With the helmet bill S.1046 and so much legislation this year, we are having a second and third Lobby Day. Join us Wednesday, February 8th and again Wednesday, March 14th. We will meet at 9:00 a.m. by the John Calhoun Statue. Join in the fun and enjoy walking the halls of your State House with ABATE of SC to make sure your representatives are looking out for your best interest, not the interests of others!
S.1046 Helmet Amendment Bill. This bill will make it illegal for adults over the age of 21 to ride a motorcycle without a helmet.
S.0255 Raffle Bill.This bill will make it legal for non profits to have raffles, poker runs, dice games for charitable events. It may also allow Casino Nights.
H.4691 Equal Access Bill. This bill will allow motorcycles equal access to public facilities that are funded by tax payer dollars.
This is the official statement of the Horry County Chapter of ABATE on the bike week issue.
We feel that the decision to extend the dates of the spring rally to overlap with Memorial weekend is a bad decision on the part of Phil Schoonover. The Horry County Chapter of ABATE is officially calling for a boycott of all the dealerships and clothing outlets that are owned by Phil Schoonover, and we hope that the biker community as a whole will come together with us on this boycott until such time as Mr. Schoonover retracts his plan of the over lapping dates he has proposed for this year. We feel that this is just a slap in the face towards the county council, and that this is one mans decision !! This is not the general opinion of the larger part of the biker community. Because of this one mans decision, we have heard that the county council is considering pulling all permits for this year. We respectfully ask the council to reconsider this action. It would be very detrimental to the business community and may very well force some of the smaller mom & pop business's to close their doors due to the lack of income that they depend on during the bike rally.
COLUMBIA, S.C. - January 10th, 2012 - South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley laid out her first veto threat of the session, saying Tuesday she will reject stricter helmet rules if they reach her desk.
H 4653 General Bill, By Daning and Crosby (links to bill) A BILL TO AMEND SECTION 56-5-3630, RELATING TO THE MANNER IN WHICH A MOTORCYCLE MUST BE OPERATED, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT IT IS UNLAWFUL TO TRANSPORT A PERSON WHO IS SEVEN YEARS OLD OR YOUNGER ON A MOTORCYCLE.
01/24/12 House Introduced and read first time 01/24/12 House Referred to Committee on Judiciary
Judiciary (Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.) A BILL
TO AMEND SECTION 56-5-3630, RELATING TO THE MANNER IN WHICH A MOTORCYCLE MUST BE OPERATED, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT IT IS UNLAWFUL TO TRANSPORT A PERSON WHO IS SEVEN YEARS OLD OR YOUNGER ON A MOTORCYCLE.
(from Chad Fuller, Tom McGrath's Motorcycle Law Group)
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am pleased to announce that, in a time when it seems that the representatives at the State House keep filing bills that we as motorcyclists need to oppose to protect our freedoms, we now have a bill to fight for. Today, Representative Todd Atwater filed the equal access bill we have been eagerly awaiting since this year's lobby day. The bill is included below and has been referred to the Committee on Education and Public Works. Please contact your representative as well as representatives on the Committee to let them know how important this bill is to us. If we are successful, motorcyclists will no longer be denied access to the very facilities our tax dollars went to build. I have included the contact information for each of the committee members below. It would also be helpful if you could contact Representative Atwater, a member of ABATE, and let him know how much we appreciate his help in getting this bill introduced. Todd's email is: ToddAtwater@schouse.gov I will forward more information as it becomes available.
Be sure to welcome Bill and thank him for his service to ABATE of South Carolina. Bill's contact info and the Rock Hill chapter meeting/location information is in the High Country area section of the Chapters and Meetings page:
This is the bill that has been pre-filed. We need to stop it in its tracks. Why? Don't helmets "save lives"? Actually no, they do not. What's worse, while cagers (car drivers) feel more and more protected in their metal cages, and pay less and less attention, when they main or kill a biker, this bill blames the victim! It is the biker's fault that some cagers are doing everything *except* paying attention while they hurtle their multi-thousand pound hunk of metal down the road.
The Motorcycle Riders Foundation reports that the US Senate Committee on Commerce Science and Transportation will be marking up The Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 2011 (S. 1449). This bill governs the National Highway Transportation Safety Administrations activities. This bill has the potential to greatly affect motorcyclists nationwide.
There are three provisions that specifically target motorcyclists.
Call your Senators and ask them to:
Oppose Lautenberg amendment #1. This amendment would alter the motorcycle safety grant program by forcing states to pass mandatory universal helmet laws and drive federal tax dollars to be used to promote the use of helmets. This provision would make it easier for helmet law states to obtain 2010 grant money. This amendment would provide no money for awareness or training.
Support DeMint amendments #1 and #18. These amendments protect the NHTSA lobby ban. Under the proposed legislation are provisions to lift this lobby ban.
Support DeMint amendment #2. The bill, (S 1449) would change the definition of "motor vehicle equipment" to include motorcycle helmets. This would allow States to spend federal money dedicated to "motor vehicle equipment" on motorcycle helmets. The DeMint amendment would keep helmets out of that definition.
Call Now. Time is of the essence. Call you Senators via the capitol switch board at 202 224 3121.
Of key importance are the Senators on the committee you can contact them directly:
Senator Rockefeller-WV 202 224 6472 Senator Kerry-MA 202 224 2742 Senator Lautenberg-NJ 202 224 3224 Senator McCaskill-MO 202 224 6154 Senator Udall-NM 202 224 5941 Senator Begich-AK 202 224 3004 Senator Inouye-HI 202 224 3934 Senator Boxer-CA 202 224 3553 Senator Cantwell-WA 202 224 3441 Senator Pryor-AR 202 224 2353 Senator Klobucher-MN 202 224 3244 Senator Hutchinson-TX 202 224 5922 Senator DeMint-SC 202 224 6121 Senator Wicker-MS 202 224 6253 Senator Blunt-MO 202 224 5721 Senator Toomey-PA 202 224 4254 Senator Ayotte-NH 202 224 3324 Senator Snowe-ME 202 224 5344 Senator Thune- SD 202 224 2321 Senator Isakson-GA 202 224 3643 Senator Boozman-AR 202 224 4843 Senator Marco Rubio-FL 202 224 3041 Senator Heller-NV 202 224 6244
This is of extreme importance. Please call today, Tuesday, December 13th, 2011.
Do not hesitate to contact the MRF should you have any questions. 202 546 0983
Due to the short notice it took us a minute to change the design but please check out the attachment and get it out to everyone. I have also attached an order form which has the prices.
We (Dennis, Reb, and I) are working on a scavenger hunt and place to have the prizes given out. I will post more on this later.
Ride free I do,
Ralph Bell ABATE Products Coordinator MRF State Representative
P.S. - Short Sleeve S, M, L, XL for $10.00, Long Sleeve S, M, L, XL for $15.00, XXL, XXXL and additional $5.00
One of the prefiled bills in the South Carolina Senate would require all motorcyclists in South Carolina to wear helmets. Now, only riders under 21 years old have to wear them.
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.
News
South Carolina bills:
COLUMBIA, S.C. - January 10th, 2012 - South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley laid out her first veto threat of the session, saying Tuesday she will reject stricter helmet rules if they reach her desk.
I am pleased to announce that, in a time when it seems that the representatives at the State House keep filing bills that we as motorcyclists need to oppose to protect our freedoms, we now have a bill to fight for. Today, Representative Todd Atwater filed the equal access bill we have been eagerly awaiting since this year's lobby day. The bill is included below and has been referred to the Committee on Education and Public Works. Please contact your representative as well as representatives on the Committee to let them know how important this bill is to us. If we are successful, motorcyclists will no longer be denied access to the very facilities our tax dollars went to build. I have included the contact information for each of the committee members below. It would also be helpful if you could contact Representative Atwater, a member of ABATE, and let him know how much we appreciate his help in getting this bill introduced. Todd's email is: 
Bill's contact info and the Rock Hill chapter meeting/location information is in the High Country area section of the Chapters and Meetings page:
