Another BLACK-EYE for our sport

Monkeyspank

New Member
:banghead: Bikers going 140+ busted :argh:

Monday, August 18, 2008 By RYAN DEZEMBERStaff Reporter
(Comment - 8 of them got their mugshot in the local paper)

~DAPHNE ALABAMA~
A dozen motorcyclists were arrested midday Sunday after the pack was clocked hurtling along Interstate 10 at over 140 mph, said Cpl. Joe Piggott, a state trooper spokesman.

A trooper first spotted the cyclists speeding by westbound traffic at about 100 mph at milepost 55, which is about 11 miles east of the Florida state line, at about 10:45 a.m., Piggott said. Unable to pursue the cyclists because they were going so fast, the trooper radioed ahead to a colleague posted about 20 miles to the west.

When they passed the second trooper between the Daphne and Malbis exits, the cyclists, riding high-performance sports motorcycles, had sped up to over 140 mph. That trooper gave chase and a third trooper ahead in a Dodge Charger stopped traffic on the Bayway to force the cyclists to stop.


"There was no incident or anything," Piggott said. "They just pulled off.

"They're not bad guys, they just drive with complete disregard for anyone on the highway and then when you get more than two or three, then you get a pack mentality."

Both westbound lanes on the Bayway remained closed for a few minutes before one was opened while troopers wrote citations and worked to get the motorcycles towed off the highway, Piggott said. By about 1:15 p.m. both lanes had been reopened, he said.

Each of the riders — 11 men and one woman, ranging in age from their early 20s to early 40s — were given tickets charging them with speeding and reckless endangerment and were taken to Baldwin County Corrections Center in Bay Minette, Piggott said.

Everyone arrested was from northwest Florida, according to police, and many were stationed at area military bases.

They were: Keith Edward Cole, 39; Arthur Lee Jones, 41; Derrick Alan Lawrence, 25; Andy Michael Galatas, 22; Kip Ryan Lewis, 40; Terry Lynn Moore, 40; William Latron Green, 34; Derrick Cortez Clay, 30; Rachel L. Robertson, 33; Paul Burney Johnson, 38, ; Kristoffer Edwin Davoud Ford, 23; and Tyrice A. Thomas, 30.

Besides three state troopers, sheriff's deputies from Baldwin and Mobile counties aided in the arrests.

The timing of the incident coincides with trooper's planning to restart their "Take Back Our Highways" initiative this morning with a week of aggressive efforts to increase public awareness about bad driving habits and stepped up enforcement of traffic laws.


Article from AL.COM
http://www.al.com/news/press-register/index.ssf?/base/news/1219050956270500.xml&coll=3
 

Morph

Control Rider
Fish gotta Swim

Bird gotta fly

Street guys gotta get tickets.

I don't see how it affect's motorcycles as a sport.
 

Dave561

Control Rider
Director
The problem is the rep. Nobody remebers the 50 guys they saw riding the speed limit, but they remember the 3 guys doing 100mph wheelies down the highway.
 

JGardy_781

Member
This sort of crap gives legislators a good reason to knee-jerk legislation against motorcyclists into law... Think 100-bhp limits (France), tiered licensing schemes (Britain), targeted noise enforcement that singles out motorcycles and excludes drainpipe exhausts on sport import cagers (in our own country), restricted access to dirt trails based upon keeping "wilderness wild" (in our own country), and things like the UK DfT's current research into computers on board bikes to limit horsepower available to the rider based upon the speed limit of the road they're on...

Knee-jerk legislation meant to take the "personal" element out of responsibility and assign it to the collective, all the while helping to supposedly protect us from ourselves.

Ultimately, this type of news is just bad PR, and if the wrong federal or state congressional member were to grab hold of it in an election year ("Elect me, and I'm going to keep your streets safe from these hooligans!"), it can mean bad things for the sport longer term. The general public doesn't differentiate between track, street, sport, dirt, etc. They're all bikes to them.
 

justariot66

New Member
Well if they wanna run 140 who care we all did it. They just have not come to their senses yet. Lets not be too much like parents and look down on them for having fun.
 

beac83

Member
Let's pull their names/addys from the court records, and invite them to the track. 140 in a straight line is easy. Track requires skill. After a get-off or two, hopefully with no injury, they will get the idea.
 

JGardy_781

Member
It's all fun and games until they hit some innocent motorist at 140 and kill everyone in the car.

A buddy of mine was a first responder on such a crash. 4 occupants of the car were killed, along with the motorcyclist.

It ain't funny on public roads.
 

Blaise

New Member
justariot66;9363 wrote: Well if they wanna run 140 who care we all did it. They just have not come to their senses yet. Lets not be too much like parents and look down on them for having fun.
Speak for yourself, I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who has never done 140mph+ down a highway.
 

zxsixr

New Member
Blaise;9418 wrote: Speak for yourself, I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who has never done 140mph+ down a highway.
What he said Speed is for the track.......:agree:
 

Quantum_Ape

New Member
Blaise, Your right. My little SV tops out at about 135, Damn! J/K

JGardy, :agree:

As for the public's perception, i went to a local church parking lot to prep a friend for a DMV test. We shortly had someone pull up complaining that they got a call about some "dirtbikes tearing up the assault" :notsure: Um, we were on an SV650 and a Bandit 400... not to mention we didn't even leave rubber on the ground and were practicing u-turns and cones. :doh:

Yeah, that looked like some serious hooliganism...

Some people don't care what you ride, if it's not on 4 wheels, it's the devil and it's out to kill everyone, rape there mother, and disembowel there pets.
 

Morph

Control Rider
With the exception of wheelies. Just about every young fool with a Mustang does the same stuff. I don't see people with stigmas for Mustang owners.

Maybe motorcyclist are so self absorbed we think people pay more attention than they do to (you) us.

At any rate MY sport takes place on a track.
 

ZxRegg6r

Member
In New York City you'll get pulled over for just looking fast!!!!!!!


Even at times when ya standing still......
 
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