The fate of California motorcycle enthusiasts lies in the hands of one of the most famous riders with a controversial bill heading to the desk of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
On Monday California’s state Senate voted 21-16 to pass SB435, a which bill makes it a crime to operate a motorcycle manufactured after Jan. 1, 2013 that fails to meet federal noise-emission control standards.
If the bill is signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger, riders caught riding model year 2013 or newer motorcycles without this stamp would be issued “fix it” tickets by law enforcement officers.
How will a police official know it meets the standard? By a sticker of course.
“The noise caused by illegally modified motorcycle exhaust systems is a major quality of life issue across the state,” said the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Fran Pavley in a statement yesterday, “Basic common sense and decency dictates that when a motorcycle drives by and sets off every car alarm on the street, that is too loud. Additionally, many of the modifications which are aimed at making a bike louder—for example removing the catalytic converter—also make the bike exponentially more polluting. This has direct, measurable and negative impacts on public health.”
When the legislation started its journey through the California legislative system in July the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) objected to the legislation for several reasons, one of which was the required sticker.
“Many EPA labels are very difficult to locate on motorcycles,” said AMA Western States Representative Nick Haris. “This proposed law could lead to a flurry of tickets for motorcyclists who have legal exhaust systems on their machines with EPA labels that can’t be easily seen. It’s unreasonable to expect a law enforcement officer to easily locate an EPA label, and it’s simply unfair to expect a motorcycle owner to partially dismantle an exhaust system alongside the road to prove the label exists.”
Others opposed to the bill noted that many aftermarket exhaust systems meet emission standards but aren’t labeled, meaning law-abiding riders could be unfairly ticketed.
The AMA had encouraged California riders to contact their representatives to vote against the measure.
Sen Fran PavelyThis isn’t the first time the esteemed Senator from Oxnard-Los Angeles has had motorcycles in her crosshairs. It only last year when Pavley (pictured right) tried to introduce the same bill requiring the EPA stickers. Originally including smog tests for motorcycles built after 2010, the bill was watered down to the sticker requirement but still couldn’t make it through the legislature.
“In the absence of smog check, or other emissions or noise testing mechanisms for motorcycles in California, it is necessary to establish an enforcement mechanism that does not allow motorcycles to skirt current law,” explained Pavley in her statement.
And apparently the AMA couldn’t agree more with the Senator’s sentiment which is why the organization developed model legislation in September 2009 to help authorities come to terms with sound complaints surrounding motorcycles. The solution offered cities and states seeking a simple, consistent and economical way to deal with sound complaints related to on-highway motorcycles within the larger context of excessive sound from all sources. The group feels the model legislation offers an better, objective method than the one just passed.
“Requiring that a motorcycle display a readily visible EPA label isn’t the correct way to address concerns about excessive motorcycle sound,” the AMA’s Haris noted in a statement earlier this year, “The only objective way to determine whether a motorcycle complies with sound laws is for properly trained personnel to conduct sound level tests using calibrated meters and an agreed-upon testing procedure.”
Written by Digits
Popularity: unranked [?]
