Subject: Re: Traveler Incident
Author: halc-@comcast.net
Date: Jul 20, 2005, 6:13 AM
Post ID: 1719180521
I guess this is what the expression "price of freedom" means. :')))
-------------- Original message --------------
| Your free subscription is supported by today's sponsor: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Get up to $1500.00 Fast and Easy! No Credit Checks! No Paper Hassles! Nothing To Fax! Apply Online and We'll Contact You Within the Hour! http://click.topica.com/caadHk7b1dfltb7hDhIa/911PaydayAdvance ------------------------------------------------------------------- My brother in law had a similar incident here in St Pete Fla, He was riding home on his 40's Indian which had a horseless carriage plate on it. A local sheriff pulled him over saying the plate was illegal and asked where he got it. He told her from the DMV. She basically called him a liar and after exchanging words she called out her supervisor to the scene, who had also never seen a HC plate. After about a hour on the side of the road someone at their office confirmed the HC plate was legal. The jerk cops did not even apologize but instead gave him a warning for his tail light being to dim. He explained that it is a 6v system and the bike has its stock tail light from the factory and that it was legal. They did not buy that either. The police forces down here are so desperate for officers they hire any idiot out of cop school, give them 13 bucks a hour, a gun and they have no idea what they are doing. The old cops are retiring and any decent cop will go somewhere else and make more money. Anyway, you might try calling a local TV station and see if they would do a story on Paul and his travels and the problems he has come across. I would also contact CycleWorld and maybe some other bike touring mags to do a story. Cycle World always has the ups to and downs to column. I sure the CHP would love to see their name in the down to column Down here the cops never seem to admit wrong unless it is in the media. Last year they arrested a girl for wearing a NYPD hat and for impersonating a cop. She was at the beach in shorts and a tank top. Anyway she went to court and was convicted, even though you could buy them in every gas station and t shirt after 91. She appealed it to the Fla Supreme court and won. The Sheriffs office said they believe the law is to vague and will no longer enforce it. It cost her a bunch of money in legal fees but she won. Skip & Jane Kologiski Bird at The Wheel Vintage Motorcycle Stuff http://home.earthlink.net/~kkologiski/bird.html Central Florida Reps for the MGNOC (Moto Guzzi National Owners Club). Fla Guzzi Sitehttp://www.thisoldtractor.com/fl_mgnoc/ Coma Vintage Motorcycle Grouphttp://www.thisoldtractor.com/coma/index.html ----- Original Message ----- From: "Patrick Hayes" To: ; ; "MGNOC-SW" ; "Frank Wedge" Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2005 3:04 PM Subject: Traveler Incident Your free subscription is supported by today's sponsor: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Get a Free Sirius Satellite Package, don't pass on this! http://click.topica.com/caadHlCb1dfltbOSvhLa/ProductTestPanel ------------------------------------------------------------------- I belong to several Guzzi Topica lists. They all seemed to drop dead this weekend. I wasn't getting any posts and the things I sent would daemon back. Seems OK now. Other groups were fine, it was just the Topica bunch. Their home page reported that "some" databases were being reconstructed. The following incident occured this weekend. I have created a HUGE legal dispute between the CHP and the DMV over what to do in advance with visiting tourist motorcyclists. I have tons of email from other functioning lists. I have mails directly from CHP people who are adamant about the law and absolute reversal information directly from the mouth of the DMV. Its a shame everyone is hung on the "failure to carry" issue. What is more important to me right now is the FUTURE issue for someone who correctly carries their documents. Please, I have been inundated with support and comment from the other mail lists I use which have remained functional. I really appreciate the support. Please don't start a rant diatribe. Please, if you have something constructive to contribute I need facts or data as I pursue this matter. See below: This has been one very bad Guzzi day. As you may know, Dutch visitor Paul van Hooff is currently touring from Alaska to Patagonia on an old Guzzi V7 Special. I have been hosting him for a few days in the SF Bay area. This morning we went out on a ride to go to Alice's Restaurant, the local roadbike hangout in the SF Peninsula. While traversing downtown Redwood City at limit, Paul was pulled over by a CHP car. There was no driving infraction, the officer merely spotted his Netherlands plate. I was in the lead and already through the intersection, so I had to go up a block and make a U-turn. Regina was riding with us and she and Paul pulled into a shopping center parking lot as directed by loudspeaker. I wasn't there, so I don't know how the conversation started, but within two minutes I rejoined them. Regina was with Paul at all times so I can assure you it was a congenial conversation. When I arrived Officer Wakefield was in the process of pretty much tearing into Paul. Apparently Paul had left ALL of his documentation back at my house when he removed his pannier luggage for the day ride. We suggested that I return home to fetch the documentation and Paul would wait until my return. Officer Wakefield refused. Officer Wakefield allowed me to go back home to fetch my truck and trailer to tow Paul back to Fremont This was in lieu of arrest and thirty day vehicle impoundment. Now, here's my beef. 1: Paul was pulled over just out of curiosity because he had a foreign plate. 2: Paul did NOT have his documentation. Not a big deal in Europe, but a serious problem here in California. Yes, he was technically subject to arrest and vehicle impoundment. Yes, Officer Wakefield was within his rights had he done that and maybe struck us a favor by allowing the tow home. 3: Officer Wakefield seldom allowed any of us to get a word in edgewise for question, clarification, or understanding. He gave us �five minutes� to decide if we were going to tow it or if he was going to impound it. When I committed to the tow, he gave me �thirty minutes� to get back here with the trailer. (Ahem, we're in Redwood City. The trailer is home 25 miles in Fremont. Once I get the trailer I'm restricted to a 55mph rate. Do the math.) I negotiated for ninety minutes and he relented. 4: A second officer joined Wakefield and confirmed all of the things he told us about vehicle registrations. 5: Here's the big one. BOTH of these CHP officers insisted that the vehicle could not travel at any time in California unless it bore CALIFORNIA REGISTRATION. I assured them he was on a multi-national tour and passing through California as a visiting tourist for about ten days. They both insisted the vehicle had to be registered in California and it had to bear a California plate in order to do this. Officer Wakefield said that was why I couldn't go home to fetch the documentation. Even with all the documentation in hand, the motorcycle was still illegal on California roads without a California plate. I reported that I had hosted numerous foreign guests, some of whom had been stopped for some violation, and California registration was never an issue as long as they were completely documented. Both officers insisted that such incidents must have involved local police as that would not have happened in their jurisdiction or with a CHP officer. 6: Officer Wakefield informed us that he likewise lived in Fremont. (He told me this when I wanted to negotiate for extra trailer time since this residence made him aware of how long the drive should take me.) He then proceeded to forewarn Paul by pointing his finger at him and insisting that if he saw the bike on the street, even while he was off duty, he would call one of his work associates to enforce the arrest and the impoundment. Now somebody please help me. I searched everywhere on the DMV internet pages. Can't find any such regulation. I can't believe that a foreign traveler going from Canada to Mexico has to do so by going AROUND California. I have seen hundreds of RV's and motorcycles with foreign plates on our highways. I can't believe that it is possible for someone to get a vehicle registration who has no resident address in the state and no work address in the state. I can't believe that I have hosted numerous motorcycle tourists in my home with foreign plates who all seemingly broke Officer Wakefield's law. I'm expecting twenty Italians next month. Please don't tell me I have to make them turn around at the border! Paul is about to depart tomorrow for his next tour leg down through the state towards Los Angeles and eventually Mexico. He admits it was foolish to have forgotten his documents. I have since looked at his documents and they are all in order, including the necessary multi-language international translation permits. Most foreigners do forget to obtain these translation supplements, but Paul does have them. However, he is now seriously concerned about this registration issue and the potential of his arrest and motorcycle impoundment before he leaves California. Its a beautiful afternoon, but we're lying low at the house. Paul won't be relaxed until he's a hundred miles down the coast and out of Wakefield's reach. He'll be looking over his shoulder all the way to Mexico. The big issue is the impoundment as they are mandatory thirty days. Paul's visitor status, which started two and a half months ago when he flew into Anchorage requires that he exit the US into Mexico by August 1. If Officer Wakefield impounds the bike, the calendar dates collide in a huge mess. So much for the welcoming hospitality to California. Patrick Hayes & Paul van Hooff Fremont CA Your free subscription is supported by today's sponsor: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Need a Laptop? 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