Motorcycle Vs. Car

[Edward]

If this is the case, possibly acquire an Elio to take the motorcycle test if allowed.

Nope, out here, you have to use a loaner.

 

[Edward]

I think we are going to have to agree to disagree on this. I know that every time I take a class it causes me to re-evaluate my driving/riding skills. I know that when my parents took their senior driving education classes it alerted them to many of the bad habits they had fallen into as well as identified a number of things that they had either not thought of in a long time or simply were never exposed to.

I do have to agree that bone heads will likely remain bone heads but I retain hope that if more people were made aware of the bad habits they are doing and even failed a test or two that things would change for the positive.

I think I lean more towards RickB & JimH on this issue. I've been through a total of three defensive driving classes so far, including one for school and one for work (and one for getting points on a provisional license). I've made my thoughts known on the Smith System course already, but I will admit to taking some useful things away from it. But the other two? When somebody is forced to take a class, they are probably going to blow off the instruction and not change their ways at all. I know I did.

 

[Jim H]

IMHO no amount of courses can fix STUPID. It's like leading a horse to water but you can't make him drink - You can send them to class but you can't make them learn.

 

[Rickb]

Nope, out here, you have to use a loaner.

That's my point on common sense...............I can't ride a cycle under any circumstance......so I can't license or drive my Elio in your neck of the woods. Elio may get it changed by production time.

 

[Edward]

That's my point on common sense...............I can't ride a cycle under any circumstance......so I can't license or drive my Elio in your neck of the woods. Elio may get it changed by production time.

Actually, CO did just pass the autocycle bill, so just a normal license for me!

 

[Rickb]

Actually, CO did just pass the autocycle bill, so just a normal license for me!

A common sense progressive State and good news for future Elio owners! I hope more States follow their lead. Thanks for posting that.

 

[msmith5150]

It's a car to me. BUT,
if the Fed calls it a motorcycle and that gets me cheap insurance without the MC license requirement and cheap tags then count me in. If for some reason Iowa decides to require a MC endorsement, I'll probably let my Elio go to the next guy in line.

 

[JNR]

Neither fish nor fowl nor good red herring ....

The vehicle is now classified as a motorcycle: Cars are defined as having four wheels.
This is a simple-minded definition, but, then, consider the people who wrote it -- and that nobody had imagined a serious 'automobile" with 3 wheels when the legal definition was drafted.

In the long run, being defined as a motorcycle will have very negative effects on Elio Motors. No matter what they actually achieve in terms of safety standards, the very word "motorcycle" is chilling to many, many people -- especially to women. Motorcycles, people think, are dangerous -- and so they are. If it's classed as a motorcycle, it must be dangerous, right? To expect thought from the buying public is asking a lot ...

In the short run, Elio benefits from the motorcycle classification. I don't have a list of all the safety requirements from which the Elio can be exempted, but I imagine it's extensive. Not that Paul Elio WANTS to avoid auto safety standards. (I'd like to see such a list; do any forum members have one)

The main advantage for Elio in being classified as a motorcycle is that he can avoid the restrictions most states have placed on the sale of cars, requiring dealerships be established to handle all sales. This is slamming Tesla in many states, especially New Jersey.

I do not know for sure, but suspect, that in most states makers and sellers of motorcycles don't face the same legal barriers to direct sale as do auto makers. What is certain is that adding middleman -- i.e., franchised car dealer -- would lift the cost of the Elio far above the magic $6800 that Elio swears by (and probably at, in his private moments).

In the long run, the various states (and possibly the Federal Department of Transportation) will need to re-define "automobile" to include vehicles like the Elio (3-wheeled, but enclosed, safety cage, automotive engine and controls, etc). I think the essence of such a definition will be "an enclosed vehicle with 3 or more wheels, carrying 2 or more passengers but fewer than 14, intended to be operated primarily on streets and highways". (To distinguish among trucks, busses, and ATVs)

Once the definition of "automobile" is amended, Elio will need to face into the battle of dealership law.

In conclusion, there's no free lunch here. Being a motorcycle skirts restrictive and expensive sales laws, but hurts acceptance of the vehicle in the long run. Just another set of rapids to be safely navigated...

Ekh, I think you will be proven correct soon. Someone just posted on fb the meeting minutes for a May 20th meeting in Shreveport. Bits of what you suggest about automobile came up. I will post soon if others don't.

 

[Ekh]

Ekh, I think you will be proven correct soon. Someone just posted on fb the meeting minutes for a May 20th meeting in Shreveport. Bits of what you suggest about automobile came up. I will post soon if others don't.

I'll look forward to your post; I'm not an FB member (intentionally). Nice not to be flamed.

 

[cjmckay]

But!! It is my understanding that the 5 star rating is for a motorcycle and NOT for a car? And what is a 5 star rating for a motorcycle anyway? How far you get thrown??? And it is just a projected rating anyway because there has yet to be any tests what so ever. I want this car to be built.. I just have naysayer friends of mine picking it apart