GREENVILLE, Moped riders may face new rules

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GREENVILLEONLINE.com
How long before they try this to us?
www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20101204/NEWS/312040030/Moped-riders-ma
y-face-new-rules-in-bid-to-improve-safety
Moped riders may face new rules in bid to improve safety
Strobe lights, bright vests proposed after six deaths in Upstate this
year.
By Paul Alongi . Staff writer. Published:
December 04. 2010
Moped riders across the state could be required as soon as next year to
wear brightly colored vests, have strobe lights on their cycles and
carry liability insurance.
Several state lawmakers said they are planning to introduce
moped-related legislation in the wake of six Upstate deaths this year,
including two in a month on U.S. 123 between Greenville and Easley.
Cyd Phillips of Easley said she has some ideas for what ought to be
packed into those bills - requiring more lights on mopeds, putting a
moped- rights question on driver's license tests and installing more
roundabouts on roads to slow traffic.
Her 49-year-old brother, James Grisham, was among those killed on U.S.
123. Another tragedy can be prevented, she said, if drivers slow down
and watch out for mopeds.
"Everybody has the right to be on this road out here," Phillips said.
Mopeds are among the smallest, slowest and most unregulated vehicles on
the road, with some operators legally taking the handlebars as young as
14. Laws in other states vary with some, such as North Carolina, making
youths wait until they are 16 to start driving mopeds.
Visibility of mopeds is the chief concern for two Upstate lawmakers.
Rep. Chandra Dillard, D-Greenville, said she is working on legislation
that would require operators to wear bright, yellow vests that she said
cost as little as $20.
She got the idea from Randy Bell, a lifelong motorcycle rider and a
member of the Greenville Chamber of Commerce's transportation committee.
Bell said the number of mopeds on Upstate roads seems to be increasing.
"They go pretty slow, and people have a tendency to run up on them
pretty quickly, especially in the evenings," he said. "The lighting
systems on the mopeds are not very bright."
In both wrecks on U.S. 123, the moped riders were struck from behind in
what troopers described as hit-and-run collisions. Arrests were made in
both cases, they said.
Sen. Thomas Alexander, R-Walhalla, said he will re- introduce
legislation that would require "hideaway" strobe lights or a similar
device on any moped sold for use on public roads. He said he is
encouraged that moped legislation will have improved momentum going into
the next session.
"To me, it's a safety issue," Alexander said. "I certainly will be doing
all that I can to make it successful."
Phillips said her family continues to live with the consequences of her
brother's death and is trying to raise the money to bury him. The family
has opened accounts under his name at Bank of Travelers Rest and Pickens
Federal Credit Union, she said.
Tracking how many mopeds are on the road can be tough. They don't have
to be registered, and state law leaves murky what constitutes a moped.
While mopeds are supposed to have tags that say "moped," they are issued
by the manufacturer or dealer instead of the Department of Motor
Vehicles, spokeswoman Beth Parks said.
Ten people died this year in moped-related wrecks as of late October,
according to research done by Alexander's office. Sixteen died in 2009,
and 11 were killed in 2008.
In some ways, golf carts are more regulated than mopeds. Golf cart
drivers need a valid license and liability insurance to travel on state
roads, while moped operators don't.
Drivers with suspended licenses can operate mopeds for up to six months
before having to get a moped license, and they don't ever have to ever
get liability insurance.
Sen. David Thomas, R-Greenville, introduced legislation last year that
would have required liability insurance for mopeds. While the bill went
nowhere, Thomas has said he will push to have lawmakers take a more
comprehensive look at moped laws.
Moped operators are most vulnerable in collisions, but wrecks can also
be devastating for those in larger vehicles.
A man driving a four-door Mitsubishi was killed near Georgetown in
September when he tried to pass a moped on U.S. 701 and collided head-on
with a Toyota pickup, said Lance Cpl. Sonny Collins of the state Highway
Patrol.
Part of the issue facing lawmakers is clarifying what constitutes a
moped.
Different sections of state law disagree on what its top speed should
be, whether it should have pedals and how much brake horsepower it
should have. All sections agree that the engine should be no more than
50 cubic centimeters.
A bill that passed the House and stalled in the Senate last year would
have defined a moped as a cycle with two-brake horsepower that can go no
more than 30 mph on level ground, regardless of whether it has pedals.

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