Published Saturday, April 25, 2009
Riders rally for rights
The Newnan Times-Herald
ABATE of Georgia, Inc. -- or American Bikers Active Toward Education -- rallied Saturday in Coweta County to protect and promote the rights of bikers while advocating for their safety.
One of their mottos is "look twice -- save a life," and this group will take its message all the way to the state capitol.
Coweta motorcyclist Chuck Dodson helped organize this weekend's rally at the Cook House, 2831 Tommy Lee Cook Road, near Palmetto. Saturday evening, Director of the Governor's Office of Highway Safety Bob Dallas was scheduled to read a proclamation on behalf of the governor declaring May Motorcycle Safety and Awareness Month.
Today, the motorcyclists are scheduled to ride to the state capitol for another presentation of the governor's proclamation. The ride departs from the Tommy Lee Cook Road home at noon. Last year's rally drew approximately 500 cars and bikes.
ABATE is well-known for its stance against legislation requiring riders to wear helmets. But Dodson says there's more to the group than that. They want the public to understand that ABATE promotes the freedom for motorcyclists to choose, according to Ed Andross, the state legislative director for Coweta's district.
Last week, the group worked with Coweta County's law enforcement during the Mantracker 2009 regional training course. ABATE members helped officers become more familiar with motorcycle issues. The group also hopes to implement motorcycle awareness programs into the high school driver's education curriculum, said Dodson.
ABATE has introduced legislation for motorcyclists' rights, including a bill addressing the red light sensors at traffic lights. Motorcycles and bikes don't have enough mass to trigger the light change, according to Dodson. ABATE is proposing that if a rider comes to a problem intersection -- and there are 48,000 in Georgia -- they should wait a specified length of time and then proceed with caution.
ABATE is also pushing an anti-discrimination bill. Andross said the motorcycles and the cyclists are not allowed in certain areas.
The group recently got a law passed that will go into effect July 1 that enhances the penalties for right-of-way violations. Repeat offenders will be punished the same as DUI offenders.
Last year, according to Andross, the state was destroying titles on custom motorcycles, citing an EPA standard. The state passed legislation doing away with this practice.
"We're motorcyclists' voice at the state level," said Andross.
