Ten year ban for pulling a wheelie

Author: Visordown News
Published: 27 Nov 07

STUNTING BIKERS in Miami may have gone just a step too far at the weekend,
and their antics look set to bring in tough new laws that is likely to see
their bike taken off them, their licences revoked for TEN years and a mandatory
stay in prison.

State representative Carlos Lopez-Cantera went on a ride-along with the Florida Highway Patrol to check out the local problem of speeding bikers for himself.

“This guy did a wheelie,” Lopez-Cantera said of one motorcyclist. “It’s
unbelievable. These motorcycles passed us like we were standing still.”
Lopez-Cantera said he witnessed racers speeding at up to 120mph on the
Dolphin Expressway.
“They’re just blatantly riding in excessive speeds, putting themselves and other motorists in danger,” Lopez-Cantera said. “It’s just too much.”
He watched as the racers were arrested for reckless driving, and he came upon another racer who was injured on the side of MacArthur Causeway. Speaking after the ride-along, Lopez-Cantera added: “We saw so much blatant disregard for the laws tonight that it doesn’t surprise me to see someone
injured.

Speaking some time before the ride-along, police officers had complained
that they were virtually powerless to pursue the bikers and said that they were
frustrated as they watch their tactics, like flipping the bike’s number plates around so they can’t be traced.
“That tag needs to be permanently attached to that motorcycle,” one officer said. “The problem has got worse. The laws need to be changed. The penalties
need to be stiffer.”

And now it seems that Lopez-Cantera has been persuaded to do just that.
He added: “Something has to be done. These bikers have to actually fear the
law because right now they don’t.”
True to his word, Lopez-Cantera filed a bill in Tallahassee after the ride-along that would toughen penalties on speeding, stunt driving and hiding or flipping number plates.
“They’ll lose their bike,” Lopez-Cantera said. “Their motorcycle license will be revoked for 10 years, and it’s a mandatory arrest so they will go to jail.”

If there are no delays with the law-changing bill, it could be heard as soon as this December which would place it for a full vote on implimentation next year.