Category: Rallies and Rides

Dave “Dogkiller” White (the founder of Chicago ABATE and cofounder of ABATE of Illinois, Inc.) passed away ten years ago this month. Each year ABATE organizes a “Dogkiller” memorial ride for motorcycle awareness, this year’s ride is April 29. (details). ABATE member Dan Kay tells us he suspects the ride is starting at Alderman “Billy” Banks office in order to present Banks with the “Dogkiller” Award–the Chicago chapter’s highest honor–for his motorcycle advocacy at City Hall, including his support of Motorcycle Awareness Month (May). Banks is Galewood’s alderman, so we should send a contingent of scooterists along to show support for ABATE and Ald. Banks, both important allies.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported today that the city of Chicago has solved motorcycle parking issues forever with an amazingly in-depth and carefully developed two-tier plan:

1. Electronic meter receipts will have… wait for it… ADHESIVE ON THE BACK so they can be affixed to headlights.
2. Motorcycles are encouraged to park PERPENDICULAR to the road.

Pathetic. The first point addresses one tiny fraction of the concern motorcyclists have about meter receipts, the main complaint being that a driver (or Chicago’s notorious wind) could simply snatch a receipt from a motorcycle headlamp and place it in his own car (the wind, technically, does not own a car, but if she did…).

The second point is even funnier, as it is presented in this quote:

“It [creates] more spaces for all motorists. Why take up a whole space if you can park it perpendicular?” City Revenue Director Bea Reyna-Hickey said.

Why, indeed, Bea? Any motorcyclist, anywhere in the world would naturally park perpendicular to the curb, but IT’S ALWAYS BEEN ILLEGAL IN CHICAGO. Assumedly, the law is (finally!) being changed, and that’s fantastic news, but don’t insult motorcyclists by suggesting that the idea had never occurred to us, or that the motivation for change was altruistic. Electronic meters make it possible to collect six full-price parking fares revenue when six motorcycles park in one parking space. Thanks for the favor!(And thanks to Team Wysocki for the link to the story)

As we’ve mentioned, the Chicago Department of Transportation and the Chicago Department of Environment are hosting a Chicago Scooterist Roundtable at the Chicago Center for Green Technology (445 North Sacramento Boulevard) on Friday, May 4, 2007 from 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm. We encourage every scooterist in Chicago to take the afternoon off work and join us, email 2strokebuzz to find out how you can get involved in our planning for the meeting.

Here a list of motorcycle/scooter/driving-related laws proposed in the 95th (2007) session of the Illinois House and Senate. Note that none of these are approved, and only a few are likely to be. You can track their progress in the links.

• HB072 and SB0580 would prohibit “community agencies” from organizing a Regional Cycle Rider Training Center, leaving the right with only State universities and community colleges. It would also allow the State Treasurer to appoint a trustee for the Cycle Rider Training Fund, to oversee how ILDOT uses the fund.
• HB0262, HB1080, and HB0408, respectively, would require drug testing for first-time drivers/riders under 18 (at their expense), bar juvenile gang offenders from driving until age 21, and require new riders/drivers to display a “Learner” sign, again, at their own expense. SB0032 and SB0172 would further restrict new drivers and add more steps to the licensing process for minors.
• HB0996 and HB1845, appear to be virtually the same: the “Motorcyclist Public Accommodation Act,” which would prohibit “any person from restricting an individual’s access to, admission to, or use of a place of public accommodation solely because the individual operates a motorcycle.”
• SB1265 would prohibit both tinted and clear licence plate covers, probably not a bad idea in Saltsville, ours are a mess.
• HB019 would exempt senior citizens from emissions testing. (Sure! They won’t be around to see the ice cap melt!)
• HB0946 would authorize NASCAR license plates. Hillbillies run this state.
• HB1499, HB1768, and SB0724 are related to off-road motorcycles, ATVs, and recreational trails if you’re into that.

Just checked in on a few state laws I’d been tracking since last spring, all of these were abandoned in January when a new session began. Illinois will NOT:

• Legalize lane-splitting, which was just a sneaky helmet-law bid anyway. (SB2439)
• Modify registration fees to tie them to vehicle fuel efficiency, with discounts for highly-fuel-efficient vehicles.(SB4952)
• Add $1 to registration fees for vehicles under 8000lbs for a “police vehicle fund.” (SB2506)