ABATE holds helmet-use law rally in Uniontown
A local chapter of a motorcyclists advocacy group rallied Saturday in Uniontown to encourage members to fight for a voluntary helmet-use law and educate citizens on the misconceptions about the safety that helmets provide. “We’re not against the use of helmets,” said Centerville resident Dave Mason of the River Valley Chapter of the Alliance of Bikers Aimed Toward Education (ABATE) of Pennsylvania. “We’re against laws that mandate the use of helmets.”
About 40 bikers from the River Valley, Allegheny County, Greene County and Indiana County chapters of ABATE thundered along Main Street and parked their chrome-clad machines in front of the Fayette County Courthouse, where the rally was held.
ABATE of Pennsylvania’s communications director Charlie Flack said helmets are built to withstand the impact of only low-speed accidents.
“Helmets are no good after 13 miles an hour,” Flack said. “There’s a dark side to helmets: They can kill.”
He said helmet-wearing riders are susceptible to neck trauma and skull-base fractures if they wreck. Skull-base fractures are fatal and are more of a potential problem with full-face helmets, he said.
Motorcycle injury statistics are inflated in Pennsylvania because falling off of a tractor is classified as a bike accident, Flack said.
ABATE of Pennsylvania has proposed legislation that would make helmets optional only for riders over 21 years old who have two years of riding experience.
“Mandating equipment won’t save lives. Education will,” Flack said.
ABATE’s political action committee also has lobbied legislators to enact laws that would make roads safer for riding by requiring truckers to cover their cargo and require road crews and contractors to clean roads after they’re done working, he said.
The state organization’s lobbyists have been working on issues close to motorcyclists for years in Harrisburg and Washington, D.C., he said.
ABATE convinced former Gov. Robert Casey to veto legislation that would have added the catastrophic loss fund (CAT) surcharge to traffic citations issued to bikers, even though injured bikers were excluded from receiving any money from the fund, Flack said.
He said he knows of bikers who received traffic tickets that included the CAT surcharge and paid it because they were not aware that it does not apply to them.
In 1987, the state organization successfully lobbied lawmakers in Washington to reject a bill that would have outlawed motorcycle clubs, he said.
In 1996, it convinced Congress to repeal the federal law mandating helmet use. That repeal makes it possible for state governments to consider optional helmet laws, Flack said.
The motorcycle safety course is one of ABATE’s most significant accomplishments, he said. The free course is optional for all motorcyclists and it includes the license test. Insurance companies offer discounts to riders who take the course.
Dave Iadanza, legislative coordinator of River Valley chapter, said ABATE’s lobbying efforts are conducted by only a handful of members, but more could be accomplished if more members become active and more riders join the organization.
“Let’s work toward what we want,” Iadanza said. “What do we want? Freedom. If you don’t work for freedom, you don’t deserve it.”
Arthur Cappella, Fayette County’s chief community development specialist and the city treasurer in Connellsville, spoke to the group, substituting for Fayette County Commissioner Vince Vicites.
“Freedom is one generation away from extinction,” Cappella said. “Freedom must be fought for and protected.”
He said history reveals that one reason people fled their homelands for the United States was to seek religious freedom, and the country’s founding fathers based the Constitution on citizens’ rights to determine their own destinies.
Cardale resident John Gogola, road captain of the River Valley chapter, said riding to the rally without a helmet “felt good.”
He said ABATE turns 25 years old this year, and more riders should join to help keep the organization strong.
“A few do all the work,” Gogola said. “You see the dedicated guys here today. If we stick together, we can win this thing.”
Pennsylvania is one of 21 states that have mandatory helmet laws. Only three states have no helmet requirements. The rest of the states require helmets for riders of certain ages.