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Maryland wants to outlaw sportbikes


Casper

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Crotch Rockets Are 'Potential Death Machines'

June 1, 2007 - 8:08am

 

FORESTVILLE, Md. - Saying that so-called bullet bikes or crotch rockets are "wreaking a tremendous amount of havoc on our roadways," one Maryland lawmaker says the state should consider banning the motorcycles from street use.

 

A crash on the Capital Beltway Wednesday night killed two people and left 15 others injured. Police say that the accident happened as they were trying to stop one of these speeding motorcycles.

 

"They are potential death machines in the wrong hands," says Delegate Bill Bronrott of Montgomery County. "I think we should look at the possibility of saying, 'Hey, these are only intended for recreational use and should be used on race courses rather than on public highways."

 

Bronrott says Maryland State Police are contacting jurisdictions around the country to see how they handle the motorcycles. He says Maryland needs to investigate whether higher penalties would reduce problems associated with the motorcycles and/or whether laws need to be changed.

 

"It is definitely worth looking into whether or not we should totally ban these from our public roads or not," Bronrott says.

 

Police are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the seven-car, chain-reaction crash that closed the Beltway Wednesday night.

 

It started at about 7 p.m. when a Prince George's County police officer spotted a speeding motorcycle and positioned himself to stop it on the inner loop, police said. The motorcycle rider swerved in front of a civilian car and sped away, causing the officer's car to hit the civilian's.

 

That car rolled down an embankment onto the outer loop, where five other cars crashed into each other.

 

Two people in the car that went over the embankment died. Prince George's County Police have identified them as Kevin McCarter, 40, of Ft. Washington, Md. and Sidney Clanton Jr., age unknown, of Buffalo, N.Y.

 

Two of the injured were police officers. One was flown to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. The other was also hospitalized, but his injuries were not considered life-threatening.

 

Law enforcement sources tell WTOP the officers involved in the accident had been alerted to a felony in progress, and were given a lookout for the cycle.

 

Officers are looking for the motorcycle and rider believed to be responsible.

 

Police say they were chasing a black, high-speed, nimble racing motorcycle.

 

A video camera in the police cruiser did capture the chase, but police have not provided a more detailed description of the bike, or any license plate information.

 

The accident and rescue effort caused the highway to be closed in both directions, backing up traffic for miles.

 

Police are asking anyone with information to call them at 301-772-4710 or 301-731-4422.

 

This is absolute bullshit. Here's Delegate Bill Bronrott's contact information:

http://www.bronrott.com/contact/index.html

 

Email him. Call him. Snail mail him. I don't care, but be sure if you disagree with this you let him know.

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:lol: the bike swerved and THAT caused the officers car to hit a civilian car? SO the cop was chasing, and he was negligent in chasing a bike and he physically caused the accident. If he didn't chase or called it off, I would think everyone would be alive and well.

 

In NJ I have red more about cars being stolen than bike/car crashes, I think the NJ law enforcement should not be worried about speeding vehicles and more worried on stolen cars.

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Police say they were chasing a black, high-speed, nimble racing motorcycle.

 

"nimble racing motorcyle"

 

And how exactly does an officer position his car to stop the bike? did he block the lane the bike was traveling in without road flares and warning other motorist's? What was the potential speed of the traffic? was this a highway? The story is way too vague to make any sort of assumption's. It does SOUND like the officer made a mistake by trying to stop the bike.

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That's BS!! What they need to do is concentrate on building a road system that can handle the fucking traffic load and then increase the speed to 70mph vs the stupids as 55mph that many areas down there have.

 

I drive to MD every month and work in the DC and beltway area and the frustration level on the roads there is super high. The guy on the bike is likely on a bike simply because he can actually navigate his way around much easier.

 

Sounds like the cop needs to rethink chasing a bike and go back to driving school. From what little I read, I hardly call that accident the fault of the bike. I hop the cop feels his actions and results were worth a speeding ticket for a bike rider.

 

Not saying the bike was in the right by any means, but in this case the officer executed poor judgment. Sounds like he tried to either block the bike's lane or was out in the roadway in some manner.

 

That pisses me off as I see it a lot. Just yesterday I saw a trooper shooting laser on 270 by Sawmill....typical spot....he walks out in the fast lane and waves someone over. Fuck that! Jerk damn near panicked several folks who could have easily hit him....I'm like WTF is he doing :eek::mad: Two people swerved around him!! Get back in your Fucking car and go after him or set up a chase bike/car you dick!

 

He didn't even have an orange vest on or anything...but hey, he had his hat on and performed a nice wave over :rolleyes: .....I wouldn't shed one tear if he got hit, yet they'd likely go after the driver for being at fault. Stupid jerk should get fired.

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That pisses me off as I see it a lot. Just yesterday I saw a trooper shooting laser on 270 by Sawmill....typical spot....he walks out in the fast lane and waves someone over. Fuck that! Jerk damn near panicked several folks who could have easily hit him....I'm like WTF is he doing :eek::mad: Two people swerved around him!! Get back in your Fucking car and go after him or set up a chase bike/car you dick!

 

He didn't even have an orange vest on or anything...but hey, he had his hat on and performed a nice wave over :rolleyes: .....I wouldn't shed one tear if he got hit, yet they'd likely go after the driver for being at fault. Stupid jerk should get fired.

 

This is how I got pulled over last year. On 270 Eastbound, through a construction zone on the far left lane. He LITERALLY walked into the middle of the lane and motioned the guy in front of me and myself to pull over. I thought it was a construction worker at first but realized it was a bike cop. What if someone had been entering the fast lane ahead of us and didn't see him? I know cops will pull people over no matter what, but the way they do it is important to their own safety as well as our's.

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It's a ploy to cover up the cop causing 2 people to die. They are trying to show how much they are doing so this never happens again. It will never go through. My narrow minded opinion.

 

I gotta agree. Well, I don't have to, but I do.

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Thats retarded. I thinik they should ban idiots with guns.

 

Why is it people are affraid of anythingf they don't understand. A Harley V-Rod could easly performanced the same manuavers as could many other bikes. Does that mean bikes are bad ? Noppe.

 

Humans commit the crimes not the items Stupid fucks.

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I just moved back from that shithole, and yes traffic there is absolutly crazy. plus the cops there are fucking nazi lunatics. i never have had so many damn tickets issued to me for stupid shit. i think i left that state with 11 tickets, luckily maryland and ohio dont have any cooperation agreement, so they can stickem up their ass.

 

On the bike deal, i still dont understand why the hell a cop would think they have a snowballs chance in hell of stopping a sportbike, and unless they have just commited a serious crime, i don't see how its worth it to chase a bike over a speeding ticket. and when they put it back on the rider when the cops fuck up and kill them selves and others, its sick. thats right, no accountibilty, its your fault because you ran. bullshit, its your fault because you gave chase when i got sick of paying tickets for enjoying myself. when i smear my self all over the road, THEN give me a ticket, or if i directly cause a wreck or hurt someone, by all means lock my ass up. but the next fucker that wants to serve me up on a 75-80 in a 65, well kiss my ass.

 

And the deal with sportbike wrecks causing major traffic delays, deaths etc, well the answer to that is to go to a graduated licensing system. i still think a squid shouldn't be able to go out and jump on a supersport as a first bike with absolutly no expierence, dirt or otherwise. thats a recipe for getting that poor dumb bastard killed or seriously hurt. Thats what the should be proposing insted of an outright ban..

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Guest Chris_F
Police should never take pursuit of a bike while in a car. A bike can out maneuver, out accelerate and out speed a cop in a car, so why should they think it's a good idea to go after them? Who's the bike hurting other than himself maybe? It's only going to make a accident more eminent if they try to chase them because the person on the bike is only going to get more aggressive and in the end either the person on the bike will end up killing themselves, or the cop will end up hitting or possible killing someone else. Thats how most high speed bike chases end up. Police should be told that if a biker takes off, to just let them go. It's probably the safest thing they could do.
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This thread upsets me.

 

Provided my interpretation is correct, this is one messed up police force. Sounds like the officers need to step up, realize that they chased someone when it was too dangerous and face the consequences of that decisions. The police -not the biker- killed two innocent people.

 

It's disgusing how they tried to pass the blame

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I think its stupid to run. But I agree why would a cop try? Almost ANY modern or older liter bike could out run a cop easly. I've stated before even though flamed for it, MANY MANY MANY cars/bikes could DESTROY a cop car in a all out run.
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Chalk one up for ... letting him get away would of been the safest option. Sounds like the cop screwed up and is trying to blame the motorcycle. The motorcycle didnt make the officer crash, the officer screwed up and lost control of his car.
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Law enforcement sources tell WTOP the officers involved in the accident had been alerted to a felony in progress, and were given a lookout for the cycle.

 

i dont think they should have just "let him go"... but at least use your fucking head and call in the chopper. bike wont outrun that ;)

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two things you need to know about Maryland....

1)liberal as all hell

2) would get sued by every motorcycle corporation and their mom if they thought about really doing this

 

im no cop, but there is a point where police call off chases d/t it being too dangerous and risky for the public. why didnt that happen here?

 

on the other hand none of use where there and we know how "responsible" the media is about getting the facts and portraying them in an unbiased opinion

 

finally dont forget the biker in this situation is at fault, even though a proposal to ban sport bikes is an obvious over reaction. This is yet another reason not to act like an asshole when there are other motorists around. this is how bikers get bad wraps.

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