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AMA Pushes For Tougher Penalties For Motorist

AMA Pushes For Tougher Penalties For Motorist

Release Date: 6/4/2004

Pickerington, OH; (MCNW) The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) has announced "Justice for All," a new nationwide initiative that will focus on in adequate sentencing of drivers who seriously injure or kill motorcyclists.,/p>

"Justice for All" will advocate legislation establishing tougher penalties when traffic offenses or criminal actions by other motorists result in a motorcyclist's death or serious injury, a move that also would benefit other vulnerable road users such as bicyclists and pedestrians. The program will include cooperation with state and local motorcycling organizations, efforts by AMA Community Councils, and a variety of opportunities for individual motorcyclists and other concerned citizens to become involved.

"Justice for All" also will feature events that coincide with the 2004 Black Hills Rally in Sturgis, South Dakota.

In late January, after former U.S. Rep. Bill Janklow received just 100 days in a South Dakota county jail for second-degree manslaughter related to a traffic crash that claimed a motorcyclist's life, the AMA expressed its disappointment in the sentence, not only because it represented an inadequate penalty for that crime, but because it's an example of injustice that occurs in court rooms all over the country.

"We believe it's important to take constructive action that reaches far beyond the borders of South Dakota," said Edward Moreland, Vice President of AMA Government Relations. "Instead of directing our energy toward something that's already happened, we urge all motorcyclists to work with us to change the way the justice system sentences drivers who kill motorcyclists, and to prevent similar tragedies and in justices instates and communities nationwide."

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