New Florida Laws

[warakama]

As of October 1st you must keep both wheels on the ground and your license tag/plate must be horizontally attached and not able to rotate. 1st offense for either is a $1,000.00 fine 2nd offense is $2,500 and a one year driver license suspension a 3rd offense is $5,000.00 fine a 10 year suspension and up to 5 years in prision (3 degree felony)!!!

[Rich]

Sounds great to me.

[aaaaaa]

So long as I don't need a seatbelt.
robert

[dancogan]

As of October 1st you must keep both wheels on the ground and your license tag/plate must be horizontally attached and not able to rotate. 1st offense for either is a $1,000.00 fine 2nd offense is $2,500 and a one year driver license suspension a 3rd offense is $5,000.00 fine a 10 year suspension and up to 5 years in prision (3 degree felony)!!!
Sounds like BS to me. What's the penalty for reckless driving of an automobile? That puts more people at risk than doing a wheelie on a mc.

[ka5ysy]

Sounds like BS to me. What's the penalty for reckless driving of an automobile? That puts more people at risk than doing a wheelie on a mc.

Your error here is trying to apply logic to a political situation. Oxymoron!

[alien_hitchhiker]

These laws are a predictable consequence of bikers going out of their way to look and sound like one percenter enemies of society.

The look part starts with no helmet & a sleeveless shirt and the sound part is loud pipes. I understand that for most riders the whole outlaw thing is just a fashion statement, but it is what it is.

Look & sound like an enemy of society and society will treat you accordingly with attempts at repression and control.

If you want to ride it like you stole it follow these rules:
- Real outlaws keep a low profile.
- Quiet pipes are stealthy.
- ATGATT (or even semi ATGATT) makes you look responsible.
- It's all about perception.

[Vagabird]

These laws are a predictable consequence of bikers going out of their way to look and sound like one percenter enemies of society.

The look part starts with no helmet & a sleeveless shirt and the sound part is loud pipes. I understand that for most riders the whole outlaw thing is just a fashion statement, but it is what it is.

Look & sound like an enemy of society and society will treat you accordingly with attempts at repression and control.

If you want to ride it like you stole it follow these rules:
- Real outlaws keep a low profile.
- Quiet pipes are stealthy.
- ATGATT (or even semi ATGATT) makes you look responsible.
- It's all about perception.

:thumb

[PMonk]

I don't see a problem with the law except, are equitable penalties in place for someone driving a car-truck or whatever in the same manner.

All states should enforce existing noise standards. If the state doesn't have noise standards they should adopt and enforce them.

I have owned Harley's with poked out mufflers and one set of sweet sounding fishtail muffs and enjoyed the sound of them, but they were nowhere like the
straight open pipes you hear too often today.

I would be in favor of outlawing any aftermarket exhausts for cars, trucks, motorcycles, mopeds and horses that exceed the oem db specs.

[amiles]

Good laws methinks. I believe that you folks are mis-identifying the target group. Wheelies and licence plates mounted parallel to the roadway under the fender are more the sport bikers forte than those riding cruisers.

[riderR1150GSAdv]

Excellent laws IMHO. Most people shouldn't own a motorized vehicle let alone be in "control" of it.
Just come down here for a while and you will understand.

[Rich]

Now we need a national helmet law.




















:hide

[GrafikFeat]

Now we need a national helmet law.

Nah... Show them how safe you are by trailering your bike to work on "Ride to Work Day". :brow

[TR250Tom]

Good laws methinks. I believe that you folks are mis-identifying the target group. Wheelies and licence plates mounted parallel to the roadway under the fender are more the sport bikers forte than those riding cruisers.

I think the license plate thing is for Harleys with the plate mounted vertically, no?

[john1691]

I see the license plate issue with Hyabusa's as well as chopper wannabe's, (HD, Victory, actual customs). I agree with earlier posts, there seem to be enough laws on the books, just enforce them. Wreckless driving is wreckless driving, you know it when you see it. Noise is noise, whether from a crotch rocket, cruiser, muscle car, tuner or tractor trailer. Just enforce what is already on the books!

The problem is that politicians have to try and "earn" their re-election somehow, so whatever the latest big complaint is, they hold hearings, talk to the media, then pass a new law aimed at "fixing" that complaint. Never mind the 10 fixes that were already there, and just needed to be enforced/implemented. Now they feel like they did something, and can point to it come election time. But I'm now making this political, and heading for trouble. Sorry about that...........:brow

[bobknowlton]

It's too bad noisy pipes annoy so many people, because they also notify adjacent drivers that you're in the lane they're about to pull over into. Since I left Harleys for BMWs a year ago, I've had more close calls that way than I had in the previous ten. My R1150RT is nice and quiet until I start screaming at the driver who's about to kill me.

[kantuckid]

John has it right on the "why" of the law mentioned. We were sitting at a picnic table last week on the last day of warm weather here in KY and were in view of a "$500 fine for littering" sign and wife commented to the sign" I wonder how many have gotten the fine". Well obviously poorly/hard to enforce and often abused problem since we have hundreds of immigrants out picking up the litter,mowing, etc., on these same KY roads-I'll ad, that they are all hired politically through contracts.
As a side note,while riding many k in Mexico last winter I mused to myself that, isn't it ironic that we hire them to pick up after us while their trash all stays on the ground!I guess they need some "don't litter" signs too, huh?
I got a loud pipes ticket in 1966 while riding my new stock Triumph TR6 bike with OEM stock mufflers at a slow speed. I asked the cop what I could do to be legal and he said "we are getting some complaints about loud pipes on bikes", so go figure. It may well be that many of the politicians ride Harleys?

[GrafikFeat]

We were sitting at a picnic table last week on the last day of warm weather here in KY and were in view of a "$500 fine for littering" sign and wife commented to the sign" I wonder how many have gotten the fine".

Those are more of a deterrent than anything else. A "gentle reminder" to be a good citizen and don't s__t where you eat, so to speak. :nono

Unfortunately, most folks choose the latter. :brow

[john1691]

It used to be that we "police'd" ourselves. If my grandfather saw someone throw trash on the ground, he'd point it out to them, they'd feel embarrased, but would pick it up. If your neighbor's kid was using foul language, you'd tell them to knock it off, and they would. We used to have this feeling called "Shame" that caused people to do the right things, at least when someone else was watching. Now it's anything goes. We re-elect polititians who have been convicted of crimes while in office (both parties, not a political fight), we pay pro athletes millions so they can act like idiots, and claim they are not role models. We have absolved everyone of personal responcibility, and then wonder why society has "gone to hell in a hand bag". If people weren't so lazy, we wouldn't need fines for litering, if they weren't crude, we wouldn't have obsenity laws, if riders weren't obnoxiously loud, there wouldn't be a noise ordenance. How 'bout we start teaching our kids to act like we would have if we knew grandma was watching, and a bunch of societies problems would go away.

Wait, this was about new laws, wasn't it..............................

[xp8103]

These laws are a predictable consequence of bikers going out of their way to look and sound like one percenter enemies of society.

The look part starts with no helmet & a sleeveless shirt and the sound part is loud pipes. I understand that for most riders the whole outlaw thing is just a fashion statement, but it is what it is.

Look & sound like an enemy of society and society will treat you accordingly with attempts at repression and control.

If you want to ride it like you stole it follow these rules:
- Real outlaws keep a low profile.
- Quiet pipes are stealthy.
- ATGATT (or even semi ATGATT) makes you look responsible.
- It's all about perception.

:thumb

No kidding!

[SheRidesABeemer]

Sounds like BS to me. What's the penalty for reckless driving of an automobile? That puts more people at risk than doing a wheelie on a mc.

Dan, you will need to limit your wheelies to Michigan :violin

[Mika]

In my misspent muscle car street racing days of my youth the police kinda looked the other way when we raced around the Loop in downtown St. Paul Minnisnowta. That is until you pulled the front wheels off the ground. Then they impounded your car.

Looks like some snowbirds were elected to the FL state legislature.

[aaaaaa]

It's all about choice. We can chose what we wear and sound like. That's freedom. When anyone can't chose it's a loss to all. Remember Easy Rider? Oh those pesky people who chose not to be like us. Remember the shotgun in the pickup truck? Yep. We shouldn't tolerate those who chose freedom. We must be "responsible".
robert

[will3hawks]

As for the business of the license plates, I must admit that I don't see what the big deal is, as the police have to have eyesight that is good enough to read the plates however they are mounted. Regarding the "Bonzos" that are prone to wheelies on the highway, there is a word in the dictionary for them (I believe that word is STUPID!). That having been said, we have a government which is hyper-reactionary and many in this country want to turn it into a nannystate where the feminist power elite will decide what is good for us and attempt to save us from ourselves.

[r11rs94]

[QUOTE=Rich;387330]Now we need a national helmet law.



:violin NO WE DO NOT.

[xp8103]

As for the business of the license plates, I must admit that I don't see what the big deal is, as the police have to have eyesight that is good enough to read the plates however they are mounted. Regarding the "Bonzos" that are prone to wheelies on the highway, there is a word in the dictionary for them (I believe that word is STUPID!). That having been said, we have a government which is hyper-reactionary and many in this country want to turn it into a nannystate where the feminist power elite will decide what is good for us and attempt to save us from ourselves.

ACtually, most patrol cars now are outfitted with video cameras that regularly record license plates and there is technology now that can "find" a license place and run it automaticlly now. To me it makes absolutely NO sense to have a license place screwed up under the rear fender, length-wise where it can't be seen.

[Rich]

[QUOTE=Rich;387330]Now we need a national helmet law.



:violin NO WE DO NOT.


Just saying, it wouldn't bother me one bit. :nod

[35634]

Last time I dumped my bike BOTH wheels were off the ground AND the license plate
was vertical! No fine in Ohio, but my HMO charged me a couple thousand for the
hardware in my shoulder. And the damn deer got off scott free!

[r1150gsadvrider]

Sounds like BS to me. What's the penalty for reckless driving of an automobile? That puts more people at risk than doing a wheelie on a mc.


Are you serious???

[rocketman]

Actually it has to do with the fact that they sell devices that allow the rider to flip the plate up so it can't be read when they are stunting and an officer happens to see them. Same problem in VA other states. Its a shame that they have to target some forms of stupid behavior but such laws help spell out offenses and impose large fines for specifically targeted behavior, whether it will work :dunno.

I've also seen a number of sports bikes with tags mounted vertically between the rear wheel and frame that makes it almost impossible to see in day light and at night its not lit so its essentially completely hidden and it wouldn't surprise me if some shops will do the mod for you even knowing its illegal.

RM

[DavidBMWRT]

As of October 1st you must keep both wheels on the ground and your license tag/plate must be horizontally attached and not able to rotate. 1st offense for either is a $1,000.00 fine 2nd offense is $2,500 and a one year driver license suspension a 3rd offense is $5,000.00 fine a 10 year suspension and up to 5 years in prision (3 degree felony)!!!

Silly.....Stupid

No wonder our jails are full........imagine going to jail for doing a wheelie

[GrafikFeat]

Silly.....Stupid

No wonder our jails are full........imagine going to jail for doing a wheelie

...yeah... Imagine that.

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZyNdcl4VFMU&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZyNdcl4VFMU&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

Then imagine that w/ traffic...

My sig says it all...

[niobium]

Wow, they might have gotten hurt worse in traffic...also might have scratched some paint on the cars that ran them over...of course, in Miami, I think the soccer-mom going 90mph while talking on the phone and applying her makeup in the mirror of her 3.5 ton Ford Expedition would have hardly noticed the bump.

The law is B.S! The penalties for anyone driving any vehicle recklessly or endangering another person should be the same. Come down here and ride to work with me. When riding in Miami-Dade County, anytime you see a Mitsubishi Eclipse or an older Honda Civic (we call them "tuner cars" down here), you best get the hell out of the way. I have a coworker who owns a Viper and brags about seeing 180mph on the road. IMHO, all of these guys should be subject to the same penalties when caught.

And, no, we don't need a national helmet law, let Darwin do his job.

[dancogan]

Are you serious???

yup.

[GrafikFeat]

The law is B.S! The penalties for anyone driving any vehicle recklessly or endangering another person should be the same.

Seems to me they are.

You ride your bike like an Ahole you deserve what you get.
In this case... Run Over.


Look here (http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=Ch0316/titl0316.htm&StatuteYear=2008&Title=-%3E2008-%3EChapter%20316) for yourself...

The 2008 Florida Statutes

Title XXIII
MOTOR VEHICLES

Chapter 316
STATE UNIFORM TRAFFIC CONTROL

316.192 Reckless driving.--

(1)(a) Any person who drives any vehicle in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property is guilty of reckless driving.

(b) Fleeing a law enforcement officer in a motor vehicle is reckless driving per se.

(2) Except as provided in subsection (3), any person convicted of reckless driving shall be punished:

(a) Upon a first conviction, by imprisonment for a period of not more than 90 days or by fine of not less than $25 nor more than $500, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

(b) On a second or subsequent conviction, by imprisonment for not more than 6 months or by a fine of not less than $50 nor more than $1,000, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

(3) Any person:

(a) Who is in violation of subsection (1);

(b) Who operates a vehicle; and

(c) Who, by reason of such operation, causes:

1. Damage to the property or person of another commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

2. Serious bodily injury to another commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. The term "serious bodily injury" means an injury to another person, which consists of a physical condition that creates a substantial risk of death, serious personal disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ.

[dancogan]

As of October 1st you must keep both wheels on the ground and your license tag/plate must be horizontally attached and not able to rotate. 1st offense for either is a $1,000.00 fine 2nd offense is $2,500 and a one year driver license suspension a 3rd offense is $5,000.00 fine a 10 year suspension and up to 5 years in prision (3 degree felony)!!!

Are these fines just for motorcyclists? If so, then it's higher than the fines quoted by GrafikFeat, above.

[hlothery]

I'm all for lifting wheels at Daytona. The 24 hours of Daytona, that is. I have several old photos of Porsches coming around the infield turns with the inside front wheel showing air. Awesome!

[JanMiller]

Excellent laws IMHO. Most people shouldn't own a motorized vehicle let alone be in "control" of it.
Just come down here for a while and you will understand.

Was down there a few months ago, impressed by the blue/grey hairs driving 'by touch'...

[BeemerMike]

I'm all for lifting wheels at Daytona. The 24 hours of Daytona, that is. I have several old photos of Porsches coming around the infield turns with the inside front wheel showing air. Awesome!

See Hugh . . . that's what you miss when you drive one of those "new fangled" Porsches (with the power steering, and power brakes, and ABS, and traction control, and stability control, and cup holders, and air conditioning) instead of a 1972 911, with power NOTHING (well, the windows are power) and the same size tires on the back as on the front. OK, my year does have the dry sump tank in front of the right rear tire to move a LITTLE bit of weight forward, but that's it. ;)

[hlothery]

See Hugh . . . that's what you miss when you drive one of those "new fangled" Porsches (with the power steering, and power brakes, and ABS, and traction control, and stability control, and cup holders, and air conditioning) instead of a 1972 911, with power NOTHING (well, the windows are power) and the same size tires on the back as on the front. OK, my year does have the dry sump tank in front of the right rear tire to move a LITTLE bit of weight forward, but that's it. ;)

There you go.........now you've broadcast to the whole world my dirty little secret.


MY PORSCHE HAS CUP HOLDERS..........OK?:cry :blush

I do miss the 935 at Daytona, though:D

[DavidBMWRT]

There is no question some people need "Big Brother" protection. I do not. I consider it an infringement.

[Bob1100RTC]

If we're going to do the national helmet law thing could we make it manditory below 40 degrees only cause thats mainly when I wear mine. I would like a law prohibiting burping in public thrown in with that because I find it obnoxious. Thanks.