Call to action! Bike ban being attempted in MA

[Zed]

Hey folks, I don't know how many of you all are AMA members, but I just got my December issue of their mag and read this:

Bill would ban young riders in Massachusetts

A Massachusetts state lawmaker believes kids don't have any business riding motorcycles or ATVs, and he wants to ban them from doing so.

Rep. Matthew Patrick (D-Barnstable) has introduced House Bill 3592 to ban kids 13 or younger from riding motorcycles or ATVs anywhere in the state - even in their own back yards. The bill would also limit kids ages 14 and 15 to machines with 90cc or smaller motors.

(excerpt)

I have difficulty expressing what utter rubbish this is. My son has been riding a KLX110 since he was 9, with no trouble or undue danger whatsoever. He wears a full-face helmet and motorcross armor, and rides on the little track we have in our own yard. It's a great physical activity for him, and teaches him valuable lessons about self-control, discipline, and the care and maintenance of a complex machine.

This is big-government nanny-statism at its worst, and if this goes through, things will only go downhill from there. In the very same issue of the AMA magazine, there is another story about how the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety is trying to ban or severely restrict every sort of motorcycle that resembles a sport bike, even including my wife's FJR1300 sport-touring bike.

Everyone reading this who lives in MA needs to write to their own congressmen and senator about this bill, and urge them to vote against it. You can get the name and contact info of your state reps here. Folks also need to pay better attention about what kind of people we are electing to office in the first place.

[brendanp]

This doesn't surprize me... this is a result of idiot parents that have no clue or no insite on teaching kids safe motorcycling from the start. The kid gets fucked up in an off road accident and then become another systastic...

[gmdboston]

Go to American Motorcyclist Association

I did and got a response.

Dear Peter:

Thank you for your email.

House Bill 3592 was filed by Representative Matthew Patrick and had its public hearing before the Joint Committee on Transportation on June 26th, 2007. The committee has not yet made a recommendation on the bill. I will look forward to any testimony and committee recommendations made concerning this issue. I understand your concerns and while I am not on this committee, please know I will speak to my colleagues who are on the committee and let them know of the opposition to this bill in my district. I appreciate your input and will remember your email should this bill come before the House for a vote.

I would also suggest you contact the committee chairs and explain your family's experience with ATVs. You can reach the chairs at the following addresses:

The Honorable Joseph Wagner
Chair, Joint Committee on Transportation State House, Room 134 Boston, MA 02133

The Honorable Steven Baddour
Chair, Joint Committee on Transportation State House, Room 208 Boston, MA 02133

Again, thank you for your email.

Sincerely,

Jennifer

Jennifer Callahan
State Representative
18th Worcester District
(617) 722-2130
f: (617) 722-2002



-----Original Message-----
From: mail.relay@mailmanager.net [mailto:mail.relay@mailmanager.net] On Behalf Of Peter Kates
Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2007 2:45 PM
To: Callahan, Jennifer - Rep. (HOU)
Subject: Opposed to House Bill 3592

Peter Kates
21 Summer St.
Bellingham, MA 02019-2544


November 15, 2007

The Honorable Jennifer M. Callahan
Massachusetts House of Representatives
Massachusetts State House
Boston, MA 02133


Dear Representative Callahan:

My son Alex(9), and daughter Ashley (4), have been involved with off road motorized recreation since they were born. I have been riding and racing motorcycles as well as teaching motorcycle roadracing since since 1983.
House Bill 3592 would make all three of us criminals and trigger DSS reports on both myself and their mother. I taught my son to ride when he was 4 years old, starting with proper safety gear and techniques.
Beginning with small displacement, speed governed motorcycles designed for small children, he has now moved up through two displacement classes to a 65cc manual clutch, motorcycle. Only after he could demonstrate complete control and the maturity to make good decisions was he allowed to move up to a bigger displacement.

House bill 3592, which is currently before the Joint Committee on Transportation, would make it illegal for anyone under the age of 14 to operate an ATV, off-highway motorcycle or snowmobile. It would also place stringent limits on the use of ATVs by anyone under the age of 16 and would mandate safety training for all riders under the age of 18.

This bill will deny my family the right to participate in our preferred family recreation. Families should be free to decide what to do in their spare time and parents must have discretion over the type of recreation in which their children participate.

I believe that rider education is the best approach to the long-term reduction of ATV-related injuries and fatalities. Rider education promotes the use of safety equipment, safe riding and improves rider skill.

I am concerned about safety, but the safety of motorized recreation can be enhanced without making the participation of young persons a crime.

I understand that the genesis of this bill was the result of a tragic ATV accident involving a young boy who was left unattended at a friend's house, with access to an ATV. While I feel very sorry for the loss of a child, no law would have prevented a tragic accident caused by inattentive parents. Please help stop the trend of children being raised by litigation. Parents should decide if motorized recreation is right for their children, not the state.

I respectfully request that you oppose HB 3592.

Sincerely,


Peter Kates

[Kham]

i got scare for a second when i saw the title. first thing that came mind was banning bike completely for all. wheew!

[Zed]

i got scare for a second when i saw the title. first thing that came mind was banning bike completely for all. wheew!

Yeah well this is where such things start. Like I mentioned in the original post, the IIHS is once again beginning to lobby for severe restrictions and/or an outright ban on SPORTBIKES, period.

Just because this particular thing may not affect you directly doesn't make it any less significant.

[CMG241]

The pussification of America continues

[SSearchVT]

Tell me this isn't real... I started riding when I was 5 and racing when I was 6.

When are parents going to take reponsibility for themselves? Whats next - banning playground equipment like swings and slides? Maybe making it illegal for kids under 13 to go to ski areas? They tell you to get kids out from in front of video games and the idiot box, and then make it illegal for them to do anything...

[breakdirt916]

it might be a good idea

for every person like you, that is a great parent, there are another 99 that are irresponsible which leads to injuries and/or deaths

by imposing limitations they can reduce the sheer numbers of incidents from happening

[breakdirt916]

I taught my son to ride when he was 4 years old, starting with proper safety gear and techniques.
Beginning with small displacement, speed governed motorcycles designed for small children, he has now moved up through two displacement classes to a 65cc manual clutch, motorcycle. Only after he could demonstrate complete control and the maturity to make good decisions was he allowed to move up to a bigger displacement.

while that may be true for you and your family (which I find very mature, btw), what about the other parents that don't do anything at all?

Families should be free to decide what to do in their spare time and parents must have discretion over the type of recreation in which their children participate.

the problem is that there aren't enough parents using appropriate discretion

and until enough parents start doing some real parenting, then the government is going to step in to reduce injuries and deaths...and since they can't single out the bad parents from the good parents, everyone's going to suffer

I believe that rider education is the best approach to the long-term reduction of ATV-related injuries and fatalities. Rider education promotes the use of safety equipment, safe riding and improves rider skill.

I am concerned about safety, but the safety of motorized recreation can be enhanced without making the participation of young persons a crime.

I agree...rider education IS the best approach...

with the being the case, maybe an alternative to this outright ban, would be mandatory rider education before the use of motorcycles and ATV's

[Nix]

Peter Kates for President - good stuff.

[brendanp]

The pussification of America continues

Exactly!

[Pittenger5]

While I didnt start riding a motorcycle till I was 22, my parents had me skiing before I could walk. My dad used to bring me to the ski area and carry me down the hill between his legs. I wonder how long itd take DSS to be on their asses these days. Ridiculous.

[jmh992003]

first of all most 14- and 15 year olds are to big for 90cc bikes. I dont have aproblem with a little regulation, how about insstead of banni them riding, how about making only under supervision. I dont have stats at all, but I would be most injuries occur while adults are not around, and the kids are too young to be operating alone. I doubt some one like peter who is so knowlegable about motorcycles, lets his kids ride without him supervising. But to out right ban hem is stupid. Weather its speaking a language or learning to read, playing sports or riding a motorcycle, the younger someone learns the more proficiant they can become.

[gmdboston]

while that may be true for you and your family (which I find very mature, btw), what about the other parents that don't do anything at all?



the problem is that there aren't enough parents using appropriate discretion

and until enough parents start doing some real parenting, then the government is going to step in to reduce injuries and deaths...and since they can't single out the bad parents from the good parents, everyone's going to suffer


I agree...rider education IS the best approach...

with the being the case, maybe an alternative to this outright ban, would be mandatory rider education before the use of motorcycles and ATV's

I'll respect your opinion and your right to voice it, how ever I could not disagree more. If the problem were massive numbers of parents not supervising their children, or if there were some inherent dangers that a child could not possibly understand and make informed, intelligent decisions about I would tend to agree. Sadly, that's not the case. Most parents either take the time to understand the risks and make a decision for their child, as is their responsibility and their right, or simply say no. Either way it was the parents decision. In a few cases, like the one that sparked this bill, the parents did not fully understand what conditions they were leaving their child with, and did not equip him the tools to make good decisions. It's a case of series of unfortunate events, not wide spread bad parenting. In any case I am philosophically opposed to any laws that govern my ability to parent my children. The US government has shown over the years that it is not very good at common sense litigation and that many bills are proposed by politicians seeking head lines and re-election by tugging at the publics heart strings.

There are several bills being worked on that would mandate rider education, and I'd like to see some parent education at the same time, as well as displacement limits for ATV and Motorcycles. There are many problem with that as well, check out this link for a very good demonstration of why motorcycles need to be treated differently than ATVs.

YouTube - NETRA - Youth Age issues

Lastly if you make a child wait until they are 14 year old to learn a skill, it's going to be more difficult to teach them. Also they will have out grown the starter sizes and powered bike that we now use to start them on and they will have to jump in with a full sized 125, or bigger. Take 10 minutes and watch the video and you'll see what I mean.

[SVRACER01]

i read about this months ago in a mass paper.

[Pittenger5]

I dont know what sparked this bill, but from what Peter said in his letter, wasnt it an unsupervized kid on an ATV? So because of a tragedy like this, we're gonna ban all kids from riding a bike, even though odds are if it happens again its cause a kid hopped on a bike and wouldnt care about the law anyway? I dont get it.

[gmdboston]

I dont know what sparked this bill, but from what Peter said in his letter, wasnt it an unsupervized kid on an ATV? So because of a tragedy like this, we're gonna ban all kids from riding a bike, even though odds are if it happens again its cause a kid hopped on a bike and wouldnt care about the law anyway? I dont get it.

Now you understand, you can run for office.

[highsider]

Next up Bill Number 3594, which will not allow parents to give their children under age 14 knives to cut their food with. Knives are dangerous, y'know.

[ZX-12R]

while that may be true for you and your family (which I find very mature, btw), what about the other parents that don't do anything at all?

the problem is that there aren't enough parents using appropriate discretion

So long as their actions do not interfere with another's basic rights, whatever they choose to do is of no one else's concern. We already have too many laws to protect ourselves from ourselves which is a big part of the reason why stupid people are flourishing in our society.

I agree...rider education IS the best approach...

with the being the case, maybe an alternative to this outright ban, would be mandatory rider education before the use of motorcycles and ATV's

While I agree in the merits of proper rider education, giving up a choice in exchange for a government mandate is NEVER a good idea.

[Josephd14]

I would love to see the stats for Motorcycle accidents with children under the age of 16.. I'd be willing to bet they are nearly non-existant..

[richw]

Elect more democrats

Don't forget Boston's new

"Can we come in a search your house for possible law breaking?"

We have no evidence to support a search but its a little slow today so we thought you might want to go to jail

[Wishbone]

Elect more democrats

Don't forget Boston's new

"Can we come in a search your house for possible law breaking?"

We have no evidence to support a search but its a little slow today so we thought you might want to go to jail

How do I sign up for that? I gotta have a few things here or there that they can give me some time for. Well that is if dead hookers in your basement is still a crime

[benVFR]

If they gotta do something how about some kind of law to put points on a parents drivers license if they're kid is caught operating a dirt bike or ATV illegally (i.e. on public roads or closed lands).

As much as it's nice some of you supervise your kids properly.. you gotta admit your own childhood experience was probably dominated by stories & experiences with the kids whose parents gave them an ATV or dirtbike and set them loose... with the completely obvious result that the you/we were out creating mayhem on the roads and running from the police.. even if it was "just in the neighborhood".

It's hard enough for the police to catch anyone... this law would only come down on the few people who were trying to be responsible.

[Dangerz0ne]

The pussification of America continues

no shit. I am starting to have less and less respect for laws in general. I feel bad for the cops nowadays (just a little) who end up having to enforce this shit.

[hammadown]

Unbelievable! I, like many others here spent my childhood on dirt bikes and snowmobiles. Sure I played some other sports, but to me there was nothing like the sound, smell, and feel of the 2-stroke pulling you down the trail. Once again we have legislators who know nothing about the sport making decisions that will significantly effect it. Im moving to NH!