Imagine that somewhere along your drive you have been subjected to a required roadside checkpoint. This is often like the ones utilized to capture drunk motorists, but this isn't for them or even automobiles. This checkpoint is stopping every motorcycle. You heard right, just bikes. Where's the happiness now? The thing you might not know is... You're financing it in a way.
Yes it's true, this past year the federal government set aside $250,000 of your tax money to fund states that wanted to carry out motorcycle-only roadside inspection. Some state took $70,000 of the money. This past year the Georgia State Highway Patrol setup checkpoints and stopped almost every motorbike that came. If the driver skipped a checkpoint without halting, he'll get smacked with a $600 ticket. That is, after being chased down with choppers and team cars. I'm serious about the choppers!
Before, there was no on-the-spot safety checks for cars. The fact is, this is another evident scenario of discrimination towards bikers. Many regions incorporate some kind of regularly scheduled motorized vehicle inspection program available. All states have a certification agency where people are screened and released motorbike licenses. The Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) thinks these folks can appropriately do the job we are having to pay them to use our tax money; we do not need roadside checkpoints.
What is a lot more curious about the issue in Georgia is the right time. A checkpoint was put in place around the southerly route of a main road a couple of days before Daytona Bike Week. In essence, Georgia ceased motorbikes from the northeastern half of the country. Coincidence? I do believe not, bearing in mind another roadside checkpoint was carried out on the north area of the road several days as the event ended, halting every motorbike going home. The Georgia State Police refuse to release the number of tickets issued, or the number of bikes stopped, safe estimates put it in the thousands.
Luckily, you may still find decent people in government. Some state governments have approved laws suspending motorcycle-only checkpoints, others have even written a prohibition into their constitution. On the federal government level, the MRF is working a handful of approaches to stop the federal financing on this practice. The first is a stand-alone bill (HR 904), which may prohibit federal taxpayer dollars from being utilized to carry out any motorcycle-only inspection.
This bill was created by Rep. James Sensenbrenner of Wi. Sensenbrenner has a long and distinguished history defending motorcycling and has been a partner of the MRF for many years. It's really no secret how the Wi congressional delegation possesses a soft spot for bikes. After all, there is that little motorbike company in Milwaukee, but Sensennbrenner routinely goes far beyond with regards to keeping our local community and hobby.
The following is for you to really make a difference; simply call your government representative and ask him to co-sponsor HR 904 and HR 7 to guard the bikers of his state and suspend checkpoints. The United States Capitol telephone number is 202/224-3121. If you're not positive who your representative is, you can find it out at this web page: house.gov/representatives/find/.
This article is sponsored by medical case study.
No comments:
Post a Comment