BIKER NEWS

The Colorado Legislature is busily filing bills to make new legislation to govern by, and state motorcycle rights organizations are keeping a close eye on what is being filed…expecting an attempt at a universal helmet law to surface during the current session.

While no such bill has yet been filed, a few bills of interest to motorcyclists have been filed.

There is urgent news for Colorado motorists regarding uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. Senate Bill 07-256, which was passed into law during the 2007 legislative session, went into effect on January 1, 2008. The revised statute (section 2 CRS 10-4-609), allows for motorists to better protect themselves in the event of an accident.

Previously, the law allowed you to collect only the amount of insurance YOU purchased in the event of an accident.

The change allows you to claim the full amount of insurance purchased by you, and the insurance held by the party hitting you.

Denver Police presence at the 2008 Colorado Motorcycle Show & Swap should be less intrusive than it has been in recent years, according to show promoter Jack Portice.

Portice said the police presence at the 2007 show reached the point where he and partner Jim Arnett felt they had to attempt some kind of action.

The Colorado Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs has taken a political step that is new for Colorado motorcyclists.

The COC has hired a lobbyist to help the COC membership, and Colorado motorcyclists in general, navigate the upcoming legislative session.

The group has hired former legislator John Singer to represent the interests of motorcyclists.

While there is currently no proposed legislation of particular alarm for Colorado motorcyclists, that can change quickly.

The Rally in the Rockies motorcycle rally its their appeal in state court in early November, with the Colorado Court of Appeals upholding a lower-court injunction that effectively killed the Labor Day weekend event in 2006.

Promoters Dan Bradshaw and Dan Bjorkman had appealed the injunction, claiming it was issued without cause. The appellate court did not agree, saying the injunction was issued within appropriate legal guidelines and was not overly restrictive.

Known primarily for investigating airplane crashes and train wrecks, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has made a unilateral decision to jump head-first into the ongoing and increasingly contentious helmet law debate on a national scale.
After 40 years of ignoring the issue of motorcycle safety, the NTSB has issued a few recommendations to the federal government addressing the popular topic of rising motorcycle crash fatalities.

An insurance industry study points to bigger, faster, more-powerful motorcycles as a contributing factor in the recent rise in motorcycle crash fatalities are helping to make 2007 the deadliest year yet for motorcycle riders, according to safety officials and a new insurance-industry study.

The federal government is unveiling a broad program intended to reduce motorcycle death rates that have doubled in the past 10 years as aging baby boomers hit the open road on two wheels.

The United States Department of Transportation's initiative includes a national training standard for beginning riders and added training for police officers that enforce traffic laws.

"Our nation's greatest traffic highway safety challenge is motorcycle fatalities," said Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, noting that motorcycling deaths are rising while other vehicle fatalities are declining.

The tropical United States territory of Puerto Rico will require motorcycle riders to wear protective jackets, gloves, long pants and boots as part of a strict safety law signed by the governor of the U.S. commonwealth on last month.

Augmenting an existing helmet law, the new law also sharply lowers the maximum allowable blood-alcohol level for motorcycle and scooter enthusiasts below levels tolerated for automobile drivers.

The new law is the most restrictive law affecting motorcyclists in the United States or its territories.

The traffic enforcement practices of the town of Mountain View, Colorado, have landed the tiny Denver suburb in court, but not traffic court.

The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club has filed a federal lawsuit against the 12-square-block community after Mountain View Police stopped, detained and searched about ten members of the club at gunpoint for an alleged speeding violation by one rider in the group earlier this year.