UK:Ban motorcycles over 600cc says road safety group

(In this corner, in blue trunks, is the $9599, 402-pound, 107.7-hp, 159-mph Yamaha. In the red corner, at $9599, 384 pounds, 104.7 hp and 156 mph, is the Honda. They’re equal in the price fight, with a few horses advantage going to the Yama-bomber, but Honda has a slight edge in power-to-weight ratio, thanks to its 18-pound lighter weight. Guess this blows the story below all to hell)

Ban motorcycles over 600cc says road safety group By Steve Farrell

27 February 2008 15:50

Motorcycles over 600cc should be banned, MPs have been told.

Stephen Plowden, of influential road safety group the Slower Speeds Initiative, said the move was needed to reduce emissions.

In a letter to the Commons Transport Committee, seen by MCN, Plowden wrote: “The obvious conclusion, although not one drawn by the Government, is that the use of motorcycles with an engine size over 600cc should be prohibited, or at least severely discouraged. Who needs such a powerful machine and in what circumstances?”

Wouldn't it be nice if people who want to make laws restricting other people that they had at least some idea of what they were talking about?Add to Technorati Favorites

KILL One Biker Seriously Injure two-one year suspeneded sentence

"justice in America???"
Driver charged in biker’s death given suspended sentence

Boston Herald, United States - WAREHAM - A former driving instructor has been spared prison time after pleading no contest to charges in a traffic accident that killed an off-duty New Bedford firefighter.

A judge Tuesday gave 74-year-old John Hanrahan of Weymouth a one-year suspended sentence and revoked his driver’s license for life.

Prosecutors charged Hanrahan with motor vehicle homicide after he turned his car into the path off three motorcyclists in Raynham last March. Thirty-four-year-old Brian Mello was killed and the two other bikers were seriously injured.

Family and friends of the victim packed Wareham District Court for the hearing and many expressed disappointment with the sentence.

Judge Rosemay Minehan also ordered Hanrahan to perform 1,500 hours of community service and said she hoped he would talk to teenagers about safe driving.

SHE HOPES HANRAHAN WOULD TALK TO TEENAGERS ABOUT SAFE DRIVING? HOPES? AIN'T SHE A JUDGE? APPARENTLY NOT!Add to Technorati Favorites

Georgia BIker Shot-Man claims self defense

Police: Dad Shoots, Kills Biker Following Daughters Home

POSTED: 9:55 am EST February 27, 2008 UPDATED: 10:47 am EST February 27, 2008

BOGART, Ga. -- A man is facing a murder charge after authorities say he shot and killed a motorcyclist who followed his daughters home from a department store.

Richard Harold Gear, 45, claimed he was acting in self-defense when he shot Bryan Joseph Mough around 6:45 p.m. Monday as Mough drove his motorcycle past Gear's house, Oconee County Sheriff Scott Berry said.

The daughters, ages 17 and 19, had called their father on a cell phone to tell him they were being followed, Berry said. As they arrived home, Gear was waiting at the end of his driveway with a pistol, Berry said.

Mough, 21, drove past the house, turned around and made another pass. Gear fired his .40-caliber semiautomatic gun two or three times, hitting Mough once in the back, Berry said.

He was taken to Athens Regional Hospital where he was declared dead.

Gear called 911 after the shooting, as did neighbors, and sheriff's deputies arrested Gear on a murder charge, Berry said.

"He made an unspecified claim of self-defense," Berry said.

Gear's daughters and Mough apparently left the parking lot of a Target in nearby Athens around the same time Monday evening, Berry said. Tempers flared as the drivers headed west toward Bogart.

Gear's daughters told investigators Mough cut them off, they made obscene gestures at him and Mough ran into their car at one point, Sheriff Berry said.

"There is evidence of a collision between Mough's motorcycle and the vehicle operated by Gear's daughters," Berry said, adding authorities do not yet know who initiated contact.

"We've got questions about how it happened," he said.

Investigators went to Target for witnesses and looked at surveillance videos but found nothing to indicate Mough met the girls inside the store or in the parking lot, Berry said.Add to Technorati Favorites