COIR August 2010--Keeping You Informed
When not confronted with imminent threat of loss of freedom, one may become complacent in their environment, sometimes so complacent that they are not aware that they may be promoting their own doom. But when the shit hits the fan who is it that yells the loudest?
As a citizen of the United States, Colorado, your county, your city, and the motorcycling world, it is in your power to correct the wrongs happening to you. Long before you’re handed that unfair ticket--and all the headaches that come with it--you have the power to change the course of events and policies that lead to that ticket. If you do not participate in the election process, you really just throw away your chance to have a voice to criticize what is going down. Now is the time to create a government we can all live with. Get involved with those candidates in the upcoming elections that hear your voice. Change what can and should be changed.
One Legislator who is not afraid to stand up for the Constitutional Rights of Coloradoans is Representative Marsha Looper, as she has shown on more than one occasion.
On July 18, 2010, Representative Looper made an impressive appearance at the July Colorado Confederation of Clubs meeting. Not only did she speak about our funding concerns with the Motorcycle Operator Safety Training (MOST) Program, but she talked about motorcyclists getting involved in the election process as well. She explained that motorcyclist should stand up for their rights, as COIR has been doing, and that more motorcyclists should take the same active approach. Even if there is not a “motorcycle” bill on the floor, it is always good to go down to the Capital, make yourself familiar to your Legislative representatives, hat way both you and they can get a feel of what is expected in the future.
Representative Looper is not a person who just follows the other sheep, just as we motorcyclists should not blindly follow where our elected representatives tell us to; we should not let the often narrow, sometimes selfish views of a few direct policy that we will not be happy with.
All this is fine, but seldom leads to results you can see immediately. That is way you should stand up for your rights in a situation where an unjust ticket has been issued. Check out the laws, talk to others that have gotten the same ticket, do a little research, and even hire or consult an attorney, and go to court and fight the charge(s) against you—protect yourself, and force those who use traffic tickets as a tool to control you, and all of us, to defend their position, or even tip their hand.
A very good example of this is the noise ticket party the City of Golden has been having at our expense this summer. It is no secret the city council and police have the hidden goal of keeping motorcyclists out of the city, using a questionable noise ordinance tickets as their weapon of choice. Fighting these tickets is key. The legal grounds may be shaky, and the inconsistencies surrounding the issuance of these tickets invite a challenge. Colorado AIM attorney Wade Eldridge offers a few thoughts on fighting such a ticket on page three of this newspaper. If you get one of these tickets, fight the fight; don’t let the City of Golden run the motorcyclists out of town. The more tickets paid without a fight—because it’s “easier”-- the stronger the city’s commitment to exclude motorcyclist gets.
If you, or any motorcyclists, are ticketed for an ‘infraction’ that is not just, let COIR know as soon as possible so the matter may be looked into and possible actions taken. Any motorcyclists ticketed in Golden, please contact us with all pertinent information so we may follow up on the matter. Contact US Defenders-Colorado State COIR Commander Tiger by e-mail at: dac-dsc@comcast.net.
