1) Recent Trends in Fatal Motorcycle Crashes
2) Mandatory Helmets
3) Cooper warns e-mail users to beware of unexpected greeting cards
4) City settles protest-fee suit
5) Biker loses part of leg after crash with drunken driver
6) Budget crunch looms for S.C.
7) South Carolina Drivers Manual Online
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1) Recent Trends in Fatal Motorcycle Crashes
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DOT HS 810 606 June 2006
Technical Report
Recent Trends in Fatal Motorcycle Crashes: An Update
http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-30/NCSA/Rpts/2006/810606.pdf
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2) Mandatory Helmets
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http://www.wcbd.com/midatlantic/cbd/search.apx.-content-articles-CBD-2007-08-22-0032.html
Mandatory Helmets
The rising number of motorcyclists killed in South Carolina is being caused by several problems, and will therefore need several different solutions, members of the state's Motorcycle Safety Task Force say.
Motorcycle deaths are up almost 50 percent in just five years nationwide, with more people dying in South Carolina, too. Last year, there were 109 motorcycle deaths in South Carolina. The state has 80 so far this year, which is more than there were at the same point last year.
Frankie Nelson, a member of the task force and a member of a motorcyclists' advocacy group, says most of the fatalities are men over 40 who are inexperienced riders. She says the task force needs to raise the awareness of rider safety courses.
"We have an excellent rider education program that other states, in fact, model their program after," she says. "Bringing awareness to that program is going to be, I think, A number one, because many bikers in South Carolina are not aware that we do have an excellent training program here."
One of the other major problems is the state's licensing program. Someone with no motorcycle riding experience can get a permit by passing a written test, then keep renewing that permit indefinitely and never pass a driving skills test or get a permanent license.
Ed Harmon, planning and evaluation manager for the state Office of Highway Safety and a member of the task force, says the group will make a number of recommendations to address education, training, licensing and law enforcement issues.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sponsored a statewide assessment of motorcycle safety in South Carolina that was conducted in May. NHTSA is now recommending a mandatory helmet law.
Harmon says he doesn't know if the task force will recommend that. "NHTSA may very well be looking at providing some sanctions to states that do not implement that kind of legislation. I could see that as being realistically on the horizon. But we'll just have to see how that plays out," he says.
The task force will meet again in September.
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3) Cooper warns e-mail users to beware of unexpected greeting cards
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http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070823/NEWS01/70823043/1009
Cooper warns e-mail users to beware of unexpected greeting cards
RALEIGH — Electronic greeting cards sent by e-mail may include viruses or spyware, and consumers should think twice before opening them, Attorney General Roy Cooper said today.
Cooper said he and members of his staff are among those who have received potentially bogus greetings in the latest form of Internet scam aimed at identity theft or other mischief.
"Think twice before you open up an e-card that claims to come from a friend or neighbor," Cooper said in a news release. "Scammers are using what looks like a friendly greeting card to attack your computer and steal your good name."
Cooper warned that recipients who click a link within the e-mail could be prompted to download a program in order to read the card, but it could in fact load a virus or other harmful program onto their computer.
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4) City settles protest-fee suit
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http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770822109
City settles protest-fee suit
Law changed as immigrant group gets refund
By Joel Burgess
An immigrant rights group that challenged a $1,500 city fee for demonstrating on public streets has forced the city to change its law.
The city also has agreed to return $1,300 of the charges in an out-of-court settlement, Asheville officials and the immigrant rights group announced Wednesday.
Asheville’s old law allowed officials to base fees on the type of demonstration and if they believed some were more likely to draw counter-protesters and cause violence.
Across the country, similar city laws have been ruled unconstitutional because they make some types of speech more expensive, one expert said.
“It is discriminating on the basis of content,” said Ronald Collins, of the First Amendment Center in Washington, D.C.
“In the future, groups are going to be able to march peacefully without having to worry about charges that will make it impossible to say what they need to say,” said Althea Gonzalez, an organizer with the May 1st We Are One America Committee.
The committee organized a march of 3,000 to 3,500 demonstrators in 2006 as part of a national protest calling for immigration reform. Police said the march was peaceful with no incidents.
Organizers said they were told of the $1,500 fee near the beginning of the march.
The committee sued Asheville in federal court last year, saying the city had discriminated against them by basing the fee on the message of their 2006 demonstration. Other groups had been charged less.
Police Chief Bill Hogan said the fee was not based on the type of demonstration but the size and scope.
The City Council agreed to settle the lawsuit because it saw that Asheville’s parade ordinance needed updating, said Bob Oast, city attorney.
The city changed its law this week to say that fees cannot “be based on the content of speech expected to be expressed during the parade.”
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5) Biker loses part of leg after crash with drunken driver
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http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770822114
Man loses part of leg after crash
Mike McWilliams
A motorcyclist remained in serious condition Wednesday at Mission Hospitals after losing part of his leg in a crash involving a suspected drunken driver.
Frank McKee, 55, of Pisgah Forest, lost his right leg from the knee down, said Dennis Wilde, Brevard police chief. Wilde said he did not know what other injuries McKee suffered.
Nelson Concepcion, 46, of Taylors, S.C., was charged with driving while impaired, careless and reckless driving and speeding. He remained in the Transylvania County jail Wednesday in lieu of $100,000 bond.
Police estimate Concepcion was driving 55 mph in a 35 mph zone when he struck McKee, who was stopped at a stoplight.
Concepcion’s blood-alcohol level was .16 — twice the legal limit, Wilde said.
About 8 p.m. Tuesday, a probation officer called police about a man urinating in the street, Wilde said. When officers arrived, they found Concepcion in an older model Acura car parked at the Mary C. Jenkins Community Center on Carver Street, Wilde said.
“They went up to the car, asked for ID, and at that point, he just takes off,” Wilde said.
Concepcion sped away from the community center, running through stop signs and red lights at 60 mph, Wilde said. He wound his way through nearly nine blocks before striking McKee on his motorcycle less than a mile from the community center. The closest police car was more than a block and half away when the crash took place, Wilde said.
Officers were trying to locate Concepcion again when they came across the crash site at Broad and Caldwell Streets.
“It was not a pursuit. It was more like trying to catch up than a pursuit,” Wilde said, adding that the officer reached about 45 mph and had activated the car’s lights and sirens. “With the way traffic and congestion is, we’re not going to be running somebody at high speeds not knowing what they’re running from.”
The crash sent the motorcycle into two other vehicles at the intersection. Concepcion struck another vehicle before driving onto the sidewalk and crashing into a utility pole, Wilde said.
Concepcion was not injured, but his passenger, Starnell Taylor, was taken to the hospital, where she was treated and released, Wilde said. Taylor, 28, also of Taylors, S.C., owns the Acura and was charged with aiding and abetting.
Concepcion had no outstanding warrants, but he does have prior drunken driving convictions, Wilde said.
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6) Budget crunch looms for S.C.
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Budget crunch looms for S.C.
By JOHN O’CONNOR - joconnor@thestate.com
State lawmakers could face tough decisions about whether to expand a preschool program statewide, fund a backlog of road and bridge maintenance or create new programs after state economists said Thursday that South Carolina probably will face a recession beginning early next year.
The billion-dollar budget surpluses the state has enjoyed the past few years will not be seen again until the business cycle recovers, economists said. That message was emphasized last week, when revenues came up $16.7 million short of projections once all the money was collected.
“We’re at the end of a long run,” said John Rainey, chairman of the Board of Economic Advisors. “It’s even a little closer than I thought it was.”
After 8.2 percent revenue growth in the fiscal year completed June 30, the BEA is budgeting a 3.1 percent increase for the current fiscal year.
A recession does not mean budget cuts are imminent, but Rainey said the state runs the risk of spending more money than it will collect down the road.
In June, the BEA presented a projection mimicking the recession from early in this decade. According to that report, all hypothetical, the state would face a $1 billion deficit in 2011.
Lawmakers probably will consider a handful of expensive new programs when they return in January, including statewide expansion of a kindergarten program for four-year-olds.
Expanding 4-K is the state’s answer to a judge’s ruling that determined the state has not done enough to prepare poor children for school success.
Boosting funding for road and bridge maintenance has taken on new urgency in the wake of the deadly bridge collapse in Minnesota. In addition, routine increases, such as Medicaid inflation and formula-driven education costs, can cost several hundred million more than the previous year.
The National Conference of State Legislatures said last week in its annual roundup of state budgets that 2006 probably was the high-water mark for most state revenues. Several states, including Florida, Maryland and Virginia, are predicting budget deficits of more than $1 billion next year.
House Ways and Means Chairman Dan Cooper, R- Anderson, said it is too early to know how slowing revenues — and increasing program costs — will affect the budget.
“We’ll just fund what we can and go with the highest priorities,” Cooper said, noting education and health care. “I’ve been through two downturns. We just have to be cautious how we grow programs, and I think we have been.”
Cooper’s counterpart in the Senate, Finance Committee Chairman Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, has said he believed 2009 is when the budget crunch will hit hardest. Leatherman has suggested capping state-funded college scholarships, which cost the state an additional $30 million this year.
Gov. Mark Sanford has advocated limiting the growth of government since taking office in 2003 in order to avoid cuts when revenues decline.
“We would have hoped the General Assembly would have learned its lesson the first time,” said spokesman Joel Sawyer. “All signs point to a very difficult budget process.”
The BEA has been criticized for its conservative projections, but Rainey said everyone should take notice of slowing tax collections.
“Chicken Little may, indeed, be lurking around the barnyard.”
Reach O’Connor at (803) 771-8358.
HOW SHORT WAS S.C.?
Last week, Comptroller Gen-eral Richard Eckstrom announced state revenues fell short of projec-tions.
Eckstrom said lawmakers spent $81 million more than the state collected. However, $65 million of that was so-called wish list projects that would be funded only if the money was available. For projects included in the budget, ac-cording to the Board of Economic Advisors, the state came up $16.7 million short, or two-tenths of a percentage point from the BEAs projected growth.
RECESSION?
What the economic slowdown might mean to the state budget
QUESTION:
What is a recession?
ANSWER:
Typically, it is a period of two or more quarters during which economic growth declines.
QUESTION:
What does this mean in South Carolina?
ANSWER:
Last year, state revenues grew by 8.2 percent. This year, that growth probably will be less. A recession means the rate of growth is slowing, but actual revenues usually increase. Since 1954, the state has collected less money than it did the year before only twice.
QUESTION:
Will the Legislature cut budgets?
ANSWER:
Thats not likely next year, but cuts could be needed if the recession is severe or lasts a few years.
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7) South Carolina Drivers Manual Online
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South Carolina Drivers Manual
http://www.scdmvonline.com/DLmanual.aspx
Motorcycle Section
http://www.scdmvonline.com/forms/DriverManual/Eng_5_Cycles.pdf
Updated travel diagrams for the motorcycle testing course
http://www.scdmvonline.com/forms/DL-350.pdf
Those wishing to help rewrite/improve the current manual are encouraged to contact Cliff at cfd007@msn.com
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