Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

.\ percent saving against the na tio nal requirement. OK, as a sho rt-term panic m easure. it did it s jo b. Th e two or three percent saving was real enough during the crisis . Bu t now we 've ha d over a year to absorb the full imp lications of Arab oil di plomacy and p lan o ur reaction to it . Given unrestrained and ever -expanding fuel needs. we're ta lking ab o ut 20% of o ur supply bei ng su bje ct to blackmail, then in a few y ears 3 3%, then by 1990. over half. In light of these figu res , kn owing that most of u s are agreed th at we ca n 't allow ourselv e s to b e co me so dependent. where does th at leave the 55 mph limit as a co nserva tio n measure? In practical terms it le aves pe ople wh o o wn two and one-half ton, 12 ~I PG d readnoughts believing th at as lo ng as th ey dr ive 55 and as long as they can afford gas, they can b oogie along, bu sin ess as u su al , se cure: in the assu mption they've done their bi t thei r lousy three-percent bit , in the face of a 20% an d growing shortfall . I call th a t a giant co n game that in the lo ng run prom otes was te , If we wan t to b e tru ly in de pe n de nt of for eign oil, we 'r e talk in g abo ut turning th at 15-17 MPG average "figu re into a 25 -3 0 MPG nat ional averag e with a vehicle mix th at's he avy o n public tr an sit , small ca rs, an d mo to rc ycles. Yes, th at's a go od idea for us - to get th e mo to rcycl e accep ted as a ne cess ary part of a basi c tran sp ortation mi x , t ho ug h it probably me ans more government regu lat ion to go alo ng with th at acceptance. (Tha t 's an o th er can o f worm s. ) All th is leaves th e 55 mp h speed lim it as a useless app en da ge to a national ener gy policy. Bu t wa iting in the wings are legio n s of " sa fe ty" advocat es who. havi ng called for reduced speeds ever since it was believed vo ur head would explode if you tr aveled above 15 mp h , no w will use the existence of the 55 limit as its own b est excu se fo r rem aining with us. Beh ind th em is the wh ole network of state and local enfo rcement o ff iciald om that gets mu ch of its revenue from speeding tic kets (a very lucra tive little em p ire in its own righ t ). Next to salary wi th holding, it's o ne of th e c heap est and easiest taxes to co llect. So me pa r ts o f th e country have it do wn to asse m bly -line efficiency. :'Jo w that California 's Highway Patrol has released figures indicating that up to 70% of th e d rivers are flagrantly violat ing th e 5 5 lim it , th e bonanza to qui ck -w itt ed and aggressive local au t hori ties b ecomes obvious . \Vh a t a windfall to an y jurisdic tion with a b lack box and a willin g ju dge ! Yet. to me , th e othe r side o f t he co in is darker and uglier ye t. If a p lu rali ty of us are flouting o ur dis belief in a law , how can a supposed ly de m ocratic sys t em impo se it o n us? How co m e "speeding" is a crime in the first place ? Asid e from th e " speed kill s" slogan. laws to en for ce spe ed limits are (accord ing to th e official versio n) enacted to preven t or min imize the effects of traffic accid en ts. A noble m o t ive , fo r traffic a ccidents 10 MINUTES OFYOUR11ME COULD SAVE ca use death, inj ury an d damage to property, all recogn ized as crimes or to rts b y th e legal sys tem . Ho wever , making speed beyond a certa in limit illegal is tantamount to taking beh aviour wh ich might lead to a cri me and ma king th at beha viour a c ri me in its o wn righ t. Now th at 's a heay burden to lay o n a legal system bas ed on precedent. (T ha t is, a system in which if someth in g's declared legal in o ne case . it can b e applied in other cases.) It sme lls o f preven t ive detention . but goes farther. Prevent ive d e t entio n mean s p oli ce can detain (arrest ) anyone who lo oks like h e might co m mit a cri me , but accord ing to the constitution, sooner o r la t er th at " p o ten t ial criminal " either has to be ch ar ged "wit h an actu al cri me o r rel eased . With speed limits and o ther similar laws, we ma ke some as pect of th e "suspect 's " behavio ur a cr im e i,n itsel f so he /she ca n be taken o u t of circulat io n wit h no hassle fro m th e con st it u t io n . Th en by preced en t, what's legal in th e "prev entio n " o f t raffic acc ide nts co uld also be legal in th e "preventio n " of drug ab use . Sin ce man y drug users have lo ng hair, making lo ng h air illegal will tak e potential use rs out o f circulation. right ? Don't laugh - t ha t's really th e way the legal system works. A law yer 's o r legis lato r 's mi nd really works that way. An yone with a co mputer and a govern ment-backed bu dget ca n do a behaviour pro file on an y gro up of o ffend ers and then come up wit h "pre venti ve" laws whose implications would sta nd y o ur ha ir o n edge , long o r short . See wh y I think speed limits should be challenged ? Even if a court fight agai nst them did not fo rce their wh ol esale repeal. th e legal stri ctures to co me o ut of suc h a co urt fight would prevent ava rici o us ju dges fr om cas h ing in o n th e 55 limit. Then a t least one pressu re gro up wo uld d ro p the idea. But suppose we won ? Why no t? If a bunch of expensive lawy ers co u ld get Nixon off with a p ardon a nd a pension, an ything 's possibl e, fo r a pri ce . Who 's to say th e co u ntry 's fast driving/riding ent husiast s (o f whi ch there ought to be so me 10 million ) co uld n ' t raise enough legal bra inpower for a successful cha llenge ? T h i n k ab o ut it . Yo u o wn a mo to rcycle th at ge ts 4 0 miles p er gallo n or b etter at an easy , loping 70 mph , Aren't yo u tired of feathe ri ng th e thro t tle , staring over y o ur sho ulder, and feeling lik e a h unted an imal? I am . Lane Campbe ll In the time it takes to drive your friend home. you could save his life, Your friend has a drink ing pro blem . But it's noth ing compa red to his d riving problem. Eve ry time he drives dru nk . he's ris king his life and the innocent lives of others. Every time may be t he last time. Ta ke ten minutes. O r twent v. Or an hour. Drive him home: That's al l. If you can 't do that. ca ll a ca b. O r let h im sleep on your couch. We'r enot aski ng yo u to be a doctor or a cop . We're simply as king you to be a human bein g. AFRIEND'S UFE. .--------------------.. ----------, MX gloves $2 off!! -' c. ~ genu ine cowhide heavy ribbing =~ I QO>I 1oU ::;1 I ~ ;;; ~~ O ~fl ~ reg. $9.95 . j; i I l ct ;g I ...I .§ Q.. c. -J .;:; « - :Eil ~ 1i1 Buy now and $ave!! en Send the coupon with your check or money order 10 "E tI) ]~ - 2 ::::> 0 I O ~I ~ :; DISCOUNT MAIL ORDER QJ ~ 3 ~ !: (g ~.; ::::! cn ~ u O> _ ~ ~ = . ::. .. ~ >. .~ ~ cn :1 -~ C oI .-------------------_..o---------~.I n" n o n ,' ,e rv rvo o PO Box 792 - Dept. MX. Los Alamitos. CA 90720 :11;" ,..~O , eO Q. ....... 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C'rn on .. . ) It 's aim ed at the serio us go-fas t er enduro rid er . and it if loo ks like a la te VR w ith lights. remember th at 's j ust a coi nci dence .. . dale brown suzuki jiM FisltbAClfs 2441 Long Beach Blvd., Long Beach (2 blocks south of Willow) Join the Dale Brown Discount Club Try usforallhardto getSuzuki parts YAMAllA oi [F~XrJUA1 ~~\ @ (714) 822-2252 9008 Sierra Ave., Fontana, Ca. 15

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