2021-12-13 00:00:00 - Joint Committee on Transportation
2021-12-13 00:00:00 - Joint Committee on Transportation
SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
So anyway, I like to call to order this, uh, hearing of the Joint Committee on Transportation and thank everybody for joining us on the Transportation Committee hearing today. Um, I'd like to remind members of the committee and those participating in the team's virtual platform please mute your microphone at this time unless or until you are recognized to speak again. Welcome to all all the those who have32 joined us. My name is John Keenan, and I am the Senate by chair of the committee. And I'm joined by my good friend colleague and the house chair, Representative Bill Straus. Um, And with us today on the Senate side at this point, Senator Chandler, I see. Thank you for joining us Senator Chandler. And I don't know, chair Straus. Uh, if you have any members of the house that have joined us at this moment,
I've seen a number. I'm limited by the screen. It's again one of the downfalls of the format. But But I see, uh, I67 see, uh rep Parents rep Oral rep. Blais.
I think I saw poses here as I noticed others. I may note them, but thank you, Mr Chair. Great. Thank you to the members of the committee want to, um, it's just what our staff will be happy to make sure that we recognize those that have, uh, here. Um, so today the committee will hear testimony on bills relative to traffic offenses, automobile dealers and transactions. And Chief Straus and104 I are here to and members of106 committee here to listen and to learn, and we thank you again for being here. Were conducting the hearing remotely, along with committee members and staff. Participants in today's hearing include those legislators and members of118 the public who pre registered to testify. And I believe they had up until two PM today to preregister. And so we have a rather lengthy but not overwhelming in terms of numbers of people who have testified. We expect that the testimony would be overwhelming in terms of its what's important to us. And so we appreciate that all others listening to the hearing, who are not members of the committee or not signed up to testify may view a Livestream version of this hearing on the legislature's website, mass legislature dot gov and an149 archive video of today's hearing will be made available on this site within a few days. For those watching on Live Stream, any individual organization may submit written testimony and supplemental information on any of the bills on the doctor, the committee and, uh to the committee to the committee staff via email. So in terms of order of testimony, legislators will be taken out of turn, As is the tradition of the committee. Transportation Committee members who registered to testify will be called first, followed by other legislative legislators who registered. And we will hear testimony from those again who pre registered by two p.m. This afternoon. For those of you who are here to testify when I recognize you to speak, please mute your audio and state your name. If you are affiliated with an organization, your position on the bills of concern referencing the195 bills, uh, that will be testifying on and then begin your remarks. Individual testifies will be Have up to three minutes to speak, except in the case of panels of more than three people. In those cases, a maximum time of 10 minutes will be imposed. The entire panel, due to the volume of the testify, is request at the time of it is adhered to as strictly as possible that we can hear from everyone today. Committee staff will keep time and let us know when three minutes are up when an individual or panel has concluded their testimony. Please remember to your microphone in case the panel testimony. Questions from the committee will be asked at the end of all testifies on the panel. And once individuals or panels are done testifying, please exit the team's platform and watch from the livestream on the Legislature's website. If testifies cannot wait245 on this call until they are called upon, we encourage them to submit written testimony that the committee can consider their positions. Um, in terms of questions from the committee during testimony, members who256 wish to ask a question should ask to be recognized by using the raise your hand feature on the or the chat. When finished, the member who has asked the question should let me know that they have no further questions and then promptly removed their microphone. And if there are no other questions, participants at that point free to log off teams at the conclusion of their testimony. So moving on to today's docket um, again, I would call the first testify, remind folks of the three minute rule. And, um, the first testifier that I have first person to testify, I believe, is Shannon Cabin or Chief Consumer Protection Division from the Attorney General's Office will be testifying, I believe on Senate Bill 23 to three. Good afternoon.
[SHENNAN KAVANAGH (AGO):] [SB2323] Good afternoon. Chairman Keenan, Chairman Straus and members of the Joint Committee. Thank you for the309 opportunity to testify today, and I appreciate your taking me out of order. My name is Shennon Kavanaugh, and I'm314 the chief of the Consumer Protection Division in the Attorney General's office. I am here to support Senate Bill 2323 an act modernizing protections for consumers and automobile transactions, which Senator Feeney and Attorney General Maura Healey filed together in the Attorney general's office. We see all too often the consequences for consumers when335 they are saddled with expensive cars that do not operate each year. Complaints about defective automobiles and unfair sales transactions represent the highest volume of complaints our office receives. We talked to consumers, dealerships and auto finance companies daily in an effort to resolve these complaints, and we have undertaken numerous investigations and enforcement actions to address this problem.
It is essential to public safety that the vehicles on our roadways are safe, and it is essential for consumers that they are protected when they purchase a car. For most of us, cars are basic necessity. We need them to get to372 work, to buy food, to access health care and to get to school. Purchasing a car is the most expensive and complicated transactions many consumers experience in their lifetimes. If the car doesn't work, consumers are385 not only left without essential transportation, they can also experience job loss, financial strain, repossessions and long term credit damage. Senate Bill 23 23 builds in logical amendments to modernize key auto laws to protect consumers. First, it amends the time period in which consumers can exercise their legal right to return a car for refunds or repairs if it fails inspection after purchase. Currently, the law starts the clock at416 the time the dealership sells the car to the consumer.
Sometimes there's a gap between the date that the consumer car and the date the consumer actually gets possession of it, shortening the time in which they can get it inspected and return to the dealer, and we have seen unscrupulous dealerships intentionally delayed delivery to skirt their legal obligations to provide refunds. The bill makes a common sense amendment441 to address this problem. It starts the clock on444 the date the consumer gets the car, not the date the consumer buys it. The amendment ensures consumers have time to exercise their rights. Second, the bill expands warranty coverage to higher mileage used cars. The used vehicle warranty law requires dealers to make reasonable repairs if the car exhibits a defect within the warranty period. Currently, the mileage limitation on warranty coverage is capped at 125,000 miles.
We regularly see cars being sold with 100,000 miles on them or more. In these cases, consumers end up with significantly shorter warranty coverage or no coverage at all. The bill increases the cap to 200,000 miles, which takes into account the realities of the used car market and ensures consumers have warranty protection. Third, the bill increases the amount automobile dealerships are required to maintain in a surety bond to expand claims coverage when dealerships go out of business. These funds have proven essential for consumers. Our office has successfully obtained bomb proceeds for consumers left in the lurch when dealership shut down. However, there are often so many consumers harmed that the current bond requirements of $25,000 dealership is insufficient to make them hope. The bill increases the amount of the bond requirement to $50,000 per dealership.
It also makes it easier for consumers to access the bond by repealing a requirement that they must first go to court and obtain a537 judgement and by permitting the A G s office to file a claim against the bond on behalf of a group of consumers. This removes545 barriers and increases access to justice for our most vulnerable consumers. Lastly, the amendment brings more fairness into the law on repossessions by556 giving consumers who lease vehicles the right to notice and an opportunity to cure a default before the563 vehicle is repossessed. This565 aligns with protections currently provided to consumers568 who finance the vehicle. I want to thank Senator Feeney for his partnership in this legislation, and I urge the committee to report this bill out favorably. Thank you again for this opportunity, and I'm happy to answer any questions you have. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
All right. Thank you. Uh, at this point, I don't see any questions. Thank you for your testimony. Next, you reference Senator Feeney is responsible. Will go on to, uh, Senator Feeney, who will speak on Senate Bill 2323. Senator Feeney,
[SEN FEENEY:] [SB2323] [HB377] Thank you. Check in and check Straus from members of the committee. And, of course, your staff for hearing this bill and the many others today. And for all the work that you're doing this session in considering many pieces of vital legislation regarding our transportation615 system. Today I join Attorney General Marty Lee and Representative Gonzalez and support of an act modernizing protections for consumers in automobile transactions as 2323. The bill that's being considered by you that I filed in the Senate in H377 in the house, which was referred to another committee. First, I'd like to thank the attorney general for being such a dedicated partner on this legislation with my office and for its steadfast work on behalf of consumers in the Commonwealth on many issues, but especially those that we're talking about today that affect the rights of consumers and automobile transactions.
Mr Chairman, I know we just heard the details of this bill, but, um, I want to add a little bit of a different flavor to this And in terms of thinking about our constituents, we're trying to make a series of changes to modernize our statutes and improve the overall consumer experience of purchasing huge vehicle here in the Commonwealth. The meat of this bill address is one of the most simple and basic tenets of consumer protection that we, as policymakers must consider. What do you do when the goods and services you purchase are either defective or do not meet the standards as advertised? This committee in particular the Committee on Transportation, understands more than most the necessity of a safe, reliable and affordable mode of transportation outside of public options for most individuals and families throughout the Commonwealth.
As we build back in the midst of an uncertain pandemic, we are focused intently on those enablers of a robust workforce and strong economy. Having a reliable automobile is chief among them getting to work or school, caring for a family member, driving to a doctor's appointment, grocery store, pharmacy or shuttling the kids to daycare and other activities. Most families are left with no choice but to purchase or lease a vehicle. It is baked into our modern cost of living, but it does come at a significant price, typically in the form of a loan or at least and with rising vehicle prices across our economy, along with the widening wealth gap. By the way, a huge vehicle is usually739 more economical for an individual or family of various742 means, a noxious those of limited means. But what happens to a working class person who was saved for a long time or borrowed when the large purchase So we used vehicle is made and the vehicle can't even pass a state inspection, making it illegal and unsafe to drive? Well, you might say we have a lemons lemonade law here in Massachusetts, which we just heard about. But that law stipulates that a consumer only has seven days after the purchase to obtain a full refund of the used vehicle fails inspection.
However, the experience of many consumers has related to the attorney general's office and regulators shows that a loophole in the law must be corrected. Administrative delays and, as we just heard in some cases unscrupulous dealers because the following day, period to expire before the consumer even even drives the car off the lot. This bill would simply update the law to start the seven day period in which a consumer could get a refund upon delivery of the vehicle not to purchase. So, Mr Chairman, what happens if, through no fault of your own, you suffer financial loss after purchasing a used vehicle due to the actions of the dealer. Currently, state law mandates that dealers must have a $25,000 surety bond to cover such costs on the part of consumers, uh, and require a court order judgment issue payment.
This legislation updates that critical consumer protection requirement in our laws. Excuse me by a increasing the bond to $50,000 to cover the rising costs of vehicle repair that has not been updated in many many years to be able to adequately reimbursed consumers and be removes that court order judgment requirement, allowing the consumers to appeal directly to the insurance company that executes the bond. And perhaps most importantly, the update of this law would also allow the attorney general to file a850 claim against the bond851 on behalf of consumers, which would empower them in their office to better advocate on their behalf. So, Chairman, what happens when, instead of financing the purchase of a vehicle in the Commonwealth, you find that leasing would provide for better terms within your budget. But during that least for whatever reason, maybe a pandemic.869 Maybe you lose your job. Maybe you're just having trouble making ends meet. You fall behind in your payments.
Currently, LSE does not have as many rights as an individual who has financed the purchase, and they can face repossession without notice or opportunity to address the miss payment One day. I think about it after working hard all week, trying to cut expenses, balance your checkbook and paying escalating costs and everything from healthcare, education and housing. The tow truck shows up and you're only vehicle gets report. You had zero notice and no opportunity to make payment arrangements to make it right. This legislation adds noticed in a right to cure for leased vehicles905 similar to what is required for finance vehicles and generally acceptable practices from a consumer protection standpoint. Finally, Mr Chairman, what if shortly after purchasing a used vehicle. You become aware of a defect that requires repair that affects its use or safety. Well, we have to use vehicle warranty law in Massachusetts already on the books that requires a dealer to perform network and fix that defect within certain timeframes after the purchase. However, current law only933 covers vehicles with 125,000 miles or less at the time of purchase that has not been updated.
This bill would update and modernize that statute by increasing the mileage maximum covered under this law to 200,000 miles. It also makes additional modest adjustments to the categories of warranty periods, from the lemonade law to the surety bonds to leasing protections and use vehicle warranties. This legislation has been drafted carefully and deliberately to solve for issues faced by consumers and reported to regulators here in the Commonwealth. It is an update and modernization of current laws to reflect the economic reality faced by our constituents. By taking action on this legislation, we are helping thousands of consumers who are shelling out a lot of money just to ensure reliable transportation for them and their families. Mr. Chairman, I thank you for the opportunity to testify. I hope this bill has moved upon favorably. And I'm happy to work with987 the committee in the days ahead. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
Mhm. All the buildings. Thank you, Senator. Any questions for the center?
Seeing none. Thank you. Appreciate your testimony. Next, we'll go on to Representative J. Calvert. I can't see him on the screen. I don't know if he is here.
Representative. Okay. We'll come back next. Representatives Pignatelli.
Representative Pignatelli.
Okay, we will come back. I'm here. Good. Sorry about that. All right. Thank you.
[REP PIGNATELLI:] [HB3573] Thank you very much. Mr. Chairman and Chairman Straus, Thank you very much for taking me out of order. Um, I wish everybody happy holidays, so I'll be very brief. It's about house 3573. An act relative to temporary license plates. As you can imagine, thousands of cars are purchased in Massachusetts from out of state consumers, and we're1051 one of the few only a handful of states that don't have temp tags able to do to get that car home. So, for example, if I lived in New York State as a border community, my district borders two states, Connecticut and New York. The Berkshires, as you meant well, now 43 states. But I think this is across the Commonwealth that the consumer comes in from out of state wants to purchase the vehicle. That's not a quick, easy transfer of plates. There's no way for them to take that vehicle home. If we have the ability to registered dealers to issue a temporary tag, Massachusetts could collect the sales tax revenue.
They could drive the car legally back to whatever state they came from and then register the car in the in the state that they came from. So I think it's an opportunity to generate some revenue that would be good for business and with things happening, like in real time now, and people are purchasing cars online, I think this opportunity to help our dealers throughout the Commonwealth, from the Berkshires to the South Shore, battling Connecticut and Rhode Island to the North Shore, battling the New Hampshire Vermont. I think there's an opportunity to help the dealers throughout the state also retaining some much needed revenue in the state. And it's a very simple this issue attempt ag. Um, I think it would be an easy, clean way to do it and I would hope that you guys would support that Going forward. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
Thank you, Representative. Any questions for the representative
seeing? None. Thank you for your testimony. You have a great great afternoon and evening. Um, does that mean Does that mean yes? We thank
you very much. You never know in this business. I know. Thank you. Thank you for your time. Happy Howitt. Thanks for stopping by.
Fair enough. Thank you. Thank you. Next we'll move on to Representative Vitolo.
Representative Vitolo.
Okay, Um, next we'll go to Representatives Barrows.
[REP XIARHOS:] [HB3632] Thank you, sir. Good afternoon, Mr Chairman. My colleagues and everyone. I am Stephen Xiarhos. I am a rookie rep In my 11th month, but I was a police officer for 40 years, and I'm here to ask for your support on a personal matter. In a way, it's called a house bill. 3632. Cecilia's law, Um, part of my stories. I lost my son in Afghanistan in combat, and after that happened, a bunch of motorcycle people came to me and they started what we call Big Nick's ride for the falling. I never wrote a motorcycle in my life. And now, 12 years later, I ride all the time, and we've raised over half a1231 million dollars in my son's memory to help others. But part of motorcycle riding can be dangerous. So there is a law that exists in Massachusetts That provides a $35 fine if you turn in front of another vehicle.
So in the motorcycling world, a lot of crashes happen when the motorcycle is going straight and someone happens to becoming the other way, and for some reason they turn left in front of the motorcycle. And1269 if you're in a car, it's not as dangerous. But on a motorcycle it's very dangerous and it hurts people. And it killed a young lady named Cecilia in my district. Her brother was a state trooper. She was1283 on her way to work on her motorcycle and someone cut in front of her. It killed her, And the fine is a $35 fine. So we're trying to1296 increase the fine to $200, and, uh, it just basically asked for some wording changes in an existing law in memory of Cecilia, uh, and and I guess, in honor of all those people1313 that ride motorcycles, especially who usually are doing good things to help others. And I'd also like to mention a good friend named Rick Leeson. Rick testified in the past on this behalf with the Massachusetts Motorcycle Association. He's a good friend, and he died on Saturday in Florida. And so in his name and in memory of Cecilia, I'm here to ask for your support on this bill. Thank you.
SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
Thank1348 you, Representative. Thank you for turning tragedy into force for something good. Good change. Thank you very much. Uh,
anybody have any questions of the representative?
I don't see anything. Thank you, Representative. Um, next we have representative Philips representative. Yes, you do.
[REP PHILLIPS:] [HB3570] Good afternoon. Chairs, Keenan chairs Straus, members of the committee. Thank you so much for taking me out of order. I'm pleased to be with you this afternoon to testifying in support of my bill House 3570 and act relative to offenses while operating on a non administrative license suspension on Father's Day 2014. Haley Cramer was tragically taken from her family when a driver who was operating on1392 a suspended license jumped the1393 curb in a residential neighborhood where she was out jogging and he killed her. He put guilty to operating on a suspended license prior to his trial and served only 2.5 years, which is woefully inadequate for taking a life in this manner. In response, my predecessor, representative Kafka, filed this bill to create three new crimes in Massachusetts1408 that better capture the scope of actions like these, causing bodily harm, causing serious bodily harm and causing death while operating on a non administrative license suspension.
To be clear, we have explicitly excluded administrative, monetary suspensions and instead targeted individuals who commit these crimes but do not have an active license due to court involved activity or other issues related to poor driving. The bill before you today is the result of years of discussion and tweaking both with this committee, the Judiciary Committee and outside stakeholders. We even had the former Norfolk County D A that tried this case assists with the drafting of and subsequent changes to this language. I'm pleased to be continuing Representative Kafka's work and pushing for these reforms, And I'm grateful that Governor Baker and his team saw fit to include the this bill language Section 99, his road safety Bill House 3706, which is also being heard today. You'll also be hearing later from Ryan Leitner, Haley's cousin, who will offer testimony on behalf of the Cramer family. I believe that there is a demonstrable need for this bill and would therefore encourage you to report favorably. Thank you for your time and your consideration. I'm happy to answer any questions. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
No questions for the representative seeing none. Thank you, Representative. Next. Uh, Senator Comerford. I don't see her on the screen, but she may be with us. Senator Comerford.
Okay, we'll just go back. And his representative Vitolo joined us. Any chance, Representative Vitolo? Yes. How about records? Very you're on.
[REP VITOLO:] [HB3626] Thank you. Vice Chair Keenan and chair Straus for your work today and for taking me out of turn. I'm here to testify in support of H 3626 an act relative to speed limits Legislation that would allow communities to standardize their speed limit at1527 25 mph locally and implement accurate signage As you, I'm sure recall, in 2017, the legislature voted to allow municipalities To reduce their speed limit to1539 25 mph in thickly settled areas. They recognize this importance in reducing speeds as it relates to older adults trying to cross the street, Children walking around schools1553 and playgrounds, and cyclists and people using scooters or pedestrians throughout the community. Despite this legislation that passed and was signed into law even when municipalities do exercise this ability to reduce their speed limit to 25 mph and thickly settled areas, mass dot and state laws provide no needs to remove a posted speed limit to revert back to the slower statutory speed limit without conducting a multi step, extensive and expensive study.
My town, Brookline, voted to lower the town squad speed limit to 25 mph almost immediately after the bill became1597 law, but has been unable to conduct these studies. And as a result, signage throughout town remains inconsistent and confusing, increasing speeds and creating additional risk for pedestrians, cyclists, Children and older adults. The town very much wants to remove these 30 and 35 mile per hour speed limits so that drivers will respect to 25 mile per hour element, but mass DOT prevents them from doing so, So I'm going to show a couple of slides If it's all right to show you exactly what I'm talking about. I think the picture is worth far more than 1000 of my words. Uh, and so I'm not sure. Do I bring them up? Oh, that's going to be hard because they're not on this machine. Um, maybe I won't show you. I'll tell you about them.
Um and you know, I'll send them to the committee. I'm sure committee staff can share them later. The first image that you don't see here, um, is on Newton Street and you'll see to speed limit signs within 30 yards of each other. The one right at the town boundaries is 25, but there's a posted speed limit sign for 30 that's been there for decades. That the town cannot remove into the driver is getting very mixed signals on Pleasant Street. The second slide would show you the exact same phenomenon To speed limit signs within tens of yards of each other that have different speeds because one is the town wide speed, and the other is a sign that predates the 2017 law on Clinton road eastbound. It's 35 westbound. It's 30. It's a quiet neighborhood street that ought to be 25, and the town can't do that.
High street northbound 30 southbound 25 again. It's this phenomenon where they did a speed study Decades ago in one direction, and the 85th%ile gave them a number that doesn't match what makes sense under modern standards. Finally, the last The last picture, which I will send you later, is Woodland Road, which is a very, very quiet, um, suburban ST that gets you nowhere in particular, where the speed limit is 30 because they were delighted to reduce the speed limit to 30. Um, you know, long before Elon Musk had any ideas for1731 modern automobiles. The bottom line is my community has perhaps two dozen roads That by all measures ought to be 25 mph like the rest of town, because over the 50 years at one time or another, we had a speed study mass dot will not allow us To reduce the speed limit on that stretch of that road to 25.
Like all the other thickly settled areas in my community, this is not unique to my community in my town has done everything it can do with the state to reduce the speed limit signs. But mass DOT says no. The law that we the Legislature passed in 2017 does not allow it. And so this bill, age 36 26, would make our intent in 2017 explicit and make it clear to massed up that when we stay 25 and thickly settled, we need 25 and thickly settled. Uh, that's what this bill is about, and I hope that you'll have a look at it. And I'm happy to answer any questions now or later. And of course, I will send you, uh, those five photographs taken by some ban owned by Google. Uh, later today.
SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
Thank you for your time. Thank you. Representative Picture paints 1000 words. I think you did it in less than 1000 words. So we'll the testimony was great. And we'll welcome the photos as you send them in. Any questions for the representative.
Thank you, Representative. Before we move on, representative Jake Oliveira is He joined us.
Okay, um, we'll move1825 on to the next person, testifies.
Uh, if I couldn't Mr. Chair arrest should be with. Partly, I did get a message from so well flagged that. Great. Thank you. Um, next is Steven and and the same thing. I1842 think Senator Comerford had to jump off and is looking to jump back on the call. So we'll await her joining us as well, So we'll keep open to both those folks. Next is Stephen Gardner Gaffney.
[STEVEN GAGNE (NORTHWESTERN DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE):] [HB3420] Yes, good afternoon, Chairman Keenan, Chairman Straus and honored members of the committee. My name is Steven Garry, and I'm the first assistant district attorney for the Northwestern District, which consists of Hampshire and Franklin counties in the town of Alcohol. Thank you for the opportunity today to testify in support of H 3420 an act relative to dangerous high speed pursuits introduced by representative Carey of East Hampton. This proposed legislation would close a gaping loophole in our criminal statutes by providing stiff penalties for those who try to flee the police by driving Dukes of Hazzard style on our highways and through our neighborhoods, endangering the lives and safety of anyone in their path. Far too often these1904 pursuits and in death, serious injury and or property damage. But even when they don't the law should provide for a degree of punishment1912 that's commensurate with the danger of these drivers needlessly create As a career. Massachusetts prosecutors beyond frustrating that the most serious criminal charge that can be brought against these drivers is negligent operation of a motor vehicle, a misdemeanor under 1924 to. And while we can always tack on a charge of failure to stop for police, That, too is a misdemeanor punishable by a paltry $100 fine. Meanwhile, many states, including every other New England states, have enhanced penalties for those who drive dangerously while trying to elude the police.
In this regard, Massachusetts is1947 an outlier. H 3420 fixes that this legislation elevates this dangerous conduct to felony status, making it punishable by up to five years in state prison 2.5 years in the house of correction and or $2500 fine. This gives courts the ability to impose significant penalties in appropriate cases. However, the statute would also preserve judge's discretion to sentence an offender to probation or even continue the matter without a finding if warranted. In addition, this statute is narrowly tailored, so it only applies to those who drive1981 dangerously while specifically intending to evade the police. In other words, this statute does not transform every failure to stop into a felony. Those who inadvertently failed, failed to stop for police or take a little longer than necessary to pull over will not suddenly find themselves facing a felony. Rather, this statute requires prosecutors to prove that an offender specifically intended to evade the police and did so by driving negligently or recklessly.
Lastly, this legislation does not promote, nor does it encourage police to engage in high speed pursuits. Many departments already curtail the circumstances under2018 which officers can pursue drivers who flee at high speeds, and most times they correctly terminate the pursuit in the interest of public safety. But in those cases where offenders are caught or can be identified and charged later, this statute2033 would finally provide a serious penalty befitting the threat to public safety created by these drivers. In conclusion, in speaking with police chiefs from Hampshire and Franklin counties, including chief Gunderson from South Hadley, who2047 is with us today, as well as the Western mass chiefs of Police Association, I can report that they resoundingly support this long overdue piece of legislation, As does my district attorney, David Sullivan. And for all those reasons, I'd ask this committee to approve H 3420 and move it closer to becoming law. Thank you.
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Thank you. Any questions of the first season to any questions? Seeing none. Thank you. Appreciate your testimony. Next is Karen2077 Foster Councilor Karen Foster from North Hampton City Council Councillor.
Council of Foster.
Okay. Next, we'll move on to Sebastian course. Sebastian Court.
Yeah. Oh, hello. Hello? Hello. Can you get me smashing court here? Yes, Yes. Here I am.
[SEBASTIAN KORTH (KORTH LAW OFFICE):] [HB3555] [SB2344] Okay. So just quickly, um uh I'm testifying. I have testimony on multiple bills. You want me to try to do them both at the same time, or everything at once or
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all at once and in a shorter period of time? As you possibly can.
Okay. All right. So the main reason I'm here is in support of House 3555, and Senate, 2344. An act relative2143 to motor vehicle leasing parity there. There are the House and Senate version of the of the identical bill. Um, and what they are is to to resolve a disparity in the consumer protection laws in Massachusetts Regarding those who lease, Massachusetts has one of2162 the best consumer protection law regimes, uh, for people who purchase vehicles. In fact, I've got to introduce myself. My name is Sebastian Court. I am a consumer rights attorney.2175 I've been practicing for more than a dozen years. Um, I focused primarily on consumer automobile law and auto lending law. Um, I'm a solo practitioner on Basin Ludlow, but I have clients, Uh, that I serve statewide. Um, yes. So a Massachusetts has some of the best consumer protection laws in the state. Clients will sometimes come to me, uh, from out of state saying, uh, you know, I'm from Connecticut. I'm from New Hampshire. I'm from New York.
I actually bought a car in Massachusetts because I knew I could get more protection because I knew the laws were more protective there. Um, unfortunately, those laws don't extend to people who lease. So what? What this law see, What these bills attempted to do is is as simply as possible. Just take the existing laws and rights and leases to on them. So they talked about There's something, uh, talked earlier about the lemon aid law that says that if you car fails inspection within seven days, you could potentially get a refund. Um, that only applies to purchase is not leases. This bill would do that. The the used car Lemon law. It doesn't apply to use car leases, which is a small but growing thing. This bill would remedy2261 that. Um, there is automatic civil penalty of triple damages for someone against, uh, in a civil lawsuit for anyone who, uh, with fraud or deceit sells goods. Um, but not one who fraudulently or with deceit, uh, leases, goods.
This would fix that, Um, it would prevented thing where, under current law, a dealer is not allowed to sell a motor vehicle above the advertised price. But there is no provision on leasing a vehicle over the advertised price that it would fix that as well. Um, it would, uh, direct the consumer of banks to promulgate regulations, uh, consistent the federal Consumer Leasing Act. So there's There's a2318 bunch of federal laws generally called the Truth in Lending Act that regulates the credit terms and how they are disclosed to consumers. And we in Massachusetts have adopted a state version of every part of that bill except the consumer releasing act, um, so enforced by by state regulators and other things. Um, but for some reason,2343 there isn't. So this would direct the commissioner of Banks to do that very similar in the way that there is a current provisions about the Fair Credit Billing Act, which is part of the federal consumer leasing the federal truth in lending Act with credit cards.
It just says, have the commissioner of banks basically prominent regulations and enforce that federal act. This would do the same thing to the federal consumer Leasing Act. And finally, um, it would also extend, uh, defaulting and repossession protections that currently exist for, uh, those who have purchased loans to those who lease. Uh, Senator Duffy testified about this, um And so my bill, uh, bill that I helped write, uh, did the same does basically the same thing. Although I would say the difference between this bill and the A G bill is that the A G bill, um, only applies to those who by who signed the lease in Massachusetts. While while these bills would apply to vehicles that are located in Massachusetts, at the time of departure. So2418 somebody gets a good deal on police in other states. Signed the paperwork in Connecticut. New Hampshire comes back. The bill wouldn't. A G bill wouldn't give them protections.
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My will build. I'm going to have to cut you off there very much. Appreciate the testimony. Does anybody have any questions of attorney costs? Uh, great. Thank you very much. Appreciate your testimony. Um, next is Councilor Otis Wheeler from Greenfield's Greenfield Council. Otis Wheeler. I No. He was on their earlier I saw him,
Councillor Wheeler.
You might have just jumped off because he was on the screen just a moment ago.
Okay. Travis Allen.
There's Travis Allen with us. Mr Good Afternoon, Vice chair of Keenan Endeavors and Chairman Straus and other committee members. Thank you. Having difficulty hearing you.
Can you hear me now,
Mr. Allen were having difficulty. Uh, you're coming in and out. Okay. How about now? Can you hear me?
Yeah, I'm getting a bad network quality issue. Okay.
If you do, you need a moment. We can go back to Mr Well or if you want to get better, or can you hear me? Okay. Okay. Thank you. Okay? Great. Thank you. Counselor. Council Wheeler. Thank you. I'm sorry I had2527 to step away for a moment.
[OTIS WHEELER (GREENFIELD CITY COUNCIL):] [SB2283] [HB3626] Um, I'm here to join Senator Comerford and support of Bill s 2283. An act promoting safety by permitting municipalities to reduce speed limits. Like Mr Vitolo, who we heard from already and supported the House version of this bill, H 3626. I'm frustrated by the state's process for changing or reducing speed limits. I won't repeat how difficult it is to it received2556 mass dot permission to reduce speed limits and posted areas. But I won't have my perspective. My father was hit by a car in the middle of a crosswalk. Hello, Counselor of mine has been hit more than once. The fact is, it's not safe to drive 30 miles an hour through a residential neighborhood.
And2571 when the law permits something that's unsafe when the law encourages conditions that make Children walking home from school feel2577 threatened, then the ones at fault are the ones that make the laws. And at the local level, that's me. And ultimately, that's all of us. A pedestrian hit by a car going 25 miles an hour will, on2587 average live, but one hit by a car going 30 to 35 will not enforce of impact. Those five miles an hour are the difference between jumping out of a first storey window and falling from the third floor. By slowing down, drivers gained not only a greater ability to break but greater sightlines because the slower you go, the wider your field of vision without offering cities of viable path To implement meaningful speed reductions, the state will never achieve its stated goal of tripling pedestrian, bicycle and public transit travel.
How can I, as a local official,2617 encourage more people to walk if state law prioritizes automotive2621 throughput over pedestrian safety 1964 The speed limit and thickly settled areas across Massachusetts was 20 mph. Lower2631 speed limits support narrower lane wits, which directly correlates with higher pedestrian volume and2637 support broader tree belts and wider bike lanes, all of which improve property values, quality of life and Children's safety. Thank you, Mr Chairman and members of the Committee for the Opportunity to testify, and I encourage you to support these two bills.
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Okay. Thank you.2653 Um, Councilor We appreciate your testimony. Questions of the2656 counselor. Um,
and a question Kind of
Give me Mike their microphone. Um,
Mr Gouveia,
if you can. Your microphone, please.
Um,
Okay, um, gonna go back to Mr Albert. I do want to recognize Senator Susan Moran, who has who has joined us. Um, we'll go2692 back to Mr Allen, Mr Allen. Hopefully it will be able to hear you. Well, others have said they've been able to hear you. So it might be something on this end here at the State House. I'm not sure. Okay. Can you hear me now? Yes, I can. Okay.
[TRAVIS ALLEN (ENTERPRISE CO):] [SB2347] Great. Thank you very much. Vice Chairman. Appreciate your time. Thank you for considering State Bill 2347 which recognizes the need for legislation to regulate personal vehicles sharing, commonly marketed as peer to peer car sharing. My name is Travis Allen, and I'm a group risk manager with Enterprise Rent a Car company of Boston. We are the subsidiary of Enterprise Holdings here in Massachusetts. An Enterprise Holdings is the parent organization for national car rental Alamo Rent to rent a car in the entire suite of mobility services offered under the Enterprise brand. This includes car rental, car sharing, van pooling, car subscriptions and many other Mobility service models Across Massachusetts, Enterprise Holdings has 1450 employees. We operate a fleet of 27,000 vehicles through a network of 149 locations. The rental of personal vehicles through2764 platforms is a growing business model and should absolutely be welcomed by Massachusetts.
Enterprise always welcomes innovation and competition in our industry, including the peer to peer car sharing business, Model Enterprises, a 60 year old company. And we have been sharing our fleet with consumers for decades. After all, when you share something in a business context, in reality you are renting, we even have a business model branded as enterprise car share. We hope our extensive experience in renting or sharing vehicles with consumers will bring value to this legislative process. One contribution we hope to make is to help explain the differences2807 and similarities amongst the various2809 business models in our industry, including car rental, car sharing, peer to peer car rental and personal car sharing. There are a lot of terms used to describe the temporary transfer of possession of a vehicle without a driver in exchange for consideration whether you brand it rental or sharing. It's the exact same service being provided to consumers. Only the business models for providing it are different.
We are very pleased to see the recognition and state bill 23 47 that peer to peer car sharing programs make vehicles available2842 to rent for the public. Everyone likes to call their business sharing these days, but this is just car rental enterprise. Welcome Senator Lewis Recognition of the need to clearly define and regulate this activity, and we believe 23 47 is a good first step. At the same time, we believe there are some important additions needed to accomplish the goal of protecting consumers at the same time, while fostering innovation. Innovation. The first is insurance Enterprise supports the coverage requirements reflected in the National Council of Insurance Legislators model bill for peer to peer car sharing.
The end coil model bill only addresses insurance issues, but we do believe it provides a comprehensive insurance treatment of this activity, ensuring no consumers are left without during the rental. Second step is clearly defined tax obligations. A consumer renting a car, those tax on that purchase and platforms offering the service should be obligated to collect and remit. The tax is owned by the consumer. And in the final, third and final piece that we believe garners consideration is the express authority for airports to regulate peer to peer car sharing platforms that provide rental services to airport customers without express authority to regulate these platforms do not maintain a physical presence in the Commonwealth. Our airports will be forced to continue costly legislative litigation. You may be familiar with Boston Logan's long, long term court battle aimed at resolving disputes with this industry as to where vehicle exchanges can take place.
What fees a road to the airport for the right to service, the planing passengers and other terms that are covered through concession agreements with all the other companies who provide service to airport customers. To summarize, Enterprise supports modernizing Massachusetts existing laws to ensure there are no barriers to the rental of privately owned vehicles through platforms, while also ensuring our residents are getting the same consumer protections regardless of what company they used to rent a car that the airports have expressed authority to regulate this activity at their airports and that the already enacted taxes and fees owed on car rental activity don't go uncollected. Thank you for your time today. We look forward to working with the Legislature on this very important2981 topic. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
Great. Thank you for your testimony. Questions of Mr Alan. Mhm seeing none. I just wanted to point out that Senator Rush, representative Devers and Sabadosa have been with us. I just want to acknowledge their presence today and thank them for for joining us. Um, and thank you, Mr Chairman. Thank you. And I believe we have Rep. Jake Oliveira? Yes. Yes. Chair. So my parents I'm sorry. I did have a question. If I hope Mr Allen still around, if he left, I apologize. Mr. Allen3020 still around? Yes, I am. Okay.
[REP STRAUS:] Um, thank you. I found your testimony comprehensive and identifying or covering the major issues out there on this. So quick. Question. You mentioned the models. Uh, statute that's out there. Are there any states and think of this as going into categories? Any states that have done this well in responding to this in a statutory way, in any states and usually people don't answer this question. Any states that have messed this up. Um, curious on your answers.
3064 [ALLEN:] That's a great question. Question, Chairman Straus. And thank you. You know, as what I would say is, as this is a emerging, um, modality to rent vehicles, it's taken some time across the US to get to the point where this is regulated and legislated. Um, you know, across the country, I believe there's, um at this point in time, and I can I can do some research with my with my team and my corporate office, but I believe there's about 20 states right now that have gotten to the point where this has been, um, regulated through legislation. Um, that does encompass and incorporate the the authority of the airports, the addressing of insurance and consumer protections, as well as as as well as tax parody, um, for the transaction. So I can certainly share with the committee uh, some some documentation regarding which states have enacted this. Um, and as far as the second part of your question, which states have and I think that legislators are Slater's across the country are, um, increasingly seeing this as a opportunity in the topic for regulations. So not everyone is there yet? But there have been, um, you know, maybe a little bit less at this point in time. But approximately half the states have legislated this with regulations already. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
Okay. Thank you. Look forward to whatever you can send along. I'm all set, Mr Chair. Thank you. Chair. Uh, representative Jake Alvarez. Uh, can you join us? And after the representative, we move on to a mass dot panel representative.
[REP OLIVEIRA:] [HB3555] [SB2344] Thank you. Thank you. Chairman Keenan and Chairman Straus. I apologize for being late. I just wanted to do a transportation hearing from my vehicle. As you can see, it is parked right now, so I am not driving. But I did want to speak on behalf of the bill that I have filed on behalf and with one of my constituents, Suzanne Sebastian, court. But I'm I'm calling in today to testify on H 3555 and Senate Bill 2344. Um, act relative to motor motor vehicle leasing parody. So currently, here in Massachusetts, we have pretty strict laws governing and helping consumers when they buy a vehicle. But those protections in those lemon laws and warranties don't extend to leased vehicles right now. In fact, 25 other states, including all of our sister states here in New England and New York have stronger laws for leased vehicles in Massachusetts. This bill would do a couple of things. First, it would provide that a consumer releases a motor vehicle on credit, shall have the terms of sale and financing clearly and accurately disclosed to them that the transactions may be avoided at the vehicle, fails inspection within seven days and extend the used car lemon law to cover leased vehicles as well. This bill3246 has the endorsement of the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the National Consumer Law Center. And it is something that would help consumers, particularly those who might not have the capital to afford to actually finance vehicle and need to lease a vehicle instead. This would be covered under this bill. Thank you again for the time I said, I know that I would be brief, but I would be happy to entertain any questions if you may have them. Thank you again. Both chairs.
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Any questions about traveling Representative
Seeing none. Thank you, Representative. Safe, safe travels. Thank you. Thank you. Um, next we will go on to a master panel. Um, we have with us, uh, Secretary Tesla, Highway Division administrator Gulliver, director of Highway Safety Division Jeffrey Harrison and assistant Secretary for Policy Cape Victor. I hope I pronounce that correctly. Uh, they you folks ready to testify? I just want to also recognize that represented Tucker has been with us. Thank you, Representative.
Okay. All set to go, Chairman.
Yes, please. Okay.
[JAMEY TESLER (SECRETARY MASSDOT):] [HB3706] Uh, good afternoon, Chair Keenan. Good afternoon, Chair. Straus. Honourable members of the Transportation Committee. My name is Jamie Tessler, and I'm going to be testifying today in support of H 3706 and Act relative relative to improving safety on the roads of the Commonwealth. And as you mentioned, I'm going to be joined by several colleagues, including Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver, Assistant Secretary for Policy Kate Victor and Jeff Larson, the director of highway safety at the executive Office of Public Safety. So first I want to begin by recognising, uh, and extending our appreciation for, uh, the Joint Committee on Transportation and the Legislature's, uh, great work in partnership with the administration during the last legislative session, Uh, in which, um, a distracted driving bill was passed and signed into law. And these measures are part of the things we all do every day to continue to make our roads safer. So first of all, I just want to say thank you. Um, I also want to recognize that there's always more we can do, uh,3387 to continue to make our roads safer.
And while this may seem a generic statement, it really is an accurate reflection of where we are, Uh, and some things we want to share today. So if you can go to the next slide, please. So first, I just wanted to share for those who haven't seen the committee. Um, as we look at some national data, which is also relatively consistent with regional data, Um And so these statistics show the statement about the things that we can do to make the road safer is particularly true during the pandemic. And even with at times a decrease in real abuse, the number of serious and even fatal accidents has grown, as you can see from the report and some information on the slide. Even with the drop in vehicle miles traveled, there was an increase in motor vehicle traffic crashes fatalities in the first quarter of 2021.
Uh, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration suggests this was due to an increase in risky behaviour by drivers, including speeding and failure to wear seatbelts. Next slide, please. Just so this slide takes, uh, those national data points and speaks to crashes in the Commonwealth. Over the last few years and again, despite view, fewer vehicle miles traveled, there has been an increase3473 in traffic crash fatalities. So promoting safety for all road with all road users is an ongoing continuous process. And when will we have lots we can do together? Next slide, please.
So mhm H 370 secs is a mix of new safety initiatives and enhancements as well several items that have been refiled. We're happy to, uh, with the time today to go through any questions on any parts of3507 this bill because there's several different parts. Um, but in the limited time of our testimony today, we3512 wanted to focus on four particular sections, um, for discussion. One recommended statutory changes for commercial drivers licenses, primary seatbelt enforcement, the requirement for convex and crossover mirrors, and side guards on state owned and state and municipally contracted heavy duty trucks and the establishing an advisory group to study and make statutory and regulatory recommendations on micromobility mostly mobility devices.
I'd like to note that H3706 includes language for Haley's law, which provides for enhanced penalties for those who drive after their license has been suspended for non administrative, serious driving offenses and cause home Uh, Cramer family will be represented by Ryan Laettner. I believe will be offering testimony shortly, Uh, in this hearing today in support of that legislation, which has been filed earlier in the session by representative Ted Philips. I wish to thank them for their advocacy on this critically important issue and acknowledge the3580 efforts of represented Philips and the commitment of the Cramer family, uh, and recognize that the governor's bill supports this deterrent in Haley's law to respond to suspended drivers who disregard the safety of others. Next slide, please.
So commercial driver's license. Uh, as the members of the committee may know, CDL holders operate the largest vehicles on the road can range from big rigs, two buses, 2 tractor trailers. Massachusetts law Should be brought into conformity with federal law guidelines and standards and the CDL language, filed in H3706, addresses statutory deficiencies that were found during a review of3623 CDL statutes and Practices. Next slide, please.
The CDL language creates new and stronger statutes Statutory provisions to promote safety safer roads by ensuring CEO applicants have a good driving record over a three year period. Prior. CDL drivers to sign up for the State Free Driver Verification Service, which provides automatic next day3646 notification to employers3647 in the event of an employee's commercial driver's license. Status changes either due to suspension or revocation or exploration, and to increase the disqualification term. Like for CDL drivers who have committed a serious traffic violation or United States service order. Next slide, please. So for primary seatbelt, I'd like to introduce Jeff Larson, who will speak about the primary seatbelt enforcement.
[JEFF LARASON (MASSDOT):] [HB3706] Thank you, Secretary Kessler and Good Afternoon Vice Chairman Keenan Chairman Straus Thank you for the opportunity to testify today in support of Governor Baker's road safety legislation. House 3706. Again, My name is Jeff Larson, and I'm the director of the Highway Safety Division in, uh, the cops and the Office of Grants and Research Uh, and I'm here to speak specifically in support of the primary seatbelt section of this bill. Now, since the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration started tracking data in the late 90s, Massachusetts has consistently consistently ranks near the bottom of all states for our seatbelt use rate. Um, some years3716 we were at the bottom. Um, the circumstances translated into an unfortunate and an entirely preventable loss of life in the Commonwealth.
Nationally, the seatbelt use rate is over 90%. And and once again, here in 2021, Massachusetts ranks near the bottom As our seatbelt use rate dropped 4%. We're now down to 77.5% in our overall3742 seatbelt use rate now. And in highway safety circles, there are there are three e s that are critical in the effort to make roads safe. There's there's the E for engineering, the E for education and the E for enforcement. Uh, and each each of these three es are critical in the safety effort to as well as we try to keep our roads safe. And the hard reality is, there's really no silver bullet to fix everything. Each of these components is necessary. In the case of seatbelts, the engineering E is covered by the automobile manufacturers who build the safety systems into a vehicle. Um, these safety systems only work if seat belts are being used, so airbags require that seat belts are being used to do their job.
Something to keep in3786 mind is that unbelted occupants, they become projectiles in crashes, and they become a danger to injuring and potentially killing other occupants, not to mention3798 themselves. Now the second is education. This is a critical element that we've been focusing on the highway safety division for a long time. Uh, and that's getting drivers and passengers to buckle up with education and awareness in Massachusetts and with many of the Office of Grants and Research. We've been successful in the past with our outreach, focusing on the demographics that have proven to be the lowest seatbelt use rates in the Commonwealth and those specifically our young men who are 18-35 year olds, pickup truck drivers and commercial truck drivers. They have the lowest usage rates in the Commonwealth.
We recently had a campaign a couple of years back that you that targeted these low use demographics, Specifically3836 commercial vehicle drivers. They have a seat belt use rates that3840 that's just barely over 50%. And, as I said, education helps. In 2000 and 18, our educational effort was associated with an 8% increase in the seatbelt use in the Commonwealth. That was the biggest increase of any3853 state over the last 10 years. So education helps. But we're here to talk about the 30 enforcement, and that's critical as well. And that's why we're here to talk about the primary seatbelt enforcement Element here. In 2019, states that had a secondary enforcement law had an average seatbelt use rate that was3870 over 6% lower than other states with a primary seatbelt law. 13 of the 14 states in the nation that have a secondary law ranked in the bottom third of seat belt use in the country.
3883 And while it's essential to address the genuine and heartfelt concerns regarding racial profiling in the discussion of the primary seatbelt bill, um, as you know, the recently passed hands free bill requires the collecting racial data with ticket in the ticketing environment or ticketing enforcement. But it also calls for that data to be analyzed and to be made publicly available as well. So while there is3907 no silver bullet to making our roads safe, as I previously mentioned, um, the primary seatbelt bill will3912 go a long way to keeping our roads safe in the Massachusetts. I want to thank you again, and I'm happy to answer. Any questions you may have SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
is Secretary Tesla. Do you have anything further? Yeah, we did have a couple other Panelists, but either way, we can pause here for questions on that segment or finish our whole segment and take questions on everything. Why don't we finish the whole segment, then go back? People have any questions?
Thank you. Chair. Um, I'd like to introduce highway Administrator. Gulliver will offer testimony the convex mirrors across conduct and crossover mirrors as well. Safeguards. All right.
[JONATHAN GULLIVER (MASSDOT):] [HB3706] Thank you, Secretary Tessler and thank you. Chairman Straus and Vice Chairman Keenan as well as members of the committee. I always appreciate the opportunity to testify on important legislation such as the safety legislation. So Secretary3966 Tesla went over some data regarding roadway fatalities at the beginning of his testimony.3970 And I can tell you that when I first took this job almost five years ago. It is one of those things that immediately struck me the number of deaths on our highway system. It is something that the average driver is aware of. But until you start seeing and monitoring the3982 fatality reports similar to what the secretary was presenting, it is truly hard to appreciate and understand the magnitude of them.
And each one of these fatalities has a family standing behind them, and many of these fatalities are preventable. I am speaking to you specifically today about convex mirrors and side guards, and to put it simply, these save lives. The legislation presents a practical, low cost solution to make4007 an immediate impact on the roads of the Commonwealth by requiring all Commonwealth owned vehicles as well as over 10,000 over £10,000 and municipal contractors to install these mirrors and guards. This is a requirement that mass DOT has led in and we have already implemented on our fleet. We have retrofit 83 vehicles over the last few years,4028 and these new safety devices do not restrict these vehicles from forming any of their needed tasks.
These include large vehicles and heavy equipment such as flatbeds that can be reasonably4037 expected to be on local roadways. These proven safety features protect the most vulnerable of our roadway users pedestrians and cyclists and motor cycles from being swept under large vehicles and from seeing them before a serious crash happens.4052 A number of communities, including the city of Boston, have already implemented these important measures, and we would like to see them implemented statewide. And as for these reasons and many more that you have heard today that I'm testifying in support strong support of this needed legislation. Thank you. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
Mhm. Thank you, Jonathan. And then, um,
our last speaker we're going to have since Secretary for Policy. Kate Victor. Uh, speak about the low speed mobility group.
[KATE FICHTER (MASSDOT):] [HB3706] Thank you, secretary. And thank you. Chairman and vice chairman and members. I'm actually an alum of this committee. I was staff between 1998 and 2000. So it is always a privilege to be back4096 before you on any of these issues. Um, I do work that relates to the needs of bicyclists and pedestrians. People who use public transit people who use wheelchairs, people and strollers. Um, pretty much everybody who is not using a private automobile as their main way of getting around. Um, and we refer generally to those folks as vulnerable users because they are vulnerable to harm for motor vehicles in lots of ways that we have heard about today.
Um, one of the newest modes that has sort of appeared in our transportation network and on our roads over the last several years is what we call electric scooters. We have seen more and more of them since the pandemic. People stand up on them. They ride on them. They're not super high speed. Um, but they are complex in some ways, and they are something new. Um, And as part of this bill, we are proposing the establishment of an advisory group to help both masked out and the legislature, uh, kind of figure out the best path forward to integrate these more fully and more safely, um, into our network. We've we've done similar things in partnership with the legislature, particularly on automated vehicles. A couple of years ago was very helpful. Um, good way to bring stakeholders and people from all across state government together to kind of figure out what do we want to do by statute what we want to do by regulation, whether we want to do by policy what makes the most sense.
How does the state relate to municipalities All those issues that are also present here. But I think we actually have benefited over the last couple of years because many cities are seeing many more scooters. And we are so we can learn from their experiences. And we can see the ways in which they are valuable, um, as a low carbon way to get around, particularly for short trips, but also some of the challenges that they present for safety on our complex roads and for parking for people with disabilities and keeping4200 sidewalks clear and a whole range of different issues. So happy to answer any questions about this. But, um really are just to think about this seriously, I think it would be really helpful and back to your secretary,
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[] So thank you. We've covered a wide range of things, so we will have to take questions on anything. Great. Thank you, Chairman. Straus.
[STRAUS:] Thank you, Mr Chair through you. I want to thank all the members of the panel. Mr secretary. It's great to see you, Mr Cover. Especially great to see you. I know you're don't want to see you back on your feet.4239 You're seated, but you know what I mean. Uh, and Kane, I I just wanted to give a couple of points and then direct a couple of questions. If I to the secretary on the4254 first on the primary enforcement issue that was identified. Let me just say that, uh, that's something I've voted in favor of several times. Uh, a floor debate. Probably about a decade ago. We came very close, probably. And vote. We house failed to enact primary enforcement of seatbelts, and that's something I regret. But I am hopeful is an observation. The witness identified this issue of any traffic enforcement4293 issues in the commonwealth Prince to, uh, law enforcement issue. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
Mhm. Can you still hear me coming and broken up? I don't know if that's just on my end or if everybody else is experiencing the same thing. Thanks. Cut about a third of what had said Maybe half. Same here, Mr Chair. Okay. Um, let me try. This is unfortunate.
Jumped into the Secretary of you. Can your the questions that I have on first the CDL issues in the governor's bill. Uh, we've covered this number of times you and I and hearing and in writing there are at least four topic areas in that bill that I think you and I agree are capable of being handled by regulation and, uh, could have been handled 2.5 years ago, before you were secretary. Can we just get those done? I don't want to belabor the point, But if if we could get that done, can you answer me on that one first?
[TESLER:] So, uh, Mr Chairman, I appreciate the question and you're correct. We've we have been I think our teams have been through this a number of times4388 in detail to section by section as to what is achievable in regulations. So I am always happy to go back to that and see what we can additionally do right away. I do know, and I think I have expressed in the past. Um, the permanency importance of things in the statute is still important. So there's I don't know if it's an either or an and is the one thing I would add, But I am happy to go back and take another run at right4415 away. What we can do. Um I would note that the human trafficking change is to get an alignment with the4421 federal law. And that's what I think that doesn't isn't suitable. Um, and we as we enforce and enforce our suspension laws, um, regulation does provoke more challenges. Doesn't mean that we don't sustain them and succeed, But it does theirs a, uh, starting to statute that we prefer. And so I know I've expressed this in the4446 past, but that that is a, um, an opportunity for us. I'm happy to go back and see what we can do instead, See, we can do in reg. But we have continued to file things because of the preference too long term. Have them in statute for the permanency of that.
[STRAUS:] Okay, a second of the three topics that I wanted to cover, uh, was the issue of, um I last saw you in a was a broader panel that included both ways and Means committees dealing with the ARPA infrastructure payments. And then now we have the broader 8 to $10 billion of of federal4485 infrastructure money. That's coming. You had indicated then And I've seen in November and the Boston Globe that you've got a list of projects, uh, maybe with priorities. Um, I asked you a couple of months ago for that list. Um, you said you and others in the administration would work on that, Uh, any chance we could get to see those list of priority projects the administration has lined up for infrastructure.
[TESLER:] So, um, Mr Chairman, as you you would ask me, I believe when we were, uh, together a couple of months ago on the opera bill, and that was within the context of, I believe, a series of, uh, water, sewer culvert, uh, investments. And so, uh, that's coordinated with our team on the environmental affairs side. So I will, uh, if we have ensured that list, I will4538 make sure we do get it. That was a particular group of things on the federal dollars overall for the, um, bill that was just passed. So, um, so I do. I do recall exactly the list you asked for, and we will get that overall, we have discussed the, um, federal Jobs Act, um, or the infrastructure bill. That is a five year reauthorization of all of our programs on the highway side, Uh, and on the transit side, and then a significant increase, and then an additional component of this4572 brand new competitive dollars at a very large amount.
So I'm also happy chairman to go through in whatever appropriate for, um, what we do know on the existing programs side, because we do have a five year, uh, federally, um, we went through the federal process last year based upon what4591 we anticipated programs to be and have a fully loaded federal, um program so we can show what4598 we already expected to be able to do4599 in the next five4600 years. With the increase. We have to go through that federal process with NPOs, but we can definitely share what we think will be some opportunities there and then on the competitive side. Um, that is going to be a competition against other states.
But I'm also happy to kind of go through where we see opportunities those programs range from. I believe there's 17 major programs that can compete for. They range in both mode and in topic. They have some existing programs. So we do have a better sense of what's available to compete for their on the new programs. They don't even have federal guidance yet. And so we are waiting for a little bit of particulars from the federal government, the US DOT. So that we can dig deeper into what those opportunities could look like. And at this time, um, we have a sense of the things that it might be, but again, it's highly dependent on that. So I'm sorry for the long answer, but there's a lot there, and we're happy to the best forum in the best way to go through exactly what we think this will achieve.
[STRAUS:] So let me just I I understand that, but I think it's in all of our interests, and I mean4667 the administration and members of the Legislature. Even if you aren't able to fund things because of different stages, we're being bombarded at the4683 moment. Everyone is including our legislative partners at the federal level, where everyone, maybe unintentionally, is offering up as now being funded projects everywhere throughout the state. And I think public is rightly subject to confusion as to well, where are the4708 priorities? Uh, I have projects I think are critical. Uh, we've discussed one, you and I, um, and it has nothing to do with my district or region in the state, But I think it's important to hear from the administration all those competitive issues aside, the five year capital investment plan. Process aside, where is it? We expect? So that and I'm not going to pin you to this. If there is a number one priority, I'll just say hypothetically. Cape Cod bridges were the Austin bypass.
Whatever is, let's let the public know. Here are the priorities that the Baker and Toledo administration have As these monies become available somewhere in the range of $8-10 billion etc. And and then I think people have a sense they4767 advocating for projects that are maybe outside that timeline or realistic. So that's that's the difficult to sign. I'll let you. I'll ask one more question, but then let you wrap up anything you want. I apologize. It's technically supposed outside the scope, but I think it's time4789 Lee, with regard to the MBTA driver issue. Uh, asking. Is there any intention or plan by the administration to file legislation that might free up the use of recent retirees from the T who may be still have CDL licenses as an option for an additional workforce that, if they have an interest, might be available to deal with the hiring issues that have resulted in an anticipated schedule reduction for bus lines on4828 the T?
[TESLER:] Uh, thank you, Chair. Um, it's a good question. It's definitely one that in the last few days a number of people have suggested to us as an opportunity to look at. So we are looking that the challenges, uh, as you know, Mr Chairman, um, of hiring, particularly hiring for those who drive our vehicles and a range of places at the RTAs and T and across the Commonwealth and school buses is real. So we're looking at everything, so I can't say today that that is an option that, um, we would pursue, but it's a really good question. Uh, and I appreciate that a number of people have raised that with us in the last few days and suggested them to help. So we are4871 taking a look at that. Um, I'd like to have a chance to talk to the folks in the T and see if that would help. We do want to think about retirees, and we do want to think about whether it's to come back as bus drivers or other critical safety functions. To that, we still need to make sure we're staffing fully because some of our retirees are also our most experienced people and might be able to help in those Moore, um, experienced roles to in addition to the bus driving role. So we're thinking about this and and and talking about it real time. But we'd like to come back to you if that's part of a solution we need.
[STRAUS:] Absolutely. And, uh, in fairness to you and and,4912 uh, and those at the T. Uh, we're4915 very hard. Uh uh. It wasn't anticipated. I think on your part that this might come up. So, uh,4924 certainly, uh, let's let's discuss that. Thank you for indulging.
[TESLER:] No, I appreciate Chairman appreciate you bringing up because it is a violation we're facing. And I also want to address an issue that I know is on your mind as well. and I want to make sure as we did last week, do in other respects. We're talking about some changes in the T side and challenges they face, but this is across the board. RTAs equally face this challenge. Uh, and we know I want to make sure that we both think about solutions, and we also think about4955 the need4956 to recruit them. Um and I just want to just underscore that that we're focused on that. Um, it's a It's a systemic challenge. And the challenge, really for these driving rules across all of our transit entity. So from a massdot perspective, we are both going to be doing what we can to support, um, administration perspective. We can to support the tea. But we also really want to make sure we are supporting artists who have needs as well.
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Thank you, Mr Secretary. And thank you to the other three4982 members of the panel. I'm all set, Mr. Chair. Thank you for the
thank4988 you, Mr Chair. Just like to acknowledge that represent Capano and represented Howard4993 have been with us and we thank them for joining us. And4995 also, we have a couple of questions from from members. First questions from Senator Moran.
[SEN SUSAN MORAN:] Thank you,5006 Mr Chair. Really. Two questions here. One, um, And for designation by the Secretary, Whomever it makes sense to To answer, um, on either one. Uh, the first one is, if if you could speak a little bit about, um, the data that will be collected in terms of racial disparity for stops with respect to seatbelt use, Jenny changes how often the data is available where it's posted, that sort of thing. And then, um, kind of separate. Subject here with respect to the micro mobility advisory panel and hearkening back to, um I think, uh, hearing chaired by, um, chair Straus on electric bikes is that category that would be included under the jurisdiction of the advisory committee. As envisioned or potentially. So. Those are my two questions. Thank you.
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So why don't we start with the second one? And Kate? Victor, do you want to just address quickly, please?
[FICHTER:] Sure. I think it absolutely could be, um, electric bikes and electric scooters are similar in that they are both relatively new modes of transportation for Massachusetts. They're both low speed. Um, they're both types that we5083 would like to encourage because they offer, you know, some great low carbon transportation. Um, electric bikes5089 are a little further along on a sort of regulatory pathway, particularly related to DCR trails. Um, but, yes, I think there are lots of issues that would be of interest to an advisory group and particularly to the people who would probably want to be on such a group would have similar interests in any bikes
[TESLER:] and end up primary seatbelt law question on the data side. And I appreciate you raising this question representative. And I appreciate the concerns from the standpoint of safeguards and from the standpoint of data, uh, I think what we would encourage is to look at the model that was included, uh, that we've been implementing on the distracted driving citations. Uh, and I'm happy. Uh, Jeff Larson, if you have anything to add on this. But we think that there is a recent example of this that was, um, helpful model to continue to, um, part of the citation data that come from the Merit Rating Board to be shared in a thoughtful way to be available for study, uh, and to ensure that these issues are being balanced with regard to the enforcement side. Jeff, do you have anything we should And on the data?
[LARASON: ]Well, Mr Secretary, I'm not close to the research that's being conducted. The eops is getting that information together, and they're charged with putting that study out. And I know that's in the process I'm not familiar with when that's going to be coming out and or what kind of information. I will say that we are required on the highway safety division to do a yearly seat belt survey and observational survey that looks at the data for a seat belt use in the Commonwealth. And almost 200 sites around the country are surveyed on a yearly basis to determine that seatbelt use rate.
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Mhm.
Thank you for your answers.
Well said Sarah.
Great. Thank you, Representative Kerans.
[REP KERANS:] Thank you. Thank you, Mr Chairman. And thank you for the presentation, Mr Secretary. Um, uh, on the governor's roadway safety bill. Jeff Larason mentioned fatalities, and it happens that I represent Danvers, Peabody, West Peabody and Middleton. And all three have route 114 going right through. Um, it's a deadly road.5232 It has been for several several years. We had a, uh, hearing the other night requested by a counsellor who represents two families. Um, as do I, um, the dellacroce, the Frechette and the malice families, all of whom lost a family member tragically in an accident on 114. Just quickly, As you might know, it's a road that has no median. And it has a, um, middle turning lane That allows for two way traffic. Can you see your way towards will? Your bill, I guess, is my better question. Will this bill help? And can you help us to deal with these overdue safety, Uh, deficiencies on this road? Because the numbers are 5000 accidents on this road since 20002 16 fatalities. I live near this road, and I use it frequently. And even I was not aware of the shocking number of fatalities. So, uh, and you please help us through this bill or other means.
[TESLER:] Uh, thanks for the question. And I know the higher administrator has some some thoughts on this and how perhaps we can what we're doing, what we can do to help. So all right.
[GULLIVER:] Thank you. Secretary and Representative, I am familiar with this issue. As you mentioned last week, we had, there was a hearing that our district highway director attended. I have since been briefed by him, and I spoke to both him and our project team this morning about next steps. I'll be happy to fill you in. So for first things first, I completely understand and hear you about this, this roadway and the issues with the turning lane. This is something that happens with a number of roadways across Massachusetts in different areas. And it's, I can tell you in general, just speaking, in general, these are sometimes challenging projects to implement because they do. The answer to to improving safety is oftentimes removing or restricting access. And that's not something that's easy to do, especially in a developed area like this.
So it takes a deliberate project process to go through and study different ways of doing5376 it. And I can tell you that our staff has been very successful in going through that process. But it's not something that happens overnight, so we're doing a couple of different things to address both the immediate needs and long term project needs. So first off in this area, I have asked our safety staff to implement the road safety audits. So that means that we will meet with We have our safety experts or safety engineers, along with our traffic engineers will meet with the community specifically with fire with DPW with police go through the accident history, understand the common themes. See if there's some issues that we can address quickly. We have additionally, um, in addition to that sets a baseline that we can then do future design and solutions off of
[KERANS:] You've got to you've got to excuse me for interrupting, but5426 I just I'll forget if I don't raise it. You do have a good baseline, uh, in existence, and I will I will forward it to you. It was a report done in 2012. I think it was, and it outlines its a. It is the deep dive into many of these deficiencies, and I will send that along.
[GULLIVER:] I I appreciate that. And I think as you5447 are aware, we have been doing some work out in this area, but not for the whole corridor. So today we authorized a consultant that we already have on board to expand their scope and include more of the study, specifically between The uh up to the limits of 128 effectively that that expands where they were doing initially. What they will be looking at is two things. One what with5470 a long term project be because a larger capital investment like that will have to go through the typical public process that we do as well as the appropriation process through the MPO. So they'll be looking at that. But more immediately, I've asked them to address What can we do quickly? What are the things that we can do two months out? Six months out? What have you that we can do with our existing contracts? We have a5495 number of maintenance contracts that at our disposal that are districts use.
And so we have asked them to look at what are the things that we can do immediately to improve safety? And I can tell you that we have done a number of those projects across across the state to great success. So I'm looking forward to seeing those some of those safety improvements also implemented here. So we have some. We have5517 some good things that we can dip into to get this done quickly. But, uh, again, I want to assure you were very aware of the situation. It's, uh, secretary and I have spoke about it again as recently as this morning. And we have We're we are directing everybody appropriately to take whatever expedience steps they can take to get this done as quickly as possible and improve safety in that corridor.
[KERANS:] Thank you so much. And thank you to district for director Paul Steadman, who came to the hearing with us and has been very responsive. I thank you very much for your indulgence today.
[GULLIVER:] Thank you. Thank you. And I'll say Paul is one of the best during good hands5555 there. You have a great representative from us. Thank you, Representative Tucker.
[REP TUCKER:] Thank you, Mr Chairman. I appreciate that. And, Mr Secretary, thank you. When your your team for some really excellent initiatives here and particularly supportive of the red light camera enforcement, I actually have a separate bill myself that I believe mayor is yours and your primary seatbelt enforcement. I have a question on the safeguard of the trucks, the mirrors and the side guards. I'm curious how that would be implemented. And did I see correctly? Much. If I saw that I wanted the slides, It looked like you said that some of the trucks have been outfitted and there was a dollar figure there was that something that the state helped to do or is. Any5599 is the relief for companies that we're expecting because I have had some pushback on this from companies that are5606 worried about the cost. And frankly, I always pick safety over cost. So I'm just wondering where we are with that.
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Jonathan, Do you want to address the issue?
[GULLIVER:] Yes, certainly so that the to describe in more detail what what it what it actually is is that you place convex mirror that gives the driver a much broader view around the vehicle. So that's that's one part of this is to really give more awareness. And, uh, if you haven't been in one of these large trucks, it is very difficult to see the full scope of what is around you. And we know from experience that a number of these fatalities happened because the drivers simply don't see a cyclist or pedestrian that is close to their vehicle and ends up being pulled into the wheel path. The second thing of this is in those occasions where there is somebody close, by the way, that most of these existing vehicles are set up is that, uh and you5660 can picture your typical garbage truck or dump truck is that you have a wide gap approaching the rear tires on these vehicles. And what happens is if a cyclist happens to fall or pedestrian gets too close to those wheels, they can get pulled in underneath those wheels very easily.
And And that, of course, is a deadly situation. So what side guards are effectively exactly what they sound like? They're5684 There are guards that are mounted under the vehicle, typically under those doors approaching the rear wheels of the vehicle so that if a if a pedestrian is encountered, they will be pushed out away from those wheels and5697 not into them, as they currently are. Right now, Um, the cost on these implementations vary. We we again outfitted nearly 100 vehicles. Our cost was a little bit more than $2500 each if I recall correctly. But we know5713 when we did the research on this that these materials can be bought relatively cheaply installed by The truck owners themselves in many cases and at a relatively low5725 cost. And we've seen ranges that go as low as $500. And again on the high side, you can you can certainly approach higher costs of more than 3000. But for us, for our own, uh, installation using again the typical stated process, it was about $2500.
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Thank thank you very much. Appreciate it.
5753 Thank you. I represent any other questions of the panel
seeing none. Thank you, Secretary and others. We appreciate your testimony today and for your thoughtful and put on the legislation that you put forward. Thank you. Thank you very much for the opportunity. Thank you. Okay. Um, next we're gonna go to Senator Commerford.
Good afternoon, Senator.
[SEN COMERFORD:] [SB2283] Good afternoon. Uh, chair, Keenan, chair. Straus, thank you so much for the opportunity to speak to you today. And5788 thank you for taking me out of turn. Um, and I'm deeply grateful for the committee's work matters. I'm here to speak ever so briefly because I know you have a jam Day On S- 2283, an act promoting safety by permitting municipalities to reduce speed limits. Uh, and I know there are councillors from municipalities in my district who are here who will really have the frontline expertise and who are for me are helping drive the necessity of this bill. Um, so, as you know, better than I speed limits are complicated topics.5820 Uh, this bill is relatively modest. Um, s 2283 simply permit cities and towns to lower speed limits on local roads by five MPH as a local option. Um, as you know, well, speed limits are connected to public safety.
In 2020 there were 334 deaths on Massachusetts roads. And according to the data, um, including data from the state Police, the likely cause has been speed and increased speeds. Uh, you know, higher speeds lead to more accidents to more deadly accidents. Um, lower speed limits can reduce accidents. Right? That's the flipside of that. Reducing the number of injuries that result from accidents and reducing the number of fatalities. So this bill again simply allows for local officials to reduce the speed by a speed limit by five mph on certain roads without paying for a traffic study if they believe that reducing the speed is warranted. Local officials are, as you know, closest to the ground and the most responsive to local needs. They are the very best5888 suited to understand that the interests that affect a specific neighborhood in their city or town.
Um, this bill really trusts local officials determined to determine if a modest adjustment to the posted speed limit is warranted in a specific area within their jurisdiction. Um, and I will just close with a very personal5907 story. My wife and kids and I moved into a street in Florence, which is a neighborhood within Northampton, and quickly after moving in, we noticed that the traffic on the street was remarkable. Um, including right around a blind driveway. It happens to be my driveway. Um, and I noticed signs that said, there's a blind driveway ahead but didn't really understand why those signs had post had been posted or the history. I came to find out that to families before ours. Um, the there was a5938 child in this family, and it was a tragedy. Um, the child was playing. It was a snowy day. Um, the dad came home from work. He went out and hugged his son and said, Come in for dinner.
Um, and no sooner did the dad turnaround. But a truck plowed into the child on an icy road at a very high speed and killed that child. The city of Northampton, of course, acted very responsibly. This is5962 years ago and posted the blind driveway side and sign and and and has has a 25 mile an hour sign on5970 one side of the road in a 30 mile an hour side on another side of the road. Um, but because of conflicting understanding of when those funds were put up,5979 there's never been able. There's never been an ability to reconcile those signs. And so all we have is a blind driveway sign. We don't have consistent signage on other sides of the road, so neighbors organised. Far before I was on the legislature, I was part of a neighborhood organizing, and we did our best to petition the city, do a full out traffic study and try to help this road, because when you call the police about this road and the traffic on the road, they say, Oh yeah, that's the terrible cut through ST um and we say, Yeah, there's a cut through street But there's just awash with toddlers in its current iteration.
And so I just came to experience this personally, and I came to see the city of Northampton ache at not being able just to do its own business without spending a whole lot of money to try to just bring that speed limit down by five, which would allow it to reconcile the signs on either end and help help calm the traffic on what had been and and has a history of being a very, very dangerous street. So that's just a personal6040 story for me to the committee as an illustration6042 of how I became politicized about this. And then once I was in office, I got to see um and hear from municipal officials that we're talking about how they just need more tools to be able to do the6055 traffic calming work in their municipalities. So with that, I will leave you with my humble request that this bill be reported favorably and thanks to the6065 municipal officials who are here to talk about it today. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
Okay. Thank Thank you, Senator. Any questions of Senator Comerford?
Senior questions. Thank you. Um, we'll move now to council foster
council with us. Mhm
council Foster Counselor Foster was planning on being here. She maybe had to leave. I see Counselor Nash and I see Counsellor Jarrett, but I don't see Counselor Foster. I'm afraid, Mr Chair. Great. Thank you for that update. Um, next is chief police. Jennifer Gunderson. Chief.
Okay. Thank Thank you, Senator. Any questions of Senator Comerford?
Senior questions. Thank you. Um, we'll move now to council foster
council with us. Mhm
council Foster Counselor Foster was planning on being here. She maybe6131 had to leave. I see Counselor Nash and I see Counsellor Jarrett, but I don't see Counselor Foster. I'm afraid, Mr Chair. Great. Thank you for that update. Um, next is chief police. Jennifer Gunderson. Chief.
[JENNIFER GUNDERSEN (MASS CHIEFS OF POLICE):] [HB3420] Good afternoon. Thank you for allowing me to be here this afternoon to the honourable members of this committee into both co chairs. My name is Jennifer Gunderson. I'm the police chief in South Hadley today. I'm also representing the Massachusetts Chiefs6159 of Police Association is one of the members of6162 the legislative subcommittee and I'm I'm here today to speak in support of House Bill 3420, An Act relative to dangerous high speed pursuits. If I could change one6173 aspect of this bill right now, it would actually be the title. I am concerned that the focus on the title is on. The pursuits were really the focus should be on the fleeing. Fatal and dangerous outcomes are not because police pursuit a vehicle. It's actually because an offender first chose to flee from the police.
Your officers are well aware of the complex decisions that they need to make quickly to balance their charge to apprehend offenders while ensuring that those decisions caused no additional harm to our public pursuit Decisions, I can assure you, are some of the most difficult that your police officers6214 need to make. The Massachusetts Chiefs of6216 Police Association supports House Bill 3420 because it will improve public safety by finally putting some teeth into the very outdated failure to stop statue. This bill increases the penalty for drivers who purposely6228 fully our police officers and then drive recklessly on the road, endangering themselves, endangering the public and endangering the police officers. Unfortunately, the current statute and failure to stop does not offer a punishment or any consequences that effectively serve as a deterrent for the operator that fleas us. The public know that failing to stop for the police it's only a misdemeanor, mostly with just a fine, and it's worth the risk when they decide to ignore our request to stop. I assure you that the majority of the police departments in the Commonwealth have very strict guidelines. Um, that restrict high speed pursuits and most of those pursuits are terminated very early on because we recognize the risk to public safety when attempting to stop a fleeing vehicle.
Further, I'm confident that if you pass this legislation, police departments are not going to rewrite their policies to then encourage the pursuits. The danger is still there, and we we realize that and it's very true. What your police departments hope to gain with this felony designation designation first and foremost is that it serves to promote public safety. And it does that by being a efficient and effective deterrent, we want fewer people willing to risk fleeing us When not successful as a deterrent. This enhanced penalty will hold the offender accountable and hopefully deter their future behaviours in South Hadley. In the last three years, we've seen a 30% increase in people fleeing from our police officers. That is extremely concerning to the public safety of all the communities, and this is an exclusive just in South Hadley.
As our colleagues at the Department of Transportation already said, we're seeing drivers are engaging in much more risky behavior If this becomes a felony, please recognize that the judicial branch can still offer a probation or continued without a finding. And finally, this legislation applies to only those people that drive drive dangerously while attending to evade the police. This is clear guidance. Who are police officers who will feel the senior citizen driving on the roadway? That doesn't stop for us quickly. Because they don't hear our sirens are there otherwise distract. And they know that Were that were behind them? That doesn't mean that they're going to get a felony charge. It certainly isn't what the this bill is for. For all these reasons stated, the Massachusetts chief of police hope that this committee will approve House bill 3420 and see it towards becoming a law. I thank you6386 very much for your time and your commitment to public safety.
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Thank you, Chief. Any questions of the chief?
Thank you. Um, next is Stephanie Shaw Good afternoon.
[SHAW STEPHANIE (NTSB):] [HB3706]. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Chairs and members of the committee. I am Stephanie Shaw. And thank you for the opportunity to appear before you on behalf of the National Transportation Safety Board to discuss seatbelt use of provisions and House Bill 3706. Based on scientific studies and our own NTSB highway crash investigations, we are confident that a significant number of lives will be saved and injuries prevented if Massachusetts authorizes primary enforcement of its existing seatbelt use law. While we are facing the challenges of a worldwide pandemic, we are also facing a public health crisis on our roads. Last year, nearly 40,000 people died and millions more were injured on the nation's roads, and seat belt use dropped 15%.
Nationwide Early estimates for the first half of 2021 show that more than 20,000 people lost their lives, an increase of more than 18% over the same period in 2020. That is the highest increase ever recorded, dating back to 1975. Unfortunately, as the secretary and Mr Harrison mentioned, we know that the lack of seatbelt use is a significant contributing factor to this preventable loss of life. For five decades,6478 the NTSB has urged states to enact strong laws requiring seatbelt use and passenger vehicles. 1995. We have recommended that every state, including Massachusetts, enacted primary seatbelt law covering every seating position in a vehicle.
By the end of today, about 100 people across the nation will have lost their lives. And thousands more will have been injured in a traffic crash, many simply because they were not wearing a seatbelt. A properly worn seatbelt is our single greatest safety defense against injury and death in the event of a crash authorizing primary enforcement of Massachusetts. Existing seatbelt use law is the measurable, lifesaving legacy that each of you could leave6537 to protect the health and well being of yourselves, your loved ones and the people of Massachusetts, including my own family in6545 Sandwich, Plymouth and East Wareham. Thank you for the opportunity to offer the NTSB perspective on this really important matter.
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Thank you. Appreciate the testimony. Any questions?
Seeing none. Thank you. Good evening. Um, next fill. Greenstein. If I pronounce that properly, show up with us.
Okay? About Alex Jarrett?
Yes. Can you hear me? Yes, Council. All right.
[ALEX JARRETT (NORTHAMPTON CITY COUNCILOR):] [SB2283] Thank you. Yes. I'm Alex. Jarrett Northampton City Councilor. Thank you for having me here. I'm6580 speaking in support of Senator Comerford Bill S 2283. An Act promoting safety by permitting municipalities to reduce speed limits. As we heard some of their Comerford speak, Um, one of the top issues my constituents contact me about is traffic. Residents want traffic to move slower on the streets because they want everyone to feel safe, travelling and living on the street. Whether that's walking, biking or travelling by car who feel safe walking and biking in a neighborhood will connect more with their neighbors. Will get regular exercise, will shop locally at stores that they can access.
Many of our speed limits, as we heard, were set decades ago and don't reflect current conditions. And the process for changing them is too expensive. Doesn't allow for that local knowledge and desire. Um, five miles an6630 hour. I know it doesn't sound like much, but above 20 miles an hour, cars rapidly become more deadly. According to ProPublica, a pedestrian hit by6640 a car at 30 MPH is 70% more likely to be killed than at 25 MPH, And the risk is much greater for a 70 year old than for a 30 year old. I know that speed limits alone will not always change how fast people drive here in Northampton. We design our roads and our traffic calming based on the speed limit. And we need that ability to adjust the speed limit to an appropriate speed. And then design erodes and add traffic calming measures according to thank you. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
Thank you, Counsel. Any questions to the council?
Great. Thank you. Next we're going to Councilor Jim Nash. Councillor Ashe. Yeah.
I am a muted. Correct. Hello? We can hear you. Okay.
[JIM NASH (NORTHAMPTON CITY COUNCILOR):] [SB2283] All right. Um, let's see. Thank you to the Joint Committee on Transportation for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Jim Nash, city Councillor with the city of Northampton. I'm here to speak in favour of S 2283 An Act promoting safety by permitting municipalities to reduce speed limits. Sponsored by Senator Comerford. This modest change would6739 allow a city or town to reduce a regulatory speed limit By five mph. Back in 2018. Many of us in Northampton were excited about the prospects of adopting Chapter 90 Section 17C, Allowing cities and towns to establish a speed limit of 25 mph on any roadway inside a thickly settled or business district in the city or town on anyway. That is not a state highway. To put it simply. As Councillor, Wheeler stated earlier, it is well documented that lowering vehicle travel speeds increases safety for others sharing the street, especially bicyclists and pedestrians.
17Cappeared to be a solution, However. 17C only applies to Roadways where a speed limit isn't posted in Northampton and in other communities like ours. Most of our roadways have regulatory posted speed limits, with the black and white signs that require a traffic traffic study to adjust the6814 travel speeds downward. And there is no guarantee that a traffic study will reach such a conclusion. In discussions with our DPW director, Donald Scalia and myself, Senator Comerford suggested this modest and simple solutions for cities and towns to reduce speed limits. Where appropriate. In Northampton, S 2283 would allow us to both reduce and better message our speed limits, bringing down travel speeds and making our roads safer for everyone. I support S 2283 and ask that you support its enactment. Thank you for your time and have a great evening. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
Thank you, Counselor. Any questions of the council seeing none. Thank you. Um, go back to fill Greenstein. Great sign. I'm sorry. Um, my belief is with us. Thank you. I am, Mr Chairman. Thank you very much. And I apologize. One second. I stepped away when you called me, right? Isn't that always the way?
[PHIL GREENSTEIN (MIADA):] [SB2372] So good afternoon again. My name is Phil Greenstein. I'm the executive and I'm the executive director of the Massachusetts Independent Automobile Dealers Association. Excuse me. And, uh, I'm here today to testify on Senate Bill 2372 The MIADA. Represents primarily used car dealers. According to statistics from our national association, in MIADA 70% of our members are small mom and pop type businesses. So here in Massachusetts, over 5000 businesses identify on their federal taxes as an auto deal In 2021, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Most dealers do business without a state. Customers out of state vehicle deliveries after purchase always present the challenge for dealers in mass because of existing laws. In order for a customer to receive their vehicle,6930 they must first purchase, uh, then make arrangements.
Either have the vehicle transported out of state or get it registered in their own state. First, most customers choose the transport option because it's easier and quicker when a vehicle is transported out of state mass sales tax is not collected. Yeah, the buyer pays in their own state. Also, many customers will move on to a dealer in another state that has a similar vehicle. Intent played availability in order to avoid all the hassle that has to do with purchasing in Mass. Almost every state in the US has some form of a temporary plate available with Internet dealers like Carvana, CarMax and Vroom doing more and more business In this market, out of state purchases are only going to increase.
Every state that borders Massachusetts has some form of a temporary place By giving Mass deal is an opportunity to place a template on an out of state at all, it not only helps are small business dealers do more out of state business by making the process easier for the out of state consumer, it would greatly increase sales tax revenue for the Commonwealth by having more customers pick up in state, thereby paying mass sales tax7010 instead of having the vehicle transported and not paying any tax to the state By 2019 estimates apprroximately 80 million dollars in additional sales tax revenue could be generated for the Commonwealth by allowing dealers to have the ability to easier access for the out of state consumer to do business here in Massachusetts again. Thank you for the opportunity to allow me to speak on this bill having to do with temporary plates. And I welcome any questions at all from the committee and the panel. Thank you. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
Great. Thank you. Any questions?
Thank you. Have a good evening. Um, next is Adam. None of it.
Hi. Can you hear me? Yes.
[ADAM NOVITT (NORTHAMPTON TRANSPORTATION AND PARKING COMMISSION):] [SB2283] Hi. My name is Adam Novitt and I just want to thank you for the opportunity to testify on S 2283. I'm a member of the Northampton Transportation and Parking Commission. Um, and traffic coming requests or one of the most common things that we deal with. Um, but we I basically feel that we have our hands tied, and I've spoken to other citizen members of the committee that feel the same way We are the people that are closest to the to the problems that we face, where the people that deal on a day to day basis, with people making those requests and in some cases, those The reason for those requests are quite heartbreaking up to and including the death of a neighbor of mine on. So that person leaves behind a His partner who is also a neighbor of mine and two daughters. Um, all right, and7131 eah, um, so I'm speaking to some extent on her behalf, and I'm speaking because she's just not the sort of person that comes up and testifies in this kind of a situation. And I'm also speaking on behalf of the other citizens that value that donate their time, the things like the Transportation and Parking7161 Commission, and then wind up feeling frustrated because we have our hands tied because we can't do anything about what to us are very obvious and reasonable requests. Um, and7173 as many others have said before, five mph does make a difference. Um, so I think I think I've said all7179 that I need7180 to say and thank you for your time7182 and attention
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Thank you. Appreciate your testimony. Any questions, Mr Nobody? No, not at all right. Thank you. Um, next we'll move on to Ryan Lightner.
I'm sorry we closed the door for sec. Uh,
[RYAN LITNER (CONCERNED CITIZEN):] [HB3570] Good evening, Chairman Straus, Vice Chairman Keenan and distinguished members of the Joint Committee on Transportation. My name is Ryan Litner, and I'm speaking on behalf of my uncle, Mark Cramer. So what I'm reading is going to be from his point of view. Um, So my name is Mark Kramer, and I'm Hayley Cramer's father. I would like to thank you for the opportunity for opportunity to provide testimony in support of House Bill 3570. I would also like to thank Chairman Straus for his support on getting my initial legislation now Chapter 90 Section 62. Requiring timely notifications to police departments regarding non administrative license license suspensions or revocations into law. Along with being the husband to my wife, Ivy. Nothing provides me More pride enjoy than being the father of my two daughters, Hayley and Morgan.
Nearly 7.5 years ago, on June 15, father's day ivy and I suffered the unimaginable tragedy of losing Haley, our oldest daughter, Hailey was killed while standing on the side of the road by reckless and negligent driver. She was 20 and just entering the prime of her life. But this was no random accident. This was preventable. The driver knowingly operated his vehicle on a non administrative suspended license. Has had this law been in effect on that day? Haiti may very well still be with us today. She would have graduated from college, earned her doctorate in physical therapy, commenced her career, dedicated7280 to helping others and perhaps even started her own family. We continue to miss Hailey every second of every day, and losing her has left such a significant void in our hearts and lives that we will never find peace and normalcy again. This is why I v. Morgan and I have worked tirelessly over the last seven years, along with the sport of so many others. To pass7310 Haley's law into law and prevent other families from suffering such a devastating tragedy were also thankful that Governor Baker recognize the need for this7322 important piece of legislation and included it in his roadway safety7326 bill.
There are well over 100,000 license suspensions each year across the Commonwealth. Historically, 25-30% of these annually are for operating after a suspension. Additionally, in the past year alone, close to 60,000 of these have been non administrative suspensions, which have resulted in notifications to local police Per Chapter 90 Section 62, operating after a non administrative suspension revocation or while unlicensed is clearly a pervasive issue in the economy. The bill before you explicitly excludes administration monetary suspensions and instead targets individuals who do not have an active license due to court involved. Activity have and have been found responsible for poor driving or have never had a license in the first place. Once passed into law, it will increase public safety and deter dangerous drivers from getting behind the wheel, enabling law enforcement to charge violators with a crime matching and befitting of their actions.
Drivers who deliberately violate the law by operating after a court involved suspension are not presently held accountable when that action harms others. The current Massachusetts general laws do not believe address not just mentioned when life is driving. Operation also causes injury to someone else, a clear deficit in need of reform operators under the proposed bill who have had their license revoked, suspended or never licensed and knowingly get behind the wheel are exhibiting a complete and blatant disregard for the laws7398 of the Commonwealth and the safety of our community. Those offenders need to know the consequences of their actions are going to be severe when they choose to drive and then harm others in the process. The promise of formidable penalties shapes behaviour.
In closing, I would like to refer to the mass driver's manual published by the Mass RMV, it states. Driving in Massachusetts is a privilege, not a right. You earn driving privileges by passing a learner's permit. Examine a road test. These tests prove that you can operate a motor vehicle safely and within the law. Once you have earned your driver's license, you're responsible for your actions as a driver. If enacting penalties commensurate with the negligence of this behaviour prevents one crash and it will, you will save another family more likely many families from the horror that my family has been forced to live with for almost eight years now, and this reform will be a success. I7469 respectfully request your support for passage of this crucial bill and loving memory of our daughters. Mr Best friend and my cousin Haley Creem. Thank you.
SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
Uh, thank you, Ryan. Thank you. And, uh, for sharing your family story and for your work on this legislation. Thank you. Any questions of Ryan?
No questions. Thank you. Thoughts with you and your family. We appreciate it. Um, next is Ray and I hopefully won't pronounce correctly rate. Danish mond. Not even close
is right here. Reaganesque around.
How about I think the name is getting tougher to get out7508 of this. How about Robert O'Connor? Uh, ski. Come close on that one. Good afternoon, Mr Chairman. How did I do? Alright. No very close. Ogonowski O'Connor, Linsky. Thank you. All this guy works to There you go.
[ROBERT O'KONIEWSKI (MSADA):] [HB3477] [HB3573] [SB2372] But it's good to see you again. And, uh, Mr House chair. Straus. Good to see you. Uh, glad everyone's doing well during this, uh, during this process, appreciate the time today and through you to the members.I’m Rob O'koniewski the executive vice president of the Massachusetts State Auto Dealers Association. We represent the 427 franchised new car and truck dealers across the Commonwealth. We represent almost 20% of the retail economy in Massachusetts, and we have over 25,000 men and women employed at our dealerships. Um, this is I'm testifying today on the temp tag legislation. There is a bill from representative Golden, representative Pignatelli and Senator Rush. Um, we've had this bill before you several times now, in an effort to get the RMV to modernize the temp tag process.
There's been a law on the books since Ed King was governor in the mid 1970s. That would authorize a temp tag process, um, to make the transaction much easier for the customer. The Army has refused to fully implement the law over time, and we've filed legislation the last several sessions. Uh, that has left this committee with a favorable reports. Last year, it got all the way into the transportation funding conference committee and then did not make it in the final report that got sent to the governor for his signature. So we asked for a favorable report on this plain and simple. We do a considerable amount of out of state transactions with customers not only in the new England and North East area. But around the country, it's not unheard of that our dealers are doing transactions with individuals from Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Washington state, Oregon, etcetera. The Internet makes commerce that much easier. It makes that much easier for consumers to find vehicles that they want and what they're looking for if we have, and we're going to sell them. But unfortunately, the dinosaurs that are the RMV um, just refused to fully implement a temp tags, uh, process that would allow us to sell the car temp, tag the vehicle and collect the sales tax.
Right now, we will work with the consumer to deliver that car across state borders. And unfortunately, the Commonwealth loses a7670 sales tax on that, As you heard from MIADA. Earlier, it's estimated that there's probably close to $80 million dollars that could be collected in the Commonwealth through this process. Um, you just think about it, you know, we sell will probably sell about 300,000 new cars this year. Uh, if you just take 1%7694 of that at You know, the average price of the car now is around $40,000 on a new car. Uh, that's $2500 in sales7704 tax, just for 1% of our vehicle sales are talking $7.5 million right there. So just do the math building from there. So we really appreciate your help on this again this session To just make7714 some common sense. Get this process into the 21st century. And if you got any other need for information, we're more than happy to help you out.
SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
Great. Thank you. Chair Straus. Um, thank you, Mr Chair. Thank you7744 to the witness. Uh um, hopefully we'll try again. I can't be broken up if you can hear us. I'm so sorry. Uh, all right, well, we'll do our best this year. And for those who can hear me, it's nice to see that somebody has a messier desk than me. Thank you, Mr Chief. We have a lot on our plate, but I appreciate your time today and thank you.
Thank you. Chair. Straus,7775 you're frozen again.
We'll have to get them off that AOL dial up service. Yeah, they do it. Okay. Um, next is Lewis Udesky.
[LOU TEDESCHI (NATIONAL INDEPENDENT AUTO DEALERS ASSOCIATION):] [HB3570] Good out. Good afternoon. Um, Mr Chairman Straus and Senate. Uh, Keenan. Appreciate it. My name is Lou Tedeschi. I'm actually chairman of the board of the National Independent Auto Dealers Association. Former president of Massachusetts. And I'm7796 also a car dealer. Indiana.7797 Massachusetts. Um, the report that MIADA was telling you about earlier. I actually did that report, and we did it in 2018, going7804 into 2019. Um, the the problem that we're having right now is with inventory, And people are coming across7811 state lines more and more every day to buy vehicles. And if we have the vehicle they're looking for, the state is absolutely losing the sales tax. That report that we did was $80 million 2018. I can tell you that the price of vehicles have gone up, and I can also tell you that the because of the limitations that we have in purchasing vehicles with the chip shortage and everything.
That the price of vehicles are increasing. So just for that reason alone, not to mention that, you know, with inflation and everything, everything has gone up. So the amount is probably well over 100 million. At this point, we did find some language7846 problems with the RMV, why they haven't implemented this. And we have gotten that language corrected. And I believe that's in the bill. Bob can probably tell us whether that happens or not. But we got with the new7868 Car Dealers Association and did find this this error in the language that didn't permit us to put the temperate plate on an out of state vehicle. So that has been corrected at this point. So we're hoping that with that correction that this bill can move forward and we can finally get this past. We appreciate your time today hearing us on this, and hopefully we can see this, uh, move forward. Thank you. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
Thank you. Any questions? Many members of the committee seeing none. Thank you, Mr Tedeschi. Have a great night. Next is Chief Carmichael.
Chief.
Okay. Yeah.
[JOHN CARMICHAEL (NEWTON PD):] [HB3570] Hi, everyone. Good evening. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, traffic fatalities have reached a 15 year high In the first six months of 2021. Over 2000 people have died in motor vehicle crashes in the US so far this year and over 300 annually in Massachusetts many people injured or killed in our roadways of the result of operators with extensive driving histories and many choosing to operate while the license is suspended or revoked due to a litany of driving violations and poor driving behaviour. Having driver's license is a privilege.
It's not a right, and it is a privilege that should be unequivocally taken when one demonstrates they cannot abide by the law or by safe driving habits. Driving a motor vehicle comes with great responsibility, and when that responsibility is overtly ignored and someone else is injured or killed to the operators to collect, there should be serious consequences. House Bill 3570 An Act relative to offenses while driving on a non-administrative license suspension, provides such consequences. The bill creates enhanced penalties for circumstances when a motorist operating with a non administrative suspended license chooses to operate a vehicle after suspension and injuries that killed someone. Currently, there is no separate crime for such behavior, Despite valiant efforts to do so, including since June 15th, 2014.
When 20 year old Haley Cramer's life was cut short by an operator knowingly driving recklessly with a suspended license and my family. My condolences. Go out to the Cramer family. They were in here earlier. This bill targets such suspensions stemming from poor driving behaviour, prior criminal conviction of driving offenses or having multiple so chargeable events like speeding in the registry of motor vehicles suspends the licence. This bill would deter people who lost their privileged to drive and after their license was suspended for a reason. These drivers should not be on our roadways and hurting innocent people due to the negligence and ignorance of the law. Thank you. And I ask that you support House Bill 3570. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
Thank you, Chief. We appreciate your patience. Um, any questions of the chief?
You're none. Thank you. Have a good night. My pleasure. Thank you for having me, Bob Agoglia.
I know he was on earlier. Bob Agoglia, You're still with us?
Uh, come back and check with him in a moment. Jonathan Fogelson?
Yes,
Jonathan Fogelson. Still with us?
Okay, check one more time there and then, um also, um there was a gentleman testified earlier. Sebastian court. He wanted to testify on another bill which would be fine. We give you Mr Court just really a strict couple minutes on the bill. Two minutes on the bill. Um, so if you want to proceed, go ahead. Thank you. [KORTH:] [SB2323] Thank you very much. Appreciate that. Um, So, uh, I'm going to testify regarding, uh, Senate 2323, An Act modernizing protections for consumers in automobile transactions. The bill that's endorsed by the Attorney General. Um, I wholeheartedly endorse most of that bill, but, um, I have concerns about the portion that would remove the requirement to get a judgment against the dealer before collecting against the bomb. That, in and of itself, is not a problem. But I think there are some unintended consequences of that that I think should be addressed. One is that it would dramatically shorten the statute of limitations.
So under current law, you have up to four laws up to four years to sue the attorney to sue the dealer, um, for any violations of your consumer rights. And then after you get the judgment, you have another year to then file a claim against the bond. The current bill as written trunk, it's that so you only have one year to file a claim8182 against the bond from the dealers initial violation. Uh, so even though you still technically have four years to bring a case against the dealer, you only have one year if you want to actually get paid from the from the bond.
So I think that that should be corrected, um, and extended to at least four years instead of instead of the one year. Uh, the second part is that under current law, you can, uh, collect against the bond any award for attorney's fees and costs that you win against the dealer against the bond. Um, that's based on a case that I8231 won in Superior Court. And the logic of that was basically8237 based on the fact that you had to see the you have to give a judgment against the dealer first, um So by removing that requirement that may have the unintended consequence of depriving consumers of the right to collect attorney's fees awarded against the bomb, Um, SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
you could if you could wrap it up, please. [KORTH:] Yeah. Anyway, so So in my written testimony, I do have a suggestion, uh, further revisions to that that would specifically make, uh, An action against the bond. Direct 93A8248 violation. Therefore, relegating that other oversight, um, so that consumers could hire lawyers and not get lose recovery just because they ended up having to file a claim against the bond. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
Right. Great. Appreciate your testimony. Are there any questions of attorney course hearing? None. Thank you. Um, so just quickly go back. Rae. Desmond.
Last call. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
Okay, Uh, Bob Agoglia,
Last call.
And Jonathan Fogelson.
Okay, that completes the list of people who have signed up to testify. Um, we've come to the to the end of those individuals. I want to thank, uh, Chair Straus, as always, and members of the committee for,8277 um participating today8279 and for staying on, uh, you know, into the early evening and truly appreciate it. Uh, if there's nothing else to come before us and entertain a motion to adjourn some of motion made second, all those baby say I Okay, uh,
the eyes have it, and the meeting is adjourned. Have a great evening, everybody. Thank you, everyone. Thanks. Good night.
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