Another year of harrassment for California motorcyclists?

I see that all the grant money has been handed out by the state for "safety" enforcement on motorcyclists. Even though we have this data:


"The grant will assist in efforts to deal with traffic safety problems and to reduce the number of persons killed and injured in traffic collisions. While traffic deaths from all causes declined by nearly 39 percent between 2006 and 2010 in California, state and federal officials anticipate that figures will show a slight rise in 2011. DUI deaths remain the largest sector, at nearly 30 percent of traffic fatalities. Recent trends show increases in two new categories – distracted driving and drug-impaired driving."


From here:

http://elkgrove.patch.com/articles/...ols-stoplight-enforcement-coming-to-elk-grove


A quick google search turns up articles over the last month for pretty much every city in California.

I noticed a distrubing trend during Motorcycle Awareness month last year. Out of all the motorcycles that I would see during my riding around, a solid 85% of them were on the side of the road with the police inlcuding me. I don't think that is what's intended by "motorcycle awareness" campaigns.


I really don't see why motorcyclists are included in this grouping?


Activities that the grant will fund include:

• Specialized DUI and drugged driving training such as Standardized Field Sobriety Testing (SFST), Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE), and Drug Recognition Evaluator (DRE).
• DUI Saturation Patrols
• Motorcycle safety enforcement
• Speed, red light and stop sign enforcement

Motorcycles are an extremely small segment of registered vehicles in California...800,000 motorcycles versus 22 million others.


Things I'm going to do to prepare for another year of harrassment...light and safety check of every bike before I leave the house. We all get lax, I'll get that turn signal bulb this weekend...tire is about bald, but it's summer, I'll run it a little longer. Got my new tag in the mail, but it looks like it's good until the end of the month, it's not.


Gotta have my ducks in a row because I'm gonna be one mouthy SOB the next time I get pulled over.


I routinely see drivers smoking weed driving down the road and they're gonna pick on me because I ride a motorcycle?

No fuckin way...:huh

How are you getting motorcycle harrasement out of that article? There's just one bullet point stating that part of the grant goes to "Motorcycle safety enforcement."

At least in the LA area, cops seem pretty easy on motorcyclists. The last time I got pulled over the cop asked me why I did what I just did. I told him that I had no excuse, that it was stupid mistake, and he let me go.

patch.com is not a reliable source. It's effectively a federated advertising network with amateur journalists.

I ride pretty much everyday here in southern Ca and haven't been stopped since 2006.

You do realize that you just jinxed yourself, Bud... :eek1

--Bill

Do you believe in Rabbits feet and Gremlin Bells too?

Sure, my Momma ain't never bean stopped, butt she's purdie damn slow too.

I may be slow but I sure am old...

Up here in Washington, it has gone the other direction, I see virtually no traffic enforcement by the State or city police except for a few select locations. Even commercial vehicle enforcement is noticeably down.

You don't?? You need to watch that nice lady's video again.

California a whole other country.

Indeed. We believe in proper grammar and not marrying cousins.

That's all federal money (our taxes) from those nice folks in DC who were voted back in.

They don't do catch-and-release here in MI. The state AG said if they stopped motorcyclists, they also had to stop all of the cars and trucks to avoid discrimination. Same thing for DUI inspection lanes. Stop everyone or nobody.

Good luck with that.

What were you stopped for last year?

Unfortunately, way too many motorcyclists think it's cool to ride to bars. Thus, I'd wager a guess that there are lot of drunk motorcyclists around on Friday and Saturday nights. Could be part of the DUI enforcement to stop and check...

On the other hand, if you are seeing bikes pulled over during "non-drinking hours" that's bullshit, IMO.

unless you're on a sportbike, down here in LA proper they pretty much just look the other way - and even then they pretty much look the other way.

They never even look twice at the 1150 - its too ugly.....they think they are going to turn to stone

Ha!

I thought something was going on.

I live in Indiana and just started riding again last spring.

I was pulled over twice in 2012.

I have been pulled once in a car - since 1985.

Hmmm.

No ticket either time. I think they pulled me over because I had a helmet on.
In Indiana it seems not many people wear helmets (I refer to them as "squids").

So maybe they want to see what a real helmet and real riding gear looks like up close? :)

California cops seem to expect anyone riding anything other then a harley to be a trouble maker.

The only time I've ever been pulled over was on my motorcycle. It was about 11pm as I'm going up a rather steep hill on the main street through town on my dinky 200. I can only go 35 in a 40 zone, well this car gets closer and closer, I keep frantically looking back till there about 3 feet off my tire. I see a street coming up, flick on my blinker and duck in real quick. A second later blue lights pop on, :huh it was a cop that almost ran me over, great. I pull over, paper work is handed over and after a detailed going over, he made me move my gloves so he could look at my speedometer, he gives me a ticket for the only thing he can, the amber cover on my turn signal is partially missing. I somehow refrained from giving him a peice of my mind about riding me so close and fishing.

Really? Don't you mean "correct grammar"?

Proper. definition 1.1: "Suited or acceptable to the purpose or circumstances; fit, suitable. "

Also, defition 3: "Accurate, strictly applied."

source: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/proper