Wow, California sucks

New California UTV Legislation

AB 1595

(Sacramento CA. July 10, 2012) CORVA has learned in the past month or so of a new legislative proposal affecting UTV's like the Yamaha Rhino, Polaris Ranger, Arctic Cat Wildcat.

The proposed legislation, authored by Assembly Member Cook and sponsored/supported by Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle Association ("ROHVA") Kawasaki Motors Corporation.

The bill started out on February 06, 2012 as a proposal regarding sales taxes and related items.

The proposal was gutted and amended (very quietly)on March, 29th in an Assembly committee to much of what the bill now provides.

Since that time, the bill has had some minor amendments but has passed the Assembly 71 to 0 and the Senate 36 to 0. CORVA expects by the time you read this that the bill will be on the Governor's desk for his signature and then Chaptered into law. [Update, the Gov signed the bill]

Of particular interest, the bill provides:

"This bill would define an off-highway motor vehicle to include a recreational off-highway vehicle, as defined. The bill would establish additional requirements governing the operation of a recreational off-highway vehicle."

In short, this bill will amend Section 500 of the Vehicle Code to define what a "Recreational off-highway vehicle" is. This section is more for a clear understanding especially for the Department of Motor Vehicles in the registration process.

More important for motorized recreationist, is the adding to the Chapter 8, commencing with Section 38600 to Division 16.5 of the Vehicle Code.

"38600. A person operating a recreational off-highway vehicle shall be at least 16 years of age, or be directly supervised in the vehicle by a parent or guardian or by an adult authorized by the parent or guardian.

38601. A person shall not operate, or allow a passenger in, a recreational off-highway vehicle unless the person and the passenger are wearing safety helmets meeting the requirements established for motorcycles and motorized bicycles pursuant to Section 27802.

38602. A person operating, and any passenger in, a recreational off-highway vehicle shall wear a seatbelt and shoulder belt or safety harness that is properly fastened when the vehicle is in motion.

38603. A person operating a recreational off-highway vehicle shall not allow a passenger to occupy a separate seat location not designed and provided by the manufacturer for a passenger.

38604. A person operating a recreational off-highway vehicle shall not ride with a passenger, unless the passenger, while seated upright with his or her back against the seatback with both feet flat on the floorboard, can grasp the occupant handhold with the seatbelt and shoulder belt or safety harness properly fastened."

CORVA is providing this information as a service to the motorized recreation community. CORVA has not taken a position on this legislative proposal.

I mean I like warm sunny weather as much as anyone.. But between the taxes, cost of living, earth quakes, gun restrictions, rolling black outs, Ect,, Ect.. I really don't understand why in the hell people live there.

Now your kids can not ride with you in the buggy.

funny these are the same rules for H&M , no ? Californians have no common sense half the time, they need rules LOL. half the accidents I hear about are west coast accidents. If they used common sense these rules wouldnt be needed.

Id still move back to cali in a heart beat. It's a different world .

"Supported by Kawasaki".............Humm

ridepate wrote:

"Supported by Kawasaki".............Humm

Yeah I saw that and don't understand why. Maybe it is because they make a four seater.

Here again you just can't fix stupid. Hopefully soon California will just fall into the ocean and take all the tree hugging liberals with it

Big-R wrote:

ridepate wrote:

"Supported by Kawasaki".............Humm

Yeah I saw that and don't understand why. Maybe it is because they make a four seater.

JeffKnoll
Feedback Score: 0 reviews Member #38126
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 4
(0)

Re: CA - Helmets required and other new bans?

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Quote: Originally Posted by 07turbo
Quote: Originally Posted by JeffKnoll
Hopefully I can help shed some light. I made a few calls.

I don't post here but I lurk. I met a few of you at the Glamis North Ride at the SXSPerformance camp spot. I will be at the Marysvale event next month with them as well.

I work with the Off Road Business Association.



Apparently the Consumer Products Safety Commission, ( The same people that brought the lead ban in child motorcycles) is attempting to disrupt the sale of UTV's. This California Law is an attempt to starve off that effort. I don't know all the ends and outs, but I have some additional calls in on this subject.

Displacement is a topic that is being moved from another direction and will likely be introduced by CPSC at some point in the near future.

There are a number of us that have been attempting to organize UTV owners into an association to give SXS owners a voice. We have been moving slowly, but we are moving. I urge anyone who is interested in helping get a UTV owners advocate group established to reach out to me.

you get get more info on the International SXS Association at
Home :: International Side X Side Association

Hope that helps.
Jeff,

If I read the section 38012 as amended, correctly, this not only affects UTV's, but sand cars, buggies, and even Jeeps. Is that your understanding also, or did I read it wrong? It looks like the new section 500 only applies to UTV's under 1000cc but 38012 covers the other classifications.
I read it the same way, but was told I misunderstood it. Doing research, but it will take a few days to get clarity. I believe this is reaching beyond UTV's as well, and I have concerns, but I also see an action like this might be a chess move in a bigger game.

I don't post here often so I don't want to be over reaching, but I am happy to share what I can. I just want to caution those who might feel negative toward Kawasaki. If this was moved forward by ROHVA, then MIC was working on it, and most of the manufactures are involved in MIC. MIC is looking out for the best of an entire industry, and sometimes we end users don't see all the details. I will keep digging.

66cummins
moab junkie Join Date: Dec 2009
Name: Kyle
Posts: 604
Rep Power: 18


Re: New law requiring helmets in california

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Everyone is throwing kawasaki under the bus when most of the manufacturers belong to rohva.....Oh yes! EVEN POLARIS!
"To ensure your right to responsibly experience and enjoy public lands, ROHVA encourages you to sign up with ARRA, Americans for Responsible Recreational Access and NOHVCC, National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council, a national body of OHV recreation enthusiasts that develops and provides a wide spectrum of programs, materials and information to individuals, clubs, associations and agencies in order to further a positive future for responsible OHV recreation.

The not-for-profit Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle Association (ROHVA) is a source of information about the Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle (ROV) industry.
ROHVA is dedicated to enhancing ROV safety awareness. ROHVA is sponsored by Arctic Cat, BRP, Kawasaki, Polaris, John Deere, and Yamaha."
__________________

its called biting the hand that feed ya! doesnt matter what brand is in the background Kawasaki is named and should expect the brunt of the blow here. all these manufactures should/could band together and stand behind what the customers/riders want. the people NOT buying these products can go pound sand, but manufactures should keep their alliance with the people who feed them.

Big-R wrote:

Now your kids can not ride with you in the buggy.

Gotta be the craziest one.

nocerisdave wrote:

Big-R wrote:

Now your kids can not ride with you in the buggy.

Gotta be the craziest one.

Yeah, That is fuc...... Well it is not right. I almost slipped.

I think its bs, but at the same time I can only figure its because of the dunes. They have TONs of major wrecks their. Thats probably what stoked the fire. I've been to a couple smaller dunes and I can see very easily how places like glamis have so many deaths.. You have machines from sport quads up to 500 hp sand dunes running all over the place jumping hills with out any kind of marked paths.

OK guys here is a statement from Jeff Knoll of the International SxS Association...ROHVA is expected to release a statement soon also::::::::

Jeff Knoll
Bear Hunter Join Date: Oct 2010
Name: Jeff Knoll
Posts: 181
Rep Power: 9


Re: New law requiring helmets in california

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I did some research, and I am still doing more. There is never a good time for regulations, but last week and this week are possibly the worst time I have seen in a long time.

Johnson Valley FEIS was released on Friday, This UTV law, and the stuff going on with Parks, Eldorado, and Bla Bla Bla.

So far.
The Consumer Products Safety Commission has every intention of shutting down UTV sales nationally. California always leads the way.

ROHVA (which is part of MIC) and its manufacture based membership. (ALL of them, not just Kawasaki) introduced this bill in an effort to save the product line. If you say F Kawasaki, you should say F all of them. How Kawasaki ended up attached to the bill is beyond me, but it was another manufacture that donated money above and beyond the rest.Now I am going to step outside my comfort level, and give you my opinion.

There is a war being waged every day in our government, from the top down to your local city . The rules have so drastically changed from our nations fathers vision, that it is almost impossible to tell right from wrong. We have become so over run with personal and corporate influence that we now create legislation in an effort to stop legislation. We need to take back our government. IMHO we need a third party

You are going to have to stop complaining on the internet, and start getting involved. You can't expect someone else will do it for you. You can pick any OHV access group, and the story is the same.

"how did this happen?"

We are all understaffed and Under Funded. The Johnson Valley FEIS is over 24,000 pages of documents. Someone has to read it all and comment. That's just one example, there are 1000's. (BTW ORBA has spent over $70,000 on Johnson Valley so far and we expect we will have to spend even more.)

Lawsuit you may say?

Who will pay for it?

The Truckhaven Lawsuit which is funded by ASA, ORBA, SDORC, and AMA D 37, with a small donation from Cal 4 wheel, and the TDS club is over $90,000 in investment right now.

Lawsuits are expensive.

After all that, let me ask you one final question.

Which group represents UTV owners best interests?

Currently not one of these groups represents UTV owners exclusively.

Why would any of them spend valuable time, and money to stop this bill from becoming law? Why would any of them lobby against this, or have the knowledge on how best to correct the language so that it makes sense? Do you expect a Jeep owner to understand safety standards for a UTV?

The only people you have right now is ROHVA. Do you want the manufactures to speak for you? I have met Larry Smith at ARRA he is an very smart guy but he is not a UTV guy. That's who ROHVA suggests you to join.

The ISA has no membership, no money, and no power. It will only be able to do something about things like this if it has a voice, and only people who care about UTV's can give it that voice.

A couple part time people can't do much in their spare time but a bunch of dedicated people can affect change.

Do you want to fix this, or bitch about it?

You have just as much power as ROHVA to create a law, but you can't do it getting angry on the internet. You have to learn how to play the same game that those who want to take away our freedoms play.

I can't promise you I have the answers, I can't promise you that the ISA is the be all end all. But UTV owners need a voice, or this is just the beginning of the end for what I think is possibly the best type of vehicle you can buy. I love my UTV's, regardless of the make or model. I want to continue to go off roading, but I am just one guy.


I can't stress to you enough how important the ISA is for this community. Maybe you don't like the people trying to organize it? That's OK vote them out. But WE have to start somewhere. I will be happy to hand over the articles of incorporation if there is an able bodied leader.

October 21st Glamis North KOH. The First ISA convention. 2 board members need to be added, and we need to create some momentum so our voices will be heard. 5 guys who work nonstop can't do it alone. We need your help to build something like this.

Through ORBA I am learning about how a bill can change some of the content of this law, but frankly I don't even know if that makes sense. All of the standards in this law are in your owners manual as guidelines to operate the machine. Perhaps we are better suited to make an effort to influence the national law that I assume is coming.

Personally my wife can't currently ride in our Teryx4. But I will quickly fix that problem with a small adjustment of the seat. I have already figured out a fix for small children as well. I hate helmet laws. I don't like them on my Harley, and I don't wear a street legal helmet when I ride, but I still ride. That is the message I am trying to get across here. Right now we can still ride, we will overcome this, but we might not be as lucky next time. It is done, now lets talk about how we can fix things.


The UTV market is the fastest growing segment of Off Road. We have the numbers, to sit at the table, its time we took that seat.