Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Caltrans claims bikes unsafe but provides no evidence ~ .... 00 Stop the Rocks Motorcycles still excluded from carpool lanes By California Assemblyman Richard Katz O n e of th e most frus trating experie nces a m otorcyclist ca n face is the h el p less feeli n g of bei n g showered by debris flyin g fro m th e to p of a sand and gravel truck. .... By Farren Williams (1.) ..c LO NG BEACH . CA " DEC. 5 E U sin g a loopho le in federal law, the Cali(1.) u (1.) o fornia Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has elected to exclude motorcycles from a test of carpool lanes now underway in so u the rn California on a 12mile stretch of Freeway 55, between Routes 405 and 91. Even though a 1982 federal .2 ~ sta tu te o rde red stat es to open HO V (h ig h-occu pa nt-veh icle, o r ca rpool) lanes to rnotorcvcles, Ca ltra ns o fficia ls cla im th e inclusion o f rnot orcvcles in Freewa y 55 carpool lanes du rin g test in g would crea te a sa fety haz a rd. On the p rem ise o f protecti ng publ ic sa fety . Ca lt ra ns ac q u ired a permi t from th e th e Federal Hi ghway Adm inistrat ion to excl ude mo to rcycles from Freewa v 55 HO V lan es d urin g th e o ne-year test ing portion of the project. Caltrans officials repeat edl y tol d Cycle News th a t excl uding mo torcycles d u ring th e test wa s done pu rely for rea sons of sa fety and provided len gth y ra tio na lizations for th e action. bu t sta te o fficia ls fa iled to p rov ide a ny co ncrete evide nce tha t it wo u ld be 'u n sa fe to in clude mot orcycles in th e test. " T he ra tiona le for th e request . du ring th e dem onstration phase o f th e proj ect, was to gi ve u s a cha nce to eva lua te th e use o f ca r poo ls in general. " said Caltrans Senior Engineer Chuck Boyer. "We did not want motorcycles in the lan es. It's Caltrans posit ion that motorcycles in HOV lanes are unsa fe. re lative to the 55 project." Caltrans originally intended to excludeall motorcycles from HOV lanes during the test , but had to back a wa y from a total ban when th e Californ ia Hi ghwa y Patrol refused to cite the operators of motorcycles with two persons aboard. " T he original intent of th e request (to federal authoriti es) was to excl ude motorcycles entirely, regardless of the number of passengers," said Boyer. " Bu t the CHP said when th ere are two pe rso n s on a bike th ey a re not going to cite. Th e CHP says two'or more persons co ns ti tu te a carpool (rega rd less of th e type of vehicle) and th ey will not ci te. " Wc' re co m fo rta b le with th at ," Bo yer sai d . "It ha s to do with th e def init ion o f a ca rpool - th ere is co nsistency in th at sense." J oe Mariner , chief of th e Caltrans Office o f Motorcycl e Operations, painted a grim picture of confused internal politics when asked to explain why motorcycles have been excl uded from HOV lanes on stat e freewa ys. " T he re is a co ncern on th e part o f so me (Ca lt ran s) district managers rega rd ing th e safety issu e. You hav e to keep in mind th a t th ey a re looking a t o pe rat io na l issu es and th e o vera ll phil osoph y o f HOV lanes." Marin er sa id . •..1Jt; .a.d.d.e? !~'!.t. ~~s.t~if~ _n},! ~a gers often di sagree on ho w to hand le co ntroversial issu es. even if they receive directi on from Cal trans he adquarters in Sacram ento . Man y times d istrict man agers are left to ma ke po licy decisions o n the ir own. In short, even if word came from th e top to a llow mot o rcycles in HOV lanes o n Route 55. Di str ict 7 Caltrans of ficials co u ld co nceivably co u nt ermand the o rder or d ela y its im p lement a tion fo r a n extended pe riod of time. " It's a typ ical go vernment orga niza tion ," said Mariner. " He adq uarters says it sho uld be do ne o ne way a nd th e dis tr icts disagr ee. lJ n less so me o ne else co me s in , di stricts are given leew ay to manage things as th ey see fit. " Wh en as ked wh y motorcycles' are co nside red u nsafe for inclusion in HOV lan es. Ma rin er said, " T h e spe cif ic co nce p t is. since mot o rcycles a re disp roportiona tel y rep resen ted in ac cident sta tistics. to allow motorcvcles o n HOV lanes wo ul d degrade th e sa fety of HOV lanes. Bu t even th ough th e lane mi gh t be degraded, overa ll sale iv would be en ha n ced beca use yo u 'wo u ld be ge ll ing mot o rcycl es out of sto p and go traffi c." Mariner said it is in credibly easy for states to get a federal permit to exclude motorcycles from the la nes. although fed era l law insists they be incl uded. " In the excep tio n clause (o f the federal law ), all th ey say is, if th ere is a safety concern am o ng public officials in a state, th at' s all it takes (to excl ude motorcycles ). People around here have only to mumble a litt le bit about safety - that's a ll it tak es." Caltrans officials obtained federal permits to excl ude motorcycles during testing of HOV lanes o n both California Ro u tes 55 a nd 91, a nd were issued th e permits even th ough th ey mad e no promises to open th e lanes to motorcycles at th e end o f testing periods. according to Mariner. H e sai d motorcycles were excl uded during th e one-year testing of a n HOV lane on Stat e Route237,I ocated near San Jose, an d even th ough th e test period is complete, motorcycles still have not been a llowed to use th e lan e. " It was opened in O ctober, 1984 and th e facility still is not open to motorcycle s," Ma riner sa id . " Techni call y. it sh o u ld be o pe n . A co mmitment was mad e by Caltrans to open th e lane to motorcycl es afte r the on e-year p eri od. It's probab ly going 10 happen. but it's proba bly goi ng to have to co me a t th e ins tiga tio n o f ex terna l influen ces. I think we will be o pe n ing it wi th in a few week s, but it 's not goi ng to be a sim p le task. like it shou ld be. "Y ou have to rem ember th ai th e •. . . . . . . .. ( (,' Oll t i IllU' d 10 pa rr 2; ) . ~ . Asid e from damage to motorcycles and a u to m o bi les, th e traffi c hazards ca use d by riders a nd drivers trying 10 avoid th e wa ke of gravel truck s a re a co n sta nt threa t to a m ot orisr 's sa fetv. In a n a tte mpt to ci rcu mve n t th e shower of sa nd and grav el. swe rving veh icles are often as haza rd o us as th e sp illi ng ma terial s. The price ta g to repair damages ca used by a irbo rn e debris ru ns into th e milli ons. Over $60 million per yea r is spe nt by Californi a mot orists and their in suran ce co m pa n ies on broken winds h ield glass al one. This fig u re doesn ' t incl ud e unreported da mage to g lass a nd pa int left unrepa ir ed o r pa id by th e mo to ri sts the m selves. On many of th e hi ghwa ys in Ca lifor nia , ro ck showe rs ha ve become a wa y of lif e. Statisti cs show tha t d ri vers will co mp lai n to th e trucking co mpany if th e damage is seve re . Most often than not. th ese co m p la ints are met with ei ther den ial s o r exc uses. If th e vict im ca n cite th e time, location a nd the particular truck th a t caused th e damage, th ere is a possibi lity that th e tra nsport co m pany will take responsibility a nd pa y co mpensa rio n for the dam age. A r e b r ok en wind shi eld s a n d ch ip pe d pa int facts o f lif e? It would seem so. The p owerful gra vel truck lo bb yists have su ccessfully killed nurnerous a ttem p ts for th e past 10 yea rs 10 pass a law in Ca lifo rn ia which would require cov ering sand and g ra vel trucks. There are 10 sta tes. however. whi ch do have strict load covering laws to ensure safety on their highways . T he trucking industry is still denying tha t there is a problem, and cl aims that covering their trucks would be too expensive. Of course, a ll the rest of us are now footing the bill for th eir negl igence. This year, as Chairman of the Assem bly T ransporta tion Co m mittee, I hav e taken u p th e Iigh t to "Sto p th e Rock," I introd uced AB2335. which. in addition to stiffen ing th e pe na lt ies fo r a viola tion , would requ ire co vering vehicles tran sporting sa nd. gravel o r sim ilar mat er ial s. Th e issue h as received more attention th is vea r th a n i t ha s before as AB2335 a lrea dy has pa ssed it s first two Asse rnblv co m m i ttees. This ha s ra ised th e expected o pposit io n as th e aggr egat e pro ducers a nd trucking interests tune u p th eir power ful lob byin g effo rts agai n st th e bil l. In support of AB335 a re th e California Highway Pat rol. Consumer Advi sory Co unc il. th e Ca liforn ia State Au to mobile Assoc iation. Automobile C lu b o f So u the rn Ca li forn ia , Associ a tio n o f Ca lifo rnia In surance Compa n ics. th e America n Society of Safety Engineers. T he Am eri can Mo torcyclist Association, a nd manv autornobil e e nt h us ias t o rga n izat ions . A grou ndswell of su pport is a lso develop ing a mong individua ls with a comrnon interes t in safe hi ghways and hol d in g th e line o n ins ura nce ra tes. Rea li zin g the growing su p po rt for AB2335, the sa nd and gra vel industry recentl y iss ued a press release proposing to st udy th e p roblem. The Legisla t ure a nd th e trucki ng industry have been study ing th e problem for 10 yea rs, a nd mot orists are co nt in u ing to pa y m illions of dollars in repair bill s. I n eed yo u r help a nd th e help of everv mot orist wh o ha s had th e misfortune of dealing with th e hazards, expe nse a nd frustration of damage ca used by uncovered sa nd and gravel trucks . In January. AB2335 w ill co me to a vot e on the Assembly floor. It will be the classic battle be tween a powerful special interest and th e public interest. With yo ur h el p , we ca n win . You ca n "Stop the Rock s" by filling out th e co u po n adjoining this article and returning it to me . I'll make sure your voice is heard. • I ~------------------------------, I I I Stop the Rocks!!! I • Please list me as a supporter of AS 2335, which would requ ire trucks carrying sand and gravel to be covered . Name: _ I I Address: I I _ Phone Number: Please clip out and return to: Assemblyman Richard Katz State Capitol, Room 3146 Sacramento, CA 95814 I I I I I I - I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I ~------------------------------~ • • .• •• - ~ .. I,

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