I know there will be some who will say I am mean and heartless for what I am about to write in this editorial, but honestly, it looks like someone just has to be like this, at least in writing, if not in real life. Once more, YouTube surfaces THAT side of the motorcycling world which most people, both riding and non-riding, hate: street hooligans who only do their own bidding in complete disregard of others. Well, after watching one more episode of hooligan behavior, memories of the Manhattan Brawl last year became vivid once more.
Basically, the pattern seems to be the same, give or take, in almost all the cases. This involves a group of riders, almost all of them riding sport bikes 600cc and bigger, registration plates tucked away from sight, performing stunts in traffic and occasionally going bravado against folk and even law enforcement officers.
The last episode saw a rider sticker slapping a police car and then taking off in the busy traffic, somewhat skillfully avoiding crashing into other cars, but still dumb enough to fail spotting a kerb in his way and spilling like a moron. Still lucky enough, the guy was not run over by other cars and was not seriously injured, save for some bruises.
Meanwhile the police car was struggling through traffic, trying to reach the felon. He was even towed by some fellow riders, as his bike would fail to start after the crash. After repeated attempts, the chap simply drops the bike in the middle of the street and gets on the passenger seat of the second bike towing him, fleeing at high speed.
Now, some would say that slapping a “I don’t stop for cops” sticker on a police cruiser is not that much of a crime. Well, first of all I’d like to ask these guys to allow me or any other individual to do the same with their cars or bikes. Yes, only slapping a sticker onto their rides. Not exactly the funniest thing of all, isn’t it? Well, imagine the cops are just like you, they don’t enjoy having people decorating their cars with sneery stickers.
Even more, some of these chaps who are showing off in traffic are breaking the law. Dangerous driving would probably be the lesser reason for a ticket. It would be pointless to make a list of possible charges pressed after this stunt, but I reckon it’s not going to look nicely. If and when the coppers get the “two-wheeled hero”, he’ll be extremely sorry. And by all means, the police have really high chances to find him. That is, because not being the smartest guy around, he left a lot of clues behind.
First of all, it’s the video itself, together with whatever details the cop or cops inside the car can provide. Being able to pinpoint exactly where all this is taking place also allows the police to search for the potential surveillance cameras in the area. It’s not rarely when these cameras provide excellent proof and information for solving cases.
The surveillance footage will also help the law enforcement in their efforts to identify the bikes which helped the perpetrator escape. Again, sometimes finding accessories to a crime turns out to be a very lucrative start.
Of course, it’s the bike the “hero” abandoned in the middle of the street. If it is registered on his name, or if it belongs to a friend, then this guy is even more stupid than we could ever imagine. Some say that the bike may be a stolen one. The modified tank with the grippy pad indicated that this two wheeler is tuned for stunt riding. Stealing the bike of a fellow stunt rider is definitely not a very smart thing, as these communities are rather hermetic and people get to know all the bikes more or less.
Similarly, the bike could indeed be stolen and untracked. If the rider hasn’t removed the VIN plate, this is one more lead for the cops to follow. Fingerprints on the sticker and on the bike are one more thing which can help the police track this guy. If he’s had troubles with the law (which is not unlikely, if you ask me), then he’s as good as caught, possibly already detained as you are reading this.
Again, if his fingerprints are already in the police database, not using gloves while trying to attach a sticker to a police car is outright dumb. As for the concerns to his own safety, there is no point in talking about this since it’s obvious he doesn’t put too much value on his own health anyway. Truth is the Police have a lot of leads to begin with, and the chances to find this guy are literally sky high. As to what will the judge he will eventually be presented to think about his deeds, this is law specialist territory, but it’s going to be more than this rider bargained for.
Leaving the law-breaking aspect aside, it’s once more the very bad reputation idiots like this one bring for the whole riding community. I know, there are a lot of silly punks out there who think they’ve invented coolness, air and walking and support such mindless actions with dumb clichés such as YOLO and “that’s what living for real is like”. I met some of these fellows (they are spread to a planetary scale) and I daresay that only a handful of them are strong enough to face legal consequences when all is said and done… in the court of law. The rest are a bunch of wussies who would start whining and call for their moms when things take a (well-deserved) turn for the worse.
There are already a lot of people who hate bikers and believe they are simply losers; having such behavior left unpunished only fuels the hatred and prejudice. Thankfully, this dumb “stunt” did not end with a serious crash, even though the odds were pretty high. The rider himself could have been injured badly, and even worse, he could have injured innocent road users or pedestrians.
I’m quite curious to find out what his supporters (and those who support such riding) would have to say if a moron like this would crash into themselves, or into a car driven by someone in their family, wife and kids present, too. Yeah, I know the reply, this sounds more like a movie scenario fit for Final Destination #whatever, but if you just take a peek at some death and injury statistics, things no longer seem that unlikely.
Stunt riding is awesome, when done the right way, not in places open to public traffic. When the risks associated with stunt riding are voluntarily shared with innocent people who have nothing to do with this, and who DON’T want to be a part of this, things are going sour. Add a dash of hooligan behavior and frankly, you already have a bunch of people who might wish you an ill fate.
It’s just not worth it, dammit!
The last episode saw a rider sticker slapping a police car and then taking off in the busy traffic, somewhat skillfully avoiding crashing into other cars, but still dumb enough to fail spotting a kerb in his way and spilling like a moron. Still lucky enough, the guy was not run over by other cars and was not seriously injured, save for some bruises.
Meanwhile the police car was struggling through traffic, trying to reach the felon. He was even towed by some fellow riders, as his bike would fail to start after the crash. After repeated attempts, the chap simply drops the bike in the middle of the street and gets on the passenger seat of the second bike towing him, fleeing at high speed.
Now, some would say that slapping a “I don’t stop for cops” sticker on a police cruiser is not that much of a crime. Well, first of all I’d like to ask these guys to allow me or any other individual to do the same with their cars or bikes. Yes, only slapping a sticker onto their rides. Not exactly the funniest thing of all, isn’t it? Well, imagine the cops are just like you, they don’t enjoy having people decorating their cars with sneery stickers.
Even more, some of these chaps who are showing off in traffic are breaking the law. Dangerous driving would probably be the lesser reason for a ticket. It would be pointless to make a list of possible charges pressed after this stunt, but I reckon it’s not going to look nicely. If and when the coppers get the “two-wheeled hero”, he’ll be extremely sorry. And by all means, the police have really high chances to find him. That is, because not being the smartest guy around, he left a lot of clues behind.
First of all, it’s the video itself, together with whatever details the cop or cops inside the car can provide. Being able to pinpoint exactly where all this is taking place also allows the police to search for the potential surveillance cameras in the area. It’s not rarely when these cameras provide excellent proof and information for solving cases.
The surveillance footage will also help the law enforcement in their efforts to identify the bikes which helped the perpetrator escape. Again, sometimes finding accessories to a crime turns out to be a very lucrative start.
Of course, it’s the bike the “hero” abandoned in the middle of the street. If it is registered on his name, or if it belongs to a friend, then this guy is even more stupid than we could ever imagine. Some say that the bike may be a stolen one. The modified tank with the grippy pad indicated that this two wheeler is tuned for stunt riding. Stealing the bike of a fellow stunt rider is definitely not a very smart thing, as these communities are rather hermetic and people get to know all the bikes more or less.
Similarly, the bike could indeed be stolen and untracked. If the rider hasn’t removed the VIN plate, this is one more lead for the cops to follow. Fingerprints on the sticker and on the bike are one more thing which can help the police track this guy. If he’s had troubles with the law (which is not unlikely, if you ask me), then he’s as good as caught, possibly already detained as you are reading this.
Again, if his fingerprints are already in the police database, not using gloves while trying to attach a sticker to a police car is outright dumb. As for the concerns to his own safety, there is no point in talking about this since it’s obvious he doesn’t put too much value on his own health anyway. Truth is the Police have a lot of leads to begin with, and the chances to find this guy are literally sky high. As to what will the judge he will eventually be presented to think about his deeds, this is law specialist territory, but it’s going to be more than this rider bargained for.
Leaving the law-breaking aspect aside, it’s once more the very bad reputation idiots like this one bring for the whole riding community. I know, there are a lot of silly punks out there who think they’ve invented coolness, air and walking and support such mindless actions with dumb clichés such as YOLO and “that’s what living for real is like”. I met some of these fellows (they are spread to a planetary scale) and I daresay that only a handful of them are strong enough to face legal consequences when all is said and done… in the court of law. The rest are a bunch of wussies who would start whining and call for their moms when things take a (well-deserved) turn for the worse.
There are already a lot of people who hate bikers and believe they are simply losers; having such behavior left unpunished only fuels the hatred and prejudice. Thankfully, this dumb “stunt” did not end with a serious crash, even though the odds were pretty high. The rider himself could have been injured badly, and even worse, he could have injured innocent road users or pedestrians.
I’m quite curious to find out what his supporters (and those who support such riding) would have to say if a moron like this would crash into themselves, or into a car driven by someone in their family, wife and kids present, too. Yeah, I know the reply, this sounds more like a movie scenario fit for Final Destination #whatever, but if you just take a peek at some death and injury statistics, things no longer seem that unlikely.
Stunt riding is awesome, when done the right way, not in places open to public traffic. When the risks associated with stunt riding are voluntarily shared with innocent people who have nothing to do with this, and who DON’T want to be a part of this, things are going sour. Add a dash of hooligan behavior and frankly, you already have a bunch of people who might wish you an ill fate.
It’s just not worth it, dammit!
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