Sb 506 - update
 

SB 506 - the Senate Bill to allow for Lane Splitting in Texas will go in front of the House Committee for Public Safety on Monday the 18th.

I'm planning on going - it starts at 8:00, I'll be there at 7:30.

WE NEED YOU. As many as we can get there... and sign in FOR the bill.

Best of luck. Be sure to post up and let us know how it goes.

Wow, I'm really surprised Corona was able to get it heard. I'll be there.

Rescheduled to 2:00pm

http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlodo...9051814001.HTM

Bummer, I can't make middle of the day.

Any word on how it went?

The Committee came back from open session at about 7:00 and started hearing bills. Of interest were SB1967 and SB506

SB1967 - requires MSF for a class M license, among other things.
SB506 - lane sharing.

They didn't vote today. But, testimony went well. We spent a few hours in a room with the TMRA - our initial foes on this bill. They said they weren't for it - but wouldn't oppose us. That was a win.

Email all the members of the Public Safety Committee in the House http://www.house.state.tx.us/committees/list81/420.htm your wish for SB506 to pass to the floor!! The committee will vote Tuesday.

How was the TMRA to sit down with? Were they reasonable, or still calling y'all "the yuppies"?

We're still yuppies. :lol:

They were initially pretty tough and angry. Then, a few of them were talking to a few of "us" and the rest loosened up. Their bill is going to the floor - SB1967 - it requires MSF for a class M license, no more $$ restriction for health insurance to go lidless, and can't get pulled over JUST to check for that.

Hey, Sputnik was on one of the cable access channels last night bitching about some other law and how the government does all but steal our babies from us and put them in a nursing home at birth...or something dumb like that. :lol:

Sounds fair to me. The helmet restrictions were rarely enforced so big deal if they are removed.

I do love how we stress safety in lobbying for the lane-splitting law yet still allow people to ride without helmet. :skep:

Wow, I wonder if the TX training infrastructure can deal with a mandatory training requirement. That'd be... interesting.

Dunno about that but it sure will bring in big bux to whomever has a training business!

AR

Actually, SB1967 does not actually remove medical $$$ restrictions for going lidless, but instead you would have to have a special designation on your insurance card verifying that your insurance company will indeed cover you if you are in an accident and are lidless. I was told the reason this was written into the bill was because not all insurance companies will cover medical if you ride lidless. Some people found out the hard way.

It does actually redact the requirement of a $10,000 minimum. :wink: It has always been a requirement to have "medical benefits for injuries incurred as a result of an accident while operating or riding on a motorcycle."

The proposed changes are underlined and crossed out. http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs...l/SB01967I.htm

Section c-2 is what I was referring to. I spoke with one of the guys who helped write this, and he said the verbage is there so they will have to have specific verbage from the insurance company stating they are covered if they are lidless.

It looks like SB506 is 99.9% dead. There's a small but unlikely chance it will be attached to another bill.

Wow, so the mandatory training (among other things) bill made it through?

http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLoo...1R&Bill=SB1967

Looks like it allows bikes to use HOV lanes also:

thats a federal thing.........and we've been able to ride HOVs for as long as i can remember.

Yup. Goes into effect as of September 1.

There is an effort to not make it widely known... we wouldn't want people running out to get licenses without training :wink:

Ok, then any idea what a preferential lane is?

Something we don't have in Austin.
(ie. HOV lanes)

Damn, I had high hopes for that, especially once I found out that I'm moving to Texas in April.