Innocence Vanquished
UP FRONT
Allan Girdler
INNOCENCE VANQUISHED
Did I ever tell you about the time I represented myself in traffic court? The law was on my side, so were the facts and it didn’t take more than two minutes for the jury to find me guilty as charged. Sure, I had a fool for a client, but what really sealed my fate was that I didn’t know how to make the system work for me. My years spent watching trial attorneys hadn’t taught me how to be one, any more than watching Kenny Roberts makes you ride like Kenny Roberts.
I mention this because I've learned that sad lesson again, the difference being that this time, I am learning how to play politics.
Many months ago I used this space to comment on risk. I said, in effect, that riders who don't admit to the hazards of riding are more likely to get hurt than are riders who remind themselves of their own fragility.
I meant it when I wrote it. and I believe it still.
But that’s not the point. Some time after I wrote that, this magazine mentioned some of the government's plans. We suggested that people could usefully write to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and express their views on the subject.
Next came a letter from a man in Arizona. He had written to NHTSA and had received a reply. It was a well written reply, witness one sentence; “Our interest in motorcycling is to help take some of the unnecessary risk out of the sport without placing unwarranted restrictions on the industry or individual riders.”
That’s fair. Who of us would not agree to reduce “unnecessary” risk? Especially if we don't impose “unwarranted” restrictions.
Then, the surprise. The NHTSA letter mentioned that there is risk in riding. To back that up. they sent this man ... a reprint of my column.
Which was news to me. Hey! I said to the people at NHTSA. what are you doing with my stuff9 I suppose I knew that government agencies buy magazines, but I never think of this magazine being read by anybody except friends, that is, people who like motorcycles.
Their reply was better than their letter. It taught me just how much I needed to know about politics.
“We consider the editorial to be a well written piece of wisdom which we would like to share with the many motorcyclists who write to us. Our use of the editorial would be to point out that a very authoritative source (me? Gosh . . . A.G.) acknowledges that there are certain inherent risks in motorcycling. And, like Mr. Girdler. our interest is in reducing the risks without infringing on the sport.
“Because we have a high regard for Mr. Girdler’s opinion on this subject, we would like to continue to distribute the editorial in the future.”
The ball comes back to my court at record speed.
The flattery can quickly be discounted. I am at least as vain as the next man, but NHTSA never said a nice thing to me or about me before this, that is, before they wanted something. They have a good line, as the schoolgirls say, but I am no schoolgirl and I've heard that line before.
Naw. the whole thing comes down to politics. By asking to use something I did, something that reflects an attitude they profess, while giving credit where due. they have enlisted me on their side.
I have two options. I can refuse permission to reprint, or 1 can give it.
Suppose I refuse permission. I can’t do that merely because I am a sorehead, or because I find myself with allies 1 didn't intend to have.
Nor can I change mv beliefs to fit the occasion. Did I mean what I said? Yes. Did NHTSA rewrite or reword anything? No. I can't claim to have been misquoted. Nor is the complete column taken out of context. People who don't read the magazine won't know me. but that article was supposed to be intact and complete as it was printed. I can't say one thing on this page and another thing in public somewhere else. Nor have I changed my mind on the acceptance of risk being the best safety device a rider can have.
The next few years are going to be a struggle.
Once upon a time the car companies built what their customers wanted. Then the federal government took over. Now Ford, Chevrolet and Plymouth build what the government says they can build. The customer is offered not what he wants, but what he should want and would want if he was as smart as the government.
We don't have that . . . yet. Honda, Harley and Husqvarna are building what we want, and if we don't, they'll build something else.
Off there in the shadows, though. NHTSA and friends are making plans, drawing up rules and regulations. Speedos that stop at 85. headlights that you can’t turn off. mirrors to meet this spec, brakes to meet that standard. >
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They have designs. On us.
We are not dealing with evil people. They mean to enlighten. They care about their jobs and their careers. They respond to the right kind of pressure, exerted in the right way.
Making mockery of these do-gooders great sport. Calling Ralph Nader the dul lest man in America is fun. It may be true, but Nader told the government how to tell the car companies what you’d be allowed to buy. We call the names, Nader calls the shots.
What we need to deal with the feds is loyal, intelligent, rational opposition.
You and me.
We start about two laps behind. What works best in politics is numbers. Couple years back cars had to have seat belts wired into the ignition, so you couldn’t drive unbuckled. The law was repealed, not because it wasn't effective, but because great numbers of people, that is, voters, objected.
We don't have the numbers.
We're a minority. We are invisible on the road, unwanted in some restaurants, banned from public parks.
We're also making progress. It comes not from threats and noise, but from responsibility. It comes from the Phantom Duck and his legal defense fund. It comes from the American Motorcyclist Association and their legislative work, from the Motorcycle Safety Foundation and its rider instruction courses.
So. What I can do from here is responsible.
That politically expert letter from thé feds has given me my platform. They are now on record as considering me a responsible person, informed, alert, etc. I have wisdom and they said so themselves.
Politics. When we oppose mandatory helmet laws, when we object to the irrational rules now being prepared. I am the best possible position, as a responsible critic, to say these rules are unwarranted intrusions. I'm not making fun. I’m acting with the wisdom good of NHTSA has declared me to have.
Okay NHTSA. here’s my permission. Reprint that column.
And while you're at it. send this one along with it.
