Bill Text: MI HB4284 | 2013-2014 | 97th Legislature | Engrossed
Bill Title: Highways; local; off-road vehicle shoulder access on state trunk line highways; allow under certain circumstances. Amends sec. 81131 of 1994 PA 451 (MCL 324.81131).
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2013-09-26 - Assigned Pa 117'13 With Immediate Effect [HB4284 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2013-HB4284-Engrossed.html
HB-4284, As Passed Senate, June 19, 2013
SENATE SUBSTITUTE FOR
HOUSE BILL NO. 4284
A bill to amend 1994 PA 451, entitled
"Natural resources and environmental protection act,"
by amending section 81131 (MCL 324.81131), as amended by 2011 PA
107.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 81131. (1) A municipality may pass an ordinance allowing
a permanently disabled person to operate an ORV in that
municipality.
(2) Subject to subsection (4), the county board of
commissioners of an eligible county may adopt an ordinance
authorizing
the operation of ORVs on the maintained portion of 1 or
more county roads located within the county. Not less than 45 days
before a public hearing on the ordinance, the county clerk shall
send notice of the public hearing, by certified mail, to the county
road commission, to the legislative body of each township and
municipality located within the county, to the state transportation
department if the road intersects a highway, and, if state
forestland is located within the county, to the department.
(3) Subject to subsection (4), the legislative body of a
township
board of a township or
municipality located in an eligible
county may adopt an ordinance authorizing the operation of ORVs on
the
maintained portion of 1 or more county roads
located within the
township or municipality, respectively. Not less than 28 days
before
a public hearing on the ordinance, the township clerk of the
township or municipality shall send notice of the public hearing,
by certified mail, to the county road commission, to the county
board of commissioners, to the legislative body of every other
township and municipality located within the county, to the state
transportation department if the road intersects a highway, and, if
state forestland is located within the township or municipality, to
the department. This subsection does not apply to a township or
municipality until 1 year after the effective date of the
amendatory act that first defined eligible county so as to include
the county in which that township or municipality is located.
(4) The board of county road commissioners may close a county
road to the operation of ORVs under subsection (2) or (3) to
protect the environment or if the operation of ORVs under
subsection (2) or (3) poses a particular and demonstrable threat to
public safety. A county road commission shall not under this
subsection close more than 30% of the linear miles of county roads
located within the county to the operation of ORVs under subsection
(2)
or (3). The legislative body of a
township board of a township
or municipality located in an eligible county may adopt an
ordinance to close a county road located in the township or
municipality to the operation of ORVs under subsection (2). The
legislative body of a village may adopt an ordinance to close a
county road located in the village to the operation of ORVs
otherwise authorized under subsection (3).
(5) The legislative body of a municipality located in an
eligible county may adopt an ordinance authorizing the operation of
ORVs
on the maintained portion of 1 or more streets within the
municipality.
(6) The legislative body of a local unit of government may
request the state transportation department to authorize the local
unit of government to adopt an ordinance authorizing the operation
of ORVs on a highway, other than an interstate highway, located
within the local unit of government. The request shall describe how
the authorization would meet the requirements of subsection (7).
The state transportation department shall solicit comment on the
request from the department, ORV clubs, and local units of
government where the highway is located. The state transportation
department shall consider comments received on the request before
making a decision on the request. The state transportation
department shall grant the request in whole or in part or deny the
request not more than 60 days after the request is received. If the
state transportation department grants a request in whole or in
part under this subsection, the local unit of government that
submitted the request may adopt an ordinance authorizing the
operation of ORVs on the highway that was the subject of the
request. A county may submit a request for authorization under this
subsection on behalf of 1 or more local units of government located
within that county if requested by those local units of government.
Before January 1, 2015, the state transportation department may
authorize the operation of ORVs on a highway as provided in this
subsection and subsection (7) on the department's initiative and
without having received a request from a local unit of government.
(7) The state transportation department shall authorize
operation of an ORV under subsection (6) only on a highway that is
not an interstate highway and that meets 1 or more of the following
requirements:
(a) Serves as a connector between ORV areas, routes, or trails
designated by the department or an ORV user group.
(b) Provides access to tourist attractions, food service
establishments, fuel, motels, or other services.
(c) Serves as a connector between 2 segments of the same
county road that run along discontinuous town lines and on which
ORV use is authorized pursuant to subsection (2) or (3).
(d) Includes a bridge or culvert that allows an ORV to cross a
river, stream, wetland, or gully that is not crossed by a county
road or street on which ORVs are authorized to operate under
subsection (2), (3), or (5).
(8) The state transportation department may close a highway to
the operation of ORVs otherwise authorized pursuant to subsection
(6) after written notice to the clerk of each local unit of
government where the highway is located and the senate and house
committees with primary responsibility for natural resources,
recreation, and transportation. The notice shall be in writing and
sent by first-class United States mail or personally delivered not
less than 30 days before the adoption of the rule or order closing
the highway. The notice shall set forth specific reasons for the
closure.
(9) (6)
Subject to subsection (4), if a
local unit of
government adopts an ordinance pursuant to subsection (2), (3), or
(5), a person may operate an ORV with the flow of traffic on the
far
right of the maintained portion of the road or street or county
road covered by the ordinance. If the operation of ORVs on a
highway is authorized pursuant to subsection (6), a person may
operate an ORV with the flow of traffic as follows:
(a) On the right shoulder of the highway.
(b) If there is not a right shoulder or the right shoulder is
not of adequate width, on the right unmaintained portion of the
highway.
(c) On the far right of the right traffic lane of the highway,
if necessary to cross a bridge or culvert and if the operator
brings the ORV to a complete stop before entering and yields the
right-of-way to an approaching vehicle on that traffic lane.
(10) A person shall not operate an ORV as authorized pursuant
to
subsection (2), (3), or (5),
or (6) at a speed greater than 25
miles per hour or a lower posted ORV speed limit or in a manner
that
interferes with traffic on the road or street, county road, or
highway.
(11) (7)
Unless the person possesses a
license as defined in
section 25 of the Michigan vehicle code, 1949 PA 300, MCL 257.25, a
person shall not operate an ORV as authorized pursuant to
subsection
(2), (3), or (5), or (6) if the ORV is registered as a
motor vehicle under chapter II of the Michigan vehicle code, 1949
PA
300, MCL 257.201 to 257.259, and either is more than 60 65
inches wide or has 3 wheels. ORVs operated as authorized pursuant
to
subsection (2), (3), or (5),
or (6) shall travel single file,
except that an ORV may travel abreast of another ORV when it is
overtaking and passing, or being overtaken and passed by, another
ORV.
(12) (8)
A person shall not operate an ORV as authorized
pursuant to this section without displaying a lighted headlight and
lighted taillight.
(13) (9)
A person under 18 years of age
shall not operate an
ORV as authorized pursuant to this section unless the person is in
possession of a valid driver license or under the direct
supervision of a parent or guardian and the person has in his or
her immediate possession an ORV safety certificate issued pursuant
to this part or a comparable ORV safety certificate issued under
the authority of another state or a province of Canada. A person
under 12 years of age shall not operate an ORV as authorized
pursuant to this section. The requirements of this subsection are
in addition to any applicable requirements of section 81129.
(14) (10)
A township that has authorized the
operation of ORVs
on a county road under subsection (3) does not have a duty to
maintain the county road in a condition reasonably safe and
convenient for the operation of ORVs. This state does not have a
duty to maintain a highway in a condition reasonably safe and
convenient for the operation of ORVs. A board of county road
commissioners, a county board of commissioners, or a municipality
does not have a duty to maintain a county road or street under its
jurisdiction in a condition reasonably safe and convenient for the
operation of ORVs, except the following ORVs:
(a) ORVs registered as motor vehicles as provided in the code.
(b) ORVs permitted by an ordinance as provided in subsection
(1).
(15) (11)
Beginning October 19, 1993, This
state, a board of
county
road commissioners, a county board of commissioners, and a
county, are,
and , beginning on April 25, 1995, a municipality is,
are immune from tort liability for injuries or damages sustained by
any person arising in any way out of the operation or use of an ORV
on
maintained or unmaintained roads, streets, shoulders, and
rights-of-way
over which the board of county road commissioners,
the
county board of commissioners, or the municipality has
jurisdiction.
that is not registered under
the code or that is
registered under the code but is operated as authorized pursuant to
subsection (2), (3), (5), or (6). The immunity provided by this
subsection does not apply to actions that constitute gross
negligence. As used in this subsection, "gross negligence" means
conduct so reckless as to demonstrate a substantial lack of concern
for whether an injury results.
(16) (12)
In a court action in this state, if
competent
evidence demonstrates that a vehicle that is permitted to operate
on
a road, or street, or highway pursuant to the
code was in a
collision
on a roadway with an ORV required to be operated on the
far
right of the maintained portion of a road or street pursuant to
an
ordinance adopted under subsection (2), (3), or (5), that is not
registered under the code, the operator of the ORV shall be
considered prima facie negligent.
(17) (13)
A violation of an ordinance
described in this
section is a municipal civil infraction. The ordinance may provide
for
a maximum fine of not more than $500.00 for a violation of the
ordinance. In addition, the court shall order the defendant to pay
the
cost of repairing any damage to the environment, a road or
street,
county road, or highway, or public property damaged as a
result of the violation.
(18) (14)
The treasurer of the local unit of
government shall
deposit fines collected by that local unit of government under
section 8379 of the revised judicature act of 1961, 1961 PA 236,
MCL
600.8379, and subsection (13) (17)
and damages collected under
subsection
(13) (17) into a fund to be designated as the "ORV
fund". The legislative body of the local unit of government shall
appropriate revenue in the ORV fund as follows:
(a) Fifty percent to the county sheriff or police department
responsible for law enforcement in the local unit of government for
ORV enforcement and training.
(b) Fifty percent to the board of county road commissioners
or, in the case of a city or village, to the department responsible
for
street maintenance in the city or village. , However, if a fine
was collected for a violation of an ordinance adopted under
subsection (6), 50% of the fine revenue shall be appropriated to
the state transportation department. Revenue appropriated under
this
subdivision shall be used for repairing
damage to roads or
streets, county roads, or highways and the environment that may
have been caused by ORVs and for posting signs indicating ORV speed
limits
or indicating whether roads or streets, county roads, or
highways are open or closed to the operation of ORVs under
as
authorized pursuant to this section.
(15)
As used in this section:
(a)
"Eligible county" means any of the following:
(i) Oceana, Newaygo, Montcalm, Gratiot, Saginaw,
Tuscola, or
Sanilac
county or a county lying north thereof, including all of
the
counties of the Upper Peninsula.
(ii) St. Clair county.
(b)
"Local unit of government" means a county, township, or
municipality.
(c)
"Municipality" means a city or village.
(d)
"Road" means a county primary road or county local road as
described
in section 5 of 1951 PA 51, MCL 247.655.
(e)
"Street" means a city or village major street or city or
village
local street as described in section 9 of 1951 PA 51, MCL
247.659.
(19) A person who violates a rule promulgated or order issued
under subsection (6) is responsible for a state civil infraction
and may be ordered to pay a civil fine of not more than $500.00. In
addition, the court shall order the defendant to pay the cost of
repairing any damage to the environment, a highway, or public
property as a result of the violation.
