| Maryland H.B. 513 -- Front Licese Plate Bill -- poor support from auto enthusiasts! |
Subject: Maryland H.B. 513 -- Front Licese Plate Bill -- poor support from auto enthusiasts! by biggrizzly on 2011/2/23 23:52:37 Yesterday was an interesting day. I spent several hours in Annapolis, MD at a hearing on the proposed bill, H.B. 513 which would eliminate the requirement for a front plate in Maryland. This law would not be difficult to ammend if people got off their asses and helped to support it. I got such an education yesterday and find the whole process a joke on the people of Maryland. Unfortunately regular taxpayers are not getting involved enough and they are allowing panels of uninformed and disinterested parties to make decisions that effect our pocket books and our lives. This was the FIRST time in five years that this bill has been introduced that ANY taxpayers actually showed up to testify. There were two of us. Me... and another man from another local NCCC Corvette Club that I knew. Our testimonies were heard with great interest from some of the state representatives, but fell on deaf ears of others. What really fried my britches is that there were so many car clubs and organizations that passed this information around on the internet the weeks preceding the hearing and touted they were going to do something to help, but nobody came. I know that some sent in letters of support or signe d petitions, but the letters don't get read and the petitions mean little to nothing. What get's attention is butts in seats at the hearing. If I would have had twenty people to get up and give decent, well thought out testimony I think we could really have done something yesterday. Well there were only two of us and the Maryland Representative that proposed the bill; we were up against a lobby of the Maryland State Police and the Transportation Authority. These are tough opponents to beat. The bill still has to go to sub-committee meeting next week but I doubt it will pass because of the State Police and Transportation Authority Testimony. I feel the State Police testimony was pretty weak as they cited instances when they have solved many hit & run crimes by front plates left at the scene or tag numbers embossed into the other cars bumper. Additionally, the Transportation folks said that too much money will be lost from toll booth runners. Apparently they shoot photos of both front and rear plates and correlate the two in instances when one or the other are missing or not legible. They claim to have recovered millions of dollars from these drivers and that it far exceeds the saving we would realize by doing away with the plate. I call BS on that. Anyhow, I think I'm going to take up this challenge for next year to get rid of this front tag. I hope I can help make a difference next year. The link below is an example of the kind of advertising that was on the internet over the past few weeks. I'm surprised no more people showed up but the two of us. http://streetrodder.automotive.com/15 ... mittee-hearing/index.html Ok... you see the link and the article if you followed it. If you do a Google search of Maryland H.B. 513 you will find numerous search results that show clubs and organizations from all over... I mean everywhere requesting hobbyists to help out by coming down to the state house to testify on this bill... Where were they? Maybe next year. OK Rant Over |
