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By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com
A representative of the Connecticut Motorcycle Riders Association is planning to be in the hearing room today when the General Assembly’s Transportation Committee invites testimony on some 81 proposed bills, including ones that would require a valid driver’s license with motorcycle endorsement to register as motorcycle and that would clamp down on loud exhaust pipes.
C.M.R.A. vice chairman Sandra Clark, who will present the group’s views, provided RIDE-CT.com with advance copies of what she plans to say regarding proposed Bill No. 6214 and Proposed Bills No. 821 and 826.
Bill No. 6214 would amend state law “to provide that no person may register a motorcycle unless such person is in possession of a valid operator’s license that contains a motorcycle endorsement.” The purpose of the bill is reduce the number of riders on the road who do not have an “M” on their licenses.
The C.M.R.A.’s take is that the bill fails to take into account businesses that may want to register motorcycles for lease/rental or educational uses. Clark’s prepared statement notes, “The proposal may adversely affect the ability to learn to ride a motorcycle or deter other business opportunities involving motorcycle usage in the state of Connecticut.”
Bills No. 821 and 826 are designed to “to help prevent the operation of motorcycles with tail pipes that violate maximum legal noise levels” and “to prevent the operation of motorcycles with illegally loud tail pipes,” respectively, by requiring that a manufacturer’s imprint on the tail pipe and the motorcycle match to obtain a safety inspection sticker or license plate. However, the bill also notes that aftermarket pipes that “do not exceed state decibel limits shall not disqualify such cycle from the issuance of such sticker or plate.”
The C.M.R.A.’s view here is that the bills, in Clark’s words, would “prohibit a consumer to freely choose a product for their vehicle,” and would single out motorcyclists from drivers of four-wheeled vehicles when it comes to buying replacement parts, including exhaust pipes.
The Transportation Committee hearing was scheduled to start at 10 a.m.
