Letters to Senators & Members of Congress

I got a bee in my bonnet and wrote to approximately 50 Congressmen & Senators on the Reform Bill Committees able to change the CPSIA. To quote:

"RE: CPSIA and the latest ruling from the CPSC.

Dear Congressman xyz,

My Company will go bankrupt because of this law. I understand you are on the sub committee for the S.374 Bill, so are in a position to help make appropriate changes.

We manufacture small safe, green, electric dirt bikes for kids. This law currently BANS mini motorcycles, ATV's, bicycles, skateboards, roller blades, ski bindings etc. The latest ruling from the CPSC (http://www.cpsc.gov/library/foia/foia09/brief/leadexclusion.pdf) states that because CONGRESS used the word 'ANY' in the description of the lead risk, their hands are tied, and exemptions for our industries can not be made.

The motorcycle and bicycle industries both put scientific evidence to the CPSC that found that riding a bike with greater than 600ppm in the brake levers, and handling valve stems with bare hands would result in less lead absorbtion than drinking a glass of water! Yet, Congress wrote the law such that ANY absorbtion is unacceptable, so... no exemption.

This law is bizarre, misguided, unscientific and completely ignores logic. MANY industries are totally ignoring the law, and may face severe consequences because of it. There is NO evidence of elevated lead levels from use of motorcycles, bicycles or any other product as listed above. NONE.

Can you truly stand by a law that prevents children riding bicycles? Can you stand by a law that kills thousands of businesses, for no logical reason?

The Motorcycle Industry Council estimates a loss of $1 billion per year to the economy from the motorcycle industry alone... for NO LOGICAL REASON. This law is NOT protecting our children.

Should we envisage a society where our kids can't play in the dirt (2000ppm in older urban areas), can not drink a glass of water (10 times higher lead intake than playing with a valve stem all day), can not ride a bike or skateboard. How about if they all sit in front of the Playstation all day instead, then millions will die young from obesity problems.

I hope you understand that these industries will not accept this law. We will fight until it is fixed. As awareness from media outlets becomes greater, I hope you understand that the people that wrote this law will be held up as imbeciles. We have a serious problem here that CONGRESS has to fix. The blame from congress is directed at the CPSC... CONGRESS made the law, not the CPSC. Congress must fix it.

A copy of this letter will be circulated amongst the motorcycle industry, to CNN and other media outlets. Please put yourself in our shoes, and the shoes of our children and see some reason. Really, if Congress bans bicycles and motorcycles, you'll have to ban food, water and dirt as well. This law is not about safety... it is entirely about politics, and we, the people, are obliged to hold you accountable for your actions. You, in turn, are obliged to listen to us. It's your job.

Yours Sincerely,

Ian Smith
OSET Bikes
www.osetbikes.com"

Out of all these letters, I have received precisely 2 responses. One from Senator Mel Martinez (FL) and one from Senator Sue Myrick. Both were 'canned' responses that did not address the content of the above letter. Both were letters of support for the law. At least Senator Myrick's letter confessed that there were problems with the law, but she was mistakenly under the impression they had been fixed.

Hopefully the letters have not gone to waste. There must be a critical mass of calls and letters that will get their attention to the level we need it.

Ian.

Honda Changes the Game

We found out about this law on December 28th 2008 after a Trials bicycle riding friend said the niche bicycle industry (Trials/BMX etc) were projecting imminent doom. We checked out the CPSIA law, and the deeper we got, the crazier it appeared. We were horrified that, despite the law being signed by President Bush in August 2008, the CPSC, who were given the task of enacting the law, had really failed to inform businesses around the Country that this Law was coming into effect. There was no machinery in place. Each business had to find out for themselves. We were in the process of ordering another container of bikes, and stopped it immediately. On January 6th, we gave our Operations Manager a months notice. Clearly, if we could not sell bikes, we could not employ anything more than a skeleton crew.

As February 10th loomed, we were in a state of confusion. We had heard virtually nothing from affected industries, so had no idea how they were playing it. There was an assumption that the law would be fixed by the Feb 10th deadline. There was even a ruling set for Feb 9th that could potentially fix the law.

On February 2nd, we discovered that Honda had sent a letter to their dealers instructing them to remove all kids bikes and ATVs from their showrooms on Feb 10th, and to cease sales of bikes & parts for those bikes. This caused a domino effect through the industry. Yamaha was next, then Kawasaki, Suzuki, KTM, Polaris etc followed suit. This was clearly a game changer, and OSET decided to follow suit.