GA Motorcycle Only Roadblocks

[Jim]

This truly sucks! Think about this.....big storm over AZ law wanting to stop and check immigration status...but they can stop anyone riding a bike and go thru all this crap.
Hand over your papers please!!!!!

Is anyone old enough to remember when this was a free country??

Jim
L.A. Radical!

PRESS RELEASE FOR

IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION

As many of you know, the State of Georgia received $70,000.00 from the NSTB for Motorcycle ONLY

Safety Check Points. They will stop all Motorcycles at these Check Points.

We were informed by unnamed sources that the Check Points would start in early March to coincide

with The Daytona Bike Week Event. Most points of entry to Florida will be involved.

We are anticipating them to start March 3rd in order to take advantage of the additional flow of

Motorcycle traffic thru our State.

I was told that the officers conducting the safety check points have been trained in what to check for so

be sure you, you paper work and your bike are in order.

We understand that this is just a way to increase revenues so do all you can to avoid adding to the state

funds.

There are many who Trailer into Georgia and ride into Florida from here. You may wish to change your

plans and trailer on thru to Florida

 

 

State Director

ABATE GA

Dan Forrest

 

 BLITZ
Sergeant at Arms
U. S. Military Vets M/C
Osceola County - FL8

[2WheelerFred]

The article would have been better had he cited the actual government agency responsible for motorcycle only checkpoints which is the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) I wrote my congress man Jo Bonner and ask that he get NHTSA to back off funding motorcycle only checkpoints and dedicate those dollars to funding more rider and driver education type initiives. I'll post the response later on after I up load the files. Essentialy it is a response from NHTSA that they've already given 30 million dollars to the states to rider ed and motorcycle awareness. I wonder how many troopers will be checking tires of stoppped motorcycles?

 http://www.nhtsa.gov/Safety/Motorcycles

Letters from Bonner & NHTSA
http://www.dixiewings.org/page.asp?tab=17&category=71&page=74

[kriscook]

Thanks for helping us keep an eye on this situation, Fred!  Americans wouldn't stand for it it they were stopping just Mustangs to make sure they were all safe.  So why is it ok for motorcycles?  So frustrating. 

[Jim]

http://www.abatega.org/urgent.htm#MOC

Sad times! Important abate info here.

[kriscook]

Great post, Jim.  Do we know for sure that the motorcycle-only checkpoint program will not come to Alabama? 

[2WheelerFred]

I'll take that one Kris, it's like any other Grant program the state has to apply for the monies from the FEDs considering congress just passed a 61 billion spending cut budget, perhaps this will be one of the programs cut. 

[kriscook]

Geoff sent this to me:

From: statepr@abateflorida.com
To: statepr@abateflorida.com
Subject: PRESS RELEASE: Motorcycle Checkpoints in Georgia During Daytona Bike Week
Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2011 19:04:01 -0500

Press Release                                                       FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

 

Contact:
David “Lockdown” Rich
Public Relations Trustee, ABATE of Florida, Inc.

386.490.4821   FAX: 396.490.4482
statepr@abateflorida.com
www.ABATEFlorida.com

 

 

Motorcycle Checkpoints in Georgia During Daytona Bike Week

 

Deland, FL, February 17, 2011 – JUST IN FROM THE NATIONAL COALITION OF MOTORCYCLISTS (NCOM) & A.B.A.T.E. OF GEORGIA:

-----------------------------------------------------------

The state of Georgia has received a $70,000 federal grant to launch motorcycle-only checkpoints in early March, just as Daytona Bike Week is getting underway. For most travelers, their route will take them through Georgia and likely into awaiting roadblocks to check for such things as proper license and current registration, insurance, DOT-approved helmets, EPA-approved mufflers, working horn and lights, etc, etc.

 

“We were informed by unnamed sources that the Check Points would start in early March to coincide with the Daytona Bike Week event,” said Dan Forrest, State Director of ABATE of Georgia. “Most points of entry to Florida will be involved, so anyone traveling through Georgia to Daytona might want to rethink their route.”

 

The US Defenders have issued a Call To Action regarding the proliferation of these motorcycle-only roadblocks being funded by NHTSA grants, and are urging the motorcycle community to voice their opposition to these so-called “Safety Checks” by contacting NHTSA, the U.S. DOT and most importantly by asking your own federal legislators to support H.R. 1498 by Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) to retain a ban on NHTSA's ability to lobby State Legislators using our federal dollars through the "Motorcycle Law Enforcement Demonstration" grant program (DTNH22-10-R-00386).

 

“These roadblocks or checkpoints for motorcycles ONLY are being conducted illegally and are discriminatory to say the least,” says Escondido Paul, National Lt. Commander of the US Defenders. “This is one more piece of evidence of the constant profiling attempts targeting our community at large.”

-----------------------------------------------------------

 

ABATE of Florida, Inc. stands with NCOM and A.B.A.T.E. of Georgia in this highly discriminatory action.  James “Doc” Reichenbach, II, the President of ABATE of Florida, Inc. and the Chairman of the Board, NCOM, stated upon hearing of these planned checkpoints; “We are totally against this taxpayer-funded profiling of motorcyclists on both the state & federal levels.  The fact that they have decided to implement this potentially unconstitutional action against motorcyclists at the same time they travel through Georgia en route to the well-publicized Daytona Bike Week, simply shows that the government’s true motives are not safety, but the collection of money from a profiled segment of citizens.”

 

We ask that all contact their elected Representatives and Senators in Washington, D.C. and let them know that you are against this discriminatory action against motorcyclists.

 

###

 

 

For a print copy of this release, click here: http://www.abateflorida.com/PR-docs/pressreleases/GA_Motorcycle_Checkpoints_Bikeweek2011.pdf

 

 

 

Dave "Lockdown" Rich

State Public Relations Trustee &

State Webmaster, ABATE of Florida, Inc.

(386) 490-4821     (386) 490-4482 fax

http://www.abateflorida.com/images/emailtag.jpg

 

[kriscook]

Here's some news out of New York, gleaned from the AIM/NCOM news service:


MOTORCYCLISTS AWAIT ROADBLOCK RULING

Motorcycle riders across the country are anxiously awaiting a decision from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York which they hope will declare New York’s “motorcycle only” roadblocks to be unconstitutional. The so-called “safety checkpoints”, which target well-known motorcycle events, force motorcyclists to leave the roadway, regardless of any wrongdoing, and have their persons and property inspected for equipment violations, proper paperwork, DUI and stolen VIN numbers. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) is now providing Federal funding for law enforcement to conduct such motorcycle-only checkpoints nationwide despite objections raised by members of Congress and legal challenges from the biker community. The New York lawsuit is the first to challenge the constitutionality of motorcycle checkpoints. The plaintiffs are being represented by Proner & Proner, led by N.Y. Aid to Injured Motorcyclists (A.I.M.) Attorney Mitch Proner, a motorcycle-riding lawyer who has a long history of doing “pro bono” (free) legal work to protect the rights of motorcyclists. The Proner law firm commenced the lawsuit on behalf of four motorcyclists who were detained at two separate checkpoints, as well as representing the interests of ABATE of New York and the National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM). The checkpoints in question are funded by a grant from the New York Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee and the troopers who work them are paid overtime. Although the stated purpose of the checkpoints is to promote safety, the majority of the more than a thousand tickets which were issued during the first year of the checkpoints had nothing to do with safety and instead focused on non-safety violations such as loud pipes. The written guidelines for the checkpoints specifically state that one of the purposes of the checkpoints is to look for stolen and forged VINs and the police readily admit that they often have undercover members of their gang and auto theft units working the checkpoints looking for signs of criminal activity. According to Proner, the Supreme Court of the United States has repeatedly made it clear that any roadway checkpoint whose primary purpose is general crime control constitutes an unreasonable search and seizure under the Fourth Amendment and is presumptively unconstitutional. Notwithstanding that fact, the progress reports which the police prepared on the checkpoints specifically state that the grant funds are used “for overtime for intelligence gathering and the subsequent criminal and traffic enforcement.” The police admit that the checkpoints, which focus only on equipment violations and forged and stolen VINs, do not address any of the major causes of motorcycle accidents such as reckless driving, driver inattentiveness and alcohol impairment. The case, Wagner et al. v. The County of Schenectady, et al. could wind up in the U.S. Supreme Court. The future of motorcyclists’ rights hangs in the balance.

The AIM/NCOM e-News now reaches nearly a million concerned motorcyclists every month, bringing current and accurate information directly to your in-box to keep you updated on important issues and current events.