Times They Are A-Changin

It’s a reference to a song written by Bob Dylan and released as the title track of his 1964 album of the same name (video). Dylan wrote the song as a deliberate attempt to create an anthem of change for the time. Interestingly, the song addresses no specific issue and prescribes no concrete action, but simply observes a world in upheaval.

“Changes” is a relevant topic as the Oregon Legislature passed hundreds of bills last year during the short summer session.

I won’t bore you with the “Sustainable Shopping Initiative” and the HB 2509 upheaval, but what follows are some changes in 2020 that motorcycle enthusiasts might be interested in knowing more about:

HB 2017 — Vehicle registration fees are a-changin!  In 2020, some vehicle fees in Oregon will be based on miles per gallon (MPG) as part of “Keep Oregon Moving,” a major transportation funding program. If you have an electric vehicle or a car that gets more than 40 miles per gallon, you’ll have two options. You can pay the full fee up front to register or renew your tags, or you can pay a lower fee and a monthly per-mile charge for miles driven in Oregon if you join OReGO. The net-net is, drivers with more fuel-efficient vehicles end up paying more in registration fees. I’ve reached out to DMV for a statement on specific changes related to electric motorcycles and will update this post with any information. SEE UPDATE AT BOTTOM. Oregon is one of a handful of states aggressively pursuing new registration fees (read more tax $$) for electric vehicles, in a preemptive move to capitalize on the shift to electric that is leading to lower gas taxes.

HB 57 — Were you recently pulled over and did the law enforcement officer fail to notice your change of address sticker on the back of your drivers license… which led to an even long(er) traffic stop? Good news!  HB 57 ends change-of-address stickers because Oregon DMV will no longer require stickers on drivers’ licenses, permits or ID cards when people change their addresses. It was estimated that ending the sticker program will save $550,000 a year in printing and postage costs. Those savings will go into the State Highway Fund to “support local and state roads.” Oregon law still requires driver license, permit and ID card holders to update the DMV with a change of address within 30 days of moving.

HB 2015 — Oregon becomes one-of-thirteen other states providing driver licenses for undocumented immigrants. Proponents of extending driver’s licenses to immigrants argue that licensing undocumented residents will lead to fewer hit-and-runs, more trust between immigrants and police, and increased revenue for DMV. Opponents assert that granting licenses to undocumented residents reduces the incentive to follow immigration laws and would lead to increased voter fraud, ID fraud, bank fraud and easier for terrorists/criminals to obtain fraudulent documents.

Whether or not you get twisted up around an ideological axle on this topic is your choice, but Oregon’s HB 2015 — the Equal Access to Roads Act — signed in July 2019, now allows undocumented immigrants to obtain their driver’s licenses, though they still aren’t eligible to vote. While undocumented immigrants don’t have to prove citizenship, they will still be required to pass a driving test, pay a fee, and prove they’re current Oregon residents. House Bill 2015 removes the requirement for individuals to provide proof of legal presence when applying for a driver license or ID card. However, after January 1, 2021, individuals applying for a standard driver license or ID card must still provide proof of full legal name and identity, date of birth, Oregon residency, and a Social Security number. If an individual has not been assigned a Social Security number, they must sign and submit a written statement with their application. The law was passed in 2019 and is only applicable for a standard Oregon driver license or ID card. Important to note is that standard driver license or ID card is not Real ID compliant. All other requirements such as proof of name, identity, date of birth and Oregon residency stay the same.

You might be asking why was this law signed in 2019 if it doesn’t go into full effect until 2021? According to the DMV talking points — they are implementing a number of changes in 2020, including a new computer system and the introduction of Real ID compliant cards in July 2020. Waiting until January 2021 allows DMV to update the technology to accommodate the undocumented immigrants law change. Oregon and 13 other states and Washington, D.C. currently issue driver licenses to individuals who do not provide proof of lawful status.

SB 998 — Oregon passes a version of the “Idaho Stop” law.  SB 998 now allows bicyclists to yield at stop signs rather than come to a full and complete stop before proceeding through an intersection. If you ride a motorcycle in the city of Portland, you’ve likely observed that bicyclists rarely come to a complete stop at stop signs. In 2020, bicyclists now have the option of yielding—rather than coming to a complete stop—at both stop signs and flashing red lights. Red lights still require a full and complete stop, and bicyclists must still yield to pedestrians and right-of-way traffic, and maintain a safe speed.

SB 792 — Do you like spending time at the salvage yard looking for motorcycle projects? Maybe you plan to start “Bill’s Cycle Heap” business this summer? A vehicle dismantler is anyone who takes apart motor vehicles. This often includes recovering, rebuilding, reselling or recycling parts from worn out or damaged vehicles. SB 792 modifies laws related to vehicle dismantler certificates and the plates and registration transfer from totaled vehicles. Notices submitted to the DMV stating that a vehicle has been totaled will allow the transferring of plates and registration from that vehicle to another. The transfer can’t take place if a salvage title was previously issued.

HB 2017 — The thrill of paying more $$ for fuel!  HB 2017 means Oregon’s current gas tax will jump up by 2 cents, the second of four increases approved in 2017. The Oregon Department of Transportation will use some of the additional funds (estimated at $60 million) to improve state roadways, and the remainder will go to Oregon cities and counties.

HB 3452 — U.S. Highway 26 across Oregon is officially designated a POW/MIA Memorial Highway now.  HB 3452 was sponsored by Central Oregon lawmakers.

A list of bills passed by the Oregon House in the 2019 session is: HERE

UPDATE: January 9, 2020 — Per Customer Assistance (Chelsi) at Oregon Department of Transportation (DMV) —  “All motorcycle fees (electric or otherwise) are the same. They are not based on the same MPG scale as passenger vehicles. Thank you for using our online services.”

Photos courtesy the State of Oregon and Creative Commons.

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Rider Down – One Year Later

MC (center) at Laughlin River Run 2014 with members from the Shark Week III Crew

According to this recently published survey, Utah has the second best drivers in the country.  Using statistics primarily from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the compiled results scored every state on the quality of their drivers.

It is apparent to me that whoever conducted that study has never driven in St. George, Utah and they never talked to MC.

Who is MC?

Just a motorcycle enthusiast, from Oregon, who on July 31, 2013 was part of a multi-state group riding through the area attending the Shark Week III motorcycle rally. He had split from the group early that morning and was heading home to attend a friends wedding ceremony.  It was around 7:30 a.m., as he traveled northbound on Bluff Street through the Red Cliffs Parkway intersection.  While doing so, there was a left turn yellow light and he was initially cut off by a southbound car making a left turn toward Red Hills Parkway. The  first car missed MC before he was hit in the side by a second car also making a left turn on a yellow/red light.  (Note: This intersection is now under construction and will have a flyover to help prevent accidents!)

Bluff Street will now pass over Red Hills Parkway

Although MC was wearing full protective gear, he had head trauma and the impact left MC with significant injuries to his left leg.  It’s St. George county protocol for trauma patients to be flown directly to University Medical Center in Las Vegas as a matter of course, but MC’s blood loss was so severe due to multiple open fractures, the onsite EMT decision was made to fly him to Dixie Regional Medical Center.  You can read the local newspaper report HERE.  Previous blog posts related to this incident is HERE.

The Sheriff who was on the accident scene (MC was lucid enough to give his cell phone to the officer and had him call) called us and we arrived at the accident within 15 minutes and prior to the life flight landing on scene.  Perhaps an ambulance ride directly to Dixie Regional Medical Center should have occurred, but I won’t second guess or revisit the sequence of events.  In fact, Dixie Regional Medical Center created a recovery video testimonial HERE.

There is an old biker adage that many of you have heard before.  “There are those who have been down and those who are going down.”  It’s often described almost as a self-fulfilling prophecy—a mental process whereby an individual subconsciously creates the belief in the inevitability of that event.  The point is, I don’t buy into it and don’t think of accidents as a right of passage to be a motorcycle enthusiast.  I’ve certainly dumped a dirt bike more times than I care to admit, but I never viewed it as inevitable or part of the hobby—I just made some poor choices.

MC at Bryce Canyon, Utah – 2013

Like many things in life there are inherent dangers with motorcycling.  Risk is part of the package.  An accident can have all sorts of negative repercussions.  And any accident that involves someone you know or is a good riding buddy only amplifies the situation.   From a psychological perspective it wouldn’t be unreasonable for the entire riding group to weigh the risks and rewards of riding and question why do it.  But, I’ve digressed.

The EMT’s put MC on life flight and we helped clear the wreckage from the Red Cliffs Parkway intersection.  The underinsured driver was cited for failure to yield to oncoming traffic and attempting to beat a red light while not paying attention to the rest of the traffic in an intersection.  The male driver was in his girlfriend’s well-used Honda.  Clearly the vehicle driver penalties in the state of Utah are not proportional to the suffering inflicted onto MC.

MC was in St. George’s Dixie Regional Medical Center for exactly 12 weeks and underwent 12 surgeries before being transported home to Oregon.  In Oregon there were more doctors, more surgeries, more physical therapy and mountains of medical forms.

Five months after the crash, MC reached the point where a fixator was removed from his foot.  And a few months later, May 2014, he underwent his 15th surgery—”de-bulking”—to remove the surplus transplanted muscle tissue from around his ankle.  There’s been a lot written on his path to recovery HERE (warning – graphic images).  The scope of this life-changing accident has been very challenging, but through it all MC remained mostly positive with the help of friends and family. There was also significant outreach from the motorcycle riding community especially the Shark Week III crew who deserves a big shout-out!

Today, a year later,  MC is mobile and self-sufficient.  For the most part, life is returning to a more normal pattern.  Those of us who know him, know that the year has been one of the hardest in MC’s life.  The medical decisions, the money worries and trying to smile every day and be grateful didn’t come easy.  It’s unclear if MC’s best motorcycle riding days are yet to come or if the risk-reward ratio tipped somewhere along the line.  Only he can answer that question.  In reality, it is possible for a motorcyclist to never go down. Ask around. You’ll be surprised how many motorcyclists have never actually been in an accident. Oh sure, they’ve had scary moments, war stories even. But, most have never been down in any kind of a serious way.

The dog days of summer are upon us, and I believe all MC really needs to think about is how much body hair does a guy have to remove from your face before golfing.

This blog post is to mark the 1-year anniversary and to provide a quick shout-out to all the folks who for the last 12 months provided prayers and positive vibes.  You’ve been awesome and we’re all grateful that MC is doing so well!

Photo’s taken by author and courtesy of MC.  Road map courtesy of UDOT.

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Healthcare Punishment For Motorcyclists

Trip and fall breaking your arm at home – no problem.  Slip out of your saddle and break your arm while enjoying your motorcycle hobby – you may get slapped with a major medical bill!

Why?  Health plans do not have to notify individuals and employers of any exclusions or limitations on their health benefits at the point of sale.  Many employers or individual “consumers” shopping for health care coverage are led to believe that care for the broken arm, for example, is the same regardless of how the injury happened – but this is not the case.

But, it looks like help is on the way.  Congressman Michael Burgess, MD (R-Texas), introduced the Burgess Bill (HR1253) requiring more transparency in health insurance.  The bill would make a technical correction to HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and would instruct health plans to notify individuals and employers of any exclusions in health benefits.  The bill recently passed the house and will:

1. Require that any limitations and restrictions on health plan benefits be explicit and clear;
2. Require that the health plan be disclosed to the sponsor of the group health plan in advance of sale and,
3. Require that the issuer, in an easy to understand way, provide participants and beneficiaries a description of the limitations and restrictions as soon as they enroll.

Important to note is the Burgess Bill, originally submitted in September 2008 to the house as HR6908 was received, but no action was taken by the Senate.  Mr. Burgess reintroduced the bill (video HERE) with Congressman Bart Stupak (D-Michigan) as HR1253 (Health Insurance Source of Injury Clarification Act), but it’s identical to HR6908.

Health care transparency is good.  Punishing riders for enjoying their hobby with exceptions buried deep within an insurance plan only to be caught off guard is plain wrong!

UPDATE: April 10, 2009 – Received feedback from experts (thx Kitty!) in the field.  Although the post is accurate, making blanket statements is difficult since each state has different provisions and rules.  However, in the state of Oregon, Individuals (people who are interested in buying their own private policy) are provided with a carrier brochure/application by their broker or the insurance carrier which includes the covered services and exclusions.  With Group Insurance , the employer makes the decision on the plan purchased and is given a copy of the carrier proposal which would include the benefits and exclusions.  All insurance carriers must provide employees with a copy of the employee insurance handbook at time of enrollment.  The book includes covered services and exclusions.  Handbooks are mailed to home addresses by the insurance carrier to be sure employees receive this important information.

Photo courtesy of NBC/ER.

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