To:

Mark Rosenker (mark.rosenker@ntsb.gov)
Chairman
National Transportation Safety Board
 

MARY PETERS ( mary.peters@dot.gov )
SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION

I would like to make my concerns known to the NTSB and to NHTSA.

As a motorcyclist for the past thirty plus years I have become aware of the importance of safety matters traveling these great thorough fairs, roadways and highways of these great United States. In the past year I have had to educate myself to gain knowledge of your existence and services..

Unless something happens personally, or a dear friend or family member has a catastrophic motorcycle accident, I would have never known of your existence. Do you both really think that every motorcyclist is aware of your responsibilities to safeguard our travels in riding safely as a motorcyclist?

I have read your statements and both your outlined recommendations and have gone through your statistics on motorcycle injuries and fatalities.

I have seen your concerns read with deep interest, but I am disappointed in the approach of these two federal agencies having taken to secure a bias discriminate attitude towards us, the motorcycle community. I have seen and read the constant Band-Aid subject, cure-all, remedy from these agencies to substitute the real cause of motorcycle accidents and fatalities. The "MOTORCYCLE HELMET". 

From my understanding you both personally have had an interest in motorcycles, riding them yourselves. If so then you both have the knowledge to know the existence of the hazards a motorcyclist has to face the first five minutes on the seat of their ride, the Distracted Driver, Impaired Driver, Cell Phone Addicted Behavior of motorist. These two agencies have separated the support from our own perceived enemies, the Individual Automobile Driver.

The NHTSA and the NTSB have accomplished this through the media, internet, newspaper  announcements of the falsified statistics by your own addition using VMT that are inconsistent with guess work through the uninformed States who did not participate in reporting these statistics. As a concerned motorcyclist for my safety, I am disappointed in the performance of these two agencies. I am taken back by the back burner attitude from these two agencies to continue to pilot light the Band-Aid solution using the MOTORCYCLE HELMET as a cure all for our safety.

Ms Mary Peters, if you had an accident involving a Right Of Way Violation by an Individual Automobile Driver that made a Left hand turn in front of you, and you had broken your collar bone in this matter rather than your inexperience in stopping before hitting your husbands motorcycle, Would you still profess the cure all MOTORCYCLE HELMET for the wrong, from this individual who violated your right of way?

Helmets do not help in such catastrophic injuries concerning, PTSD, Amputees, Paraplegics,TBI injuries, Blunt Force Trauma Injuries. In yet the NHTSA and the NTSB are both aware of the studies concerning Distracted Drivers, Cell Phone Addicted Drivers, Impaired Drivers, Drowsy Drivers and alike.

I am in amazement of the unrealistic, dreamlike perception everything will be ok, we'll save more lives using the cure all antiquated hypothesis that MOTORCYCLE HELMETS are the answer to the increased motorcycle fatalities when these two agencies are aware of the driving environment has changed for all drivers sharing these roads today. SUV's, Entertainment Systems, Cell Phones, Text Messages, all those in house freedoms these two agencies have endorsed over the last thirty plus years. Plus further alienating motorcyclist from our counter part, the Individual Automobile Driver, both in support of these luxuries, and supporting these discriminations towards motorcyclist.

I challenge these two agencies, NTSB, NHTSA to communicate with those motorcyclist who have been in a catastrophic accident and who can tell their individual stories to both of these two agencies in a public forum, what really caused their disabilities, I assure these two agencies will learn more from these individuals than any study you have requested or have performed in the last thirty plus years. I bank on it.

We all need the EDUCATION, Automobile Drivers and Motorcyclist in learning how to share the roads, not the differences in lifestyles.

References furnished from Bikers Accident Survivor Forum www.bacsuv.com

Thank you for reading my concerns

Garry Van Kirk

Garry Van Kirk
Bikers Accident Survivor Forum
www.bacsuv.com
bikeraccsurvivor@bacsuv.com
Supporting Our Right to Ride, Supporting Bikers In their Time Of Need.
" You can only protect your liberties in this world by protecting the other man's freedom."
~Clarence Darrow~