HB16-1172 is a bill dealing with a CDOT Efficiency and Accountability Committee . ABATE ’ s concern comes in the statement , “ The responsibilities of the committee are clarified and expanded to ensure that the committee addresses commission and CDOT accountability , specifically with respect to compliance with federal and state legal requirements …”. Again this relates to the Federal Statute on motorcycles as HOV and possibly the MOST Program .
The Senate Joint Resolution of concern was SJR16-038 , this would establish May as Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month in Colorado . I started looking for as sponsor in late March . Senator Tate stepped up with help from Sen . Todd , but by the time we got a house sponsor ( Reps . Ginal & Sias ) and all the wording straightened out , it didn ’ t get introduced to the Senate Floor until 4 / 28 . It passed on 4 / 29 and was sent to the House Floor on 5 / 2 . Due to it being the last few days of the session and other “ more important ” issues , SJR16-038 kept getting laid over until finally it was never addressed in the House . Lesson learned on my part , start with that resolution next January .
Another issue ABATE was hoping would be addressed was Autocycles . Last year during a Transportation Legislative Review Committee ( TLRC ) meeting , Autocycles was briefly discussed and Chairman Tyler suggested it might be brought up during the 2016 session . When I addressed the issue with several legislators in late February , it was already too late to introduce a bill . The TLRC is an interim committee that meets after session and throughout the rest of the year , discussing possible issues for next year ’ s session and getting updates and reports from various state agencies . Sen . Baumgardner is this year ’ s Chairman so I ’ ve requested the issue be put on the agenda for this year . We ’ ll see , as I will try to attend the committee meetings . The issue being , there are some 3-wheeled vehicles out there ( Polaris ’ s Slingshot , Toyota ’ s Elio and I-Road and even Tuk-Tuks ) that are truly not motorcycles , but because of having 3 wheels , their “ statistics ” fall under the motorcycle category . In order to maintain accurate accident and fatality statistics ( the Colorado State Patrol agrees with this ) these vehicles should have their own category . Google these vehicles and see what you think , are they motorcycles ? Maybe next year we ’ ll get some action on the issue .
Lastly , ABATE is working on a questionnaire to send out to candidates for the State Senate and House seats . The Primary is June 28th , so as soon as we know who our “ motorcycle friendlies ” are , we ’ ll get the word out to help you decide who to vote for . Now would be a good time to join a State Motorcycle Rights Organization and become more legislatively active .
Stump Legislative Affairs Office – ABATE of Colorado
www . thunderroadscolorado . com June 2016 Thunder Roads Magazine ® Colorado 7