Ohio handlebar height fine? Fight ticket?
#81
If you're legal in the state you're registered in, and still a resident there, it should be dismissed if you care to go back and make a court appearance.
If it weren't so, people wouldn't be able to travel from state to state without the risk of an equipment violation since all states are different.
If it weren't so, people wouldn't be able to travel from state to state without the risk of an equipment violation since all states are different.
#82
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Texas! Ya mean there's someplace else?
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A.B.A.T.E. of Ohio is currently working on introducing legislation on changing restrictions on motorcycle handlebar height. This is from the A.B.A.T.E. website.
Quote:
Jim Elgin, Denny Wichert, and I spent a day at Congress’s office building in Columbus. We met with Rep. Rosenberger and discussed legislation on changing restrictions on motorcycle handlebar height, which is 15 inches from the saddle in Ohio. We agreed on legislation identical to Pennsylvania’s law which legalizes all handlebar heights as long as the motorcycle can be operated safely. Rep. Rosenberger committed to turning the idea into the Legislative Writing service. After the bill is written, I will receive a copy for approval before it is introduced.
So hopefully they can get this introduced and passed. In the meantime go to court, tell the judge you made them legal by pulling them back and maybe he will you give you a break, drop the ticket and just make you pay court cost. They are going to get some money from you.
Want to know more about ABATE check out www.abate.com
Quote:
Jim Elgin, Denny Wichert, and I spent a day at Congress’s office building in Columbus. We met with Rep. Rosenberger and discussed legislation on changing restrictions on motorcycle handlebar height, which is 15 inches from the saddle in Ohio. We agreed on legislation identical to Pennsylvania’s law which legalizes all handlebar heights as long as the motorcycle can be operated safely. Rep. Rosenberger committed to turning the idea into the Legislative Writing service. After the bill is written, I will receive a copy for approval before it is introduced.
So hopefully they can get this introduced and passed. In the meantime go to court, tell the judge you made them legal by pulling them back and maybe he will you give you a break, drop the ticket and just make you pay court cost. They are going to get some money from you.
Want to know more about ABATE check out www.abate.com
If you want to see how they work, do a search for NCOM and/or CoC in Texas. We work together and get stuff done. We get bad cops pulled from the street, cities and counties slapped for illegal searches, laws passed that help motorcycle safety, laws modified to remove unjust crap against bikers, and BS laws defeated. We fill the state capital with bikers on Legislative Day in January. We make sure judges don't play patty-cake with idiots who run down bikers.
If any of ya'll bitching about this type of crap-law, and are not members of whatever motorcycle rights organization (MRO) is in your area, get off your fat lazy azzes and join. Then participate. Otherwise, shut your pie-hole and go sit in the corner, one thumb in your mouth and the other where the sun don't shine. You are the enemy as much as the politicians and regulators who think this type of BS law up, and as much as the LEOs who cherry-pick the enforcement.
#83
Join Date: Apr 2006
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If you're legal in the state you're registered in, and still a resident there, it should be dismissed if you care to go back and make a court appearance.
If it weren't so, people wouldn't be able to travel from state to state without the risk of an equipment violation since all states are different.
If it weren't so, people wouldn't be able to travel from state to state without the risk of an equipment violation since all states are different.
#84
I would fight the ticket. Since there are too many variables like not having a level to take the measurement even the slightest movement up or down will make inches of difference when you carry it the distance from the handlebars to the seat. You are innocent until proven guilty so without definite proof the case must be dismissed. Eyeballing it is not proof.
#87
Damn, I read 3 pages before I realized how old this thread is. Well did he pay or fight it and what was the result?
If LEOs really wanted to be a pain, they could be writing speeding tickets for 1mph over.
If LEOs really wanted to be a pain, they could be writing speeding tickets for 1mph over.
#88
For future reference:
[See following paragraph amended by 129th General AssemblyFile No.168,SB 114, §1 ] No bicycle or motorcycle shall be used to carry more persons at one time than the number for which it is designed and equipped, nor shall any motorcycle be operated on a highway when the handle bars or grips are more than fifteen inches higher than the seat or saddle for the operator.
[See 129th General AssemblyFile No.168,SB 114, §3 for effective date]No bicycle or motorcycle shall be used to carry more persons at one time than the number for which it is designed and equipped . No motorcycle shall be operated on a highway when the handlebars rise higher than the shoulders of the operator when the operator is seated in the operator's seat or saddle .
It's a pretty grey law without specific details about how to measure. It looks like it's going to change according to the 129th General assembly reference. Measure it yourself with a level and a ruler. If you are in spec, have someone take a measured picture for court. I'd at least want the trooper to explain how he measured and whether his method is stated by law or just policy or if he just decided on his own what reference points to use. It's possible he may testify that he just knows from experience.
Is it the reference point on the seat the highest, the center, or the lowest?
Highest point of bars, the middle of the grip, top of the grip, bottom of the grip, or the bar ends?
Bars at rest or centered? Level ground, on an incline or decline?
The trooper can't just presume or make stuff up. If you can convince the judge that the law is unclear (no legal definition), he may toss the citation.
[See following paragraph amended by 129th General AssemblyFile No.168,SB 114, §1 ] No bicycle or motorcycle shall be used to carry more persons at one time than the number for which it is designed and equipped, nor shall any motorcycle be operated on a highway when the handle bars or grips are more than fifteen inches higher than the seat or saddle for the operator.
[See 129th General AssemblyFile No.168,SB 114, §3 for effective date]No bicycle or motorcycle shall be used to carry more persons at one time than the number for which it is designed and equipped . No motorcycle shall be operated on a highway when the handlebars rise higher than the shoulders of the operator when the operator is seated in the operator's seat or saddle .
It's a pretty grey law without specific details about how to measure. It looks like it's going to change according to the 129th General assembly reference. Measure it yourself with a level and a ruler. If you are in spec, have someone take a measured picture for court. I'd at least want the trooper to explain how he measured and whether his method is stated by law or just policy or if he just decided on his own what reference points to use. It's possible he may testify that he just knows from experience.
Is it the reference point on the seat the highest, the center, or the lowest?
Highest point of bars, the middle of the grip, top of the grip, bottom of the grip, or the bar ends?
Bars at rest or centered? Level ground, on an incline or decline?
The trooper can't just presume or make stuff up. If you can convince the judge that the law is unclear (no legal definition), he may toss the citation.
Last edited by dbc58; 11-04-2013 at 05:55 PM. Reason: Noticed age of original post
#90
ok so you pay your fine and don't bother fighting anything, not really my style. i will exhaust every avenue to beat a ticket or some BS fine. the money i've spent on lawyers to beat tickets palls in what i would've paid in fines and insurance rate increases. for example in NY a speeding ticket can easily get you 6 points. you will pay about a $300 + fine. but that is not all, in 6 weeks you will be greeted with a state surcharge of $600+ dollars for going over 6 points (it can be your first ticket in your life doesn't matter) other subsequent violations, no matter how small will trigger this BS $300-$600 surcharge from the state. it isn't unheard of for a speeding ticket to cost someone $1000 + in
my state. so yeah i fight everything the extortionist police and politicians throw at me in my state no matter how small. i've moved trial dates over 15 times for a ticket, took years to get a court date, by the time i went to trial the cop didn't even work for the department anymore and i beat it. if i just "paid the fine" in my insane state i would be out well over $10,000 in my lifetime from fines, surcharges, and insurance hikes.
my state. so yeah i fight everything the extortionist police and politicians throw at me in my state no matter how small. i've moved trial dates over 15 times for a ticket, took years to get a court date, by the time i went to trial the cop didn't even work for the department anymore and i beat it. if i just "paid the fine" in my insane state i would be out well over $10,000 in my lifetime from fines, surcharges, and insurance hikes.
No need to respond. This is simply a life lesson that most of us already understand. You get it, or you don't.