OFF THE WIRE
To all departments related to California tourism and travel,
California Governor Schwarzenegger has been promoting tourism in
televised advertisements shown here on the east coast. However, I am
sorry to report that despite the professionally produced and expensive
commercials, Senate Bill 435, which is sitting on his desk right now,
for action by September 30 represents a negative impact to California
tourism.
Please contact him and ask him to veto it.
As a result of SB 435, travelers to California who rent or borrow a
motorcycle registered in California face the very real possibility of
being held responsible for problems that are created upstream at the
manufacturers of motorcycles and motorcycle exhaust pipes.
Unfortunately, it is not a problem which is easily remedied by
consumers, and for many models of motorcycles it is impossible. It is
definitely nothing that tourists who rent or borrow motorcycles should
be held responsible for.
It ends up holding consumers responsible for failures of manufacturers
to comply with an antiquated federal (EPA) standard, and the failure
rate is extremely high.
Reference: http://boltusa.org/library/index.php?title=Exhaust_pipes
To summarize for you: the 2008 study showed that of 76 brand new
motorcycles on the showroom floors, it would be difficult to find any of
them in full compliance with the federal standard.
Specifically, if a law enforcement officer pulls a motorcyclist over,
and if the motorcycle is registered in California, and the law
enforcement officer is not able to readily spot an EPA stamp on the
motorcycle exhaust pipes, the motorcyclist is held responsible and law
enforcement action is taken against them....for the manufacturers failures!!
This bill is not yet signed into law but has already resulted in word
being spread throughout the motorcycling community that if the bill
passes, California should be avoided as a tourist destination. The
helmet law already keep California off the list of good tourist
destinations for motorcyclists, and this wrongful placement of blame for
manufacturer failures is one more reason to avoid the state.
The Governor only has a day or two to veto the bill, so please make this
a priority matter.
Thank you,
Janice MacKay
Director, BOLT of NC
BOLT Networked Information Systems
http://boltusa.org
