Those people that [GASP!] ride motorcycles are all a bunch of hooligans I tell ya! Somebody needs to do something! Swarm their homes, tow their bikes, shoot their dogs! This must be stopped, there oughta be a law against these infernal machines! They’re from the devil! We need to do this for their safety of course. Here’s what the Kansas City (falling) Star has to say about it: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/06/11/4286383/bikers-clog-i-70-near-kauffman.html So if you ride anything sportier looking than a Cushman scooter around KC you’re wearing a target.
After all, some of these stunters are killing themselves. And dead slaves don’t pay clover’s Social Security and medicare taxes. I’d be real curious to see a statistical comparison between “stunters” dying on their bikes versus the number of innocent civilians killed by cops each year. I’ve seen this type of “anarchy” play out on video from Mexico and the cops can’t do a thing about it there either: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b34z6niL9GI. Dangerous? Foolish? Perhaps. But sometimes that’s the nature of Liberty. So live free, stunt on (but be careful) and let the clovers beware.
Yeh. Some of those guys are dickheads giving us all a bad name. They’ll do the Darwinism thing and take themselves out. My bike ain’t capable of wheelies since I geared it up for highway. Besides, tyres, headstems and forks aren’t cheap for the sake of wheelies and burnouts, as my old bicycles will attest. But put simply, if they haven’t hurt or encumbered someone or their liberty, they should be left alone. In the case of blocking entire roads for their antics, they have caused harm to others’ liberty and, like clovers that enjoy blocking entire lanes in order to control others, deserve a whacking.
Rev, I’ll be the first to admit that some of those guys did a number of downright stupid things. Too many of them were way over the line…double yellow that is…for them to merely be avoiding the cop car / stunt rider pile-up. You can rest assured that the drivers in the oncoming lanes don’t have an improved outlook on motorcyclists now. Admittedly, that stretch of road was a bit tight and there were too many other vehicles around. I wouldn’t have done what they did. But regardless, no one but the wheelie rider was injured.
The article says the cop was slowing down aong with the pick up truck he was pulling over. I watched the video several times and I’ll call B.S. on that. The cop brake checked the kid on the bike to intentionally wreck him, in my not so humble opinion. And that kid riding the wheelie was probably one of the better (i.e. safer) riders in the pack and was in his lane at the time. The cop didn’t pull to the shoulder, he stopped right in the traffic lane. And he couldn’t wait to get his hands on the the stunter. In other words, he wanted to hurt the rider on the spot: non-judicial punishment. I’m not defending any of them. Practically everyone in the video was wrong. But the cop had a vendetta because most of the time motorcyclists get away and he was going to make the one rider pay for the sins of all the others. Two wrongs don’t make a right.
That’s right Boothe, I did see that. I’ll bet the cop wanted names and addresses of as many rider buddies he could get. The biker wouldn’t get outta that one though, unless the cop was videoed punching crap outta him, it might turn his case around.
I don’t mind what stunters do in car parks or empty highways, but crowded roads aren’t the place for that shit. Just yesterday I was walking up the street here and saw 3 kids on bicycles doing wheelies and shit in all 4 lanes. It only takes one to screw it up and the hornet’s nest is awakened, leading to “concerned parents” then councillors calling “something must be done”.
I’ve seen it happen before. Many kids kick footballs around on their suburban streets just outside their house rather than go 100 metres to the park. One nearly gets run over and then speed limits are lowered, cops everywhere blaming drivers that were not at fault, for months to come. They foist the blame on those they can screw the most money out of. The idea of “keeping us safe” is at the heart of all this statism.
I could go on forever but I’ll /rant here 😉
This is another example of “hard cases make bad law.”
If someone gets run over by a car because they were playing too close to the road, the lesson to take from that is: Don’t play too close to the road. My generation was taught that. The parents of that era (as opposed to the breeders of today) expected their kids to be responsible for themselves, not others made responsible for the actions of their kids.
On stunting: Same principle. If someone pulls a wheelie and loses control of his bike, wrecks, gets hurt – hold him responsible for the cost of any injuries/damage. Otherwise, leave him be. And absolutely leave others be.
But it’s dangerous? Risky? Foolish? Yes, probably so (though not necessarily; some people are capable of controlling a bike better with the front wheel up in the air than others are with both on the pavement). But if you believe in liberty, then you must grit your teeth and accept the occasional risk – and yes, consequences of risk – that come with leaving individual people free to make their own choices and be held responsible for them.
Until humanity learns this – an accept this – humanity will never be ready for liberty.
Too right. back in my day, if I was playing in the wrong spot and nearly caused a wreck I’d be on the receiving end of a clip behind the ear, if not a boot up the arse as well for good measure – from parents, teachers – and people who’s cars I threw rocks at. They’d threaten to chuck you a sleeping bag and be banished to the bush for the next 48 hours, irrespective of the weather.. and they actually meant it.
At 14, my foray into the Encyclopedia Britannica and explosives was an interesting learning curve.
It really taught you the absolute requirement of responsibility and accountablity, without which nobody would come to your aid. Nannyism is a trend I’m hoping will lose its shine somewhat immediately.
Fed Govt petitioned to require ABS on all Motorcycles
http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/56093/
IIHS, HLDI petition federal government
http://www.iihs.org/news/default.html#060613
Sesame Street-Cred: Muppet guide to visiting Dad in jail
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3sf7O5mrlY