New Ohio Bill = Say goodbye to your bike

So I've been gone since I traded the VFR in on the R6. Trackdays have been fun and I've been on other forums, but this issue has me worried enough I wanted to post it a few places to get your reactions. Please read carefully, the bill is before Ohio but could catch on. It has passed the Ohio House and is before the Senate.

Taken from another forum, read it all myself as well and . . . he's right Get the word out, doesn't hardly seem like anyone is aware this is going on.

 

woah that blows.... better stop that one from passing

 

None of your links work??? maybe they gave it up, Sounds like Communism Crazy the s*#t they try to pull.

 

Actually , notify these two motorcycle lobby groups:

Motorcycle Riders Foundation and American Motorcycle Association

MRF.org - Motorcycle Riders Foundation - Ride with the Leaders

ama-cycle.org


They have specific e-mail links you can shoot such local, state or federal motorcycle related bills to that are bogus that need to be fought.

ABATE is one organization that, although filled with so-called motorcyclists, is a joke and a poor representation for what an actual rider believes in.

 

Looks like it is all encompassing but more for the so called "Fast and Furious" wannabe's.

Whats going on in Ohio to bring this bill about?

BZ

 

I don't misbehave much and then not too aggressively when I do, but if lite up, I pull over and take my medicine. That said, it does look like this bill will have forfeiture with few if any effective conditions to be met, leaving it to the judgment (attitude, mood, phase of Europa over Jupiter, etc) of the LEOs and judges involved. If this is the case and I'm lite up in Ohio, I will run. If these jerks are gonna steal my bike, they are gonna fucking work for it...

 

I ain't red is nether but theys gonna have to kil me to tek my mootersickle away. Theys tuk my Kodachrome allreddy.

ABATE: A Brotherhood Against Totalitarian Enactments. "We don need no steenkin hemlets we got god and lawyers who ride on our side."

No more tooting laughing gas in cars? The nerve of those guys..

:stickhorse:

 

Sorry about that, glad you guys found it. HB191:
HB191 - Ohio: Street racing-increase penalty/street racing manslaughter-a crime

The story (as told by the media):
Police: Crash Investigation Could Have Been 'Better' | WBNS-10TV, Central Ohio News

Her vendetta:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/20/stop-illegal-street-racing-in-Ohio

Dispatch coverage:
Lawmaker pursuing street racers' hot rods | Columbus Dispatch Politics

Passed the house:
Ohio House OKs stiffer street racing penalties | newarkadvocate.com | The Newark Advocate

If you don't feel like reading this here's the short version. A guy drank 8 beers and was over the limit. Took his modified GTO out and challenged another guy on the highway. Keep in mind also the GTO was basically on slicks. Not surprisingly the drunk driver failed to maintain control of the car, crossed the median, and struck Monica Durban. He died, she was in a coma and is in bad shape now. The other guy was acquitted of all charges as he was found to not have caused the accident. So who do they go after? Nope, not drunk drivers, "street racers." Somehow all news related articles have now left out that the man who struck Ms. Durban was drunk behind the wheel. Ohio already has a bad reputation for traffic enforcement, this could get ugly.

Oh, we tried contacting the AMA, here's what we got:

I don't think they read carefully enough, namely section C:
(c) Any exhibition of speed or acceleration that is 2502
inconsistent with the normal operation of a vehicle on a public 2503
road, street, or highway. Persons 2504

Anyway, lots of emails going out to Senators. Picketing seems like a bad idea, would get us painted in a bad light. "Local Crotch Rocket Riders Picket to Support Street Racing" would probably be the headline.

 

As long as we're ranting about Ohio laws, here's one that burns me up:
Recordpub.com - Rootstown driver guilty in fatal crash: Struck, killed motorcyclist; two other deadly crashes are still under investigation

Short version: Driver pulls into path of motorcyclist, bike hits auto, rider dead.

Senseless tragedy, of course, but really gets to me is the driver was found guilty of vehicular homicide - a first degree misdemeanor. A freaking misdemeanor?! For killing a guy. Yeah, that makes sense. Oh, and of course it happened well over a year ago, so the idiot driver has been able to enjoy over a year of freedom and breathing while the rider's been dead ever since.

Can't wait to see the unbelievably light sentence this woman gets, whenever the "justice" system sees fit to finish their joke of a work.

But if I corner or accelerate too hard I can lose my bike for good? That's real fair. :crazy:

 

"Current law

Current law prohibits any person from participating in "street racing" upon any public road, street, or highway in this state. "Street racing" means (1) the operation of two or more vehicles from a point side by side at accelerating speeds in a competitive attempt to out-distance each other, or (2) the operation of one or more vehicles over a common selected course, from the same point to the same point, wherein timing is made of the participating vehicles involving competitive accelerations or speeds. Persons rendering assistance in any manner to such competitive use of vehicles must be equally charged as the participants. The operation of two or more vehicles side by side either at speeds in excess of prima-facie lawful speeds or rapidly accelerating from a common starting point to a speed in excess of such prima-facie lawful speeds is prima-facie evidence of street racing.

Whoever violates the prohibition against street racing is guilty of the offense of street racing, a misdemeanor of the first degree. In addition to any other sanctions, the court must suspend the offender's driver's license, commercial driver's license, temporary instruction permit, probationary license, or nonresident operating privilege for not less than 30 days or more than three years. A judge may not suspend the first 30 days of any suspension of an offender's license, permit, or privilege imposed for street racing. (R.C. 4511.251.)
Operation of the bill
Offense

The bill expands the definition of "street racing" to also include "any exhibition of speed or acceleration that is inconsistent with the normal operation of a vehicle on a public road, street, or highway." In addition, the bill provides that persons rendering assistance or encouragement in any form or manner to the defined competitive use of vehicles must be equally charged as participants (bill's additions to existing law are in italics)."

I bounced this off a lawyer I know. As is, if someone's coming into my lane and I power past the idiot to save myself, a LEO in SEM (Selective Enforcement Mode/Mood) can nail me and my bike is history. Also, technically, a prosecutor in reelection mode could go after internet "assistance or encouragement" like us. Even better, the LEO's department can keep the forfeited vehicle or the department/state can sell it and "the court may fine the arrested person the value of the vehicle", along with any other penalties to be applied.

Szauter's right, nothing to worry about here...

 

Petition against new street racing bill in Ohio

Please take action against the new bill before you lose your rides to the police!

Hot Rodders will suffer the same fate as this bill give police officers the ability to determine what is and what isnt street racing. Even displays of power can get your ride taken by the police. Many police officers dislike the Bikes and Hot Rodders and will jump at the chance to sieze a ride. This will only encourage bikers and hot rodders to run. Then they will see just how fast a $100,000 car with massive horsepower can go. This will only increase the rate of auto related deaths as people run to save their rides.

On another note. The estimated number of deaths due to street racing is .3% out of all auto related deaths ( as the numbers are so low no one tracks them so they are an estimate) The number of deaths due to police chases is .8% out of all auto related deaths and the number due to drunk drivers is 31.6% out of all auto related deaths.

We have been involved in the car-culture for more then 35 years and I dont know anyone who has died due to street racing. I do know 3 repeat drunk driving offerenders and I know people who have been hit by drunk drivers.

Please go to this link below to sign a petition to stop this bill from passing the senate:

"Street Racing Law" in Ohio, Please Read - LS1TECH

You can read the actual bill at this link as well.

Again please take action before we lose more rights as americans. I feel sorry for anyone hurt in a street racing incident, but I feel the punishment doesn't fit the crime here. The law is very harsh.

This law will also affect many business in Ohio that depend on the Bikers & Hot rodders for car shows and charity events. Drivers will not want to take their ride on the road in fear of losing it.

Thanks for you time,
Box Performance

 

I find that the problem with this bill is that it leaves the decsion of what is responsible and what isn't up to the police officer. If you live where you have issues with the police department this will be a problem.

For example: we have been pulled over for only having one license plate when it is a tempory tag(they only give you one), Not having a legal hood on our corvette (it has a hole in it for a Supercharger), Not having legal tires (DOT tires are street legal), Having a car impounded for breaking down (yes, this actually happended), Speeding ticket for going 28 in a 25, Making a u-turn in a circle dead-end street, We have recieved 2 disorderly conduct tickets in the mail becaue the city decided that we were trying to scare people by starting our car up (we won this in court), We have recieved noise tickets for our car and had a police officer record our car running in a public location and try and use it against us in court, (we won this as well since the city doesn't post sound limits in the city and the recording was illegal)
I can forsee cars and bikes being impounded for months as this is hashed out in court. For us this affects our lively hood as our car is a biggest marketing tool.

The point is that the law is too vague and is giving too much control to police departments. I agree that law bidding citizen should have no problem, but the law is let up to the police officer to interpt and they are not given any guidance in this matter. Many police officers are too young to know what a muscle car is or what they normally soundand look like.

I would like to see the bill revised to give more guidance in its enforcement and make the punishment fit the statistics when they get some. If drunk drivers lost their rides I think the everybody would benefit

 

As if Ohio doesn't have enough to worry about. You've all pointed out the rather vague nature of an officers decision to issue a ticket as being subjective, and that in and of itself is enough to keep me from ever pulling into Ohio. The way I see it, the problem is further compounded for motorcyclists. Your average sportbike is 3 times faster than a car, meaning that if you take off from a dead stop and accelerate under very normal throttle you'll be well ahead of the car traffic that was stopped with you. I can see how an over zelous officer (and aren't most of them) would automatically label that as unlawfull exhibition, issue the ticket, and the rider is left with any number of bad financial consequence, including confiscation of their bike. One of you mentioned you would run, I am not usually stupid enough to do something like that, but in this case... I'm gone. How much worse could it get?

Best of luck to all of you in Ohio, fight the good fight. Usually a good tact for a state legislature is to show up to any hearings on a given bill and calmly, intelligently, and with an educated politeness, express how difficult it will be to enforce any such law with equal and unbiased prudence. Vague is not good where state law is concerned. Present a few legitimate examples of that. There is no way that your average street cop can determine the issuance of a ticket on a per case, situational bases. Just because he is the law doesn't mean he has any idea what a fast corner on a sportbike is, compared to a slow corner. That alone will lead to many expensive trials for the state. Just the arbitrary nature in the re-definination of the word "race", is grounds for open interpretation and therefore challengeable in court. A one man race by it's nature, is contradictory and impossible to adhere to, therefore impossible to implement as law. How could a court and it's officer ever prove intent on the part of the "racer" to "race" him or herself.