CBS New YorkNEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Lawmakers have been inspired to take action in the wake of the infamous viral video showing a confrontation between a group of bikers and a man driving a sport-utility vehicle with his wife and 2-year-old daughter at his side.
As CBS 2’s Lou Young reported Monday, Alexian Lien and his family were driving down the Henry Hudson Parkway on Sept. 29, when their SUV was surrounded by bikers. Lien gunned it and ran over a biker, sparking a chase that ended when the SUV was cornered in Washington Heights, and Lien was dragged out and attacked.
Watch The Full Video Below: WARNING — GRAPHIC IMAGES
But the proposal for legislative action was borne also of the scene before the disaster, in which bikers were riding on sidewalks and taking up the full width of the roadway.
State Sen. Andriano Espaillat (D-Manhattan) is one of the sponsors of what he called new preventive legislation.
“We’re not splicing atoms here. This is something that’s very not uncommon,” Espaillat said. “You know, permits are required for all kinds of public assembly and activities, and there should be a similar process for motorcycles.
The motorcycle safety legislation would require a permit for gatherings of 50 or more motorcycles, and notification to the communities through which they would be riding.
The legislation would also create a new criminal charge for motorcycle street stunts that endanger others, and would bring enhanced gang violence penalties for assaults like the one caught on camera in September.
The idea has received wide support, especially along thoroughfares such as Queens Boulevard, where pedestrians said they are often terrorized by joyriding bikers.
“Sometimes they do stunts on the boulevard, which I think is crazy,” said Kevin Kalia of Elmhurst, Queens.
Just this past Saturday, Marian Kurshik, 78, of Elmhurst, was killed after being hit by a motorcycle riding in a pack. The rider also died.
Neighbors said they were horrified to see stunt bikers in the area just hours after the scene was cleared.
“His feet was on the seat; the front wheel pulled up. He was going very fast,” said one woman who did not want to be identified. “Two people made a comment to me and said they couldn’t believe it, knowing that a woman had died.”
The legislation would benefit everyone, according to Espaillat.
“This not only, I think, protects pedestrians. I think it also protects the motorcyclists themselves,” he said.
The proposal has gotten some push-back from upstate motorcycle clubs, which said rural settings make gatherings less troublesome. But the bill’s sponsors say they believe they have enough support to get it through the next session, possibly to take effect in the summer of 2015.
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/12/23/state-bill-seeks-to-prevent-another-biker-melee
““We’re not splicing atoms here. This is something that’s very not uncommon,” Espaillat said. “You know, permits are required for all kinds of public assembly and activities, and there should be a similar process for motorcycles.
The motorcycle safety legislation would require a permit for gatherings of 50 or more motorcycles, and notification to the communities through which they would be riding.”
BAHAAHAAHAHA!!!
Never let a good crisis go to waste!
OMG! Problem reaction solution at it’s finest.
Just what we need. More RIDICULOUS Communist control legislation.
Here’s an idea! DO YOUR DAMN JOB BY ARRESTING THE BASTARDS AND ENFORCING THE LAW, INSTEAD OF MAKING UP NEW ONES AFTER THE FACT!! DUH!!!
Good GRIEF, people! Does anyone else see how they are blatantly taking advantage of this incident to introduce more draconian penis codes…I mean penal codes. Wake the F**K UP!!
This is all so that the biker gangs like those who went to D.C. to protest must now get a permit to ride along side one another in order to tell mommy and daddy government that they are coming over for dinner together. Give me a F**king break! This is just to prevent the biker gangs from rising up against the government and therefore oppressing them more.
This legislation is clearly unconstitutional and infringes on our 1st Article of the Bill of Rights stating the free right to assemble together. I don’t care if a hundred incidents like this happened. I’ll still blame the cops and the government for not arresting the bastards and doing their job when they started smashing they guy’s car in the first place and in the end, I’ll still NEVER give up my 1st Article Rights!!! So go to HELL!!!
Again, the problem is not making up more laws, but enforcing the ones we already have! Wake up, sheeple!
Hey folks. lets just arm the citizenry. This is a no brainer. bikes, guns, etc. don’t kill or assault people, PEOPLE kill and assault people. if more citizens are carrying, the crazies will be less liable to mess with we the people. I know i am singing to the quire here. no one should have to apply for a gun permit or anything to own a firearm. The constitution and second article are the only permit we need. besides, when tshtf, no one is going to be checking for permits. all the law enforcement people will be too busy protecting their own, and trying to catch up. so take your laws and shove em.