OLYMPIA: For the second consecutive year, members of the motorcycle community watched one of their legislative priorities skid out of control.
A bill they hoped would have curbed motorcyclist profiling -- law enforcement officers pulling over leather-clad motorcyclists without cause -- was given the ax last week.
Despite the setback, motorcyclists are pushing other pro-biker bills, such as one to let them drive between lanes in traffic, or another that would ease current helmet laws. They have taken a stance against what they call "motorcycle cheese graters" -- highway medians made of cable that can leave them without a limb in a collision.
A driving force behind motorcycle legislation is a nationwide group called Abate, a band of riders that has made lobbying state legislatures across the nation one of its other missions. They call themselves A Brotherhood Against Totalitarian Enactments, but to tone down the attitude, they sometimes go by American Bikers Aimed Toward Education.
The anti-profiling legislation, House Bill 1149, had received a strong vocal push by riders from Southwest Washington, who traveled to Olympia recently to speak with legislators. Many of them perceive that Clark County has had significant instances of profiling.
David Bergland of Vancouver has taken pictures of what he alleges are cases of motorcyclist profiling. An example, Bergland said, was last summer when he and fellow motorcyclists were at a bar in Vancouver when police were outside taking down their license plate numbers.
"Something has to be done about this, and I'll follow it through," said Bergland, who is the director of the Southwest Washington chapter of Abate.
Jim White, a Vancouver Police Department officer representing the traffic unit, said police departments must have a probable cause before pulling over a motorist. He said he was unaware of any issues with his department.
"As far as specifically profiling motorcyclists, we don't do that," he said. "I don't suspect any officers would do that in the state. We haven't had any specific problems with any motorcycle group or issues with any organization or individual that owns a motorcycle."
Abate members say stereotypes lingering from the 1950s lead to profiling. Just because they wear leather, chains and ride a bike doesn't mean they're out cruising around, stealing, selling drugs and getting in fights, they say.
The chairman of the House Criminal Justice and Corrections committee, Rep. Al O'Brien, D-Mountlake Terrace, decided last week not to give the anti-profiling bill a vote. O'Brien is a 29-year police veteran.
"I decided it's something that doesn't require a statute of the Legislature," said O'Brien, a retired Seattle Police Department sergeant. "I've seen this happen -- there are loose cannons out there that pick on bikers. They do so without proper authority, but it's a small segment of the law enforcement community."
O'Brien said the legislation would have angered a lot of people in the criminal-justice community. "The problem could be handled without that," he said.
A previous version of HB 1149 died during last year's legislative session, too.
Fred Fakkema, legislative liaison for the Washington State Patrol, said a law already bans biased policing.
"There's no reason to make legislation when we already have an anti-biased policy," Fakkema said. Other lawmakers, however, support the motorcyclists' causes.
Rep. Ed Orcutt, a Republican from Kalama, supports several of the bikers' bills, including the anti-profiling legislation.
"I don't think people should be pulled over when they are not doing anything wrong," Orcutt said.
"These folks are upstanding citizens that like to wear leather and drive motorcycles. We've got to get away from the whole Hell's Angels stereotype."
Last year, Orcutt helped pass the "beanie bill," which set strict definitions of a legal helmet. It helped bikers by erasing ambiguity about what is legal.
Although the profiling bill is dead for now, the motorcycle community isn't quitting.
Ginger Magures, legislative affairs coordinator for Abate of Washington, said the group will work on an anti-discrimination bill after they get a profiling bill passed.
"This will be followed through until we get what is right," Magures said.
The motorcyclists also are pushing legislation that would give them the choice to wear a helmet if they are older than 21.
Abate members said the bill is about freedom of choice.
"Freedom of choice doesn't mean we won't wear it," Magures said. "We know we should wear some kind of protection."
Deb Wallace, D-Vancouver, who supports the helmet bill, said: "That's a risk they take." Wallace said she doesn't side with all of their ideas, but nonetheless, she said motorcyclists are a community that deserves to be heard.
"It's fabulous that they're advocating for issues and dedicated to voicing their opinions," Wallace said. "That's the democratic process."
Brian Turner
360-786-7705