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Man's anger at police threat to crush bikeAN East Herts man who lent his £3,000 motocross bike to his nephew is furious that police confiscated the vehicle and plan to crush it.Lee Pearse, 27, is still paying for the Yamaha bike  but it's about to be turned into a cube of metal.His nephew, Lee Lawrence, 17, of Fanhams Road, Ware, was stopped by police when he rode the bike onto a bridleway near the gravel pits at Chapmore End, where he and his friends were riding.Although he was unaware that the gravel path was a public highway, and there were no signs to warn him, an officer confiscated the vehicle and one ridden by his friend, on the spot.Now, in a case that will serve as a warning to trail bikers across the county, Herts police will crush the bikes, as they are designed only for track use and cannot be insured on the roads.Lee, who uses the YZF 250 legally on a track in Harlow, said: "They didn't even get a warning. It's so heavy-handed. I think it's disgusting."What's so annoying is that it's my bike  I'm getting punished. Fair enough if it was me. I'm 27 and should know better. But they didn't even realise."The officer said just because it doesn't have a white line down the middle doesn't mean it's not a road."Lee, a lorry driver from Bishop's Stortford, has seen a solicitor and enlisted the help of county councillor David Beatty (Con, Ware North) to persuade police to relent before they crush the bike in a week's time.But yesterday (Thursday, 27 July), the force was sticking by its use of a law which the county's chief constable, Frank Whiteley, was instrumental in introducing to the statute book.A spokeswoman said: "These bikes are manufactured for use in motocross."They are not for use on bridleways and they are not roadworthy. You cannot register and insure them."Section 152 of the Serious and Organised Crime Act 2005 gives police the power to seize bikes used on public highways without insurance and without an appropriate licence."If the bike had hit somebody, there could have been a compensation claim for hundreds of thousands of pounds."Since August 2005, we have seized 4,400 bikes under this legislation. We were alerted to this one by a complaint from a member of the public."The hard-line stance has won backing from Hertfordshire's Country Land and Business Association.Lending support to Operation Agrarian, Herts police's crackdown on trail biking in rural areas, chairman David de Boinville said: "These motorcyclists are a menace. They are a danger to walkers and horse- riders, cut up paths and ruin the peace of the countryside." 28 July 2006
Heavy handed and out of order.Thats the trouble with this bloody country.Get caught burgling a house and you get a slap on the wrists.In each and every case I now take the law into my own hands.The Police have their hands tied by legislation......And quite often their own low IQ. :roll: The tide will soon turn and unfortunately the Police will bear the brunt of the publics anger.I am usually a law biding citizen, but the many new laws coming in make me want to break them more and more.Totalitarian State is here.I just hope all the folks who agree with this sort of heavy handed response agree with it when they are on the end of it through no fault of their own, just a simple mistake can lead to this....We are not all perfect and do not know all the laws of the land.Do we really want the UK to be homogonised?.....The spirit of the people controlled completely.....I don`t think so, but we are going down the path at an alarming rate of knots.
On top of that, there is the point of a 17 year old being on a bike he is too young for (as far as i can remember until your a certain age the size of bike is restricted) and therefore he would have had to be on private land for him not to be breaking any laws.
I can't believe that anyone can agree with this! What is wrong with you people? Different situation, I know, but the punishment is the same for example In the current situation with greenlaning and the confusion that is NERC etc. anyone of you (supposing you do go greenlaning) could accidentally end up somewhere you shouldn't. And before anyone bleats on about checking routes first, there are local authorities and the Police who cannot even tell you the status of some lanes at the present time. So if you do go somewhere you shouldn't and are caught you will presumably hand over the keys to the Police officer with a smile saying "It's a fair cop" as they crush your several thousands of pounds worth of pride and joy?Thought not. i think you are missing the point,when the police take the bike or bikes ect, the law states that, that bike has no place on public land ie, no tax,test,or insurance.where as if you were stoped on a green lane in ya landy taxed,tested and insured you would only be done for the laning offence. if its not taxed,tested or insured crush the f***er. pint any one. :D Fools.
The Police have their hands tied by legislation......And quite often their own low IQ. :roll:
I can't believe that anyone can agree with this! What is wrong with you people? Different situation, I know, but the punishment is the same for example In the current situation with greenlaning and the confusion that is NERC etc. anyone of you (supposing you do go greenlaning) could accidentally end up somewhere you shouldn't. And before anyone bleats on about checking routes first, there are local authorities and the Police who cannot even tell you the status of some lanes at the present time. So if you do go somewhere you shouldn't and are caught you will presumably hand over the keys to the Police officer with a smile saying "It's a fair cop" as they crush your several thousands of pounds worth of pride and joy?Thought not.Fools.
Hmm, but if it was a genuine mistake then it seems harsh. How mnay here haven't made a genuine mistake? I know I have got muddled in the past and found myself where I didn't want to be - I'd feel aggrieved if my ride was crushed.As I understand it there is no appeal against such a decision, it's one of those situations where the police are judge and jury which doesn't seem at all right.Mike
If the rider thought genuinely thought they were on private land with permission of the owner fair enough. Otherwise all points are Null & void.
im sorry, but has anyone atcually checked the bhp of a yzf250? what year is it, because i would be supprised if it did excel 33bhp! as you can get up to 400/450/500cc bikes still only just crossing the 33bhp mark! and also, down here many bridleways merge into byways and so on and so forth! quite often without clear signs! and what would they rather, they where terroriseing people ina shopping mall, settig light to cars, or riding a bike up and down a lane! thats my view on it! it keeps them out the way most of the time! How many people on here con honestly say they have never broekn the law regarding not driveing/rideing somewhere they shouldnt? or driveing something they where not licensed to? be it forklift truck or 1000cc superbike?thats my stick to stir up the hornets nest!cheers now!
Quote from: "rangerider"If the rider thought genuinely thought they were on private land with permission of the owner fair enough. Otherwise all points are Null & void.even with that, you would think that was o.k, but recently a local farmer had the police aroundhis farm tracking down his son for driving around his feild, this was at 3pm in the afternoon, his son was driving a metro round the feild, and the police said he couldnt do it!that puts that out of the window as well then!
If the rider thought genuinely thought they were on private land with permission of the owner fair enough. Otherwise all points are Null & void.even if the bridleway was a boat the bike & rider were still illegal!there is however still a big but as regards the private land issue. the presence of a track implies public access, hence the road traffice act still applies.Doubtless terminus (please do) will happily correct me should I be wrong on this point.I can appreciate and forgive that genuine mistakes can and do happen, but in this case the bike was known to be not road legal, that allone renders any mistake argument pointless when it comes to any highway, be it a bridleway, boat, orpa or the M1.