Anti-MSF?

I’ve heard that I’m “anti-MSF” a lot lately. First it makes me laugh and then it made me think about the lies we’re willing to tell to keep on believing the lies we love to believe. But it’s the “anti-MSF” thing that’s the subject of today’s entry. Those who write say it’s like it’s a bad thing.

My research has found that the majority of riders agree on two things and two things only when it comes to riders being safe on the road: training is good and the role of experience. And they believe that training is necessary for novices even when they themselves haven’t taken training. They disagree—and sometimes vehemently on everything else.

I believe strongly—even passionately—in rider training: that it can be effective, that it can equip a rider to prevent crashes. I believe, furthermore, that good, effective training—and seeing the results on our roads—is essential to preserving our rights as riders. I am passionate about riding. I have the heart and soul of a rider and it is the metaphor of my life. And I entered motorcycling through a beginner rider training course. And I have not swerved from that devotion to safe, effective motorcycle training.

For more than four years, I’ve researched and investigated rider education and MSF.

• I’ve uncovered that at least seven have died from crashes in training and at least three others have suffered near-fatal injuries including a case of total paralysis and that efforts had been undertaken to, at the very least, minimize what occurred.
• I demonstrated how MSF is not only aware of how deadly the course has become but changed forms and procedures to not just reflect that but to implicate the instructor.
• I’ve uncovered MSF’s true nature and purpose as a trade group solely focused on using rider training to sell as many motorcycles as possible.
• I documented how MSF stole its curriculum from existing ones and then eradicated all other competitive curricular products.
• I outlined how they used SMROs and riders to achieve a virtual monopoly in this field.
• I documented how it took control over training, set standards—and then changed them at will—to suit the manufacturer members’ interests even when it made training less safe.
• I discovered numerous instances of Harley and MSF undermining state programs, bankrupting one, trying to turn motorcycle rights activists against the state program, fiddling with legislation.
• I exposed that MSF sued Oregon not over the supposed copyright issue so much as a threat to force Oregon to allow Rider’s Edge programs to have the driver’s license-waiver.
• I showed how the curriculum has been dumbed down over the years—particularly in terms of hazard awareness, risk perception skills and street strategies.
• I discovered that the number of crashes in courses has zoomed up far over the previous curriculum and so have injuries (not to mention the deaths).
• I revealed how MSF uses the training course to prevent consumers from winning product liability suits.
• I showed how MSF has a plan in place to take over state programs for its own aggrandizement and control and is implementing it.
• I showed how MSF minimizes the importance of the classroom, how it’s pursing the online class with no regard to how that will affect riders or safety or training.
• I’ve used MSF documents to show that MSF has misrepresented, misled or out and out lied time and time again.
• I showed how they dumbed down the licensing tests and how the driver’s license-waiver does not equal the same level of skill riders would have to demonstrate at the DMV and showed why and when MSF began to pursue that policy.
• I demonstrated how MSF swift-boated detractors and sold the BRC through manipulation and deceit.
• I revealed that MSF knew the results of the studies that found it was ineffective and changed the language to reflect that in every instance where they could be legally held accountable.
• I demonstrated how MSF has deceived through “research” to promote the manufacturers’ interests.
• I revealed how MSF/MIC has used the media to blame riders for crashes and has used Motorcycle Awareness Month to castigate riders.
• I revealed that MSF’s Tim Buche said years ago that the accident causation study would take place “over his dead body” and—lo and behold, the manufacturers now have a major financial stake in it and control over it (as they did MAIDS through ACEM) and it has also been “dumbed down” from the original plan—and has barely begun after all these years.

And that’s just what came to me off the top of my head as I’m writing this. There’s more—a whole lot more. I came to find all that out—and then presented it to readers by evidence directly from MSF’s documents, reputable studies, state ethics commissions, legal documents, eyewitnesses, motorcycle safety experts, countless interviews. I brought in evidence from marketing, business, economics and psychology and kinesiology and crash tests—and that too is just from the top of my head. I’ve compared it to what training is in countries like Canada and the UK and licensing in the UK and the EU directive. In short, I based what I wrote on facts. On evidence. On comparison to other industries, activities and organizations, countries. Iow, the kind of evidence that convinces sane, rational people who don’t have vested interests in maintaining the status quo.

Over the years I came to the same conclusion any other sane, rational person who didn’t have a vested interest in rider training, MSF or Harley-Davidson would hold: it’s not what it presents itself to be—an organization pursuing the common good.

Given my passionate belief in what rider training could be and should be and knowledge of what can happen on the roads when it is, well, duh, of course I’m “anti-MSF”. Given what I know about MSF, I’d be insane and irrational if I wasn’t “anti-MSF”? You’d be crazy if you’d expect me to be “pro-MSF”.

To say I’m “anti-MSF” is like saying I’m “anti-Madoff”. I’ll take the label and happily put it on a t-shirt, thank you very much.

The question isn’t why am I so “anti-MSF”. The question is: Why aren’t you?