AZ MMA Legislative Update April, 2022

I am pleased to report that SB1273 – “Two Wheeled Motorcycle Operation” passed both the Senate (where it originated with Senator Pace from the X District and Co-sponsored by Rep Carroll) and the House and was signed into law by the Governor on March 23rd.

The bill takes 90 days to go into effect (meaning these maneuvers should be legal on or about May 1st) and will allow for lane filtering on surface streets under the following conditions:

THE OPERATOR OF A TWO-WHEELED MOTORCYCLE MAY OVERTAKE AND PASS

ANOTHER VEHICLE THAT IS STOPPED IN THE SAME DIRECTION OF TRAVEL AND IN THE SAME LANE AS THE OPERATOR AND MAY OPERATE THE MOTORCYCLE BETWEEN LANES OF TRAFFIC IF THE MOVEMENT MAY BE MADE SAFELY AND IF THE OPERATOR DOES BOTH OF THE FOLLOWING:

OPERATES THE MOTORCYCLE ON A STREET THAT BOTH:

IS DIVIDED INTO AT LEAST TWO ADJACENT TRAFFIC LANES IN THE SAME 3 DIRECTION OF TRAVEL.

HAS A SPEED LIMIT THAT DOES NOT EXCEED FORTY-FIVE MILES PER 5 HOUR.

TRAVELS AT A SPEED THAT DOES NOT EXCEED FIFTEEN MILES PER HOUR

There was a tremendous team effort from AZ MMA, ABATE and MRF to lobby elected representatives on behalf of their members and the motorcycle community, and a very high response rate from calls to action to contact elected representatives via email and other means.

Special thanks to SkyPilot and Cindy Gates from MMA for their efforts, as well as the coordination brought about through the CMC legislative team.

his result directly demonstrates what is possible when we operate as an organized and united front. As your designated lobbyist, I will continue to work to improve cooperation, coordination and mobilization to ensure our voice is heard.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions or feedback.

As the legislative session winds down, we’ll begin thinking about next year. Legislative priorities include a continued focus on profiling and vigilance around law enforcement related bills.

If you have not filled out the MPP survey for 2022, you can do so here. Please ensure that you are reporting any incident of profiling to MMA leadership, especially if you have an audio/video recording of the stop and/or witnesses who can testify to the incident.

Ride Safe.

Nathan “Kraken” Deily

Designated Lobbyist, AZ MMA