Is this the first shot in limiting motorcycle horsepower in Florida? Open Challange to Lopez-Cantera

This is Florida Remember. The first thought that ran through my head when running across this article was the flurry of similiar articles popping up throughout the state last November. Prior to the Passage of HB137!!! Am I paranoid? Possibly. Do I trust the Florida legislature? I'll answer that one when I quit laughing.


Note Lopez-Cantera's (the sponsor of HB137) statement,

    "We have created a new threshhold for excessive speed," said state Rep. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, R-Miami, who drafted the speeding law after he and his wife almost had an accident with sport bikes.


    "Do [the bikers] hate me? Yes, they do."

Is that a chest puffed up with pride I hear jumping off the printed page. How does that coincide with his remarks left here on this site?


    The biking community has my word that I will re-visit the motorcycle tag language this upcoming legislative session. I will personally file legislation to lower the penalties for placement of tags from the $1,000, $2,500, $5,00. it is at now.


    CARLOS LOPEZ-CANTERA

    State Representative

    Florida

    305-442-6877


That can be found here: Helmets, law, ABATE of Florida's President remains delusional Friend or foe?

Open Challenge to Representative Lopez-Cantera

If it is lives you are concerned with saving as opposed to making a name for yourself,

If lives are more important to you than political capital,

If you have the courage to stand up to the majority to protect the minority,

If it is taking a stand that is non-discriminatory and does not involve compromise with those that would sell out the "Biker Community" in a heart beat,

If you truly are concerned about the "killing fields" that pass as Florida's roadways,

Then as you have contacted us before, contact us again, we have a few things we would like to discuss, such as:

Meaningful (note the word) Stiffer Penalties
Distracted drivers
Motorcycle training programs that have no provable value.
Putting Drivers Education back into the schools
To name a few.

Are you for real Representative?  Or in your battle against "speeding sportbikers" have you inadvertently taken the focus off the real threats to lives and in doing so put more lives at risk?

There is more than one Motorcycle Rights Organization in Florida, one plays,  the other doesn't!

You have our e-mail, URL and phone number we humbly await hearing from you. Silence will be considered and answer.  Just as the silence we encountered over the optiion we presented you aide for decriminalizing vertical license tags.

Advocate for "Real" safety Cantera? Or just another politician?

    "You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor."  -Aristotle

Lopez-Cantera's email.
The article referred to:
Florida law targets sport bike riders who create havoc on the highway

By Sallie James |South Florida Sun-Sentinel

    9:47 AM EST, November 21, 2008

 They weave through traffic on South Florida's highways sometimes at speeds approaching 180 mph, sleek, aerodynamic motorcycles that sometimes pop wheelies as they vanish into the distance with a high-pitched whine.

Connie and James Chesney know first hand about the danger posed by some riders of these sport bikes.

While driving north on Interstate 95 after a concert last May, several of the bikes traveling in a fast-moving pack slammed into the Singer Island couple's sedan. The impact sent their 2007 Toyota spinning near Commercial Boulevard.

"We hit the concrete barrier and then we got hit by the second bike. It was one right after another, bam, bam, bam, like bombs going off. Never in my life have I experienced anything so horrifying," Connie Chesney said.
When it was over, a 31-year-old rider was dead and another critically injured.

Such tragedies have clouded the reputation of riders of these sport bikes, which some have nicknamed "crotch rockets." The accidents also led to a state law that took effect Oct. 1 levying fines of $1,000 and up for motorcyclists and drivers caught going 50 mph over the speed limit.

"We have created a new threshhold for excessive speed," said state Rep. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, R-Miami, who drafted the speeding law after he and his wife almost had an accident with sport bikes.

"Do [the bikers] hate me? Yes, they do."

The colorful Kawasakis, Suzukis, Hondas and Yamahas are the choice of the next generation of bikers. The average quality sport bike starts around $8,000 and goes up to about $13,000 for top-of-the-line models.

But their speed carries risks that can be deadly.

Just this morning, a motorcyclist on a sport bike traveling at a high rate of speed on Interstate 595 was killed.

The Florida Highway Patrol says Matthew David Peterman, 21, of Sunrise, slammed into the rear of a dump truck with such force that his bike split in two.

A review of five years of motorcycle fatalities in Broward and Palm Beach counties shows a steady increase in deaths.

Although a breakdown of the type of bike involved in each crash was not available from the state, police say the increasing popularity of sport bikes, coupled with young, inexperienced riders, is behind the rise.

"They think they are invincible, that they can do this and get away with it," said Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Mark Wysocky. Riders can't navigate turns or take evasive action if they are going too fast, he said.

"It's like a street-legal race bike," said Tony Montenegro, general sales manager for Motorsports of Delray Beach. "They have production sport bikes that out of the box can approach 200 mph. It's not just the price. It's a sporting bike and it attracts a much younger clientele."

Such concerns have spurred some sport bike riders to organize clubs to improve their image and rein in riders.
Members wear colors and ride in packs like other motorcycle clubs, but they put an emphasis on safety.

"These young guys get on a bike and all they know how to do is turn on the bike and hit the throttle," said Ed "Big Ed" Youssef, 34, national president of the Outsiders Motorcycle Club and founder of the South Florida Sportbike Council.

To date, about 15 sport bike clubs from Port St. Lucie to Homestead have organized.

"They've toned it down a lot on the highways here," said Jim "Beacon" McConnell, president of the Keltics MC, and a member of the South Florida Presidents Council, an umbrella group for traditional motorcycle clubs and organizations that has been working with the sport bike riders for about two years. "But there's still a lot of kids who come of the box doing 180 mph."

Sport bike club members say it's usually independent riders whose weaving through traffic and wheelie-popping tarnish their image.

"It's two or three that can give us a bad rap," said Marlon "Cannon" Pass, president of the West Palm Beach-based One Fist Ryderz MC.

But motorists who have felt assaulted in traffic by the speeding bikes aren't so sure.

"I don't have anything against any of these motorcycles, but they don't need to be on the road

Miami resident Jovani "Kuku" Fiallo, 28, vice president of the Outsiders, said he used to be a speed demon himself when he first got his bike. But joining the club and seeing several friends die changed his view.

"The name of the game when you first get a sport bike is speed," Kuku said. "Now with that comes seven different funerals of sport bike riders."

Sallie James can be reached at Sjames@sun-sentinel.com or 954-572-2019. endangering my life," said James Chesney, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle rider whose Toyota was totaled in the crash with sport bikes.

"Some of these motorcycles have 100 horsepower and are designed to go 160 mph, and trust me, these people do it," Chesney said.Add to Technorati Favorites