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Stunting on scooters, ATVs now illegal in Boston
By adamg on Wed, 09/02/2015 - 2:00pm
The City Council today unanimously proposed an ordinance that lets police fine any scooter or ATV riders they see riding on one wheel, standing on the seats or doing other stunts on city streets.
The measure, which also bans riding the vehicles altogether on private land without owner permission, would let police confiscate multiple scooters and ATVs stored on private property that is not part of a licensed garage - or vehicles from riders who cannot prove they've registered them with the state.
City Councilor Josh Zakim (Beacon Hill, Back Bay, Fenway, Mission Hill) praised Mayor Walsh for proposing the ordinance. He said just last night, he was at a neighborhood meeting in the Back Bay when he looked out to see "three young men doing stunts down Newbury Street, harassing other drivers."
At-large councilor Michael Flaherty said that in addition to being a danger to pedestrians and other motorists, the vehicles are proving increasingly popular for criminals who use them to flee a scene.
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Comments
riding the vehicles on private land without owner permission
Isn't that called "trespassing" and already illegal?
Private land as open space
In more rural areas, people regularly snowmobile, hike, hunt, etc., on private land, unless it is actually posted as "no hunting" or "no trespassing" or "no snowmobiles." Large undeveloped areas of land are considered reasonable places for recreation, walking, hunting, etc.. So, no, it isn't automatically considered trespassing.
but do we have any such big private open spaces in Boston?
other than maybe Forest Hills and adjoining cemeteries? I wouldn't call Allandale Farm "undeveloped" since it is a working farm.
Open spaces
I'm not sure where mopeds and ATVs use private land in Boston. Probably some former industrial spaces?
Not quite
Not quite, at least not in Massachusetts. While I believe it's technically true that you can't be prosecuted for going onto unposted land, you do have to remove yourself immediately when told to do so, and you can't return. Any public access to private land is always at the invitation of the landowner, and in practice, people do not just invite themselves "regularly" onto public land. Instead, communities of users (such as hikers, snowmobilers, mountain bikers) negotiate access with private landowners. In return they do trail maintenance, publish the rules for use of the land, and self-police to make sure that usage is according to the landowners' wishes. For example, snowmobile clubs manage access to the trail networks in Massachusetts -- you can't just bring your sled to a trailhead, you need a pass from a local club or network of clubs.
Nice law? Think the problem
Nice law? Think the problem people will obey it? Will BPD bother to enforce it?
So are guns but we all know
So are guns but we all know how many shootings there has been
Sweet, this will make the roads safer for everyone!
Now when are we going to get around to banning cell phones when driving?
In other news...
Doug Bennett is running for sheriff again.
http://www.dougiebennett.com
You know what
I might actually vote for him, out of pity.
Sweet
More artisanal campaign signs all over the city!
It's nice that it's now officially illegal
...but you'll forgive me if I'm the sliiiiightest bit skeptical that this will be enforced anywhere, ever, for any reason. In the districts where this is a real problem (B3 and E13 leap to mind, though there are certainly others), flagrant traffic violations happen go unchallenged, in front of the actual police station. Mopeds go tearing down Washington Street at 50MPH, or riding on the sidewalk, literally at the front door of the police station, and nothing happens. Add in BPD's official policy of not chasing mopeds, and I'm having a hard time thinking this is going to change anything.
Agreed.
It's a step forward but I'd love to hear some concrete steps that could be taken to enforce this. Twice now in less than a week I've had very unpleasant, dangerous encounters with kids showboating on mopeds with no license plates--there is zero recourse. Washington Street, Talbot, Blue Hill Ave...it just seems as if could be some short, sharp police stings on this kind of activity.
Bicycles as getaway vehicles too
I know this has been said before.... but the effort put toward enforcement of ATV/moped violations, bicycle violations and car violations should be in proportion to the danger to other people on the road, not in proportion to the likelihood that the driver is a getaway-driver-criminal-type. Otherwise there might be kind of a class bias going on here.
Agreed but
This isn't like a broken taillight thing. The behavior that a lot of us have been seeing this summer is so egregious that it absolutely warrants a stop in itself. Would I be surprised if some of the stops lead to arrests for other issues, especially given the number of stolen scooters I've heard about recently? No. But frankly I don't care much whether these are straight-A students or gangbangers in the making--I don't want them taking over the streets anymore or injuring or killing anyone.
Really?
Are you saying we should not enforce laws that are only broken by a specific subset of the population?
Any idea if an illegal atv
Any idea if an illegal atv/moped has actually injured a pedestrian or motorist?
They have knocked people down
They have knocked people down and crashed into stopped or parked cars. Fled the scene.
Logical, redundant and unconstitutional?
This law seems to be all 3 at once
Logical. Stupid and dangerous- should be illegal.
Redundant- reckless driving and driving to Endanger are already illegal.
Unconstitutional? Confiscation of parked bikes seems unconstitutional. Though I can't imagine anyone bringing the case.
I guess I'm glad our council actually did ' something', even if it is unconstitutional and redundant.
BIKELIFE
I think this some bs . We just tryna ride , bikes up guns down !!!! #bikesbringbonds . Can we atleast get space to ride !!!!!!!! #BOSTONBIKELIFE
Where?
Honestly, I think it'd be great if there were someplace for kids to ride the way kids in rural NH can, but right now it just feels like mayhem to have kids riding and stunting like idiots on busy city streets. Seriously--I almost got clipped in a crosswalk last week by two jerks on mopeds and in really tired of having to pull over to avoid guys popping wheelies on their atv's or speeding the wrong way up busy streets.The bad behavior has made pretty much everyone in boston hate these guys. If you love it, get creative and find a way to make it safe and legal.
Yes
Because shootings are down this summer.