Eliminating Motorcycle Emissions in Arizona

After a few false starts, ADEQ finally (after 3 tries) got a readable, corrected and signed Eliminating Emissions paperwork to the Federal Register. After it is recorded, we’ll have 60 days from that date for the change to activate and go into effect. By the next Patriot publication, we hope to make the final announcement. I want to express thanks to all of those who have been patiently struggling with the lobbying, paperwork, meetings, procedures and legal time frames. We can now see light at the end of the tunnel.

Lane Advancement Meeting DPS – 3/19/13

We met with Captain Wayde Webb and DPS lobbyist Katy Proctor on March 19, 2013 to discuss Lane Advancement topics. AZ Department of Public Safety (DPS) and MMAAZ wanted to agree on some basic ground rules and begin the process of open communication with DPS as Stakeholders.

They had copies of our case and CA guidelines that came from the CA Office of Traffic Safety’s (OTS) recent survey. We explained how our current case was built, and cited credible sources. These included: published researched statistics on motorcycle rear-end collisions VS the dynamics of collisions between vehicles; a second published paper based on the CA OTS Survey showing the need for vehicle driver education, and finally, Oregon’s 16-page research study on collisions.

Discovering that Capt. Webb was involved in Accident Reconstruction as well as the writer/publisher of the two papers was very reassuring. It meant that he clearly understood our case from a technical and “hands-on” standpoint.

Learning that the CA OTS website has guidelines for both motorcyclists and vehicle drivers on Lane-splitting in CA was a plus! After research surveys, CA authorities established there must be more education of both drivers and motorcycle riders. During the meeting, we also shared a few driver/motorcycle rider hints gathered from our prior MMA-AZ research surveys.

General concern is always for the safety of everyone on the road. By running this Bill in the 2014 session, it would become law 90 days from the time the Governor signs it -- which would be within a September 2014 timeframe. Capt. Webb and Ms Proctor asked for copies of the proposed legislation to revise ARS. 28-903; fortunately, we had come prepared.

The DPS folks were sincere in their proposed efforts to review our ‘case’ and the criteria we installed. I’m looking forward to more talks during the upcoming meeting in April.

Billy "Desperado" Larson
MMA-AZ Designated Lobbyist