MEETING NOTES: February 17, 2024 Judy’s Place, Mobile, AL
In attendance:
Matthew Schroeder
Shane Coker
Neil Bruyn
Freddy Wheeler
Rodney Green
Fran Barber-Bruyn
Lisa Headley
Mike “Meathead” Headley
Michael Stieber
Kris Hadley
Brian Isphording
Kris Cook
Kris passed out meeting notes from the previous meeting, along with a treasurer’s report. There was a successful motion by Brian Isphording and a second by Rodney Green to accept the notes from the 12/16/23 meeting and treasurer’s report as presented. On a voice vote, these documents are approved and are now a part of the records of Dixie ABATE. Kris reported year-end financial results for Dixie ABATE, Inc. and Dixie ABATE Awareness & Education, Inc.
Kris to set up the Dixie ABATE tent at the Accident Scene Management Class on March 9 at Riders HD.
Kris is also setting up at the Vintage Bike Show on Dauphin Island on Sunday, April 14. Kris to investigate whether she can get permission to set up the Dixie ABATE/MRF tent at the CVMA Rally April 27 in Anniston.
We discussed the profiling problem in the Baldwin County area of the state, and possibly in other areas too. We discussed a detailed story of a heinous case of profiling 2 years ago, and we’ve called for other riders to share their stories. It looks to us like we need to take some kind of action to end this behavior by law enforcement. We discussed whether to stay seated on the motorcycle or not if you get pulled over, and if we should ask permission to move before getting off the bike. Matt said to carry your ID on your person so that you don’t have to open your bags to get to it if you are stopped.
Matt said it boils down to education of LEOs regarding our first amendment rights.
Freddy moved that we look into the prevalence of this practice and laws surrounding it, and report at the next meeting. Shane seconded. Motion carried. We could look at the laws in Maryland, Louisiana, or Idaho, to see how they worded their legislation. Louisiana’s was the latest to pass and this is the wording:
A synopsis reads as follows:
Police Training on Motorcyclists (ACT 294)
New law requires the Council on Peace Officer Standards and Training to add motorcyclist profiling awareness training to the current bias recognition policing curriculum. New law defines “motorcyclist profiling” for purposes of this training.
(Amends R.S. 40:2405.8)
Another synopsis reads like this: RÉSUMÉ DIGEST
Louisiana ACT 294 (HB 141) 2019 Regular Session Howard
Existing law requires the Council on Peace Officer Standards and Training to establish and implement certain training programs for peace officers in this state.
Existing law provides for supplemental pay for peace officers who complete the training, but provides that certified security personnel of the La. Supreme Court shall not be eligible to receive supplemental pay benefits even if the peace officer has successfully completed a council-approved training program.
New law requires the Council on Peace Officer Standards and Training to add motorcyclist profiling awareness training to the current bias recognition policing curriculum and adds security personnel employed by a court of appeal to the list of peace officers required to participate in the training.
New law prohibits security personnel of courts of appeal from receiving supplemental pay benefits for completing the required training. New law further provides that the commission issued to court security personnel shall remain in force and in effect at the pleasure of the employing court.
Effective August 1, 2019.
(Amends R.S. 40:2405(B)(2) and 2405.8(G); Adds R.S. 40:2402(3)(e) and 2405.8(H))
Alabama’s peace officers have to take a four hour course called “Implicit Bias: Basic Concepts and Countermeasures.”
KC to see if she can find out if Alabama law enforcement officers are required to take bias training that includes training on motorcycle profiling.
Brian said he’d like to see legislation of some sort to make it illegal for law enforcement to single out a rider and treat him differently from the way they are treating car drivers. Our guest who was telling his profiling story said all the cars were going through a parking lot the same way he was, but only he got singled out and pulled over. The police searched his bike for contraband four times. They ripped his wallet off of his belt loop and threw it across the road. Then they asked for his ID, which was in the wallet they had thrown. They used the F word 13 times and he used it 3, because he was understandably aggravated with their conduct. One of the four LEOs tried to talk the other three out of behaving as they did. He was the one who left his body cam running during the stop, which didn’t keep the rider from being convicted for disorderly conduct.
Freddy reported on SB 64, a new bill regarding the registration of ATVs and RTVs that will allow them to be driven on county roads. If they are registered vehicles, are they Class 4? Class 2?
SB64 is a bill by Senators Stutts, Gudget, Williams, Givhan, Shelnutt, Chesteen, Stewart, and Singleton, first read on February 7, 2024, that would authorize the operation of off-road vehicles on certain county roads if the vehicle meets certain conditions including licensure. This bill also authorizes other off-road vehicles to cross a county road under certain conditions. The definition of a county road for the purposes of this bill is “a road or bridge that has been classified as a county road or a road for which a county has otherwise assumed control. The term does not include an interstate or national defense highway. The term does not include any public road for which the speed limit is greater than 55 miles per hour.”
Go to https://www.legislature.state.al.us/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2024RS/SB64-int.pdf to read the full text of the bill. It will be a slap in the face if they are registered as class four instead of class 2, like we are.
The committee that deals with our issues is the Public Safety & Homeland Security Committee.
The chair, Allen Treadaway, was once with the Birmingham Police Department. He was the assistant chief of policy in 2018. He also serves on three other committees: the Economic and Tourism
Committee, the Jefferson County Legislation Committee, and the Military and Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
One member present at the meeting said his group routinely meets up in the parking lot of a local Walmart (in Robertsdale) and they are routinely accosted by the police. They are asked what they are doing there and where they are going. One guest said lately his club has taken to meeting up in the local sheriff’s office parking lot.
A member reported that Baldwin County has stopped allowing the PGR to ride in funeral processions. By all reports, Baldwin County is a hostile environment for motorcycle riders.
Freddy congratulated Michael for standing up and reminding us that we exist to interact with and influence legislators, and that by canceling our legislative day this year, we abdicated that responsibility. Kris Cook and David Hoha went to the state house February 21, but two people don’t have the impact of 100. The best we could hope for was that everyone we visited assumed the rest of us were on other floors. Michael reminded us that next year the session begins the 6th of February, so our legislative day will be February 26, 2025. Mark it on your calendars now.
We need to make the appointment to have a breakfast much earlier. If there is a conflict, we go anyway. Our permanent legislative day is set on the Wednesday three weeks from the start date.
Matt gave the MRF report, including the RPM Act and Right to Repair.
RPM stands for Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports Act. It didn’t get anywhere last year. We do not know if it will be reintroduced this year. It failed because key negotiators in Congress could not reach an agreement on bill language that balanced the need for federal law to protect racers and motorsports parts businesses from EPA enforcement with reasonable measures to ensure that race parts are not used on vehicles driven on public roads and highways.
Right to Repair refers to the concept that end users: business users as well as consumers, of technical, electronic, or automotive devices, should be allowed to freely repair these products. Three states enacted right to repair legislation in 2023: California, Colorado, Connecticut. That makes 6 states that have this legislation.
https://www.repair.org/stand-up
We discussed NHTSA’s “CAFE Standards”. CAFE stands for Corporate Average Fuel Economy.
Rodney noted that California is refusing to re-register trucks after they are 8 or 10 years old. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has created a regulation that heavier trucks with a GVW rating greater than 26,000 pounds must have a 2010 or newer engine by January 1, 2023. The same rule applies to lighter trucks weighing between 14,001 and 26,000 pounds. We can see this coming our way with motorcycles if we are not vigilant. According to iihs.org, the average age of registered motorcycles has increased from 9 years in 2002 to 13.1 years in 2021. NHTSA will be trying to eradicate motorcycles before much longer.
The Meeting of the Minds conference is in St. Louis, September 26-29. There will be a bbq lunch Sunday afternoon at Matt’s childhood home, at 2815 Mulberry Acres Estate Drive, Cedar Hill, Missouri. All attendees are invited.
Michael suggested we start planning for 2025 now so that we can be more effective next year than we were this year. We need to work on our friendships so that we have lawmakers who know us and trust us enough to sponsor our legislation.
We talked about helping the Alabama Motorcycle Safety Program advertise its classes. They don’t advertise, so new riders have trouble finding a motorcycle class. The AMSP is funded through the Alabama Education System now. The money comes from traffic ticket income.
Jerrod Brooks is the head of the Motorcycle Safety Program now. We need to meet with him to see how we can work together.
We also need to invite local legislators to every meeting we have.
Shane said the Alabama legislature has a group that writes the bills. Or maybe Chat GPT writes them now. Freddie said that never again will we call our safe on red bill “dead red”.
We talked about asking if we can set up at the Combat Vets Motorcycle Rally in Anniston in a few weeks.
Next meeting: The Fowler House at Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park, 12632 Confederate Parkway, McCalla, AL 35111, at 2 PM on April 20. We’ll have the house all day, so we’ll probably cook some food and hang out together.
