WASHINGTON, DC -- Congressman Petri has decided to hold the letter open for more signatures reports the Motorcycle Riders Foundation. Congressman Petri (WI) has decided to allow time to continue gathering signatures. Mr. Petri has taken the lead on drafting a letter to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to ask them to not waste resources on motorcycle safety when we have so many more government agencies all ready doing the same research. He has decided to hold the letter open through close of business Friday November 8th. Please contact your Federal Representative and ask that they co-sign the Petri CDC letter by contacting Mr. Petri's D.C. office. You can reach the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and you can determine who your Representative is through this website: http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/. Please act now. The text of the Petri CDC letter is below.
Dr. Thomas Frieden
Director
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
1600 Clifton Rd
Atlanta, GA 30333
Dear Dr. Frieden:
We are writing to express our concern about activities of the CDC regarding motorcycle safety, in particular the Motorcycle Safety report which focuses on pressuring states to pass universal helmet laws.
The issue of transportation and motorcycle safety has been studied extensively by agencies within the Department of Transportation and the National Transportation Safety Board. These agencies have transportation professionals who are experienced in this area. The extensively footnoted report seems to be little more than a compilation of work that other agencies have done, and with questionable conclusions.
For example, the report states that motorcycle-related deaths have increased by 55 percent since 2000. But nowhere in the report is it mentioned that motorcycle registrations have also increased substantially since 2000. The report also notes that 41 percent of motorcycle operators and 50 percent of motorcycle passengers who died in 2010 were not wearing a helmet - which seems to indicate there were more deaths with helmets than without. It would seem to follow that 59 percent of motorcycle operators and 50 percent of passengers who died in 2010 were wearing a helmet. Interesting, but what is the conclusion we should reasonably draw from these figures?
Given the demands on your budget and the unique ability of the CDC to address such pressing issues as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer's and a host of other conditions and issues which afflict millions of Americans and others around the globe, we encourage you to direct your attention and resources to areas that are not currently already being addressed elsewhere in the government.
Sincerely,
