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IMMEDIATE RELEASE Red Light Bill Triggers Commonsense(Columbia) S-1027 is a bill before the South Carolina Senate that would allow motorcyclists to treat a red light as a stop sign if the mass of the motorcycle is not sufficient to trigger a traffic signal change. At many intersections in South Carolina, the trigger mechanisms that communicate to the traffic signal require a mass to travel over the inductive loop in the roadway that far exceeds the mass of a motorcycle. Depending on the time of day and traffic volume, theoretically, a motorcyclist could sit at a red light for hours. Most every experienced driver has encountered a broken traffic signal at least once in their driving career, and virtually all who have found themselves in such a predicament, have proceeded cautiously through the red light without incident. “This bill would not legalize running red lights or stop signs. It would allow motorcyclists to treat defective traffic signals as stop signs,” says Dennis Welborn, ABATE of SC Legislative Coordinator. "This is a no cost solution to a problem that affects some of the 100,000 motorcycles in South Carolina on a daily basis." Arkansas, Tennessee, and Minnesota already have laws similar to what S-1027 proposes. Georgia and Oklahoma have similar bills pending legislative action. Wisconsin is also reported to have a similar proposal that is awaiting introduction. S-1027 acknowledges the reality of the road and would simply change the law so that motorcyclists stuck in these types of situations could proceed with caution without violating the law. The time limit of 20 seconds is secondary to the idea that there should be law that ends the practice of motorcyclists being forced to violate the law simply because their motorcycles lack the mass required to trigger a traffic signal change. ### ABATE of South Carolina is a State Motorcyclists Rights Organization dedicated to defending the rights of all motorcyclists who choose to ride in South Carolina. ABATE of South Carolina also encourages all motorcyclists to register to vote and become active in the political process. ABATE encourages motorcyclists to voluntarily obtain motorcycle rider training. Many members of ABATE are involved in a variety of charitable organizations and take great pride in being active members of their communities. To learn more about ABATE of SC visit http://www.abatesc.com.
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