ABATE Membership in 44 States Have Started Working Toward Our Freedom of the Road
Originally published in the February 1972 issue of Easyriders Magazine
We are off and running, after a slight delay caused by having to change the name of our organization. It was discovered at the last moment that the NCCA name was not available for use as a non-profit corporate name-the initials being too similar to those of another corporate name.
So, as long as we had to create a new name for the organization, it was decided to create a name with letters that spelled a word describing the organization’s purpose. It was a bitch to do, let me tell you -try it some time.
After much hassle, we came up with ABATE (which means to put an end to; to reduce in degree or intensity; to beat down; to decrease in force or intensity).
The letters stand for A Brotherhood Against Totalitarian (i.e., strict control by coercive measures; completely regulated by the state) Enactments (i.e. to make (as a bill) into law).
A mouthful, to be sure, but it lays it all out in front of God and everybody, exactly why the brotherhood was formed-to protect individual freedom of the road.
Our mission is positive. We want to educate the lawmakers, to give them our side of the story, before laws are enacted, and we are devoted to working aggressively toward the abatement of all unfair, unjustified, arbitrary anti-bike laws everywhere.
Our insignia is a no-nonsense, uptight eagle (see above) that represents our firm, no-bullshit, resolved to get the job done. Now, not tomorrow.
We all know what our problems are, so let’s get it on, rather than merely sitting around on our asses complaining about them.
Project No. 1
As members of ABATE already know, our immediate project to get all existing bike laws, state by state, county by county, city by city, into a computer. To do this, we are asking everyone, ABATE members or not, to go to your State capitals, libraries, police departments, and send us documented evidence of every bike law in your area and state. We want facts, not rumors.
We also want to know what bike laws are pending, what bike laws almost passed and may be back during the next legislative session.
We want names and addresses of all anti-bike and pro-bike legislators. We want to know where the speed traps are, and where the especially anti-chopper police departments are.
We want to get the national problem down on paper in order to intelligently plan our campaigns. ABATE members are already working on this project, and all bikers, everywhere, are urged to help us. There may be some duplicated efforts initially, but it is better that ABATE be oversupplied with information, rather than not having all of it.
Project No. 2
As reported in the last issue, ABATE and NCCSl (the chopper manufacturers association) are presently preparing a chopper to send to Washington, D.C. for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to test. We know choppers are safe, but the only way the government is really going to know it is to test them, rather than taking some anti-biker’s word for it. Rest assured that the choppers we supply the government with will be good, strong, safe choppers. (Complete photo feature in next issue.)
Project No. 3
ABATE needs members. Only in numbers is there sufficient strength to get the job done. To enter a fight without enough members is like hunting bear with a BB gun. It takes numbers to command respect, to be heard over the din created by the anti-bike forces, and worse, the anti-chopper forces.
But we don’t want just members, we want doers. We know there are only some of you who will get off your ass and do something and we want that group as members. The battle is in 50 different states. The only way ABATE can be effective end effective fast enough is to have doers in every state. Not a doer, but thousands of doers,
ABATE has members in 44 states!
As we go to press, we still need doers in Montana, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming, and Washington, D.C.
What can you do? Join ABATE. Let’s get together in a mass, so that our voice means something, has the weight and strength of numbers.
ABATE is a non-profit organization, sponsored by Easyriders magazine. If what has been said above doesn’t get you off your ass, If you don’t see the pending arbitrary laws, If you don’t see that an organized protest Is much more effective than a shotgun approach, then what else can we say?
When you join ABATE, you’ll receive a decal (full color as at beginning of this article), membership card, and ABATE’s monthly bulletin bringing you up to date on all bike laws, pending bike laws, and reports on ABATE’s progress end activities.
Send $3.00 for a year’s charter membership, to ABATE . . .
Do it now, keeping in mind that tomorrow, today will be yesterday and we’re already short of time.
© Copyright 1972 Easyriders Magazine (February)
