HB 397-EXEMPTIONS FROM DRIVER'S LICENSING  CHAIRMAN COWDERY announced CSHB 397(STA) to be up for consideration. SENATOR WARD moved to pass CSHB 397(STA) from committee. CHAIRMAN COWDERY objected and asked the sponsor if he had worked out the problems from the previous meeting with Senator Wilken. REPRESENTATIVE VIC KOHRING, sponsor of HB 397 said he didn't think they had worked out the problems, although they had a meeting. SENATOR WARD moved to withdraw his motion and asked for unanimous consent. There were no objections and it was so ordered. REPRESENTATIVE KOHRING explained that CSHB 397(STA) removes the license requirement for an off-road vehicle, which is defined as snow machines, boats, ATVs, etc. Having a driver's license to drive a car in a city street is not germane to driving an ATV or snow machine. 4:10 p.m. SENATOR WILKEN said he had the opportunity to ride his ski-doo this weekend and went 85 mph. If this bill is passed, all proof of responsibility and restrictions for a 13-year old to jump on that machine and drive it will be gone. He would suggest that is like giving 13 year olds a lethal weapon. It seems strange to him that at 14, a license is required to operate an automobile, but at 13, 14 or 15 no license is required to get on any snow machine that will kill. According to testimony, there are 350 accidents per year. He maintained, "This bill is a very dangerous bill. This bill, should it go through, will kill kids and I just don't think that's really what we want to do." He said the committee is deliberating this bill because an overzealous park ranger unadvisedly wrote a citation for a child on a kiddi cat. He remarked, "We have taken that event and changed it into what I consider to be a huge bill that once again puts our youth at risk." He suggested addressing the following issues: · If the unlicensed operator is within reasonable proximity to and under supervision of a licensed adult · Damages or injuries caused as a result of an unlicensed operator are the responsibility of the parent or the legal guardian of the operator · The legislation is effective upon approval of the SNOTRAC safety course by the Alaska Department of Public Safety · This issue will be reviewed in five years He said the committee heard testimony that SNOWTRAC is developing a safety program. He commented that if the licensing requirement is lifted, there should at least be some place to send children to get some level of training. He said without changes he remains adamantly opposed to the bill. SENATOR WARD said someone can cross a road, but if someone is traveling from point A down a road to get to another snow mobile trail, there is no local ordinance that says that is legal. Those people are illegally going down that road. It's permissible to go across a road. He also said that not everyone abuses the law and in fact the ones that abuse it usually aren't kids. SENATOR ELTON asked what the net effect of this amendment would be on a youngster in Bush Alaska where they have no highway system, and a snow machine is often used to get to school, do a trap line, or go to a grandmother's house. SENATOR WARD said the youngster would need to have an adult with them. SENATOR WILKEN said he wanted to go back to the issue of what problem they are trying to solve. He stated: This law has been on the books for decades. Suddenly it rises because of some incident - it rises to some notoriety… So we have an administrative problem that we're going to take what I consider to be a very major step that puts kids at risk. SENATOR ELTON agreed with what Senator Wilken was saying and tended to agree up to a point with what needs to be done and that clearly there is a safety issue. In his mind there is a dramatic difference between recreational use in areas where a snow machine will be on a road system in which you have to obey the laws of the land as written for operators of a motor vehicle. In some areas of the state, mostly the Bush, having a snow machine isn't a matter of choice, it's a matter of necessity for all ages of users. SENATOR WILKEN said they are not just talking about snow machines, but ATVs, jet skis, watercraft, river boats, and basically any propelled vehicle. REPRESENTATIVE KOHRING said he also thought that safety is a concern. He suggested passing the bill to decriminalize the use of off-road vehicles without a driver's license and next session look at the suggestions from the SNOTRAC Board. CHAIRMAN COWDERY asked if the people who make snow cats for kids would be put out of business. SENATOR WILKEN responded that Arctic Cat doesn't make them any more, but Ski-doo does and they are limited to about 120 cc and go about 8 mph. Those machines will still get produced and he thought at 8 mph you're going to be within reasonable proximity of your parent. He is bothered with the issue of the 13-year old. REPRESENTATIVE KOHRING pointed out that a safe speed and safe driving are still applicable whether there's a license law or not. 4:25 p.m. SENATOR WARD explained that his grandchildren have earned the right to drive their off road vehicles and he thought there were enough laws to take care of the situation exactly the way it is and there is nothing they can legislate to stop a 13 year old from going out of control. He thought they needed to enforce the current laws. MR. DEL SMITH, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Public Safety, said that the State Troopers are somewhat ambivalent about any change in the law recognizing that they patrol a part of Alaska that uses off road vehicles for their primary source for transportation. Requiring a driver's license is not an enforcement priority for them for a number of reasons. It is down on the list of the seriousness of things. They are trying to deal with other issues and with having enough staff to patrol. A snow machine can outrun a car and they don't have very many snow machine incidents. SENATOR WILKEN asked how many citations had been written for kids operating snow machines without driver's licenses. MR. SMITH replied that it is extremely rare. SENATOR WILKEN asked if he thought enforcement efforts would increase or decrease if this law doesn't pass. MR. SMITH replied that he would say [it would not change] given their situation and the prioritization of their response. SENATOR WARD pointed out that Senator Wilken said that Fairbanks has an ordinance that allows snow mobilers to go down a road to get from one trail to another, but he said it is impossible for a local entity to adopt such an ordinance because it would be in conflict with state law, which says you can go across a road in order to get across it. There's nothing that says you can go down a road to get to another trail. Otherwise you could use the argument that you can drive from Willow to Big Lake. MR. SMITH said he was quoting 13 AAC and the 90-degree crossing roadways is what it refers to. People are not to travel the roadways, but he is not prepared to comment more. SENATOR WARD said the troopers in his area have told all operators, whether of ATVs, snow machines or dirt bikes to stay off the roadways. SENATOR WARD said the in the northern part of Seldovia, most people use ATVs and four-wheelers to get from house to house so, so there is a conflict because kids are breaking the law now. MR. FRANK SACCO, Chief, Surgery Service, Alaska Native Medical Center, said he acted as director of the Trauma Service and had been taking care of patients, a majority of whom are from the Bush. He shares some of the concerns about the way the law is written, but he thought they would be remiss if they didn't look at the overall problems with snow machines and especially with children. He said he sees about one child per month with a serious head injury from riding a snow machine without a helmet. He has never treated one who was wearing a helmet. He thought they are the same as life preservers for kids on boats. He strongly urged that the bill require the use of helmets for children. He sees six-year olds driving four-year olds around on ATVs and he thought there needs to be some laws about those situations. SENATOR WARD asked if passing a helmet law would stop the irresponsible parents who were allowing a six-year old to drive a four-wheeler. MR. SACCO replied that he didn't think they could legislate personal responsibility for everyone, but he thought a helmet law for kids would increase usage of them. SENATOR WARD asked if Mr. Sacco had asked any Native organizations how they would feel about a helmet law. MR. SACCO said he is speaking for the Alaska Native Medical Board (ANPHB) and they support of taking measures for children. MS. MARY LEEMHUIS, ANMC, said she does a lot of family teaching and children come in with too many brain injuries. Most people don't realize that it doesn't take a lot of speed to cause severe injury to the brain and even death. A helmet would protect the brain of a child. Any time the brain is knocked around it can bleed and tear and that's what sometimes causes irreversible damage. TAPE 02-21, SIDE A    4:47 p.m. MR. BILL REED, Providence Hospital surgeon, said that recent patients who are involved in snow machine accidents are exposed to much greater forces than they have ever seen before, predominantly because of the speed involved. The velocity is what determines the extent of the injury. In addition, the terrain that people travel on in Alaska is much more difficult. He stated: The point we are trying to make here is that right now the only law that controls children on snow machines restricts people who are 16 that don't have a license. Our concern is that this is a flawed law. It could be improved upon and I think that Senator Wilken's proposals go a long way to that improvement… CHAIRMAN COWDERY asked what percentage of the patients are adults. MR. REED replied about 50% were over the age of 18. SENATOR WARD asked if he was advocating a helmet law for people under the age of 14. MR. REED said in his opinion a helmet law is an important consideration and that compensation for the victims of accidents should be part of this too. MR. STEVE TOWER, Orthopedic Surgeon, Alaska State Medical Association, said he has 14 years of experience in medical practice in Alaska. He told members: The Alaska State Medical Association supports legislation regarding snow machines and ATVs that defines and enforces elements of safe machine operation, defines and enforces appropriate training and documentation of machine operators, would define age restrictions for machine operators and define and enforce safe machine operation in the presence of pedestrians and supports mandatory use of appropriate helmets by those 16 years of age or younger, either operating these machines or transporting the machine. The reason for this stance, which was passed overwhelming by the delegates of the Alaska State Medical Association, is the huge mass of trauma grief we're seeing on an annual basis, which is increasing at a rate of 10% a year. You all should know the scope of the problem. This is the second leading cause of death and injury in our children age 10 to 14. These machines are known in Alaska to be ten times more hazardous to operate than a road vehicle. I congratulate Senate Ward with being able to sit there without the state of nervous anxiety while a seven-year old operates one without adult supervision. I think that's absolutely idiotic and the data supports me there. We know these machines kill 30 to 50 Alaskans per year. They hospitalize 300 to 400 Alaskans a year. This consumes $2,000 to $3,000 days per year to treat the injuries, most cost of which is borne by the state. One quarter of those killed or hospitalized are minors. A quarter of those hospitalized are brain injured and this is the main driver of long-term medical expense. For a brain-injured patient, only a fraction of medical and social expense is derived in the acute hospitalization and about 8 to 10 times that initial expense is extracted from society at a later date. Only a small fraction of these people are ever employable and in many of these families, a family member has to quit work to care for them at home. It's for these reasons the State Medical Society is vehemently opposed to HB 397. This is an idiotic piece of legislation, which was a hip shot and a problem that doesn't exist… SENATOR WARD asked what he was advocating for. MR. REED replied that he wanted a mandatory helmet law for people 16-years old or younger if they operate or transport snow machines and ATVs. SENATOR WARD said he wasn't ready to pass a law like that today. He also thanked him for his service to the community. MR. CHARLES HOSACK, Deputy Director, Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV), said he would answer questions. SENATOR WARD asked if the DMV had a position on mandating that everyone under the age of 16 wear a helmet. MR. HOSACK replied no. SENATOR WARD asked him to get one, please. MR. SCOTT HAMANN, ABATE, said you can't make criminals of good people and no one even knew this bill existed. He goes out every weekend with about 30 kids from their church and has a good time and they shouldn't be criminals. He said there are laws on the book right now that deal with reckless endangerment and things like that and troopers have the discretion to enforce them. CHAIRMAN COWDERY asked if snow machine shops sell safety accessories like helmets of different sizes. MR. HAMANN replied they do. He thought the freedom of choice works because about 75% people wear helmets on their own. CHAIRMAN COWDERY commented that every shop he's been in tries to sell him everything. SENATOR WILKEN said he wanted the bill's sponsor to comment on his four suggestions; the issue of safety and an alternative to this disqualification and a way to review it in five years. REPRESENTATIVE KOHRING said those are not unimportant considerations, but they should be looked at in different legislation on safety. He appreciates Senator Wilken's concerns and didn't want to down play the issue of safety. SENATOR ELTON moved amendment 1, on page 2, line 7, which says a person who is at least 16 years of age with a valid driver's license from a jurisdiction other than Alaska can drive a motor driven cycle with a provision that an Alaska driver's license for driving a motor driven cycle be obtained by the end of a 90-day period after entering the state. He explained the purpose of the amendment is to address situations in which a tourism entrepreneur in a community may want to rent Vespas and mopeds to tourists. Language on page 1, line 11 provides that a non-resident who is at least 16 years of age and who has a valid driver's license issued by another jurisdiction [may drive] a Vespa or moped, however an Alaska driver's license must be obtained after a 90-day period of entering the state. There is dispute among attorneys as to whether or not that exemption applies to motor driven cycles. In our state there is an M1 qualification that applies to motorcycles and an M2 qualification, which applies to Vespa scooter, mopeds, etc. In most states a driver's license allows you to use a Vespa or a moped; in Alaska it doesn't. This would provide that tourists who are getting off a ship and want to rent one can do it. If they stay, they can't. This has nothing to do with discussions on the bill so far, but it does provide an economic opportunity for tourism entrepreneurs. CHAIRMAN COWDERY asked if this would apply to dirt bikes or motorcycles. SENATOR ELTON replied that drivers would need an M1 qualification on their driver's license. This only applies to the M2 qualification. MR. MIKE KRIEBER, staff to Representative Kohring, explained that HB 397 would exempt the license requirement for off road bikes. SENATOR ELTON said there was a difference of opinion among attorneys about whether language on page 1 of HB 397 would actually allow his constituent to have the vehicle rental business. He said this is a common business in other tourism destinations and would provide an economic opportunity for a lot of people. SENATOR WARD asked if the City and Borough of Juneau can allow it now without a state law. SENATOR ELTON replied that state law prevails. SENATOR WARD asked Mr. Hosack what he thought about the amendment. MR. HOSACK responded that they would have some concerns over it. Anyone operating a motorcycle in Alaska is required to have a motorcycle endorsement, either M1 or M2, the M2 is for small bikes under 50 cc. He would be concerned if the amendment allows non-residents a privilege that is not allowed to residents, especially over the size of the power of a vehicle and in a crowded city environment such as in some southeastern communities. He opposed the amendment. SENATOR ELTON said he could understand DMV's concern and stated: I would just suggest that if other jurisdictions are licensing people for the operation of these machines, we ought to reciprocate unless they are going to be here for longer than 90 days. SENATOR TAYLOR said he would object to the amendment only because he thought it was covered by language on paragraph 2 on line 11. He is somewhat surprised by the response from DMV and thought they might amend the legislation to include it. SENATOR WARD said part of the problem is that some states provide for a driver's license that authorizes a person to drive a motorcycle, too. Those 16 year olds from those states who come to Alaska would be able to rent a motorcycle, but Alaskan kids would not because Alaska now has dual licensing. In Nevada one license covers all, like it used to here. MR. KRIEBER said that all ages are required to have an endorsement for motorcycles. SENATOR TAYLOR asked what impact this would have on stand up two- wheelers. SENATOR ELTON replied that his understanding is that in the legislation regarding personalized motor vehicles no license would be required and the legislation limited the restrictions on where they could go. SENATOR WILKEN clarified that under regulation 2.455, section 3, it is legal in Fairbanks to drive on a road if you're making your way to a trail. The city has a prerogative to adopt that policy. You can also ride on a bridge as long as you don't obstruct traffic and obey traffic rules. He commented, "At least in this city, they can have a 13-year old on a snow machine on a city street going to the trail and it would be legal." SENATOR WARD said that is in violation of state law. SENATOR ELTON said that he was ready to vote on the amendment, which inserted on page 2, after line 7, "a person who is at least 16 years of age with a valid driver's license." SENATOR TAYLOR noted that this amendment shifts the intent of the bill from just off road vehicles to on road. SENATOR WARD added and to out-of-state people. SENATOR TAYLOR said it didn't mention anything about the size of the vehicle. SENATOR ELTON responded that the definition of a motor driven cycle is 50 cc's or less. SENATOR TAYLOR asked what something above 50 cc's called. SENATOR ELTON replied that would be a motorcycle requiring an M1 qualification on the driver's license. CHAIRMAN COWDERY asked if the amendment would require a title change. SENATOR ELTON replied that from opinions he has received it works. SENATOR WARD maintained his objection because it treats Alaska citizens as second class people. CHAIRMAN COWDERY asked for the vote. SENATORS TAYLOR, ELTON, WILKEN voted in favor; SENATORS WARD and COWDERY voted against; and Amendment 1 was adopted. SENATOR WARD moved to pass SCS CSHB 397(TRA) from committee with individual recommendations. SENATOR WILKEN said it is a dangerous bill. SENATOR ELTON agreed and thought they should spend a little bit of time to figure out how to make it work so that it addresses the safety issue and the different kinds of uses across the state. SENATOR TAYLOR said they wouldn't have this bill before them if it weren't for a bizarre incident. He thought that there had been great testimony, but it is a complicated subject. He said that watercraft in the Bush is one of our single biggest killers. There were no objections and it was so ordered. People will act irresponsibly, but he asked how to regulate that. He remarked, "We're killing more people on snow machines than we are by drunk drivers and yet we're falling all over ourselves down here to penalize and pass laws and do additional things on drunk drivers." CHAIRMAN COWDERY called for the vote. SENATORS ELTON, WARD, TAYLOR, and COWDERY voted in favor; SENATOR WILKEN voted against and the bill passed from committee as amended.