State Coordinator's Report | |
|
|
Well BOD just got finished as I write this newsletter article. There are a few things to update everyone on. Let us start with last month I miss spoke and stated some legislative issues that are not on the top of the list. Larry’s report last month about the top three issues is correct, not mine. I apologize for the confusion.
The issue of changing membership age to 21. First and foremost, there is a belief that I have a personal agenda here. Answer straight to the point NO I have no personal issue. Let me see if I can break this down for everyone. Issue number 1 the bylaws state…
Read the full report here.
Andy McAfee
State Coordinator
| |
|
We are happy to announce that raffle tickets for our 2023 Spring Opener raffle are available for sale. Thanks to our sponsors Jake's Gun and Pawn, Apple State Harley Davidson, and Mike Myers Motorcycle Attorney, we have some amazing prizes!
Please reach out to your Gambling Representative, David Crawford, to check out raffle tickets. His cell for call or text is 206-427-0091.
Below are the rules regarding distribution and selling of the raffle ticket, please review them carefully and Happy Selling.
Spring Opener Raffle Ticket Rules:
- You must be an ABATE member in good standing to sell tickets.
- The ABATE member that checks out the tickets from our Gambling Representative is responsible for returning the whole ticket or the ticket stub & $10.
- The buyer and the seller must print their full legal first & last name as legible as possible. No nicknames, road names or initials please.
- Please be mindful that when selling the Raffle Tickets, we need to make sure everyone has a fair chance when it comes time for the drawing. Therefore, the ticket stub cannot be altered in any way. This means no lamination, stickers, tape, rips, folding or creasing etc.
- We ask that all SOLD tickets stubs & $10 be returned to the ABATE Gambling Representative by the June 11th, ECOM Meeting. The unsold tickets the member can keep & continue to try & keep selling. This is to help minimize the amount of cash & ticket stub counting we have to do the day of the event.
- By 12 noon on Saturday of the Spring Opener ALL tickets & sold ticket stub / $10 must be turned back into the ABATE Gambling Representatives for counting. At that time there will be sperate tickets checked out that will be sold at the event between 12 noon & 6pm. The Gambling Representatives & State Officers could stretch out the selling time up until 8:30 pm depending on where the Gambling Committee is at with counting the sold tickets & money.
- The drawing will be held at 10pm on Saturday, June 24, 2023
- The member that sells the winning ticket for the 2020 Road King will get a $200 Pre-paid Visa (The member will be asked to complete a W9 for us to report your winnings)
- The member that sells the winning ticket for the Tommy Gun will get a $200 Pre-paid Visa (The member will be asked to complete a W9 for us to report your winnings)
- The members that sell any other of the winning tickets will get 1 Spring Opener member ticket for the 2024 Spring Opener event.
- For any Chapter that sells 50 of the bike tickets OR 50 of the gun tickets (but not a combination of the two together) will get a Gift Certificate good for 1 Free Member Spring Opener ticket for the next year’s event. The Gift Certificates will be given to the Chapter Coordinators to pass out to the winning members of their chapter at the BOD in October.
The Vendor Registration form is attached here!
| |
|
February Update
Things are still in flux as I write this, so there may be more bills in play. At this point, we have almost identical bills in the House (HB 1063) and Senate (SB 5401) addressing lane usage. (The terms splitting, sharing, and filtering are quite interchangeable.) The next step is for us to get hearings in either of, or better both, chambers. What everyone needs to do is to contact their house members and senators and ask them to speak to the committee chairs asking for a hearing on our bills. This is especially important for the committee chairs to hear from their caucus members. I have been assured by Rep. Fey (House Transportation) that if he gets enough support from members that he will give the bill a hearing.
We have until February 24th to get the bill out of committee, so there is time to work, but let’s not relax.
Get those phone lines in your legislative district offices buzzing. Just a reminder…
Click here to read more…
| |
Motorcycle Riders Foundation | |
|
|
BIKERS INSIDE THE BELTWAY – FINDING COMMON GROUND
Bikers inside the Beltway – with the encouragement and direction of the Motorcycle Riders Foundation, since the first Bikers inside the Beltway in 2009, thousands of bikers have met with their elected representatives and educated them about issues of importance …
Click here to read more…
| | | |
|
MRF ROAD SHOW 2023
The start of a new year means many state motorcyclist rights organizations are holding their annual meetings. The Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) is always honored to be invited to attend and present at these events across the country. This weekend representatives from the MRF were in Michigan and Kentucky discussing the MRF’s 2022 accomplishments in Washington, D.C. and our goals for 2023.
These meetings are a great opportunity to share with riders around the country some of the things we are working on. We discussed…
Click here to read more…
| | | |
Western Washington Ambassador-at-Large | |
|
|
West Side Ambassador-at-Large
Hello my name is Charles Padgett your new West side Ambassador-at-Large as of 01/07/2023. As your Ambassador I will be focusing on assisting chapters who are struggling, setting up new chapters, and membership. I will also be trying to visit all chapters as time permits, too see how chapters are doing and to get input from members. I am always open to suggestions on ways to make things better. If you have any questions or concerns please let me know via email or texts. Thank you all.
| |
|
Compiled & Edited by Bill Bish,
National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM)
Read more about what’s going on in the news – Learn which states have the best and worst drivers. Did you know that studies show unvaccinated drivers may be at a higher risk for traffic accidents? Yep. And be glad we don’t live in Romania, where motorcycles are now required to carry fire extinguishers.
Click here to read more…
| | | |
CLICK IMAGE TO VIEW FLYER | |  |
|
Hearts for Paws Benefit Dinner & Auction
February 4th, 2023
| CLICK IMAGE TO VIEW FLYER | | |
|
Beer Sauce-Off Challenge
February 18th, 2023
| CLICK IMAGE TO VIEW FLYER | | |
|
Soup Challenge & Auction
February 19th, 2023
| CLICK IMAGE TO VIEW FLYER | | |
|
17th Annual Mt. St. Helen's Memorial Ride
May 21st, 2023
| CLICK IMAGE TO VIEW FLYER | | |
|
EPCC
Happy New Year and Happy Valentine’s Day to our ABATE Family! By now, I hope we have all had a successful and satisfying Black Friday with our Legislators at the Capital. It’s been my favorite event for more than 14 years... READ MORE
| |
GRANT COUNTY
Been a crazy winter for weather but with that we are getting ready for our Hearts for Paws fundraiser event for Hands ‘N Paws animal rescue on February 4 at our new location. This year it will be at the Ephrata Recreational Center...
READ MORE
| |
GRAYS HARBOR
More of a quick telegram than a newsletter
Yesterday was our meeting, today is the deadline to send a newsletter for inclusion in our ABATE state newsletter. With everything going on... READ MORE
| |
KEY PENINSULA
Greetings from the Pen!
We hope you all had a great holidays and got to spend some time with your people and that Santa was good to you as he was to us. Our chapter had our after holiday party just the other night... READ MORE
| |
MASON COUNTY
Happy New Year Everyone! We hope everyone enjoyed the holidays.
Every year during the Christmas holiday our chapter adopts a family, or individuals in need. This year our Chapter adopted the 84 elderly residents at a health & rehabilitation center in Mason County... READ MORE
| |
PACIFIC COUNTY
Black Friday is in the rear view mirror, but political season isn’t over. After building a rapport with our Legislators, a follow up is always good.
Wrenching season is also in full swing. Now is a good time to spend awhile addressing those little issues that cropped up last year, before they spoil your Spring rides. You might find a few things to add to your shopping list for the ABATE Spring Swap Meet in Monroe, Mar. 26... READ MORE
| |
|
SKCC
Happy New Year.
This past year we've enjoyed many fun times with ABATE members.
We started out the new year with our Polar Bear Run 2023. We had over 45+ motorcycles riding. The weather was great and we raised money for the Renton Food Bank... READ MORE
| |
SKY VALLEY
Note from the editor: This newsletter was originally submitted for last month, but this editor was amiss in his duties and didn’t get it in before the deadline. There’s so much good stuff in here though that the Sky Valley Chapter is proud of, so I felt that better late than never. My apologies to my chapter brothers and sisters... READ MORE
| |
SPANAWAY
Happy New Year!
In the month of December Spanaway, chapter hardly stopped moving.
We escorted the Wreaths Across America semi from Puyallup to Orting. Several members also participated in the wreath laying ceremony the next day... READ MORE
| |
SPOKANE
Happy New Year from Spokane!!
Now that the snow has mostly melted, we have a few brave souls out there riding. Be safe, stay warm.
Biker Sauce Off Challenge in Spokane... READ MORE
| |
STAR LAKE
Greetings to all from Star Lake Chapter,
We had our monthly chapter meeting January 8th, 2023, 10am-11am at Purdy’s Public House in Sumner. The chapter is planning for upcoming year events and rides... READ MORE
|
|
Need to reach a specific Chapter?
Get their contact information here:
| |
|
Filling in the Blanks
Most people have a pretty clear memory of how they got hurt. Frequently their memories are punctuated with very specific details. “That son of a bitch looked me right in the eye before turning left.” “The front door mat was a bright pastel color.” “The impact made a sound just like an M-80 going off.” But when you go through something traumatic, like a motorcycle wreck, the brain isn’t focused on making memories—it’s focused on survival. The same mechanisms that keep the brain sharp enough to escape immediate danger may also make it harder to accurately recall the event.
| | |
|
He Passed Me Going 90 MPH
In just about every motorcycle case we have there
are allegations that our client was speeding. There are a couple of important things to know about the issue of motorcycle speed. The first relates to the reliability of witness observations. The second deals with the way courts deal with favored drivers exceeding the speed limit.
Witnesses are almost always wrong about
motorcycle speed. It may be based on the relatively small size of motorcycles compared to other vehicles. Or it may be based on witness bias.
| | |
|
Public Health and Relations Crisis
The concept of public health has really expanded. It used to focus on disease. Now it includes things like gun deaths. New York’s Governor recently declared
a gun violence disaster emergency. This new strategy treats gun violence as a public health crisis. We have a public health crisis of our own in Washington. It doesn’t have anything to do with guns. Or COVID-19. It has to do with motorcycles.
| | |
|
What the Jury Doesn't Hear
The evidence rules have a big impact on what the jury gets to hear (and what it doesn’t get to hear). Evidence can seem a lot like an iceberg: 10 percent visible, 90 percent below the surface.
A lot of the evidence rules are counter-intuitive. Here’s what the jury doesn’t get to hear in a personal injury case:
| | | | | |
