Okay...admittedly there are not a lot of 187 pound stand up sooter riders in Pdx. I am on(maybe the only one???). Never the less, that is no reason for the oregon dmv/legislature to create a situation that has NO remedy...to assure I will be ticketed if stopped by an officer.
Under the hood of EVERY car on the road is an engine...with a cubic inch designation that denotes that engine can create enough power to drive the car and it's occupants two to four times faster than our local posted speed limits. But you do not see cops ticketing auto drivers due to the POTENTIAL POWER and or equipment size of their motors. As long as you are operating at the posted speed limits(unless you show up on the road in a top fuel dragster or obvious strip intended 'funny car')...you are going to be okay. The rules get a little more 'nazi' when you step out on your(you evil threat to society YOU!!!) stand up gas scooter.
OH boy!... I guess we HAD BETTER HAVE A LAW that says a stand up scooter rider cannot have an engine(on the street)that is 50 cc....EVEN IF THAT RIDER IS TRAVELING AT THE LEGAL SPEED LIMIT FOR SCOOTERS; HAPPENS TO BE A MATURE MAN WHO HAS NOT RECIEVED A TICKET IN 10 YEARS. REALLY?!? What kind of discriminatory IDIOCY is THIS???
I called a Portland desk cop and ran the lunacy of this double standard approach to road use rights and all I got was robotic responses that backed up the law...instead of cracking it open (as I thought might happen...silly me)to let a little logic and fairness IN.
I have my 50 cc stand up gas scooter which I love to ride(hey! It is fun!!!). It is my way of saying 'SCREW O.P.E.C' at least part of the time. And now I have to worry about Cops who will cite me for a 50 cc engine instead of WHAT I AM ACTUALLY DOING????? IS THAT EVEN FAIR??? The non-geniuses who made it illegal for me to have my 50 cc scooter on the road...ALSO made it so if I follow all the guidelines to operate under the 'moped regs'(since my motor is 50cc)...I cannot possibly do so. Therefore they have created a law...without a workable remedy...and therefore locked me into a 'lawbreaker' status for riding my 50 cc stand up scooter. I have been riding it for 6 months and several cops have passed me and not one has stopped or ticketed me. BUT WHY DO I EVEN HAVE THE THREAT HANGING OVER MY HEAD; BASED ON WHAT CAN ONLY BE A DISCRIMINATORY LAW? THIS IS NOT HOW OREGONIANS(in cars or on scooters!)should have to take to the roads...in fear of assanine laws.
I am just WAITING to get stopped because I have a 50 cc motor. When whatever 'super-cop' is so rookie or so bored that he does not have anything better to do than stop me for a 50 cc motor(I wonder if that would make it onto the COPS t.v. show???? Probably not!)I will FIRST give him my "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING!" LOOK....THEN I will take the ticket and scoot on to wherever I am going...and to court. But what a *(&%#(_*&_ HASSLE!!!
I have a 50cc motor...because THAT is the only motor size that will carry me/ at my weight, the allowed limit of '24 mph'(dmv). The ONLY reason that Oregon could be picking on engine sizes of gas scooters is to discriminate. If not(I say again)THEN WHY DO THEY NOT APPLY THE SAME CRITERIA TO AUTO ENGINE SIZES? NO....JUST TO US INFERNAL SCOOTER RIDERS!
I will keep on riding my 50cc scooter...NOT TO DISRESPECT THE SAFETY OR REALITY OF THE ROAD...but because it is reasonable for me to have and ride one for the stated reason. My equipment is safe and I obey all the traffic laws and extend courtesy to cars/bikes/pedestrians as I should. But THIS extra stab at the expense of fairness and logic on the part of the state of oregon is unfair; absurd and discriminatory. If a cop has court time for THAT...so do I.
What's next...will cops be citing bicyclists whose legs are obviously strong enough to carry them faster than legal bike lane speeds????
Would the state rather I drive my huge van every where I go??! Not going to happen.
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