Legislative Update

We have passed out letters to all members of the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Finance Committee requesting that our Rider Training Fund be rededicated and used only for Motorcycle Rider Training. We have also requested that our Budget be increased to $ 2,400,000 for the next Biennium.
Paul Landers and I met again with those folks wanting to increase the insurance clause and require mandatory Rider Training to ride without a helmet. Angelica pointed out they did not want a repeat of last year when they introduced the Bill. We are very much aware of that but the first meeting produced no positive results. We had sent an Email to Angelica giving a list of items we would have to see invoked as well as things we simply would not accept on this round. There appeared to be a more positive attempt at reaching a consensus this time around so we began from scratch.
After everyone tossed ideas on the table the DPS Officer said point blank “what we have does not work” “We need to eliminate the helmet law, just say anyone 21 years of age or older may ride without a helmet.” That would be the language we passed in the House in 2001 but got stripped in theSenate. Basically an officer could still stop you to verify your helmet meets Federal Specifications but they could not stop you just for not wearing a helmet. In another section of the Bill it would state if youwere stopped for a traffic violation and was not wearing a helmet then you would have to show proof of insurance and the Rider Training Certificate.
We disagreed with both being required and finally settled on just a PIP Policy with no agreed on amount as of yet. They will check to see just what is available as a stand alone PIP and the cost of different amounts.
Of course if you have Hospitalization Insurance, Medicare, Medicaid or VACard then an officer would have to accept that as being sufficient. The Rider Training Card would not even be involved at all.
It was also agreed that our effort to have our Rider Training Fund rededicated for our use only was a worthy goal. Everyone present agreed to work with us, possibly even to the point of including it as a part of this Bill that this would happen.
Our other issue we had sent to Angelica prior to the meeting was Failure to Yield. We agreed that officers and judges had the authority to punish those who through careless driving injure or kill an innocent party but it very seldom happens. Angelica said we could make that a part of this Bill.
Paul and I agreed that would be a good way to maybe make this a Bill we really could live with. We stated if a persons negligent driving resulted in an injury to an innocent party we wanted a minimum $500 fine. If death was the result then the minimum fine should be $1000 and a six month license suspension. Angelica says she will do a simple draft and we will meet again to see how it resonates with all parties involved. It was very enjoyable to work with Paul. I feel certain that if there is any way to work out an acceptable Bill then Paul and I can find it.

Sputnik