust ordinance which is far stricter than that enacted by the state legislature. The result of this is that motorcyclists whose exhaust systems are legal everywhere else in the State of South Carolina can be ticketed in Myrtle Beach and in some instances have their property confiscated. 
http://bit.ly/votesc
The court ruled that all the ordinances -- 2008-61-67 -- were affected by the repeal of the administrative court hearing, but since 61 and 65, the rules about parking trailers on city streets and partying in parking lots, were made into misdemeanors, those are not invalidated."
http://www.judicial.state.sc.us/opinions/displayOpinion.cfm?caseNo=26825
