Due to popular demand the process for ordering FU memorial patches has been streamlined at http://www.fastfreds.com/fu/patch.htm
There is no need for doom and gloom on the part of bikers in or near North Carolina. Join your brothers and sisters and stand up and fight this unconstitutional and unenforceable helmet law. BOLT and CBA/ABATE of NC busy at work to challenge this law in the courts and legislature. The letter of the law simply does not support the claims you are hearing in the media.
~FF
1) Tougher motorcycle helmet law in effect
2) Fred "FU" Uibel's Wake and Funeral in Biker Style
3) FU Memorial Patch Available
4) Obama Projected Winner In S.C. Primary
5) NC's new helmet law
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1) Tougher motorcycle helmet law in effect
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FF Note: Another misleading article. Much of the noise made by our government and a few ignorant "bikers" simply are not supported by the new law. For example the NC helmet law makes no mention of helmet thickness or weight. The new law has conflicts with federal code and is still clearly unconstitutional. The battle is not over by far. See item 5 below to read the new NC helmet law yourself. Let the civil disobedience continue! Remember the state loses money with each case challenged in court win or lose.
http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=284018
Tougher motorcycle helmet law in effect
Catherine Pritchard
Thin, light, novelty-type helmets that closely fit a motorcyclist’s head may look cool to some.
But they’re worthless in a crash.
And now they’re worthless if you happen to be wearing one on a motorcycle when you meet up with a policeman.
North Carolina strengthened its motorcycle helmet law as of Jan. 1, and bikers had best pay heed, even if only grudgingly.
Under the new law, helmets have to meet a federal motor vehicle safety standard — No. 218 — which requires helmets to have a firm inner liner of polystyrene foam that is 1-inch thick.
Helmets can’t be perched on the head, either. Instead, they have to be secured on the head with a sturdy — and sturdily attached — strap so they stay on in a crash.
They’ve got to have some heft — generally, about three pounds is as light as they can get.
And they have to carry the DOT symbol, showing they comply with U.S. Department of Transportation regulations.
To see if your helmet complies with the law, check www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/ pedbimot/motorcycle/ UnsafeHelmetID.
Transportation projects
Do you have any thoughts about the state’s long-range transportation projects for the Fayetteville area?
Questions?
Concerns?
You can voice them to the N.C. Department of Transportation in a meeting in Fayetteville on Wednesday afternoon.
The meeting will focus on the DOT’s draft transportation improvement plan for 2009-2015. It’s being held from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Crown Exposition Center on East Mountain Drive.
You can take a look at the draft plan at www.ncdot.org/~tip.
If you can’t make it to the meeting, you can submit your comments via the Web site or mail them to: NCDOT STIP Unit, 1534 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1534.
Saving at the pump
Not much surprise here — Americans worry a lot about the price of gas.
In fact, the Car Care Council recently cited a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll that said that’s American’s top economic woe.
While the stock market’s wild plunges and credit concerns may worry at least some Americans more, most of us pay the high price of gas one way or another.
So, it’s worth considering easy tips that might save us some of that money.
Here’s our favorite eye-opener — the council says 147 million gallons of gas goes up in ... vapor every year because of damaged, loose or just plain missing gas caps. That figure seems a little hard to believe but, heck, it’s an easy fix just in case.
If your tires aren’t inflated properly, your gas mileage suffers. So get a tire gauge and learn how to use it.
Replace your spark plugs regularly. You waste fuel if your car’s spark plugs misfire.
Replace that air filter if it’s all nasty. That’ll help your mileage.
And the ol’ perennial — put your lead foot on a diet. In other words, lighten up. You waste gas with aggressive driving.
Idle cars — when they sit with running motors — get zero miles per gallon, the council notes. So quit warming the car up forever in the morning. Just go.
Want to set Behind the Wheel straight? Ask a question? Vent? Make a suggestion? E-mail pritchardc@fayobserver.com or call 486-3517.
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2) Fred "FU" Uibel's Wake and Funeral in Biker Style
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http://www.fastfreds.com/fu/index1.htm
Fred "FU" Uibel's Wake and Funeral in Biker Style
Photos and article by FastFred Ruddock, January 19, 2008
No words could adequately explain what happened or why. If you knew FU then you carry on a small part of him with you. Had there been a sign still posted of the hazard ahead things might be different today ... Full Story and Photos >> http://www.fastfreds.com/fu/index1.htm
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3) FU Memorial Patch Available
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http://www.fastfreds.com/fu/patch.htm
FU Memorial Patch Available
This is a limited single run patch honoring the memory of our dear friend and fellow prankster Fred "FU" Uibel. This patch was designed and funded by fellow members of SC BOLT (Bikers of Lesser Tolerance).
Due to popular demand you may now more easily order your patch online at http://www.fastfreds.com/fu/patch.htm
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4) Obama Projected Winner In S.C. Primary
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http://www.foxcarolina.com/politics/15143809/detail.html?treets=gsaa&tml=gsaa_natlbreak&ts=T&tmi=gsaa_natlbreak_1_06080301262008
Obama Projected Winner In S.C. Primary
First Primary Victory For Illinois Senator
POSTED: 9:02 am EST January 26, 2008
UPDATED: 7:16 pm EST January 26, 2008
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Barack Obama routed Hillary Clinton in the racially charged South Carolina primary Saturday night.
The win regains Obama's campaign momentum in the prelude to a Feb. 5 coast-to-coast competition for more than 1,600 Democratic National Convention delegates.
Former Sen. John Edwards, of North Carolina, was running third, a sharp setback in the state where he was born and scored a primary victory in his first presidential campaign four years ago.
The Associated Press made its call based on surveys of voters as they left the polls.
About half the voters were black, according to polling place interviews, and four out of five of them supported Obama. Black women turned out in particularly large numbers. Clinton and Edwards each won roughly 40 percent of the white vote, with about 25 percent going to Obama, the first-term Illinois senator.
After playing a muted role in the earlier contests, the issue of race dominated an incendiary week that included a shift in strategy for Obama, a remarkably bitter debate, and fresh scrutiny of former President Bill Clinton's role in his wife's campaign.
Polls opened at 7 a.m. EST and election officials reported no problems with voting machines as there were in last week's GOP primary after one county's electronic machines failed to function properly.
In the historic battle that pitted a black man against a white woman, the question on many minds was how black women would vote. They went overwhelmingly for the black man, in the same eight in 10 proportions as black men. Nearly all the rest voted for Clinton.
Clinton also wasn't able to win a majority of white women, a group she won with just over 40 percent of the vote. Edwards was not far behind Clinton among white women, and Obama won about 20 percent of them.
Three in four voters said the country is ready to elect a black president, and about the same said the country is ready to elect a woman. Nine in 10 Obama voters said the country is ready for a black president, but fewer Clinton voters said the country is ready.
Nearly all Clinton voters and two-thirds of Obama voters said the country is ready to elect a woman president.
Given three choices, half the voters in Saturday's primary said the economy was the most important issue facing the country -- up from 38 percent in the only other competitive Democratic primary to date, in New Hampshire on Jan. 8. About a quarter picked health care, comparable to New Hampshire. Only about one in five picked Iraq, down from 27 percent in New Hampshire.
The results are from a partial sample of 1,269 voters conducted by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International in 35 precincts in South Carolina's Democratic primary. The margin of sampling error plus or minus 4 percentage points.
As in New Hampshire, three in four Obama voters said the most important quality in a candidate is that he can bring about needed change. Four in 10 Clinton voters said their priority was that a candidate has the right experience while nearly three in 10 picked change. Edwards scored highest on empathy -- at least half his voters said it was most important that the candidate "cares about people like me." Few voters said the candidate's electability was their top priority.
Asked whether their candidate's positions on issues or leadership and personal qualities were more important to their vote, six in 10 said issues.
Three in four voters said the country is ready to elect a black president and about as many said that about a woman. Somewhat more Clinton voters said the country is not ready to elect a black than Obama voters said the country wasn't ready to elect a female president.
After the contentious Democratic debate Monday night, three in four Obama voters said Clinton had attacked Obama unfairly and slightly fewer than half accused their own candidate of attacking Clinton unfairly.
Two-thirds of Clinton voters said Obama attacked her unfairly and nearly as many said she attacked him unfairly. Edwards voters were more likely than either of the other candidates' supporters to say both Clinton and Obama attacked each other unfairly.
Roughly four out of five voters said they would be satisfied if Clinton or Obama wins the Democratic nomination. Slightly more Clinton voters said they would be dissatisfied with Obama than vice-versa.
Slightly more Obama voters said Clinton would be more likely to be the eventual Democratic nominee than vice-versa.
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5) NC's new helmet law
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FF Note: You will notice the claims of the media are not supported in the letter of the law below:
§ 20 140.4. Special provisions for motorcycles and mopeds.
(a) No person shall operate a motorcycle or moped upon a highway or public vehicular area:
(1) When the number of persons upon such motorcycle or moped, including the operator, shall exceed the number of persons which it was designed to carry.
(2) Unless the operator and all passengers thereon wear on their heads, with a retention strap properly secured, safety helmets of a type that complies with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 218.
(b) Violation of any provision of this section shall not be considered negligence per se or contributory negligence per se in any civil action.
(c) Any person convicted of violating this section shall have committed an infraction and shall be fined according to G.S. 20 135.2A(e) and (f)."
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