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I am thus pleased on a sentimental level, not to mention an economic level, to see the Aberdeen Police Department encouraging its officers to get out and ride. Officer Mike Law (can't make that name up!) tells KELO that riding his Harley for work is fun and saves the city money. A happy cop might be a little more inclined to give you a friendly warning rather than a speeding ticket.
Plus every day patrolling on a motorcycle could easily cut fuel costs for an individual officer by over 50%. Consider that a standard 2008 Crown Victoria gets 15 mpg in the city and 23 on the highway, while a new Buell Ulysses police motorcycle can get 51 city, 64 country.
Cops on motorcycles are also a statement against the "bigger is better" argument that gets everyone in SUVs. Too many drivers think they need to drive a tank down the Interstate or to the mall to keep themselves safe in a wreck. Police probably face more automotive threats than anyone else on the road, and yet they are willing to take to the streets on two wheels, without two tons of metal around them.
I don't expect to see the South Dakota brethern of Ponch and Jon out on their service Harleys in December. But if Officer Law can face the mean streets of Aberdeen on his open Harley every now and then, the rest of us can consider driving smaller vehicles.
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Update 2008.05.27: An eager reader submits this photo of one of Madison's finest on the city police motorcycle during a DSU homecoming parade. The reader says we have a lot of riders on the force. Let's hope we see more of Chief Pulford and Officers Haug, O'Loughlen, et al. out patrolling with their big, buggy smiles!
Cory, I don't know if you realize it, but Madison PD has a Police Harley that you see running around once in awhile. I think it was donated to the City. Of course, this spring (extended winter) has not been great for patroling on a bike between the cold weather and hurricane winds, but maybe we'll see it out patroling soon.
ReplyDeleteOne big issue with the trend to scooters and motorcycles that concerns me is training before people hit the streets. The other day, two high schoolers were riding their scooters up Division Avenue as I was driving my truck down the same street. They were talking to each other, side by side, one of the scooters was directly in my lane coming right at me. I literally had to honk my horn to alert them that they were about to run into me, and then they both almost tipped over.
Fuel economy is one thing, and I admire the effort, but people need to be educated about riding a scooter or motorcycle before they hit the streets. Some of these folks think these scooters are just bicycles with an engine and I suspect we'll see more tragedies as they are involved in accidents due to drivers not paying attention or knowing the rules of the road.
I hear you anon. Today my family and I were out and about and saw 2 motorscooters with 2 people on each tearing throuh he trails on one of the parks. They were hitting bumps really hard and making them bounce as they went. I just shook my head.
ReplyDeleteWe ended up over on Division as well and there were the two scooters again. They were doing the same thing and swerving around on the road. Now I am sure that was really alot of fun, but who are they going to blame when they get hit by a car?? Would they think they were at fault? Probably not. The only good thing I noticed were the drivers were wearing helmets. Unfortunately I can't say the same thing for their passengers.
Madison has a police Harley? Great! I hope to see more of it (just not with its flashers in my rearview mirror).
ReplyDeleteSafety: indeed, riders do need education. But if a few reckless drivers were reason not to promote a form of transportation, we'd all be walking.
And I'd still rather see kids out and about on scooters than in big SUVs that burn more gas and do more damage.