Bill to allow motorcyclists to run some red lights has moved from Senate to House.
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Bill to allow motorcyclists to run some red lights has moved from Senate to House.

Date: March 4, 2009
By: Allison Blood
State Capitol Bureau
Links: HB 254

Intro: A St. Louis area lawmaker urged her colleagues Wednesday to let Motorcyclists run red lights.  

Allison Blood has more from Jefferson City.

RunTime:0:42
OutCue: SOC

The idea was presented to the House Crime Committee by O'Fallon Republican Representative Cynthia Davis. 

Davis said stop lights cannot recognize motorcycles because of structural differences from other vehicles.

 

Actuality:  DAV1.WAV
Run Time: 00:13
Description: So it's much more common with a motorcycle that you've got a problem and its not exactly the signal's fault, it's just that a motorcycle is a whole different animal and should be treated as such.


Davis said motorcycles are often too small or don't have enough metal to trigger the light sensors.

Opponents argued the problem is faulty light sensors and said it is the local transportation department's responsibility to fix them.

From the State Capitol, I'm Allison Blood


Intro: A House committee heard a bill Wednesday that would give motorcyclists the right to ignore certain traffic signals.

Allison Blood has more from Jefferson City.

RunTime:0:51
OutCue: SOC

O'Fallon Republican Representative Cynthia Davis presented a bill before the House Crime Committee that would allow motorcyclists to run red lights under some circumstances.

O'Fallon motorcyclist Tony Sheppard testified in support, saying motorcycles don't always trigger electric sensors that change lights.

 

Actuality:  CYCLE1.WAV
Run Time: 00:15
Description: Why is it not triggering? A lot of your motorcycles out there...I've got an old Harley Davidson I could trigger it a block away. My Goldwing lot of the sport bikes, they don't have the metallic in there to trigger the magnetic, it's a magnetic field, it's not weight it's magnetic that triggers that somethings there.
 
Sheppard said it's unsafe for motorcyclists to sit at red lights and be forced to turn right from a left-turn lane.
 
Opponents say it isn't fair to let motorcyclists break the law, and it should be up to local transportation departments to fix light sensors.
 
From the State Capitol, I'm Allison Blood.


Intro: Motorcyclists told a House Committee Wednesday that safety is the main reason they want to run red lights.

Allison Blood has more from Jefferson City.

RunTime:0:43
OutCue: SOC

Motorcyclists say some stoplights aren't triggered by their bikes because they are light and often aren't made of metal.

O'Fallon resident Tony Sheppard testified before the House Crime Prevention Committee saying the measure does not compromise safety.

Actuality:  CYCLE2.WAV
Run Time: 00:10
Description: None of us like to crash. We're not having an accident folks, we're crashing. Crashing sucks on a motorcycle. We really try not to put ourselves in harm's way on this one.
 
 
While O'Fallon Republican Representative Cynitha Davis said the bill would make running red lights safer for motorcyclists, opponents argued the opposite.
 
Opponents said running red lights may cause accidents, Sheppard assured cyclists would use caution.
 
From the State Capitol, I'm Allison Blood.