New laws taking effect soon in California that affect motorcyclists

California bikers can now rejoice, California will soon enact a law that will allow fully enclosed three wheel motorcycles to be legal on California HOV lanes. Also a separate definition for electric motorcycles has been removed.

Motorcycles (AB 2272, Fuentes) This new law changes the definition of a motorcycle by deleting the weight limitation and deleting the separate definition for electrically powered motorcycles. The law will now allow fully enclosed, three-wheeled vehicles to have access to high-occupancy vehicle lanes regardless of occupancy.

With more three wheeled motorcycles hitting the streets, making sure that they have access to the HOV lane is paramount to people adopting them as a good mode of transportation. Although most traditional bikers would think of these as cars, most states see these as motorcycles so they can meet less stringent safety designs.

As for the deleting the weight limit and separate definition for electric motorcycles, this just seems to be common sense finally catching up with the times. Bikers will continue to push the limits of what you can fit on 2 or 3 wheels and a weight limit really has nothing to do with whether it is a motorcycle or not. The same can be said about how the motorcycle gets power. Electricity, Hydrogen, wind power whatever power still just allows a motorcycle to go forward and really should never have been a factor either.

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Source: www.dailydemocrat.com