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Last week, a subcommittee advanced H.R. 3385, a bill that changes the federal definition of a motorcycle. So what’s the big deal, you ask? If enacted, H.R. 3385 could make three-wheeled autocycles, like the Polaris Slingshot, illegal to sell and register in the United States.
The Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) strongly opposes the bill and recently sent a letter of opposition to legislators.
Classification limbo
The MIC believes that passing H.R. 3385 would amount to a “de facto ban on an established and successful motorcycle market segment.” That’s because autocycles qualify as neither a motorcycle nor a car under the bill, leaving the vehicles in what the MIC calls “classification limbo.”
According to the organization, 15 states, including Alabama, Idaho, and Florida, tie state law to the federal definition of a motorcycle. In that way, H.R. 3385 could invalidate “tens of thousands of current state autocycle registrations,” rendering the operation of such vehicles illegal.
An additional argument made by the MIC is that the “autocycle segment represents hundreds of millions of dollars in domestic investment.” It contends that H.R. 3385 could spell the end of entire product lines, signal the closure of manufacturers and production plants, and lead to the “loss of skilled manufacturing and engineering jobs.”
The organization’s opposition doesn’t seem to have swayed legislators, however, as subcommittee members have advanced the bill to a full committee voice vote. Whether autocycles qualify as motorcycles is a polarizing topic in the two-wheeled world. In the end, the federal government could settle the matter when legislators vote on H.R. 3385.
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