Motorcyclist sues NY State Police over motorbike-only roadblocks
Upstate New York has earned a reputation as the speeding ticket capital of the country, but even with overeager state troopers patrolling the highways, motorcyclists feel singled out by law enforcement. That's why one rider/attorney is taking the state police, along with county and state officials to court.According to one Mitchell Proner, the state's institution of roadblocks exclusively for motorcyclists is unconstitutional: the motorcyclist and personal injury lawyer claims that without justifiable cause, the checkpoints infringe on riders' First Amendment rights to freedom of assembly and association and their Fourth Amendment right to freedom from unreasonable search and seizure. Last year, the New York State Police conducted twelve such "safety checks" near motorcycle events, including the Americade biker gathering at Lake George, the largest such event in the Northeast – and the NYSP plan on conducting fifteen more this year.
Proner claims to be filing the federal class action suite at the Federal Court for the Northern District of New York on behalf of his fellow riders. Whether he has a wheel to stand on is for the legal system to decide.
[Source: 1st5ive.com | Image: New York State Police]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Redeemed 8:39AM (6/11/2009)
I think these random police roadblocks should be challenged in court. Several states have already ruled them unconstitutional.
There is no probable cause for being stopped just because you happen to be out on the road. I'm not usually anti-cop but in this case they are way out of line.
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baxterpup 9:36AM (6/11/2009)
While there doesn't have to be probably cause for a roadblock stop, there does have to be an all encompassing stop. The police are allowed to stop all cars or every third car for example, just so it is objective. Stopping every motorcycle doesn't seem to fit within this standard of objectivity but with the state hurting for money I bet this shady practice is upheld though.
Rocketboy 8:42AM (6/11/2009)
As a NYS taxpayer, can I counter sue Mitchell Proner for wasting my tax dollars on this crap?
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Mike 2:54PM (6/11/2009)
Or maybe you should also sue your state for wasting your money!
You have some of the highest taxes.. even with all the businesses being there and getting money from them.. they still have to heavily tax real estate properties etc.
Now.. if 20 cops are sitting (literally sitting) on the sit of the road just because they want to stop ALL motorcycles, are you paying MORE cops to actually do police work like responding to all the crimes that occur in NY???
NY does still have violent crimes occurring doesn't it? Or maybe if the police were out doing real police work... they would (GASP) stop some terrorism!
WOW what a concept! Besides Hell's Angels and Warlocks, most of the bikers do A LOT of good for society! Toys for Tots runs etc..
Rocketboy 5:03PM (6/11/2009)
If they are going to gatherings, where there had been problems in the past, it just seems prudent to me.
Also, if this is a STATE issue, it's not the on the beat cop that was doing this.
So regardless of how many thumbs up you get, and how many thumbs down I get, you are still wrong.
MajorGeek 9:19PM (6/11/2009)
It was not all at gatherings, though it said near. Again, there must be somewhere you go, happy hour, softball game or other gatherings where people drink, maybe drive cars with bald tires. Expired inspections? Loud exhausts. there is a bigger picture here, sorry your not seeing it.
Tony C 3:13PM (6/12/2009)
"Personal injury lawyer" is all I had to know.
Ass.
MajorGeek 8:54AM (6/11/2009)
This might be you and something you love next time. Maybe your softball team games as a great example where friends of similar hobbies congregate. Remember, you might not ride a bike or care, but put yourselves in our shoes.
I live in Upstate NY, we have a struggling tourist area called Sylvan Beach with a tropper barracks in it. Last year they started motorcycle only roadblocks and begun ticketing for anything they could find from non DOT helmets to loud pipes. I stopped going to Sylvan Beach, even though my camp was only 10 minutes away. I actually rode last less year because I did not want to deal with the hassle. Frankly, I don't find that sort of harrasment (make no mistake it is harrasment to pull over only one type of person or vehicle) acceptable and certainly we have all discussed whether or not it is legal.
Let me make an example. The other day, I left a cruise in at Quaker Steak and Lube locally and saw an officer sitting on the side of the road doing radar and watching things. I was not speeding, breaking any laws and was not harrassed. If I was, he could pull me over. that is all good. Now, what if he setup a roadblock, let cars go buy and only stopped motorcyclists? Since many of us had a beer or 2 over the past 3-4 hours, they could say they smell booze on you and do a search. To me, that is over the top. That is harrasment.
@Rocketboy; we pay taxes too.
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Jake 9:27AM (6/11/2009)
Not sure how the laws are written up North but in NC it is considered entrapment if the police set a roadblock near an establishment selling alcohol.
jonathanesmith 9:47AM (6/11/2009)
Sylvan Beach! I grew up in Marcy, NY....and I spent many a summer there! But yes, you are right about that area. Years ago when I rode sportbikes we would cut through Rome, NY to get to sylvan Beach, and you couldn't make the trip without seeing AT LEAST 4 or 5 trooper cars or local Sheriffs.
It seems like anything fun is becoming illegal. Same thing goes for lifted trucks. I had a full-size Bronco with a 10" lift and 36" swampers, and I can't tell you how many times I was pulled over by a Trooper so they could measure my bumper height to see if ti was legal. I once got a ticket because they said my truck required mud flaps due to bumper height! C'mon NYS....really?
tankd0g 6:09PM (6/11/2009)
Yes it might be me or someone I love that's put at risk by some tool driving a 150hp bike with no license and no insurance. The only people that have a problem with this are running illegal pipes and no emissions equipment. We F-U if you are put out by being caught for breaking the law.
Rocketboy 9:02PM (6/11/2009)
Good for you.
Maybe it's a bad idea to be out driving around in a group smelling of beer.
Just thinking out loud.
Rocketboy 9:04PM (6/11/2009)
OBTW.. are commercial truck checkpoints harassment? They seem to only do those on truck routes.
MajorGeek 9:16PM (6/11/2009)
Rocketboy, epic, EPIC failure. Why? I said maybe a couple of beers. Most legal limits allow for a drink per hour without any problem whatsover. Of course, I drink wine and rarely drink at all when riding my bike, I don't like the feeling. I figured someone would jump needlessly on this. I was almost wrong. Thanks.
Next, you picked trucks. Too bad you didn't read this whole thread. Truck are held to federal regulations including things like driving time and WEIGHT, the reason those scales exist and why it is in fact, legal. Of course someone would have gotten on it otherwise by now as harrasment. I have had a commercial license and am aware of weight, placards and hazmat rules and more which can get you in trouble all the time. The test for a CDL (Commercial Drivers License) with hazmat endorsement was a tough test, realy.
C'mon back later when your RocketMAN and can argue as such.
Shipey 9:04AM (6/11/2009)
We are steadily marching towards 1984. I'm all for safety, but the police are stepping outside their boundaries on a more and more regular basis.
It is not OK to target groups of citizens in this manner. It's really no different than if they only pulled over drivers based on race. No one would stand for that, but bikers get the shaft because 98% of the population doesn't feel the pinch.
/wrongthink
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Protzenegger 9:19AM (6/11/2009)
+1 for less-than-subtle reference.
Shipey 9:22AM (6/11/2009)
I've got no time for subtle!!!
Jake B 11:29AM (6/11/2009)
I agree completely. Every day it seems I grow more and more frustrated. It seems there is nothing that the people can do about it...
Stephan Wilkinson 9:49AM (6/11/2009)
My wife and I were driving to Vermont last summer in our Boxster, top down, on the New York State Thruway, same Saturday as the start of Ameripride. It was a truly miserable two hours. We were surrounded constantly by packs of Harleys with straight pipes eight or 12 feet away from the car front, rear and one side. Coouldn't hear the radio, couldn't hear each other. Speed up to get away from them and you'd just run into another pack of guys blatting away. Slow down and you'd be caught by yet another pack.
I was delighted to see the very roadblock that is one of the ones the plaintiff specifically is suing about, where the Troopers were ticketed people for loud pipes.
Coincidentally, until recently we lived near NY Route 9W in the thick of motorcycle country, and every sunny weekend from mid-April to late October was painful--in this case not so much the Harleys as the kids from the Bronx with 12,000-rpm crotch rockets. You ever listen to 50 of those things, one every 10 minutes, at full throttle uphill?
I write this as somebody who has owned many bikes, most recently a Ducati with straight pipes that I was stupid enough to ride as a 30-year-old. Maybe it's just karma...
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Shamdiddly 11:13AM (6/11/2009)
ZOMG! Loud PipeZ Save Livez!!!1!!
I hate straight pipes, and would agree pulling over those morons is good business, however, I believe they're pulling over everybody.
In these days of decreased state revenues, pulling over motorcycles is most likely a cash cow. Many of the people I know that ride motorcycles do not have their cycle endorsement; in Michigan, I think it is a $90 ticket, plus anything else they can find wrong.