1. Motorcyclists have gained GUARANTEED access to highways - Congress has made it against the law to ban motorcycles on highways built with federal money. For example, when some politicians in Chicago tried to keep motorcyclists off one of the city's busiest streets, this law stopped them in their tracks. What's more, this means we'll have on-going access to "high occupancy vehicle" lanes-- the ones marked with a diamond. So we can still bypass regular lanes choked with traffic and ride smoother and safer.
   
   
2. Motorcyclists have become part of the "Intelligent Transportation Systems" - This is special technology to create safer and more efficient roads. At our urging, the government agreed to include motorcyclists as part of the traffic "mix". (Believe it or not, before the AMA intervened, the government was about to ignore riders completely-- but now the AMA is on-hand when they test these systems, to make sure they work for motorcyclists, too.)
   
   
3. Swift action is underway to make roads safer for motorcyclists - The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been ordered to improfe safety by focusing on accident prevention rather than injury prevention. We've found that preventing accidents before they happen is better for riders than just figuring out how to cut down on injuries later. The result? The agency has made big grants to benefit motorcyclists-- one to promote motorist awareness of motorcycles AND the other to figure out ways to reduce alcohol-related accidents.
   
   
4. $270 Million has been allocated for off-road trails - Previous legislation for these trails (for off-road motorcyclists, off-road vehicle riders, snowmobiles and 4-wheel drive enthusiasts) never got the money it needed to work. We lobbied hard, and the government is now spending over a quarter of a billion dollars to build new trails and fix up those already in use. Now we will have many more places to play!