Ending the Nevada Rider Program?

In October of 2010, QuickThrottle Magazine published my article about the Nevada Rider Program.  A reader outraged with my coverage of the issue sent this letter to the editor.

The editor intended to publish the letter but allowed me to respond to his allegations.  I had no choice but to name names and cite sources.  Here is what I submitted in December of 2010. 

Dear Mr. [redacted] 

Time to "Extinguish" the Nevada Rider Program??

Here is an excerpt from the October 2011 minutes of the meeting:

GOVERNOR’S ADVISORY BOARD MEETING ON

MOTORCYCLE SAFETY

QUARTERLY MEETING

...

Lily Gonzales, ... shared her concerns and a list of reasons why she believes the Nevada Rider Motorcycle Safety Program should be discontinued. Ms. Gonzales asked that a serious discussion of the following items concerning the Nevada Rider Program be placed on the agenda for our next Motorcycle Advisory Board Meeting:

Motorcade for the Clark County Class M Class Action Lawsuit

Repeal It Or Feel It strikes again - and this time, a local TV station will be covering the event !!

Every motorcyclist is invited to participate in a motorcade to escort a limo.  In the limo will be helmet-choice activists to file the lawsuit against Clark County, Nevada.  The lawsuit seeks to get money for EVERY person that holds a Class M license in Clark County.  But more importantly, it is to FORCE Clark County law enforcers to stop using Nevada's helmet law as an excuse to violate our 4th Amendment right.

Extra-lovely ladies will serve the complaint.

What:  Motorcade limo escort

When:  Thursday, September 29, 2011

Time:  9:30 a.m.

Where:  Meet at Gallian Wilcox, 540 E. St. Louis Ave., Las Vegas, Nevada 89104 (see map below).

Tentative route: 

• Las Vegas City Hall
• Clark County Administration Building
• North Las Vegas City Hall
• Henderson City Hall
• Boulder City Hall.

We will return to Gallian Wilcox for hot dogs and beverages.

Sponsored by:  Guerrilla Lawfare.

Check out the various short vids about the "Repeal It Or Feel" It Movement.

I am available to answer questions at 702-417-6260.

See you there (bring your cams and video recorders)!

TigerLily

Flyer - Please print and help distribute.

Map to Meeting Place

Introducing - Repeal It Or Feel It . com

Helmet Choice Activists around the nation - you're not gonna wanna miss out on this vid!

Here's a teaser on what is about to be launched in South Nevada......   serious counter-attack to what Travis Barrick, Esq., calls, "A very shocking insult to the 4th Amendment."  (Turn up the volume and enjoy the Doobie Brothers....)

Please post your comments, sign up to get my e-newsletters, and spread the word.  

Thanks!

What EXACTLY Do Our Law Enforcers Do To Serve and Protect?

This is a continuation of yesterday's blog post about how law enforcers are now knocking on doors and scaring old people and families to find people who have arrest warrants.

SWAT Oversteps - AGAIN

If you live in So. Nevada, you'll know about the sad case of Trevon Cole.  He was shot in front of his pregnant wife over a botched up drug bust.  I don't believe Cole's story ever went national and I didn't think the following one would either - but it did...

A New Way for Law Enforcers to Dominate Nevada Slaves - I mean "Citizens"

I just found out that the City of North Las Vegas is going around extorting money from criminals and their relatives.  Huh?  Read my letter to the NLVPD Public Information Officer - Tim Bedwell.  (He's on TV a lot - spreading lies and propaganda to try to make his peeps look good!)

SB177 - Senator Horsford Nevada Motorcyclists Enemy #1

Dear SB177 Supporters.

I’m so pissed I had to cool off 24 hours before writing this update.

SB177 - Letter Senator Schneider

This letter was sent to Senator Schneider after I heard with my own ears the vile language he used against motorcyclists.  Don't waste your time contacting this ass-clown! Know that he has reached his term limit and cannot run for Nevada office again.  Likely, he'll become a paid lobbyist to continue his dirty work.  I'll be keeping my eye on this anti-liberty biker bigot! 

SB177 - Nevada's Helmet Choice Bill: Dear Rep - Do You Hear Me Now???

The following is a letter sent to Nevada representatives related to Nevada's Helmet-Choice Bill.  It speaks directly to those that dare call helmet-choice advocates as potential burdens to society....

Don't Mess with "Helmet-Less"... In Nevada

Published by QuickThrottle Magazine May 2010 SW Edition

By TigerLily
Magazine pics by Linda Dahl

David Stilwell's Newest Helmet!!

5/19/2011 - Article Update:  As of this moment, every "guilty" Nevada helmet citation verdict has been dismissed upon appeal.  A class action suit will follow if Nevada's helmet choice bill, SB177, does not pass.

TigerLily and Dave Stilwell on Channel 8 News

Dear SB177 Supporters,

We were on TV yesterday on Channel 8 News Now.  It was about my 56-minute handcuffing.  The reporter, Colleen McCarty, did an AWESOME job covering the story.  To get the police's side of the story, Sgt. Tim Bedwell, PIO, made himself available and insinuated that Dave and I were "baiting" police officers.

That's funny coming from Bedwell, since both Dave and I talked extensively to him and WARNED him that his Agency was violating people's rights by pulling them over to do helmet safety inspections.

SB177 - Arbitrary and Capricious Helmet Citations - North Las Vegas, NV.

Las Vegas “Ride For Life” Champion Wins Helmet Court Case

By TigerLily

Published in QuickThrottle Magazine, SW Edition, February 2011

SB177 - Letter to Senator Horsford

PLEASE READ MY LETTER TO THIS SENATOR AND CONTACT HIM  !!

I urge you to contact Senator Horsford to get him to put SB177 to a vote.  I'm having difficulty finding out when the deadline is to get SB177 through the Senate Finance Committee, but I do know that there are only 22 days left in our legislative session.  If we don't get helmet choice today, we may need to have to wait 2 years to try again.

SB177 Nv Helmet Choice Bill Letter to Senator Schneider sent 5/15/11

Dear SB177 Supporters,

Wait till you see the you-tube I'm doing to demonstrate just how vile of a biker bigot this Nevada State Senator is!

Will Nevada See Helmet Choice?

Nevada's Helmet Choice Bill SB177:

Lessons from Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.

Commentary by TigerLily

Published in QuickThrottle Magazine, SW Edition April 2011

“A helmet is a rabbit's foot that gets the credit if you get lucky."

Travis Barrick, Esq., former candidate for Nevada State Attorney General

     “We were blackmailed by the feds to force helmets on us.  This law needs to go!”  That’s what “Bones,” President of ABATE of Southern Nevada has been saying for years.  This “blackmail” prompted Nevada and every state in the Union to force helmets on motorcyclists. The law has remained intact in Nevada since 1972 – 20 years longer than California, 28 years longer than New Mexico, and 32 years longer than Arizona.  But this year, with Nevada having the worst economy in the nation, some are seeing economic benefits to offering helmet choice.  It is an undisputable fact that when States offer helmet choice, motorcycle registrations skyrocket!  Nevada will be flooded with out-of-state motorcyclists who would come to Nevada knowing they can wear anything they want and not be attacked by aggressive law enforcers. 

     Senator Don Gustavson introduced the Bill that was heard on March 10^th by the Senate Transportation Committee.  I sat in disbelief in Las Vegas, outraged at the levels to which the opposition would stoop to portray proponents of helmet-choice as selfish risk-takers who will end up becoming a burden to society.  David Stilwell of Bikers of Lesser Tolerance says, “That’s bull!  We motorcyclists are hard-working, law-abiding, well-insured, tax-payers who fund welfare, food stamps, and wars that inflict more carnage than all the motorcycle wrecks in the world.”  Proponents of helmet-choice are not asking for a handout they are DEMANDING freedom!

     Reverend King said:  “An unjust law compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself.”  If more head trauma is incurred by operators and passengers of other vehicles, how then, can a majority justify forcing a minority to wear a helmet that they would staunchly object to wearing themselves.  I would like to see those drivers and their passengers wear a helmet during their commutes and tell legislators that wearing a helmet does not cause sensory deprivation.

     The bigotry experienced by African Americans during Reverend King’s era was perverse and immoral.  It was often fueled by local media incapable of objective reporting.  I compare it to the Las Vegas Review Journal’s report of the helmet choice Bill.  The Journal interviewed UMC’s Trauma Center Director, Dr. John Filds, a former motorcyclist who no longer rides because “it’s too risky.”  Notice the biker bigotry in his words, "These people want to exercise their rights.  I want to exercise my right not to pay for their medical care. There is no such thing as unpaid medical care. You and I pay for their accidents."  But according the Institute for Medicine, physicians injure more than 1.5 million Americans every year and kill more than 7,000 citizens.

     We’ve been depending on doctors to influence policy for far too long; and on law enforcers to enforce laws from those policies.  I have experienced and witnessed the tyranny by law enforcers who violated my rights, treated my retired Marine Officer husband like a dog, and obscenely violated four law-abiding San Diego motorcyclists during last year’s Las Vegas BikeFest.  Reverend King wrote:  “You warmly commended the Birmingham police force for keeping "order" and "preventing violence." I doubt that you would have so warmly commended the police force if you had seen its dogs sinking their teeth into unarmed, nonviolent Negroes… I cannot join you in your praise of the Birmingham police department.”

     QT can’t keep up with the reports.  We covered the story of a club in North Las Vegas that was wrongly raided by SWAT and four other agencies.  Seven club members were jailed – all wrongly – and ultimately charged with jaywalking.  One of those victims was Paul Lemoine, who found it difficult to explain to his daughter why “daddy” went to jail – the way Reverend King expressed in his letter  “…you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six year old daughter.”  We also covered the story of motorcyclists detained by Henderson PD in an effort to keep them from attending a party.  Of those victims, 56 challenged their helmet tickets – and all won.  Why?  Because this helmet law is virtually unenforceable to anyone wearing anything on their head – even a coconut shell!   At the helmet-choice hearing, a senator asked a DPS official to comment about the current helmet law.  The bureaucrat said, “We’re still in limbo as to what’s legal and what’s not.”

 

     Activists who want to disarm law enforcers from its helmet law are ready to compromise.  SB177 contains age, education, and experience conditions that don’t apply to any other motorist.  Would Reverend King approve?  He wrote, “In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self purification; and direct action… Negro leaders sought to negotiate with the city fathers. But the latter consistently refused to engage in good faith negotiation.”  Will “good faith” be seen in Nevada?

     Past efforts to pass helmet-choice laws in Nevada have been undermined by Ken Kiphart, Administrator for the Nevada Rider Program and he tried this time again.  But compared to what I discovered, Kiphart is but an annoying little gnat that just needs a swat.  Other opponents are more perverse and better funded, such as paid lobbyists like the Nevada Sheriffs’ Association; the Professional Firefighters of America; and - on taxpayer’s dime – Adam Stubbs, representing LVMPD.  Our tax dollars are funding lobbyist to oppose our freedoms.  According to Keith Reed, a long-time motorcyclist, Las Vegas Resident, and former Clark County computer technician supervisor, these paid government lobbyists use tax dollars for their time, travel, expenses, housing, utilities – and more, for months during legislative sessions.  But it gets worse.

     John Johansen, from Nevada’s DPS, lobbied likely in violation of Nevada’s lobby laws when he offered the following testimony:  Quite frankly, I sit between neutral and opposed. My major concern is that if we are going to have adults responsible for their actions, and they choose to not to have a helmet, at a very minimum, they should also be responsible to keep the medical cost out of our pockets… So a medical insurance limitation of $10,000 is simply not acceptable… It should be over $100,000, or a minimum of $100,000, because those are, in fact, average charges for trauma.”

     But he flat out distorted the truth!  His data revealed that in Arizona - a helmet choice State - the cost of trauma for motorcyclists was over $47,000 greater for riders WITH helmets than WITHOUT!  QT has been stonewalled by DPS who won’t answer us.  The email for Nevada’ DPS, Director, Jerry Hafen, is:  jhafen@dps.state.nv.us.  Ask him:  Why did Johansen fail to tell our legislators the whole truth?  What’s in it for DPS to kill helmet choice?  Will DPS lose grant money?  Will the lack of helmet tickets force DPS downsize?  If you get an answer, please forward it to me at TigerLily@QuickThrottle.com.

     Despite Goliath-like opposition from paid lobbyists, and government workers with vast resources, there’s a glimmer of optimism in Nevada that it may soon become a helmet-optional state.  But John Bland, President of ABATE of Northern Nevada cautions that now is no time to celebrate.  “Write, call, and email your representatives explaining that passing this Bill will stimulate our economy!”  We cannot afford to wait another two years for the next legislative hearing, because, as Martin Luther King would say, "Justice too long delayed is justice denied."

For more information, comments, and criticism, contact TigerLily:  TigerLily@QuickThrottle.com

Angry Reader Feedback to "A Motorcycle Friendly Nevada?" Article

My article, A Motorcycle Friendly Nevada, received national blogosphere attention.  For the most part, the article was well-received.  However, one Nevada reader took exception and wrote a letter to the editor demanding an apology from me.  The editor intended to publish that reader's letter along with my response to it.  Neither the letter nor my response were published on the insistence of the author of that letter.  That reader told my editor, “It’s up to you if you want to become the enemy of Nevada State motorcycle safety programs but I wouldn’t publish this.”

Here is that unedited, unpublished letter to the editor.....

Dear Quick Throttle Magazine,

Helmet Trial in Henderson, Nevada - Nelson "Renegade" Ruehl

On January 5, 2011, Nelson "Renegade" Ruehl had his helmet trial in Henderson, Nevada.  It was his first time to represent himself and he was MASTERFUL!

The courtroom was very empty.  There were only three Renegade supporters sitting towards the front of the courtroom and five uniformed Henderson police officers sitting in the back row.

From the beginning, Renegade established control over the trial.  His first statement was to get the police officer's pictures of Renegade's helmet thrown out.  Renegade told the judge that those pictures should not be used as evidence against him because Renegade had asked for those pictures and the prosecuting attorney failed to provide them.  The judge asked the prosecutor if that was true and the prosecutor tried to deny it.  Renegade lifted up his discovery sheets that he did receive and said, "This is all I got.  No pictures."  Then dialogue between the judge and the prosecutor went something like this:

Judge:  Don't you number your pages when you send discovery?
Prosecutor:  No.
Judge:  Don't you think that would be a good idea?
Prosecutor:  Yes.
Judge:  I won't allow any pictures.

Then the prosecutor called for the first and only witness, the police officer that gave Renegade a helmet ticket.  One of the statements the police officer said was, "I know what he was wearing was not D.O.T. approved."  Renegade pointed out that there is no such thing as "D.O.T. approved," and the prosecution changed their tune to say, "D.O.T. standards."

When it was time for Renegade to question his accuser, the police officer answered one of Renegade's questions with another question.  Renegade assertively said,"I'M ASKING THE QUESTIONS."

In the end, the judge found Renegade guilty, but the judge did not look Renegade in the eye to render his decision.  This judge KNOWS the prosecution failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Renegade's helmet was illegal, but he found him guilty none the less.

Was the judge's decision influenced by the five uniformed police officers in his courtroom?  You decide.  But what this judge did do, was to further empower Henderson PD to continue their attacks against motorcyclists.

The judge's decision was the most beneficial to the helmet activism cause.  Now Renegade has an opportunity to appeal that finding to a higher court.  His helmet appeal will be the third being challenged in Clark County District Court at the time of this writing.

Congratulations to Renegade for standing up for himself and all motorcyclists in Nevada !!