It restricts who can ride as a passenger on a motorcycle.
Frederick County Delegate April Miller (Photo from Md. General Assembly website)
Annapolis, Md (KM) A bill covering motorcycle safety is before the 2024 Maryland General Assembly. The legislation sponsored by Frederick County Delegate April Miller requires that a rear sea passenger on any motorcycle be able to firmly position their feet on the footrests of the bike.
Miller says this was in response to a constituent who noticed a small child being placed in the passenger seat of a motorcycle. “It was a situation where it was a split family. There was an ex-husband that was putting the child on the back of the motorcycle, and the mom didn’t want him to do that,”: she says.
Even though it’s considered not very safe, Miller said the police couldn’t do anything because there was no law against that in Maryland.
“The bill just says you simply need to be able to reach those rear foot pegs that are already required by law; you have to be tall enough and old enough to reach those rear foot pegs for it to be a safety issue. So it’s very simple,” says Miller.
She says a similar bill passed the House of Delegates last year, but didn’t make it out of the Senate.
A hearing on this legislation is scheduled for Thursday, February 1st beginning at 1:00 PM before the House Environment and Transportation Committee.
It if passes, the law will become effective October `1st, 2024.
By Kevin McManus