LANSING — State Rep. Kyra Bolden (D-Southfield) introduced House Bill 4812 last week to address the coverage disparity for motorcyclists resulting from the recent auto no-fault reform. When the law takes effect in July 2020, motorcyclists, in the event of a collision, would look to the current statutory order of priority to determine whose insurance is responsible to pay their benefits. As a result, coverage could be severely limited for many motorcyclists in Michigan.
“This disparity present in the auto no-fault reform is one of the many things that we need to fix before the new law takes effect next year,” Bolden said. “Motorcyclists were left out of the conversation and they will be put at risk if we don’t take action to address this. All Michiganders deserve to have access to the coverage and support they need after an accident.”
Without any statutory change of the current law, a motorcyclist would be limited to the liability chosen by the driver of the motor vehicle involved in the accident, regardless of the level of coverage the motorcyclist chooses for themselves, which HB 4812 aims to redress.
“You can only imagine what will happen if a motorcyclist gets into an accident with the driver of a motor vehicle that chose a $50,000 or $250,000 cap,” Bolden explains. “The motorcyclist would be limited to the other driver’s cap, even if the motorcyclist personally has unlimited benefits.”
This legislation will restructure the order of priority in the event of a motorcycle accident to defer to the motorcyclist’s insurance, instead of the driver of the motor vehicle involved, as current law requires. HB 4812 has been referred to the House Insurance Committee for further consideration.
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