Letter printed
It only took a week from the time the local paper called me until they finally printed my letter, but I must say this is the first time I actually received a phone call from someone about a letter I've had printed.
Through a mutual friend, the State Director of the Hawaii Chapter of Street Bikers United got my number and proceeded to explain his organization's position on my blurb about the noise that comes from "vehicles/motorcycles".
Wow, we talked for almost 52 minutes about how the state doesn't have an approved MSF course for civilians, the corruption and monopoly on motorcycle safety courses by Leeward Community College, and helmet laws.
I must say that I am flattered to get all this undeserved attention- I was just bitching about how the loud mufflers piss me off. The President of the organization even commented to the State Director that I am a motorcycle guy when he went to this blog and saw my picture of me in Waikiki a few posts down. The Director told me he had a rebuttal to my letter to the editor but decided not to send it when he found this out.
I keep reiterating that I am not some looney nut job that is trying to get loud bikes off the street or even enforce helmet laws. I just get pissed off when loud mufflers, mostly from automobiles as addressed in my letter to the editor, disturb me at all hours of the day.
I agree that people should do whatever the hell they want with their vehicles but there has to be a breaking point. There has to be enforcement of noise laws. Police don't like to enforce that law because it is a hassle to pull someone over and stick the meter in the tail pipe then go to court over it and possibly fight the ticket receiver's counter argument about the validity of the calibration of the noise monitoring equipment.
For fuck's sake, pay the $10 to keep the thing calibrated and pull the guy over in the residential district where most of the complaints are lodged. If the police think it's a bullshit charge then I submit to them stop pulling people over for things hanging off the rear view mirror, giving out tickets to wedding receptions with DJ's who don't pull out at 10 p.m., and all the other bullshit things this state has laws for.
Helmets. I could give two rat turds about that. I wear one because I can't get on base without it and, oh, what else was there... oh yeah, it keeps my head from splitting open like a watermelon when some inattentive asshole on a cell phone slams into the back of my bike. This analogy, sadly, is from experience as the bent tail lights on my bike will show. However, I do like to shed all the DoD's required protective clothing when riding around the east side of the island as discussed in a post below this.
Well, to wrap this up, I was invited to the next meeting held on the first Sunday of the month and to also become a member. There are some serious issues involving motorcycle that need to be fought for and that this state is ignoring and neglecting. Some of the other islands don't even have motorcycle safety courses. Anyone who has taken a safety course or is an insurance adjuster knows that the potential for an accident is significantly higher for someone who has not completed a safety course.
Keep it between the ditches, my 2-wheeled comrades.
Through a mutual friend, the State Director of the Hawaii Chapter of Street Bikers United got my number and proceeded to explain his organization's position on my blurb about the noise that comes from "vehicles/motorcycles".
Wow, we talked for almost 52 minutes about how the state doesn't have an approved MSF course for civilians, the corruption and monopoly on motorcycle safety courses by Leeward Community College, and helmet laws.
I must say that I am flattered to get all this undeserved attention- I was just bitching about how the loud mufflers piss me off. The President of the organization even commented to the State Director that I am a motorcycle guy when he went to this blog and saw my picture of me in Waikiki a few posts down. The Director told me he had a rebuttal to my letter to the editor but decided not to send it when he found this out.
I keep reiterating that I am not some looney nut job that is trying to get loud bikes off the street or even enforce helmet laws. I just get pissed off when loud mufflers, mostly from automobiles as addressed in my letter to the editor, disturb me at all hours of the day.
I agree that people should do whatever the hell they want with their vehicles but there has to be a breaking point. There has to be enforcement of noise laws. Police don't like to enforce that law because it is a hassle to pull someone over and stick the meter in the tail pipe then go to court over it and possibly fight the ticket receiver's counter argument about the validity of the calibration of the noise monitoring equipment.
For fuck's sake, pay the $10 to keep the thing calibrated and pull the guy over in the residential district where most of the complaints are lodged. If the police think it's a bullshit charge then I submit to them stop pulling people over for things hanging off the rear view mirror, giving out tickets to wedding receptions with DJ's who don't pull out at 10 p.m., and all the other bullshit things this state has laws for.
Helmets. I could give two rat turds about that. I wear one because I can't get on base without it and, oh, what else was there... oh yeah, it keeps my head from splitting open like a watermelon when some inattentive asshole on a cell phone slams into the back of my bike. This analogy, sadly, is from experience as the bent tail lights on my bike will show. However, I do like to shed all the DoD's required protective clothing when riding around the east side of the island as discussed in a post below this.
Well, to wrap this up, I was invited to the next meeting held on the first Sunday of the month and to also become a member. There are some serious issues involving motorcycle that need to be fought for and that this state is ignoring and neglecting. Some of the other islands don't even have motorcycle safety courses. Anyone who has taken a safety course or is an insurance adjuster knows that the potential for an accident is significantly higher for someone who has not completed a safety course.
Keep it between the ditches, my 2-wheeled comrades.
To the actual point of both the letter you wrote to the editor, and your blog post, I say "THANK YOU".
ReplyDeleteThe muffler noises are obnoxious at best, and I've seriously grown tired of nothing being done about it. Thanks for writing a letter and being "a voice".