Passes & Canyons Blog

Yeah, we can at least dream about this kind of riding in the next few months.

The new legislative session will begin shortly after the first of the year and there will for sure be two bills of interest to motorcyclists on the docket. This bill would create a new classification of motor vehicles, removing autocycles, such as the Polaris Slingshot, from some rules applying to cars, some rules applying to motorcycles, and removing things such as autocycle crash statistics from being merged with motorcycle crash statistics.

The Motorcycle Operator Safety Training (MOST) program will also be coming up because when it was created the Colorado Sunset Law required that it be periodically renewed. The Department of Regulatory Agencies has conducted a sunset review and is recommended it be continued for another five years.

ABATE of Colorado, as well as other interested parties, will be watching those bills. According to Stump, ABATE’s legislative liaison, the language of the autocycle bill is not exactly what ABATE would prefer but it is good and it may be able to be improved in committee.

MOST is something ABATE would like to see either abolished or revised to take it back to its original intent. Again, revisions are possible in committee.

Because I am interested in these and other legislative matters concerning motorcycles, I recently allowed myself to be elected the ABATE District 10 Legislative Affairs representative. The following are some excerpts from the letter Stump sent each of us about what we’ll be doing this year.

The emphasis this year is getting as many ABATE members legislatively active as possible. We’re going to have a very busy schedule down at the Capitol and we need a lot of help.

I’ll be sending out weekly updates on legislative issues. It will be your job to get this information to your district members. More important, I’ll be sending out “Action Alerts”, when I need you to contact your legislators. Sometimes I’ll send out talking points and sometimes I’ll send out a form letter, depending on where the bill is in the process and how much time we have to take action. A personal letter from talking points is more influential than a form letter, but sometimes we might only have 1-2 days to contact them. In such case, a phone call to your legislator, which is probably even faster than sending an e-mail, might be more appropriate.

Besides waiting for an “Action Alert” and a specific reason to contact your legislators, there is a lot more you can do to help our “cause”. Everyone should be contacting both their Senator and Representative and introducing themselves, mentioning you’re a constituent and an ABATE member. You might even explain a little about ABATE. Also congratulate them on winning their election, if appropriate, especially if they’re new.

Lastly, you can all help out by coming to the Capitol. Set up a time with your legislators and have a face-to-face with them. It’s the best way to introduce yourself. Or you can just come to the Capitol without an appointment, but chances are you’ll wind up talking to an aide rather than the legislator. Either way, you get to express your concerns as a constituent. Try it; you just might have some fun!

I was down at the capital a lot last session so this won’t be much of a change, I’ll just be operating in a more official capacity. And of course I’ll keep you up to date right here.

Biker Quote for Today

The only impossible journey is the one you never begin.

Getting ready to ride.

ABATE of Colorado is a motorcycle rights organization, and one of the strongest voices on motorcycle-related issues that we have down at the state capitol.

Of course a lot of what ABATE deals with at the capitol is dictated by what bills are introduced each session. Nevertheless, it is useful to also set priorities as to which issues we want to push to have addressed. Stump is our legislative liaison down there and he has asked the group what we think the priorities should be for the next session, which will start in January. He offered six and would like to hear how we would rank them, plus I’m sure if someone offered another one that made everyone say, “Well, of course!”, then that would be welcome, too.

So I figured, why not throw this out there for anyone I can reach to offer their thoughts, too. I’m going to list the six, with a bit of explanation, and would love it if you would leave a comment with your thoughts. Thanks.

Lane-splitting: Although it has been allowed there for years, California just became the first state to officially make lane-splitting legal. This allows you to go up the middle between cars when traffic is either stopped or going extremely slow. I don’t really need to explain this further, do I?

The MOST program: The Motorcycle Operator Safety Training program was originally set up as a way to encourage riders, or especially prospective riders, to take training courses so they can become better, more competent, and presumably safer motorcyclist. The idea is that we all pay a couple bucks extra when we renew our plates and licenses each year and that money goes to reduce the cost for the trainee.

The Colorado Department of Transportation, which administers MOST, may argue differently among riders it is generally considered that MOST has strayed far from its mission and needs to either be revamped or eliminated. This is especially pertinent this year because it is up for sunset review. Is the riding community going to support keeping the program alive or will we push our elected representatives to kill it?

Autocycles: These are this proliferating group of three-wheeled vehicles that, because legislation does not keep up with society, are now classified as motorcycles. This classification creates a number of problems. When crashes occur, even though the factors involved may be completely unique to the three-wheelers, they get counted in motorcycling statistics. Plus, to ride one you might need a motorcycle rider designation on your driver’s license, which hardly seems appropriate if you’re riding one of those little Polaris Slingshot things.

There is movement all across the country to create a new classification of vehicle, the autocycle. Certainly this is something we should support here, but how much of a legislative priority is it considering that so far none of our legislators seems to be pushing it on their own.

Red light bill: Not all traffic signals that require triggering by vehicles to make the light turn are capable of detecting motorcycles. You can sit there for a long time waiting for it to turn. At some point you really ought to be able to go through the red without fear of being ticketed.

Right-of-way enhanced penalties: I posted on Monday about this Michigan legislator who was killed on his motorcycle when a car turned in front of him. He had the right-of-way and that driver violated his right-of-way. We all know this happens to us way too often, and it is often due to inattention or distraction. Should those people face extra harsh penalties for their negligence that led to a rider being killed? As it is, reports are all too common about these drivers getting fined $50 or some other such minor slap on the wrist.

Motorcycle-only checkpoints: Some states like to set up checkpoints where all they do is pull over motorcyclists to see if they have a valid motorcycle operator’s license and perhaps to do equipment safety checks on the bikes. They only pull over bikers. And they don’t always take motorcyclists’ special needs for stable footing and such when they select the places they’re going to do this. There is pressure to have these profiling events banned; some states have already done so.

That’s the list. What are your priorities?

Biker Quote for Today

It’s not a phase, it’s my life. It’s not a hobby, it’s my passion. It’s not for everyone, it is for me.