Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

.0 FREE WHEELING race 01 champions By lane Campbell Vic tor Gables' letter (" La wyer finds sp eeding ticket defense" -Voices, Feb. 2 issue # 4) was especially timely in light of the proposal , put before th e ,Ca liforn ia legislatu re th is year, to spend $62 ,000 to let th e California Highway Patrol "ex perime n t" with rad ar. It ties in di rectl y to th e move mention ed by Gables to repeal th e speed ing ticket defense in Vehicle Codes Section 40802 a n d 40804 , whi ch he cite d , It goe s d eep er than just making the old Cops vs. Speed ers gam e a " fa ir fight. " L ast yea r th e legislature bea t down a bill ca lling for upw ards of $800.000 to be spe nt a rm ing th e patrol with rada r. Whether they were balking at th e cost or looking deeper int o th e mailer is u ncert a in . Appa rently th e CHP radar lobby feels a "c heaper" p lan will go through. With V.C . 40802 and 40804 in thei r way, however , they cannot sell t he program to t h e leg isl at ors as "Cheap" - not wh ile a n en lightened citize nry knows of this defense. W hy? Because anyw here t h ey use their "experimental" rad ar un its (assu mi ng th ey ge t the m) , they must have , in han d , a recent engi neeri ng tr a ffic survey th a t j ustifies th e post ed speed limit. Think about t hat. On Cal iforn ia 's fre ewa y syste m . a ny traffic st udies tak en befor e th e crisis- imposed 55 mph speed limit will sho w ave rage speeds far great er than three m ph over th e limit (as spelled ou t in the Vehicle Cod e) ; th er efor e und e r t hose circums ta nces, th e 55 lim it becomes tot ally un enfor ceabl e by rada r. -So in addition to the $62 ,000 th ey'r e asking for th e radar uni ts , the re's a n uncertain "h id de n cost" of new traffic surveys tha t will have to be don e before th ey ca n usc the equi pmen t. Let a cost -consciou s legisla tor chew on that fact , a nd we'll see how much support th er e is for "exp erimenta l" radar. While we'r e on th e su bjec t of new traffi c surveys, co nside r thi s, The way people a re honoring th e 55 lim it "i n the breach " th ese d ays, wh o ca n guara fitee th a t a new su rvey will ju stify th e limi t under th e law ? More . wasted money, if it doesn 't. Hey, let's fac e it - th e on ly tim e a nd pla ce t hey'll ge t a survey average less th an 55 mph is on th e Hollywood Freeway- in bo und a t 9:00 a . rn. So - in order to sell t hei r "expe riment" to th e legislators th ey also have to sell th e repea l or mod ification of V.C. 40802 a nd 40804 relat ing to "speed tra ps ." They ha ve an a dded in centive - th e fact that if th e Feds a ren 't sati sfi ed with how th ey're enforcing the 55 limit , Ca lifornia wiII stand to lose p art of its highway fund money , Same scena rio as with th e . mandatory helmet law . Why keep t he speed trap provisions int ac t? Maybe it's for the sa me reason they wer e enacted in the first p lace. Californians are a ll too famil iar with the stereotyped sm a ll sou the rn town where the loca ls erec t 25 mph sig ns on a major thorou gh fare and hide in th e bushes to co llec t , ra tu tities fro m g (Contin ued on pag e 29) ••••• I] you don 't ride so far, the way back w ill be shorter. FREE s.o.s. 1977 MX CATALOG Do youhave trouble locating name brand MX items? Try TF. Number One Products - -' TERRYCABlE . WORKS Performance - THOR Enterp r ises FOX SHOX - saw - HOS S - MOTOTE K Ma ~k Cha r le s MARZOCCHI - CERIAN I Phase 2 J T Raci ng HI· POIN T C.T. Alla y SUN Cha in T it e Miku ni Pro -Tee lect r on Wi.eco BA TES T F Rac ing Ban k Americard COD -U PS Mas fer Charge TF RACING (209) 7 95 ·29 8 1 Box 2/5 Aver Ca.95224 Save on Suzukis All RM Models All TS a GT Models All GS a PE Models priced super low! priced super low! priced super low! We can mail order parts anywhere in the U.S.A. ~1 Suzuki of Van NUYS _1 Calif ornia's No .1 Volume Suzuki Dealer 16141 Sherman Way . Van Nuvs, CA 213994 ·28 00 213·994·2882 3 block s West of the San DIego Freeway 3

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