SENATE MEMORIAL 35

50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2012

INTRODUCED BY

Richard C. Martinez

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A TASK FORCE TO DEVELOP A PROGRAM TO TRAIN VOLUNTEER CIVILIAN MOTORCYCLE TRAFFIC ESCORTS AND TO RECOMMEND LEGISLATION TO PLAN FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION, ENDORSEMENT AND CONTINUED SUPPORT OF VOLUNTEER CIVILIAN MOTORCYCLE TRAFFIC ESCORTS STATEWIDE.

     WHEREAS, organized motorcycle events comprise a significant portion of charitable giving statewide, resulting in the donation of food, toys, money and other measurable gifts to needy populations; and

     WHEREAS, motorcyclists often help escort the remains of deceased loved ones and fallen military servicemen and servicewomen to their final resting places; and

     WHEREAS, volunteer civilian motorcycle traffic escorts currently exist throughout the state, but there is no standard of training, and the volunteers have no regulation or protection of law, often necessitating the hiring of paid law enforcement motorcycle officers to ensure the safety of the volunteer motorcyclists and the traveling public participating in an organized event; and

     WHEREAS, motorcycle events often cross law enforcement jurisdictions, making the use of law enforcement motorcycle escorts a challenging collaboration for multiple agencies; and

     WHEREAS, the high cost of paying law enforcement to provide for safety often makes the use of paid motorcycle escorts for charity events cost-prohibitive; and

     WHEREAS, charitable motorcycle events statewide are being canceled due to the increasing cost of law enforcement motorcycle escorts; and

     WHEREAS, the year 2011 saw the end of the nineteen-year tradition of the Rio Rancho toy run, an event with more than five thousand participants annually, each of whom donate a toy and two nonperishable food items; and

     WHEREAS, the Rio Rancho toy run is now canceled because of the unaffordable cost of hiring law enforcement motorcycle escorts; and

     WHEREAS, the constitution of New Mexico has an anti-donation clause that forbids giving public money to private operations, effectively preventing law enforcement agencies from donating their services to provide for public safety when motorcycle escorts are needed; and

     WHEREAS, a multitude of preventable motorcycle accidents, injuries and deaths during organized events could have been prevented through the use of motorcycle escorts to protect the safety of the motorcyclists and the traveling public by keeping participating motorcycles together and increasing their visibility; and

     WHEREAS, members of the motorcycle community are highly motivated to volunteer for training and endorsement as motorcycle traffic escorts and are willing to donate their time to this community service if given the opportunity; and

     WHEREAS, there are currently no programs endorsed by the state to train volunteer civilian motorcycle traffic escorts; and

     WHEREAS, a group of motorcyclists traveling together in an organized fashion is a procession and should be protected under the law; and

     WHEREAS, the state of Arizona has adopted a program to train civilian motorcycle escorts and has a statute enabling the use of volunteer civilian motorcycle escorts, Arizona Revised Statute 28-776;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the department of public safety and the department of transportation be requested to convene a task force to develop a program to train volunteer civilian motorcycle traffic escorts; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this task force be representative of the motorcycle community at large and include members from the New Mexico motorcycle rights organization, the motorcycle safety foundation, community motorcycle organizations and clubs and independent motorcycle riders; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this task force conduct a review and analysis of current legislation pertaining to authorized emergency vehicles, licensing requirements and funeral and military procession escort rights of way for the purpose of making recommendations for legislation to improve the protection and endorsement of volunteer civilian motorcycle traffic escorts by the first session of the fifty-first legislature; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this task force submit its recommendations and findings to the appropriate interim legislative committee by October 2012; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the secretary of transportation and the secretary of public safety.

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