Maine Dmv Comment On Elio

[Music Man]

The response that I received from the Indiana BMV wasn't very good - perhaps I didn't phrase my question correctly either. There's still a lot of time and I know work is being done. Does anyone know of a website that shows the acceptance or progress that's being made across the U.S.?

If it were my question, I would be asking it of the Great Fearless Leader. . . . . . Goofyone.

He IS THE MOUTH PIECE HERE. . . . . "Officially."

 

[karl]

A while back, year or so I contacted the MA DMV and asked "Do I need a Helmet and a license endorsement?" They said yes. Elio says yes to the motorcycle (at the moment) license but no Helmet required by existing law. I am rereading the Federalist Papers to try and make sense of this, but it all seems to come down to divide and conquer to me.

 

[John Painter]

I think attempts to contact any states dmv's are a bit premature at this point. Paul Elio stated that they are working with each individual state to address current legistrative restrictions. Therefore, we all just need to "hold our horses" and let EM do what they are doing. If we don't trust EM to fulfill the dream/vision of what this vehicle will mean for the American people, we don't need to be involved in this forum!

That's just my opinion, I could be wrong. Just trying to stay positive!

Posts on their FB page suggests EM is looking for public buy in

 

[John Painter]

Updated response from Maine DMV, good information to work from.

From: "Bellavance, Eric" <Eric.Bellavance@maine.gov>
Date: September 22, 2014 at 8:20:08 AM EDT
To: 'John Painter' <johnlpainter@me.com>
Subject: RE: Elio

Good morning Mr. Painter,

Your wife would have to abide by all permit restrictions, as well as those that would apply after receiving her endorsement.

The Autocycle classification was passed into law from a bill submitted for a gentleman who had a “Zap” truck. The legislature added a sunset clause, and the law was only in effect for two years if I remember correctly. These alternative vehicles are being developed faster than legislation can keep up. Although some of them claim to meet automobile safety standards, they have not been adopted as so by the federal government. The American Association of Motor Vehicle Association (AAMVA) released a best practices guide for states to assist in the process of adopting legislation. I don’t know if anything is active in Maine right now, but I can ask around and let you know.

On a personal note, I can’t wait for the Elio to hit the market. I commute 65 miles round trip every workday and 80 mpg would be welcome!

I’ll be in touch.

Best regards,

Eric


Eric Bellavance
Senior Section Manager
Driver License Control
29 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333
Tel. (207) 624-9095
Fax (207) 624-9155
​

 

[goofyone]

Updated response from Maine DMV, good information to work from.

From: "Bellavance, Eric" <Eric.Bellavance@maine.gov>
Date: September 22, 2014 at 8:20:08 AM EDT
To: 'John Painter' <johnlpainter@me.com>
Subject: RE: Elio

Good morning Mr. Painter,

Your wife would have to abide by all permit restrictions, as well as those that would apply after receiving her endorsement.

The Autocycle classification was passed into law from a bill submitted for a gentleman who had a “Zap” truck. The legislature added a sunset clause, and the law was only in effect for two years if I remember correctly. These alternative vehicles are being developed faster than legislation can keep up. Although some of them claim to meet automobile safety standards, they have not been adopted as so by the federal government. The American Association of Motor Vehicle Association (AAMVA) released a best practices guide for states to assist in the process of adopting legislation. I don’t know if anything is active in Maine right now, but I can ask around and let you know.

On a personal note, I can’t wait for the Elio to hit the market. I commute 65 miles round trip every workday and 80 mpg would be welcome!

I’ll be in touch.

Best regards,

Eric


Eric Bellavance
Senior Section Manager
Driver License Control
29 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333
Tel. (207) 624-9095
Fax (207) 624-9155
​

This is excellent! Glad to see they are not opposed to it and they are aware of the AAMVA recommendations. Ultimately it is true that they only enforce the laws the legislature passes but it always helps when they are not opposed to changes.

Now just have to get the legislature to update the laws allowing easy use of Elio type autocycles.

 

[John Painter]

Now just have to get the legislature to update the laws allowing easy use of Elio type autocycles.

I dropped a line to EM Govt Affairs just to share this info and see if there's anything they would appreciate me helping out with. I know a couple Legislators who would probably not mind submitting a bill. I'm sure EM knows better the type of language they're looking for.

 

[AriLea]

Updated response from Maine DMV, good information to work from.
From: "Bellavance, Eric" <Eric.Bellavance@maine.gov>
. . On a personal note, I can’t wait for the Elio to hit the market. I commute 65 miles round trip every workday and 80 mpg would be welcome!

Eric​

I suspect all that Eric needs is some successful tests by EM, and this would all change quickly. After all Helmets and permits are not formally tied to the crash tests. But having supportive evidence maybe all that is needed for them to change their implementation of safety.

Anyway, little more time, a few more milestones, I'm more than sure this will all be worked out. Technically, engineering and physics wise, it's a shoe-in.​

 

[John Painter]

I suspect all that Eric needs is some successful tests by EM, and this would all change quickly. After all Helmets and permits are not formally tied to the crash tests. But having supportive evidence maybe all that is needed for them to change their implementation of safety.​

I spoke with Eric some more and he did say Legislative action would be required to reinstate the autocycle category in Maine removing the Elio/driver from being subject to motorcyle rules.

 

[John Painter]

I appreciate EM's governmental affairs efforts, and hope Maine will rejoin the 21st Century and reintroduce the "autocycle" category.

From: Facebook <notification+kjdpup53kkwm@facebookmail.com>
Date: September 24, 2014 at 2:40:02 PM EDT
To: John Painter <johnlpainter@me.com>
Subject: New message from Elio Motors
Reply-To: noreply <noreply@facebookmail.com>

[Broken External Image]
Elio Motors2:10pm Sep 24
Thank you for letting us know John, and it shows Mr. Bellavance that people are concerned! We'll continue working on that.

View Conversation on Facebook​

 

[FBSleeper]

As a Maine attorney who has done some work with the legislature, I can tell you that the window of opportunity to file a bill starts after election day when we know who the new legislative members will be, and continues until "cloture", which is the last day on which members of the legislature can submit bills without having to get special permission from the legislative leadership of both parties, which may or may not be granted. Cloture will probably be some time in mid-January 2015 for bills filed by legislators. Bills filed by the Governor and departments of the State will have a different deadline. Unless passed on an emergency basis, once enacted by the legislature and signed by the Governor, new statutes will only become effective 90 days after the end of the legislative session. Since the session will probably end some time in June or July, any non-emergency bill passed in the next legislative session will become effective in September or October 2015 . Hopefully, that will be soon enough, since getting something passed on an emergency basis requires a 2/3's vote of both the House and the Senate. If it doesn't get passed during this upcoming session, then, unless there is an emergency session called for some reason (they are usually called for some budgetary issue), the next session will not start until January 2016, and, since it is the second regular session of the upcoming legislature, any bill will have to go through some additional hoops to be considered.