Motorcycle rights group disputes tickets
Erik Gable Supporters of Ryan Hildebrand, who is challenging a ticket for wearing a noncompliant motorcycle helmet, gather Tuesday afternoon outside the Rex B Martin Judicial Building in Adrian.
Apr 21, 2010 @ 02:54 PM ADRIAN, Mich. — About 20 motorcyclists rode to the Lenawee County judicial building Tuesday afternoon to show support for an Adrian man challenging a non-compliant helmet ticket.
An attorney for the Michigan chapter of a national motorcycle rights organization filed an appearance for helmet defendant Ryan Hildebrand, 26. A formal hearing was set for June 29 in district court. Hildebrand is one of the first of nearly a dozen riders ticketed by Adrian police Sgt. Lynn Courington this spring for wearing helmets that do not meet federal Department of Transportation standards.
Hildebrand and other ticketed motorcyclists in the group Tuesday were told they can immediately reclaim the helmets taken from them as evidence at the time they were ticketed.
Adrian Police Chief Terry Collins said he decided Monday to have the helmets returned without waiting for the cases to be decided after talking with city attorney Sarah Osburn.
“My opinion was I could prosecute the cases without the helmets,†Osburn said. She said she also did not find any “specific legal support†for taking helmets as evidence and that it was not common practice with other police agencies.
Attorney Lawrence Katkowsky of Bingham Farms said he will try to consolidate all the helmet infraction cases that are being challenged for the June 29 hearing.
“The issues are all the same,†he said.
He is taking on the helmet enforcement issue in Lenawee County on behalf of ABATE of Michigan Inc. The organization, American Bikers Aiming Toward Education, works to preserve motorcyclists’ rights and promotes motorcycle safety.
ABATE currently has a lawsuit pending in United State District Court in Grand Rapids, challenging the state’s DOT helmet rule.
Parts of the lawsuit were dismissed in an opinion issued April 16 by Judge Robert Holmes Bell. But the court rejected a state police motion to dismiss part of the complaint that deals with the enforcement issues Katkowsky said he plans to raise in Lenawee County District Court.
Bell’s opinion stated Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals rulings require probable cause to justify a traffic stop on a civil infraction. ABATE claims in the lawsuit that police have to look inside a helmet to determine if it meets DOT standards, and therefore cannot claim plain sight evidence to justify a traffic stop and request to inspect a helmet.
Bell left that issue to be decided at a trial. No trial date is scheduled.
ABATE’s regional coordinator, Mike Campbell of Monroe County, and co-coordinator Harold Brier of Lenawee County, were at court Tuesday to weigh in on the helmet dispute.
“We’re out for the rights of all motorcyclists,†Campbell said, explaining the decision to come to Hildebrand’s aid. “It’s something we need to be on top of, whether he’s a member or not.â€
Hildebrand said he had been using his helmet since he started riding a motorcycle four or five years ago and had no clue there was a question about its legality before he was ticketed on March 12.
(This is exactly part of the angle I took when I received my ticket in 1998! I argued I had ridden with the same helmet for the past 3 to 4 years, passed the same trooper numerous times, had never been stopped. Then all of a sudden 3-4 years after seeing me wear the helmet, I get stopped and ticketed.
Truth of the matter is, in my case, the trooper went into the parking lot of the dealership where my bike was parked with my helmet hanging off the handlebars, and inspected it, and they lay in waiting at the end of the parking lot. The moment I exited he pulled me over! I wish at the time the dealer had exterior cameras, because I would have used that angle in court against him. His going onto private property and removing personal property from my vehicle to inspect it without my knowledge or my permission!)
It is harassment, and eventually we were successful in MA in getting the trooper assigned to a desk job!)
“One way or another this has to stop because it’s outright harassment,†Campbell said. “The last thing we want to do is be out here on this, wasting the court’s time.â€
ABATE opposes Michigan’s mandatory helmet law and advocates giving individuals the freedom to chose.
“ABATE’s position is if you want to wear a helmet, wear it,†Brier said. The group also urges its members and all motorcyclists to comply with safety rules and laws, he said.
Courington, who is a motorcyclist and motorcycle instructor, said he has been writing tickets for non-compliant helmets because of his concern for safety, as well as for strict enforcement of the law.
http://www.lenconnect.com/news/x1394800393/Motorcycle-rights-group-disputes-tickets
Motorcycle rights group disputes tickets
