NEWS BYTES
APEHANGERS LEGALIZED IN GEORGIA
A bill in Georgia modifies their existing handlebar height
law to allow for taller bars. House Bill 166, the “Motorcycle
Mobility Safety Act,” passed the state Senate by a vote of
45-4 after clearing the House unanimously 166-0, and is
headed to Governor Nathan Deal for signature.
The new law increases the maximum measured height
of a motorcycle’s handlebars from 15 inches above the
seat to 25 inches.
Discriminatory in nature, handlebar height laws were
never about rider safety, and most were adopted by states
in the sixties to give law enforcement a tool for pulling over
bikers on choppers.
MINNESOTA IDENTIFIES “AUTOCYCLE”
Is the Slingshot a car or a motorcycle? BOTH, says Minnesota
legislators, in deference to Twin Cities-based Polaris Industries,
which began manufacturing the reverse three-wheeler with an
open cockpit and a steering wheel in 2014.
The state House says such a three-wheeled vehicle fits
in a category of its own, and representatives recently voted
129-1 to create an “autocycle” category, between a car and
a motorcycle, allowing Minnesotans without a motorcycle
operator’s license endorsement to drive the vehicle, which
will be considered a motorcycle for insurance and license
plate purposes.
Many states remain divided over such distinctions between
three-wheels and two, but Minnesota’s bill includes several
requirements for an autocycle, including antilock brakes, a
steering wheel (instead of handlebars, like cycles) and car-like
seats (not a straddling seat like a motorcycle). Helmets would
not be required on an autocycle, but eye protection and seat
belts would be. A companion measure awaits a Senate vote.
NYPD TO TELEVISE CRUSHING
OF CONFISCATED BIKES
As a deterrent to illegal riding, New York police are planning
to publicly crush hundreds of non-road-legal bikes and quads
that have been confiscated from their owners in an effort to
battle a growing craze for riding dirt bikes on the road.
The New York Post newspaper reported that during the first
quarter of this year alone the NYPD has seized 312 illegal bikes,
more than twice as many as in the same period last year. Now
it’s planning to destroy them and broadcast the carnage.
Police Commissioner Bill Bratton and Mayor Bill de Blasio
announced the scheme, with the mayor stating: “We are
going to crush them on TV to make a point.”
Commissioner Bratton confirmed the report, saying: “We
will, a little later this spring, have a big crush-in, where we
intend to take all of these things and crush them.”
According to authorities, large groups of bikes riding in
New York, often on non-road-legal dirt bikes or quads, have
been a growing problem.
CALIFORNIA CONSIDERS TRAFFIC SCHOOL
FOR MOTORCYCLISTS
Traffic violators in California have long enjoyed the option
of completing an authorized “Traffic Violator School” in lieu of
adjudicating certain minor vehicle code infractions, thereby
avoiding “points” against their driving record and dismissing
the citation. These traffic schools originated in California,
where violators have a choice of approved defensive driving
courses, everything from comedy to singles and even online
courses, but nothing for motorcycle riders even if their ticket
was on a bike.
Now, Assembly Bill 1932 would “authorize a person who
is ordered or permitted to complete a course of instruction
at a licensed traffic violator school as a result of an offense
committed while operating a motorcycle to instead complete
an advanced-level motorcyclist safety training course.” The
bill authorizes the Commissioner of the California Highway
Patrol to adopt standards for course content, contact hours,
curriculum, instructor training and testing, and instructional
quality control for the advanced-level motorcyclist safety
training course.
FEDS RESUME CONTROVERSIAL
ASSET SEIZURE PROGRAM
Bikers have become all too familiar with the law
enforcement tactic of asset seizure, with club patches and
trademarks coming under fire in recent years, and now the
Justice Department has just announced that it is resuming the
controversial practice that allows local police departments to
funnel a large portion of assets seized from citizens into their
own coffers under federal law.
Asset forfeiture is a contentious practice that lets police
seize and keep cash and property from people who are
never convicted - and in many cases, never charged - with
wrongdoing. The “equitable-sharing” program gives police
the option of prosecuting asset forfeiture cases under federal
instead of state law. Federal forfeiture policies are more
permissive than many state policies, allowing police to keep
up to 80% of assets they seize.
The Justice Department had suspended payments under
this program back in December due to budget cuts included
in last year’s spending bill, raising hopes the department
was reining in the practice, but law enforcement groups
recently rallied members of Congress to call on the Justice
Department to restore the payments.
Reports have found that the use of the practice has
exploded in recent years, prompting concern that police
may be motivated more by profit and less by justice. In 2014,
federal authorities seized over $5 billion in assets.
QUOTABLE QUOTE: “News is the first rough draft of history.”
~ Philip L. Graham (1915-63), journalist & newspaper publisher
Thunder Roads Magazine® Oregon 31