Maryland To Get Tough By kz1000st (Read 619 times)

[kz1000st]

www.wboc.com/story/17214114/new-requirements-could-soon-come-for-mopeds-scooters-in-maryland

marylandreporter.com/2012/03/20/legislation-before-senate-to-require-titles-insurance-and-safety-gear-for-mopeds-and-scooters/

This one is a tough call. Yes, the financially strapped need cheap transportation but 20% unable to get a license?

[jct842]

There are at least 2 sides to that deal. A helmet and insurance may be infringing on rights, but why should tax payers have to pay for un insured head injury's that may not have been so severe had the injured been wearing a "hat"?

And as far as not being able to get a drivers license, there are some the state does not want to have a license for good reason.

[kz1000st]

I understand the head injures thing after paying so much on my head. The side I see is people living on SSI with incomes that won't pay for a car. Think about it. Up until now they could buy a 50cc, new, for $700 and not pay insurance, title or tags and get 100 mpg. That's almost like living for free. Bus rides for a year would almost equal that. Yes, I'm all for keeping DUI's off the road but some people need transportation. What if you're the poor third owner fool on a four year old scooter that never even had the MSO registered and it's lost because tags and title weren't necessary? Will the Maryland DMV just say, "You look like a nice person. We'll just take your word that you're the rightful owner." Believe me, I've had some dealings with DMV here and they're hard line bureaucrats.

[ccprof]

That's pretty much consistent with the PA laws.

[kz1000st]

I was talking with a guy at a titling agency recently and he said that NY and California are about the worst. I had a brief e-mail conversation with PennDot and they were at least civil. My e-mail conversations with NY DMV were like talking to a wall.

[Alleyoop]

Well here in Illinios, it does not matter if its a MOPED or Not, you need to have insurance, title and registration with a plate and you must have a drivers license, you must also pass a written test of the rules of the road, no helmet is needed. If whatever is 50cc or above you need a special license to ride it and take a drivers test as well as a motorcycle written test.

So here the only difference between a 49.9 cc and anything bigger is the type of written test and driver test.
Alleyoop

[jct842]

Illinois was that way 20 some years ago when I bought a moped for my daughter too so it isn't anything they just did. It does give the owner of a some what nice vehicle a little sense of protection from a kid showing off with his first ride.

[silverfox96]

The State of Indiana doesn't require insurance, tags, registration or motorcycle endorsement on/for riding anything under a 50cc, which I personally think is a mistake. The little podunk town I live in, population under 6000, allows kids to ride the 50cc's two up although it's against the state law. They also allow 10 and 12 year olds to do the same, some without helmets. One particular day, last summer I saw 3, 12 to 13 year old boys on one 50cc, flying through the stopsign at the end of my street! Then there are the drunks who buy the 50cc's when they lose their license for DUI and ride everywhere. Even to the bars, drinking their fill, climbing on their scoots and weaving their way home for another drunken fight with the misses! I, for one, believe that the state should require insurance, tags, registration and operators license for the 50cc just like they do for any other scoot over 50cc!

[jct842]

A year or so ago on one of the other forums a drunk with a suspended got nailed for going over 30 on a "50cc:". They charged him with a felony since he was over 30mph and he was required to comply with regular motorcycle laws. It was once a 49.5 or what ever but was hopped up to the point he could go 45 or 50 with it. good call on the cops part there/

[kz1000st]

NYS law requires that all children under the age of 14 wear an approved bicycle helmet. The maximum penalty for an offense is a $50 fine; however, the fine is waived if the parent proves a helmet was obtained.

How often do you think this law is enforced?

The problem these days is that wise guys always try to figure out ways to take advantage. When NY finally tried to separate mopeds from bikes the law said anyone could ride a moped over the age of 16 without any license. It didn't take long for drunks and deadbeat Dads to take advantage of that. So now you have to have a driver's license for anything that goes slower than 30 mph and a bike endorsement for anything over 30.

I think in an age when fuel conservation is such an issue that letting kids ride mopeds or 50cc scooters would keep the family SUV parked.