Transportation Concerns in the Colorado General Assembly
Hello Motorcycle Enthusiasts,
The Colorado General Assembly has just completed their first month of a four-month session. As of today, February 15, 2015, 124 Senate Bills and 261 House Bills have been introduced. Many bills have been assigned to the Senate Transportation Committee and the House Transportation and Energy Committee, but only a few pertain directly to motorcyclists. This month I’ ll try to bring you up-to-date on those bills.
Actually,“ up-to-date” is a relative term. Since I’ m writing this article on February 15, 2015 to meet the Thunder Roads Colorado deadline, and the earliest you could be reading this is the first week of March 2016. There is a gap of a couple of weeks due to getting the magazine printed, published and distributed. Consequently, when I mention something is going to take place next week, by the time you read about it, the event has already happened.
But all is not lost! By bringing this information to your attention, hopefully it will inspire you to become more legislatively active and seek other ways to acquire more current legislative information. One such way would be to join ABATE. I send out weekly legislative updates to our District Reps and District Legislative Affairs Officers, who in turn forward the information to district members. I also send out Action Alerts as needed, so our membership can contact their legislators on certain issues at the appropriate time: such as when a bill is about to be discussed at a committee hearing.
The Action Alerts also give ABATE members notice so they can come down to the Capitol and testify at committee hearings. What a perfect way to get your voice heard on issues that affect your life! Isn’ t that the American way? Of course, if you don’ t want to join ABATE and support a State Motorcycle Rights Organization fighting for your freedoms and right to ride the way you want to, my legislative updates and action alerts can be found on our website, www. abateofcolo. org. You can also find other helpful legislative information on our website, such as: how to contact your legislators; how a bill becomes a law; and motorcycle laws in the Colorado Revised Statutes.
So, what bills are concerns of Colorado motorcyclists and what is their status? Wednesday, 2 / 17, the House Transportation and Energy Committee will be discussing HB16-1205( Motorcycle Lane-Splitting). Representative Klingenschmitt introduced the bill on 2 / 4 / 16. The American Motorcycle Association supports lane-splitting and a recent UC Berkley study indicates improved safety with lane-splitting, but what will Colorado Legislators think about it. Did you voice your opinion to your“ lawmaker”?
Also this week, on Thursday, 2 / 18, the Senate Transportation Committee will be discussing SB16-123( Free Access to High Occupancy Vehicle Lanes). As of July 22, 2015 motorcycles have been required to have a transponder on their motorcycles to use a HOV / HOT or Express Toll Lane. Per Federal Regulations, motorcycles are HOVs and entitled to
free access to these lanes, but CDOT imposed a $ 35“ deposit” for a transponder to use these lanes for free. Doesn’ t sound like“ free” to me!
There are also a couple bills introduced pertaining to Red Light Cameras and Oversight of CDOT. Although these bills aren’ t directly related to motorcycles, if you own a motor vehicle and drive on Colorado roads, you might be concerned about these bills. Also how is CDOT spending your tax dollars? These bills and more can be accessed on the Colorado General Assembly website at www. leg. state. co. us. There are lots of bills introduced that might have a direct impact on your life. Isn’ t it time to get legislatively active and express your concern to your legislators?
On a lighter note, here is an amusing anecdote from a 1970’ s extended road trip taken by my wife and myself. My wife and I were traveling through southern Florida somewhere around dinner time one day looking for a place to“ camp” for the night. I passed a small abandoned building alongside the road that looked like an old boarded-up warehouse. I pulled over about 50 yards past the building and parked my bike in a gravel driveway. My wife, Val, stayed with the bike while I walked back to see if there was a flat, out-of-sight area behind the building where we could“ camp” for the night.
About five minutes later, while walking back toward the bike, I see Val waving her arms, hollering something to me, motioning for me to hurry back. I run back and Val says,“ Hurry. Let’ s get out of here. The cops are coming.”“ What happened“, I asked. Val replied,“ A woman drove up and wanted to get into her driveway. I replied that I couldn’ t move the bike and my husband will be back in a minute. She insisted I move the bike. When I tried to move it, it fell over. The woman then drove around the bike on the grass and went up the driveway, screaming that she was going to call the police.” I noticed the bike was upright on the kickstand, so I asked how she got the bike back up. She said there was a kid walking down the road and she gave him a quarter to help her pick up the bike! I kicked over the Harley and we got out of there before the cops showed up. Of course we had to find another place to“ camp” for the night.
As I think back on the stories from our numerous road trips, I wonder if these are just amusing to me or do others appreciate them too? Do you have to“ be-there” to find it interesting? Is something more“ amusing” if there’ s danger involved? I know most of the time the incidents like these don’ t seem amusing while they’ re happening! So now when something“ bad” happens on a road trip, such as a break down”, my first response is,“ Look at the great story we’ re going to have”!
Isn’ t telling stories from road trips part of the camaraderie of the brotherhood? So instead of just writing“ serious” information about Colorado legislative issues, I’ ll try to throw in a road trip story to keep things a little interesting. Hope you enjoy them and remember to become more legislatively active. Stump Legislative Affairs Officer ABATE of Colorado
6 Thunder Roads Magazine ® Colorado March 2016 www. thunderroadscolorado. com