A look at 2010 and the Motorcycle Bills.
As we look at the first five (5) months of 2010 and the bills that have made it to the House and Senate and on to the Governor for signature to become law, it has been a very successful first five months. Let’s take a look at the three (3) bills that we have worked on and what happened.
HB2033 a revision to extend the date in law relating to Vehicle Emissions Testing. Having completed the State Implementation Plan revision process, ADEQ submitted the SIP to the EPA for their approval in October of 2009. The purpose of HB2033 is to extend the EPA deadline to allow sufficient time for them to complete their review and approval process. As the current ‘conditional enactment date’, for the the removal of motorcycle emissions in Area “A”, is July 1st, 2010, this bill to extend that date to 2012 is considered and ‘emergency’ request. This bill was signed by the Governor on 4/14/10 and extends the date for the EPA to do their study. This will eliminate the need for Motorcycle Emissions in Maricopa County. Our hope is that in 2011 there will no longer be a need for Motorcycle Emission’s in Maricopa County.
SB1023 motor accident; death; injury (Right of Way)-ADDS 3 categories, pertaining to ‘merging’, ‘improper lane change’ and pulling out from intersections’ – ADDS that upon a Second or Subsequent Violation of 28-672 within a 36 month period, that the court ‘SHALL’ not ‘May’ suspend the violates license for 90 days for Serious Physical Injury or 180 days for Death – ADDS 3 categories, pertaining to ‘merging’, improper lane change’ and ‘pulling out from intersections’ – ADDS a Classification of driver, referring ti the driver that ‘DOES NOT have a valid License or Endorsement’, which is currently not addressed within the ‘classification of driver’. This bill was signed by the Governor on 4/26/10.
HB2475 is for one year in Maricopa County and was created due to Safety. One of the main accidents for Motorcycle riders is rear end accidents. This allows the Motorcycle to split lanes ONLY when traffic is stopped which helps prevent motorcycle rear end accidents. This is different that California. California allows for traffic to be moving. When splitting lanes it needs to be in stopped traffic and safety are the number one concern from the standpoint of the rear end accidents and as the Motorcyclist is splitting the lanes. This bill was vetoed by the Governor on 5/11/10. We were upset that the Governor vetoed this bill as it was created to help in safety. So Many times motorcyclists are killed or seriously injured from rear end accidents. In addition, with the hot summer months here, it allows the motorcyclist to move through traffic when stopped to get to an area out of the heat.
A great year on Motorcycle bills and it couldn’t have been done without the support of the Lobbyist team, Motorcycle Community and their many calls and emails to the Legislative folks asking for their support of the bills. The Lobbyists have worked hard on the above bills and many phone calls, time at the Capital and many emails. This was truly a team effort among the Lobbyist, Legislative folks and the Motorcycle community. THANK YOU for all your help and support this year on the above three (3) bills.
Mick Degn
MMA Designated Lobbyist
Lobbyist@mma-az-org
Modified Motorcycle Association