FRANKFORT – Coming to Kentucky roads this year: surplus military Humvees,
three-wheeled vehicles dubbed autocycles and maybe even golf carts modified to
deliver online purchases.
Legislation addressing these three types of vehicles were among the
transportation-related bills passed during this year’s regular session of the
Kentucky General Assembly, said Rick Taylor, the deputy commissioner of the
Department of Vehicle Regulation. He testified on the progress of implementing these
and other transportation-related bills into law during yesterday’s meeting of the
Interim Joint Committee on Transportation.
One of the first updates state legislators received was on House Bill 410. Known as
the REAL ID Bill, HB 410 was written to bring Kentucky into compliance with the
federal REAL ID Act by Jan. 1, 2019, and will by far affect more Kentuckians than
the other transportation bills discussed at the meeting.
Taylor said he expects to hear by July 10 whether the Department of Homeland
Security will extend a waiver allowing Kentucky to remain in noncompliance with the
federal act until the new state driver’s licenses are available.
“Everything has been positive,” he said in reference to the extension request. “I
don’t have any reason at this time to feel uncomfortable about that.”
Taylor said Kentucky will begin soliciting bids on Sept. 1 from companies able to
produce driver’s licenses that meet the federal security requirements. The goal is
to have a company selected by Jan. 1, 2018. He added that will allow time for the
new licenses to be rolled out across the state’s 120 counties.
“We will ask you to keep us up-to-date as this progresses because we have all lived
through this controversy and the issues,” committee Co-chair Sen. Ernie Harris,
R-Prospect, said in reference to a vigorous debate that took place about the best
way to bring Kentucky into compliance.
The other transportation-related bills legislators received updates on include:
* House Bill 192 makes it easier for 16- and 17-year-olds in foster care to
apply for driver’s permits and driver’s licenses. State officials have already
drafted a nine-page application to ensure a child’s eligibility and a letter for
foster parents to give local driver licensing clerks. Transportation officials said
it will take a little longer to solicit bids for car insurance to cover children in
the state foster-care system but who are not living with foster parents.
* House Bill 404 creates a commercial low-speed license plate for golf carts
and other utility vehicles used for deliveries. It ensures that the vehicles have
commercial insurance on file with the state. Transportation officials hope to have
the license plates available by the middle of September so delivery companies can
have the golf carts ready to deploy during this year’s holiday shopping season.
* Senate Bill 73 lays out guidelines on how autocycles, a type of
three-wheeled vehicle growing in popularity, are to be licensed, taxed and insured.
Transportation officials said the guidelines should be finalized by July.
* Senate Bill 176 allows for Humvees and other demilitarized vehicles to be
licensed for use on public roads by the general public. (There is already an
exception carved out for law enforcement.) The state began getting requests from
civilians for such licenses after the Pentagon started auctioning the camo-covered,
husky, troop-transporting High Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWV) to
civilians in 2014. Transportation officials said they are on track to begin issuing
the license plates for the vehicles on July 1.