John Painter
Elio Addict
It's been awhile, so I thought I should do an update on LD687 here in Maine.
I've been in conversations with Rep. Golden over the autocycle bill he introduced for me, unfortunately the Transportation Committee is voting today it "ought not to pass" for a variety of reasons though at the top of the list Elio Motors not yet being in production and the two bills in Congress and NHTSA's perennial rule proposal. While it's somewhat disappointing it's not unexpected since I was proposing essentially what EM has been pushing federally, primarily for the operators license to be Class C, to address the ironic risk to the public of treating a vehicle like the Elio as a motorcycle e.g. a child in Maine currently would be required to wear a DOT approved helmet in an Elio - that extra 3-4lbs on their head would greatly exaggerate the whiplash effect on their necks in the event of stopping short in traffic, let alone an actual accident, also Maine is one of a number of states that allows people to get a motorcycle license without getting a class C license first... right, so aside from the controls in an Elio being nothing like a motorcycle It would be completely dangerous though technically legal to ride two abreast on Maine roads with an Elio.
The good news is Rep. Golden and I are working out (since I know all the players in Maine BMV, and Legislatures Transportation Committee and they know me) how we'd approach introducing a new bill next December. The trigger will be if EM gets the ATVM loan this summer. If so, then I'll go directly to BMV and they will help support the bill. I've already offered, and gotten accepted responses, if EM goes into production in the 4th Qtr and (depending on how one calculates) my SIL comes up in mid to late May of 2017 to do a full orientation to the vehicle with BMV officials and Legislative Committee members. Currently I only know of five other reservation holders in the state, but if EM does make it to production most I've spoken with agree there would likely be a "shit ton" of them ending up on Maine roads a year later. Maine already issues a high, and climbing number of motorcycle licenses so I know that key people in Maine are indeed watching what happens with EM.
Anyway, below is the e-mail Rep. Golden sent me a couple weeks back.
John:
Hope you are doing well. As required by the committee the Secretary of State reported back to the committee this month and recommended that they take no action to update the laws because of the pending federal legislation, because of NHTSA's current rulemaking that autocycles be treated as motorcycles and because the vehicle is not yet off the production line for sale.
The committee has made it clear to me that there will likely be a majority vote in favor of "ought not to pass," on LD 687.
That being said, if production is set to begin in the 4th quarter than we should be able to reintroduce the measure in December 2016 for consideration by the Legislature in 2017. My gut is that this bill will have better prospects for passage after the vehicle is on the road and people begin to see firsthand the merits of the proposed changes and the Bureau of Motor Vehicles feels compelled to act. Right now, with no vehicle on the road and the pending federal legislation they are able to make an argument in favor of waiting to see what happens with production and with federal law and NHTSA.
Happy to talk more about this now and also about trying again in the future.
All the best,
Jared
Sent from my iPhone
I've been in conversations with Rep. Golden over the autocycle bill he introduced for me, unfortunately the Transportation Committee is voting today it "ought not to pass" for a variety of reasons though at the top of the list Elio Motors not yet being in production and the two bills in Congress and NHTSA's perennial rule proposal. While it's somewhat disappointing it's not unexpected since I was proposing essentially what EM has been pushing federally, primarily for the operators license to be Class C, to address the ironic risk to the public of treating a vehicle like the Elio as a motorcycle e.g. a child in Maine currently would be required to wear a DOT approved helmet in an Elio - that extra 3-4lbs on their head would greatly exaggerate the whiplash effect on their necks in the event of stopping short in traffic, let alone an actual accident, also Maine is one of a number of states that allows people to get a motorcycle license without getting a class C license first... right, so aside from the controls in an Elio being nothing like a motorcycle It would be completely dangerous though technically legal to ride two abreast on Maine roads with an Elio.
The good news is Rep. Golden and I are working out (since I know all the players in Maine BMV, and Legislatures Transportation Committee and they know me) how we'd approach introducing a new bill next December. The trigger will be if EM gets the ATVM loan this summer. If so, then I'll go directly to BMV and they will help support the bill. I've already offered, and gotten accepted responses, if EM goes into production in the 4th Qtr and (depending on how one calculates) my SIL comes up in mid to late May of 2017 to do a full orientation to the vehicle with BMV officials and Legislative Committee members. Currently I only know of five other reservation holders in the state, but if EM does make it to production most I've spoken with agree there would likely be a "shit ton" of them ending up on Maine roads a year later. Maine already issues a high, and climbing number of motorcycle licenses so I know that key people in Maine are indeed watching what happens with EM.
Anyway, below is the e-mail Rep. Golden sent me a couple weeks back.
John:
Hope you are doing well. As required by the committee the Secretary of State reported back to the committee this month and recommended that they take no action to update the laws because of the pending federal legislation, because of NHTSA's current rulemaking that autocycles be treated as motorcycles and because the vehicle is not yet off the production line for sale.
The committee has made it clear to me that there will likely be a majority vote in favor of "ought not to pass," on LD 687.
That being said, if production is set to begin in the 4th quarter than we should be able to reintroduce the measure in December 2016 for consideration by the Legislature in 2017. My gut is that this bill will have better prospects for passage after the vehicle is on the road and people begin to see firsthand the merits of the proposed changes and the Bureau of Motor Vehicles feels compelled to act. Right now, with no vehicle on the road and the pending federal legislation they are able to make an argument in favor of waiting to see what happens with production and with federal law and NHTSA.
Happy to talk more about this now and also about trying again in the future.
All the best,
Jared
Sent from my iPhone