OFF THE WIRE
A.J. Higgins
mpbn.net
The Legislature is once again taking up the issue of noise from motorcycles. Last year, lawmakers enacted a bill that imposed fines for all motor vehicles with exhaust systems that have been modified to make the vehicles louder. Today, members of the Legislature's Transportation Committee took up a number of bills that seek to curtail the decibels from bike exhausts though either beefed-up inspections or stiff fines.
State Rep. Diane Russell, of Portland, is almost on a first-name basis with a lot of the bikers who attended public hearings before the Legislature's Transportation Committee. But that's not because everyone appreciates her work.
Russell worked last year to usher in tougher motorcycle exhaust restrictions for cyclists and this year she's sponsoring a pair of bills that seek even stiffer fines than those currently set in the $140 range.
"This bill provides that a person who violates the requirement may be subject to a fine of at least $500 for the first offense, $750 for the second and $999 dollars for a third or subsequent offense," Russell said.
Russell's two bills deal specifically with motorcycle exhaust systems, requiring a $150 fine for bikes operating without a legal muffler, and givingpolice officers the authority to confiscate the illegal muffler. The second bill imposes the higher range of fines for motorcycles that are not equipped with exhaust systems bearing federal Environmental Protection Agency-required labeling applicable to the motorcycles' model year.
And Russell has plenty of supporters. Among them is Ernest Fields, of Hermon, who says the road near his home turns into a cycle strip each summer.
"The reason I got involved with this: I was having a family get together at my house and I had grandchildren there and great grandchildren there. Four motorcycles came by--boom, boom, boom," he told lawmakers. "All of us except one grabbed their ears. That's common sense and common knowledge--except the six-month-old in the stroller. For some reason he wasn't smart enough to do that. I'm asking you people here to protect us citizens of the state of Maine."
State Rep. Ed Mazurek, a Rockland Democrat, was visibly frustrated about dealing with motorcycle exhaust noise, which he says has been an issue almost for the entire seven years that he's been in office.
"If they want to drive a motorcyle and make a lot of noise and if they get zinged for it and have to pay $500 bucks, that's their problem and I don't feel sorry for them--if they're that stupid then they deserve to pay $500 bucks," he said. "But why should the rest of Maine suffer because some cowboy wants to put a great big thing and drive like anything? So I think, then, when we come to the work session, I would like to do something about this."
Representatives of some motorcycle interests, however, turned out to oppose the bills, including Eric Fuller of Jay, who chairs the Maine Motorcyclists Political Action Committee. "I come before this committee to ask you to strike down LD 477," he said. "We vehemenetly oppose this bill for many different factors."
Fuller said Maine laws already address illegal exhaust systems, and Russell's bills impose unreasonable penalities. "The amounts suggested are far in excess of many life-threatening offenses. While it may be nice to target certain actions or people we dislike, the judicial systems of this nation have held a system of equality for this country."
And Sony Bridges, one of the original founders of the United Bikers of Maine, also spoke up in opposition. "It is my sincere opinion that LD 477 profiles motorcycles and motorcyclists and is a form of harassment for the over 100,000 licensed motorcyclists and citizens of the state of Maine, and the many motorcycling tourists that come into our great state each summer, and I strongly urge this committee to kill this ludicrous bill."
Committee co-chair Rich Cebra, a Naples Republican, says it is clear the committee will be looking seriously at beefing up the the existing law.
