|
The American Motorcyclist’s Association, Washington State and YOU!
| How Individuals and Clubs
Benefit |
|
 |
If you or your club are not members of the AMA, you are
missing out on some good benefits and more importantly, legal protection as it
relates to your club events. Read on and get versed in the values AMA provides
both nationally and locally.
But first let’s look at a scenario that could happen to
any club in the state. In this case it’s the imaginary Puget Riders (or your
club) right here in Washington.
 It’s a
beautiful August day and the Puget Riders are out for their annual ride around
Mt. St. Helen’s. The group of fifteen riders have just come down the southeast
side of the volcano on FR25. The group is riding tight together and enters into
a signed 15mph turn at 25 mph. While the first four riders successfully execute
the turn, Newbie Neal leans into the turn head first and unsure of himself,
grabs the brakes and immediately feels his bike slide out from under him. The
bike sails across the road and 25 feet down into a ditch where it’s totaled.
Neal slides into the nearest tree, tailbone first and is now paralyzed from the
waist down. The two riders behind Neil go down as well. Neal’s family now files
a lawsuit against the club, i’s officers and attempts to put leins on anything
they can get their hands on. One of the other downed riders is preparing a
lawsuit against the club as well. One of two results could occur here.
a) The Puget Riders have been together for 3 years and
just ride for fun. No one ever took the club seriously even though they have a
full on website, officers, and collect membership dues to make T-shirts and
other fun stuff. But now the legal bills and headaches are mounting, their
attorney is under qualified to deal with a motorcycle related lawsuit, but
since he’s a friend of the club vice president he’s been enlisted. Things are
looking grim in the courtroom and on the members’ home fronts.
b) The Puget Riders formed three years ago. At that time
they chartered the club with the AMA. For this ride they took out the regular
one day event insurance policy, like they do with each scheduled ride. AMA has
assigned the club a professional attorney who is skilled in motorcycle
lawsuits. Because the club had all its legal ducks in a row before the ride
and the lawyer was well versed in these cases, the case was dropped, the club
lost nothing and the legal fees were paid through an AMA event insurance fund.
Which do you choose? A or B? My money is on B and I’m sure
yours would be to.
Chartering A Club
The reality is that of the100 plus clubs in the state, 85%
are not currently chartered with the AMA and are operating at a high level of
risk that is not worth the trouble should something disastrous happen. Is your
club in this category? Over the years we’ve seen a number of clubs develop in
the area with full websites, officers, membership fees, fund raising events and
so forth. These activities make that club a living breathing entity in the eyes
of the law, but many don’t take out event insurance and have little resourse in
the event of a disastrous incident.
To charter a club with AMA it’s fairly simple and
inexpensive. Here’s a simple cost break down for a cruiser or sportbike club of
50 members. Under this scenario we assume you’ll have 6 rides during the year.
| Expense |
Cost |
| AMA National Charter |
$35 |
| AMA District 27 Charter
(Washington State) |
$20 |
| Event Chartering |
$120 |
| AMA Insurance Policy (6 one
day events at $117 each) |
$702 |
|
TOTAL COST |
$887 |
|
Annual Cost Per Member (based
on 50 members) |
$17.74 |
Rates vary by event types and depending if your club is
on-road or off-road and specifically what the event is.
To charter your club with AMA you have two options. You
must charter nationally and for an extra twenty bucks you can charter it locally
too. National chartering means all your events are included in the AMA calendar
listings on their website and in their monthly magazine. Chartering locally
means your events are listed in the local Calendar book and you have a pool of
other local clubs to draw from for wisdom and support.
One of the critical parts of chartering your club is that
you will have the opportunity to take their risk management workshop held every
November. Its here you’ll learn the protocol for running your events in a safe
and fun manner and how to keep the legal beagles at bay.
Getting an individual membership
In order for a club to be chartered by AMA, ten of your
members must be individual AMA members. Chances are there are people in your
club that already are. To become an individual member you simply visit
www.ama-cycle.org or call 1-800-504-6262 (1-800-JOIN AMA). The annual fee is $39
and comes with a host of discounts that will easily pay for the $39 if you
utilize them.
Some of the benefits include:
Local dealer discounts
Vision care discounts at Pearle and Cole Vision Centers
Car Rental discounts with Hertz, National, Alamo and
Avis
Motorcycle insurance discounts through Progressive
Towing through AMA’s MOWTOW service
Lodging discounts at Red Roof and Super 8
Motorcycle Rental discounts at Eagle Rider and Cruise
America
Discounts on the International Motorcycle Show and many
AMA events including superbike and off-road races.
 You also get
a subscription to American Motorcyclist Magazine which provides not only
information about places to ride and upcoming models, but puts a spotlight on
state legal issues involving local motorcycling laws.
There are many other benefits to an AMA membership to
mention here, but you can find them all listed on the national website.
District 27 - Washington State
AMA’s local chapter, District 27, is made up solely of
volunteers. They have been very good people to work with over the last few
months as we’ve been preparing for Sportbike Northwest. They also put on some
great events like the Highland Fling which is an annual Poker Run through the
South Sound area and Dinosaur Days which is done in conjunction with the Tacoma
Ducks. These events are very well run, with locally chartered clubs helping out.
The Fling has been a staple since 1985 and raises the money the district needs
to operate each year.
In addition they run a number of competitive off-road
events state wide. More information is available through their website
(linked below).
Some of the clubs chartered locally with AMA include CMA,
The Tacoma Ducks, Royal Checkmates, the Vintage Motorcycle Enthusiasts and the
Skagit Motorcycle Club.
Will yours be next?
TM/Spring 03
To learn more about the AMA visit these links:
AMA National
http://www.amadirectlink.com
AMA, Washington State www.amadist27.org
|
