June 21-27, 2006
Car Culture
Sober Riders
By Novella Carpenter
http://www.metroactive.com/metro/06.21.06/rev-0625.html
SINCE MOVING to Idaho for the summer, I have invented a fun new mind
game: Compare and contrast California and Idaho. California cuisine:
fresh, local ingredients. Idaho: fresh, local bull testicles.
California ideal vehicle: gas-sipping Toyota Prius. Idaho ideal
vehicle: rusted-out 4X4 that may or may not have an exhaust.
California driver: "Get the hell out of the way!" Idaho driver: "Hiya,
neighbor! No, you go first." So there are good things, and there are
bad things.
Another difference between Idaho and Cali is that motorcyclists there
aren't required to wear a helmet. All these biker dudes are risking
their lives, but I would never say anything about it because (a) we're
talking prototypical leather-pant-wearing, hawg-driving, lady-on-back
kind of fellows, for whom wearing a helmet is a wimpy expression of
weakness, and (b) people believe in their right to die around here.
The Idaho law (as in most other helmet-free states) says that "no
person under eighteen (18) years of age shall ride upon a motorcycle
as operator or passenger, upon any highway unless at all times, when
operating or riding upon the vehicle he is wearing, as part of his
motorcycle equipment, a protective safety helmet of a type and quality
equal to or better than the standards established for helmets by the
director." OK, so kids have to wear a helmet, not adults. In 27 other
states, this is the law of the land.
Mandatory helmet laws came into effect in 1967 and have always been a
topic of heated debate. The nonhelmet folks argue that what they do
with their bodies is their right and that requiring a helmet infringes
on personal freedom (hello, Ben Roethlisberger). Helmet advocates tend
to point to the needless deaths that occur when riding motorcycles
without helmets. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA), "Helmets are known to be very effective in a
crash." The NHTSA estimate that in 2001 helmets saved the lives of 674
motorcyclists and could have saved the lives of 444 if the riders had
been wearing helmets.
But there is a group that's trying to staunch the death count, but not
by requiring helmets—but by requiring sober motorcycle riding. They're
called the Sober Riders Motorcycle Club. Started in Tucson in 1994 by
a biker who goes by the moniker Pooh Bear, the Sober Riders aim to
12-step and ride the bikes that they love. Like any motorcycle club,
they have secret by-laws and membership dues that are hush-hush to the
public. And yes, most members have club names like "Rodeo" or
"Wolf"—whatever you do, don't laugh.
There are now a dozen satellite groups of the Sober Riders in states
like Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and California. There's even one in
Iceland! I really like their creed: "Rode to find myself and could not
see, rode looking for a higher power but it eluded me. Rode in clean
and sober fellowship to find all three."
Tim McKenna, the Sober Riders Eagle Rock founder here in Idaho, said
he started his club a few years ago to give motorcycle clubs a better
name. Instead of being associated with the Hell's Angels and other
rough and tumble clubs, McKenna said he hoped his group would be
different, more sane. "We're becoming good neighbors of the club
world," he told me in a phone interview.
"Last year at Sturgis, 13 people were killed, involved in
alcohol-related accidents," he said, referring to the weeklong
motorcycle festival held in Sturgis, S.D., every August. The rally
attracts hundreds of thousands of bikers who partake heavily in beer
and drugs then ride around on their bikes without helmets, tempting
fate.
Sober riders aren't anti-Sturgis by any means. In fact, McKenna is
organizing a pre-Sturgis rally in Idaho. They're just people who
happen to be in recovery from alcohol and drug addiction. "I had a
lady pull my arm and say, 'You guys are giving motorcyclists a good
name.'" McKenna said. "That's what we're all about." By the way,
McKenna does wear a helmet. "I don't want to hurt my head," he said.
Now that's a practical man!
--
generic sig
Another religious group.
--
Loud Pipes Risk Rights.
On Fri, 23 Jun 2006 06:10:13 -0400, Venture Rider
>Another religious group.
Well, I guess you could be right VR. Seems then that would also apply
to AA. Or any other group that recognizes a higher power. I
personally think that anything you can believe in that makes you a
better person is worthwhile. This is especially true if you are
addicted to something and are trying to break the addiction.
Nothing wrong with drinking, per se. But if you do it to an extent
that it endangers your well being, or, even worse, the well being of
others, you need help. Now I enjoy a before dinner drink, or sipping
something in front of a roaring fireplace, or a cold beer on a hot
summer day. But one drink and I wouldn't get on my bike. Two and I
wouldn't drive my car. If you think I'm being a pussy, either you
haven't seen or you don't believe the research surrounding this issue.
So, from where I sit, Sober Riders have something good going for them.
And I would much rather encounter one of them than someone who thinks
a six pack is a great appetizer.
Ride safe!!!!!
Leon
Thought for the day:
"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
- Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943
http://home.bellsouth.net/p/PWP-ldoug99
Drinking and driving used to be my favorite passtime. Me and my friends
would get a couple 12 packs and go riding. Mostly in the back country
exploring roads. Never had an accident, never got caught and never had
any trouble. It's not the alcohol, it's the asshole drinking it. Just
like guns.
--
Two ways to improve your life.
1. Turn off the TV.
2. Throw it out the window.
Vlad the Impaler
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