MOST Program “a Mess” But Not Hopeless
Rider training programs such as this one are what the money is supposed to go for.
ABATE of Colorado hasn’t given up on the badly crippled Motorcycle Operator Safety Training (MOST) program yet, despite its being twisted out of shape by the bureaucrats charged with running it.
ABATE State Coordinator Terry Howard told me Sunday that “the program is a mess.” She said they have cut reimbursements for riders seeking training and the person charged with overseeing the program has been burdened with so much paperwork that they don’t have time for any quality assurance visits that are the key to ensuring that the program functions as intended.
In discussion with Sen. Lois Tochtrop, a close ally of ABATE, the idea of lobbying for removal of the $2 per year fee that each of us pay when we renew our plates was dropped because that would mean no program at all. Of course, I thought killing the program was about the point Terry had gotten to in her thinking but I guess she’s not ready to give up.
Instead, the plan now is to work with the legislature to try to mandate how the money is spent. According to Terry, the folks at the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) are saying the 15 percent of the dollars that are now allocated for administration are not enough to do what is needed. The bill that ABATE hopes to have introduced by Democrat Tochtrop in the Senate and by a Republican member in the House would mandate 20 percent of the money go for administration, just 10 percent for motorcycle awareness programs, and the other 70 percent for rider training cost deferral.
Of course, the whole point of the MOST program from the start was to make it less expensive for new riders to take training classes, thereby–hopefully–resulting in better riders and fewer motorcycle fatalities on Colorado roads. But the way things have gotten twisted, very little of the money now goes for that purpose, which is why the people who have always backed the program are so upset. CDOT wants to use almost all the money for motorcycle awareness programs. Never mind that similar programs for people in cars and trucks do not get paid for by extra fees on car and truck license renewals.
What’s going to happen? Who knows. Stay tuned. But Terry hasn’t given up hope.
“We’ll fix it one way or another,” she assured me.
Biker Quote for Today
The most dangerous times on a bike are the first month when you don’t know what you’re doing, and the fourth month when you think you do. — Bill
Tags: Colorado MOST program
November 25th, 2013 at 11:44 am
[…] got the update on Sunday as to the revisions in the MOST legislation that are in the […]