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House approves bill allowing second motorcycle to share accessible parking stall
Summary
The Utah House passed House Bill 5 to allow a second motorcycle to occupy an accessible parking stall alongside a motorcycle displaying a valid handicap plate or temporary placard so an attendant can assist the rider; the measure passed 64–2 and moves to the Senate.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah House of Representatives on the floor Monday approved House Bill 5, a measure that allows a second motorcycle to occupy the same accessible parking stall as a motorcycle displaying a valid handicap license plate or temporary placard so that an attendant can assist the rider.
Representative Todd Kaiser, sponsor of the bill, told colleagues the bill responds to a reported incident in which a motorcyclist with a disability and a handicapped plate parked in a motorcycle-accessible stall and a second motorcycle carrying an attendant in an adjacent position was cited. "What this bill does is it basically says, if you have a license plate on your motorcycle that is a handicap plate or if you have a temporary placard... it allows a second motorcycle to be in that same parking stall to have someone assist you," Kaiser said on the House floor.
Kaiser acknowledged enforcement challenges when Representative Hogue asked how an officer would determine whether the second motorcycle was legitimately assisting the person with a disability. Kaiser said he did not believe enforcement officers could always know immediately, but added that "if I'm with someone and helping them... I'm gonna know when that person on that first... placard or plated motorcycle is gonna come or go." He said the bill includes a provision that if the motorcycle with the disabled plate leaves and the second motorcycle remains, the remaining motorcycle would be subject to a citation.
The House voted on the bill after debate and recorded 64 yes votes and 2 no votes. The measure passed the chamber and will be transmitted to the Senate for further consideration.
The bill’s sponsor described the change as narrowly tailored to permit an attendant to remain in an accessible space while assisting a motorcycle rider with a disability; the House did not amend the enforcement language during floor debate. Next steps: referral to the Senate, where any committee referral, amendment, or hearing schedule was not specified on the floor.
