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Motorcycles and Grass Not a Good Mix

COLUMBIA COUNTY, Pa. — A state lawmaker is proposing a bill that means you would need to be more careful cutting the grass. That bill would make it a fina...

COLUMBIA COUNTY, Pa. -- A state lawmaker is proposing a bill that means you would need to be more careful cutting the grass.

That bill would make it a finable offense if you get grass clippings on the road. The reason is safety and the fines could be hundreds of dollars.

State Senator Camera Bartolotta, (R) 46th District, wants grass clippings to be treated like litter, so if someone is responsible for grass out in the roadway, he or she could be fined and then would have to remove it.

We spoke with bikers and landscapers in Columbia County about what they think of the bill.

Warmer weather and a blue sky are good reminders for drivers that more motorcyclists are now on the road. That's why May is considered Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month.

"As far as motorcycle safety, that's 12 months a year. But it's springtime now, and the guys are getting all their bikes out," said Bill Morris at Bill's Custom Cycles.

After days in a row of rain, a day like this is also a good day to get yard work done. But grass and motorcycles don't go well together.

"Grass is slippery and the bike could right out from under you," Morris said.

"If it's good and wet, like big clumps of grass, little flakes won't be too bad, but clumps of grass, it could be very slippery and very dangerous to bicyclists," said landscaper George Fisher.

That concerns Bill Morris. He owns a motorcycle shop and museum in South Centre Township in Columbia County.

"The wet grass with all the rain, which means the grass that's coming out into the road now is really wet and slippery," Morris said.

The proposed State Senate bill would make throwing grass cuttings into the roadway a finable offense.

"Anyone that we could keep from getting hurt is a good reason to make a bill like that," Morris added.

Senator Bartolotta from Washington County wants to add grass clippings to the list of items someone could be fined for similar to littering. Her bill proposes fines up to $300 for a first offense and up to $1,000 after that.

"We try to keep it away from the road. If you do get it on, use a blower and blow it off," Fisher advised.

The senator cites motorcycle safety as the reason for the proposed bill in honor of Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month. She also says grass clippings on roadways can clog storm drains and make their way into streams and cause pollution.

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