OFF THE WIRE
http://www.lenconnect.com/news/x383302505/Motorcycle-helmet-tickets-to-be-dropped
> >
> > By Dennis Pelham
> > Daily Telegram
> > Posted Jun 24, 2010 @ 05:08 PM
> > ADRIAN, Mich. — Motorcyclists fighting unapproved helmet
> > tickets they received this spring from Adrian police were
> > notified last week the cases are being dropped.
> >
> > Legal issues brought up in Lenawee County District Court by
> > an attorney for a motorcycle rights group are the same ones
> > involved in a lawsuit in federal court in Grand Rapids, said
> > Adrian City Attorney Sarah Osburn. Rather than leave the
> > half-dozen tickets pending in Lenawee County District Court
> > for months or years while the federal case is decided, she
> > said, the tickets were dismissed.
> >
> > Depending on the outcome of the federal lawsuit, she said,
> > it is possible the tickets could be reinstated. But that has
> > not been decided, Osburn said.
> >
> > Helmet enforcement in Adrian this spring drew the attention
> > of ABATE of Michigan Inc. An attorney for the state’s
> > chapter of American Bikers Aiming Toward Education showed up
> > for an April 20 hearing on a challenged helmet ticket in
> > district court, along with about 20 local members of the
> > group.
> >
> > Osburn said she and Sgt. Lynn Courington, who wrote the
> > helmet tickets, agreed to drop enforcement action until the
> > federal lawsuit defines how the helmet law is to be
> > applied.
> >
> > Courington, a motorcycle instructor and enthusiast, said
> > there was nothing personal about the enforcement actions or
> > the decision to wait for legal issues to clear up.
> >
> > “Whatever the law says to do, that’s what you do,” he
> > said Wednesday.
> >
> > Martin Richardson, one of the first motorcyclists to fight
> > the helmet tickets, said he was happy to learn the city is
> > dropping the cases.
> >
> > “I did not think it was appropriate the way it was
> > handled,” Richardson said. He said he felt his rights were
> > being abused when he was stopped and his helmet taken for
> > evidence, forcing him to wait for a friend to bring him
> > another helmet before he could ride home.
> >
> > A federal judge in Grand Rapids agreed in April to decide a
> > claim by ABATE that Michigan’s helmet law is being
> > illegally enforced by police who stop riders on suspicion of
> > wearing an unapproved helmet. The group claims there is no
> > method for police to determine if helmets meet federal
> > Department of Transportation requirements without looking
> > inside the headgear, making the stops illegal searches.
