More than 100 dirt bikes and ATVs ride through DC with impunity

[Anonymous]

" Think about all of the commuters who invade DC every workday with their cars. "

Good point, and WAZE commuters are the worst. Commuting is dumb. Live near work. If anything, young DC residents should have priority. They live here. Commuters don't. Commuters are like the junk mail USPS delivers. Please get rid of them both. If you are a DC resident, commuters are a scourge. Once again DCUM forces me to reconsider an issue whose side I am on I have always taken for granted. Just do something about the noise - DC should supply free mufflers. By the way, I spent some time this summer off the grid in a remote portion of Vermont and it only took a SINGLE dirt bike or ATV, even miles and miles away, to drive me crazy. Everything is relative. I could hear a pin drop up there. I definitely need my very own planet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Why aren't the boys who invade DC every weekend riding them in the woods, where it's legal and they won't hurt anyone? Unless the goal is to intimidate and break laws with impunity? Hmm.

You can't "invade DC" when you're a DC resident.

Why do they ride in DC? Because they live in DC.

Maybe most, but not all of them.

https://patch.com/virginia/arlington-va/100-atvs-dirt-bikes-invade-arlington-again-police

Eh. Think about all of the commuters who invade DC every workday with their cars.

DC needs those commuters or they'd be worse off than now. Imagine if those thousands of workers didn't descend into DC every day to spend money directly and indirectly keeping DC afloat. It would look worse than Baltimore.

The commuters are fine. But they can leave their cars at home, please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
It's not whataboutism. These kids are more likely to hurt someone black than someone white but your concern is about people pointing out the danger. Its irony.

And who says no one else is concerned about reckless driving in other vehicles in DC? You are setting up strawman arguments that no one made. This post was about an incident that happened recently and keeps happening over and over with no resolution in sight. Anyone recklessly driving through DC is getting a ticket and no one would complain.

That's factually incorrect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It's not whataboutism. These kids are more likely to hurt someone black than someone white but your concern is about people pointing out the danger. Its irony.

And who says no one else is concerned about reckless driving in other vehicles in DC? You are setting up strawman arguments that no one made. This post was about an incident that happened recently and keeps happening over and over with no resolution in sight. Anyone recklessly driving through DC is getting a ticket and no one would complain.

That's factually incorrect.

True. The kids on dirt bikes get off Scott free.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Why aren't the boys who invade DC every weekend riding them in the woods, where it's legal and they won't hurt anyone? Unless the goal is to intimidate and break laws with impunity? Hmm.

You can't "invade DC" when you're a DC resident.

Why do they ride in DC? Because they live in DC.

Maybe most, but not all of them.

https://patch.com/virginia/arlington-va/100-atvs-dirt-bikes-invade-arlington-again-police

Eh. Think about all of the commuters who invade DC every workday with their cars.

DC needs those commuters or they'd be worse off than now. Imagine if those thousands of workers didn't descend into DC every day to spend money directly and indirectly keeping DC afloat. It would look worse than Baltimore.

The commuters are fine. But they can leave their cars at home, please.

And get robbed or cursed out by the teenaged angels riding metro? No thanks. Wasn't there a post recently about them setting off bottle rockets on the train cars? Yeah, no. I'll be driving in with doors locked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

And get robbed or cursed out by the teenaged angels riding metro? No thanks. Wasn't there a post recently about them setting off bottle rockets on the train cars? Yeah, no. I'll be driving in with doors locked.

Please stop invading DC with your car.

[Anonymous]

I think that a lot of the posters here that are equating this with other reckless driving in DC aren't grasping the full magnitude of Sunday's event. My family, including my 5 year old in the backseat, got caught directly in the mass of dirtbikes/ATVs on Georgia Ave. It wasn't just one, or a few of these bikes driving recklessly. It was hundreds of them running red lights at high speeds, speeding on the wrong side of the road, riding up onto the sidewalks into the grassy areas beyond, and narrowly missing hitting both pedestrians and other vehicles on the road while taunting them. The estimate that one article gave of 100 bikes isn't accurate - there were at least 200, if not more. It was terrifying.

And yes, I regularly do get mad about cars (yes, they are often commuters) driving recklessly through DC streets, and I wish the police did more about it. I live on a street that people frequently use as an alternate to Georgia Ave, and I find myself yelling at cars a few times a week for not stopping for pedestrians in the crosswalk, speeding, etc. The difference from this event is that it isn't hundreds of cars driving recklessly at one time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think that a lot of the posters here that are equating this with other reckless driving in DC aren't grasping the full magnitude of Sunday's event. My family, including my 5 year old in the backseat, got caught directly in the mass of dirtbikes/ATVs on Georgia Ave. It wasn't just one, or a few of these bikes driving recklessly. It was hundreds of them running red lights at high speeds, speeding on the wrong side of the road, riding up onto the sidewalks into the grassy areas beyond, and narrowly missing hitting both pedestrians and other vehicles on the road while taunting them. The estimate that one article gave of 100 bikes isn't accurate - there were at least 200, if not more. It was terrifying.

And yes, I regularly do get mad about cars (yes, they are often commuters) driving recklessly through DC streets, and I wish the police did more about it. I live on a street that people frequently use as an alternate to Georgia Ave, and I find myself yelling at cars a few times a week for not stopping for pedestrians in the crosswalk, speeding, etc. The difference from this event is that it isn't hundreds of cars driving recklessly at one time.

Yes, it's scary. All cases of reckless driving are scary. It doesn't matter what you're driving recklessly. The reckless driving is the issue, not the dirt bikes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think that a lot of the posters here that are equating this with other reckless driving in DC aren't grasping the full magnitude of Sunday's event. My family, including my 5 year old in the backseat, got caught directly in the mass of dirtbikes/ATVs on Georgia Ave. It wasn't just one, or a few of these bikes driving recklessly. It was hundreds of them running red lights at high speeds, speeding on the wrong side of the road, riding up onto the sidewalks into the grassy areas beyond, and narrowly missing hitting both pedestrians and other vehicles on the road while taunting them. The estimate that one article gave of 100 bikes isn't accurate - there were at least 200, if not more. It was terrifying.

And yes, I regularly do get mad about cars (yes, they are often commuters) driving recklessly through DC streets, and I wish the police did more about it. I live on a street that people frequently use as an alternate to Georgia Ave, and I find myself yelling at cars a few times a week for not stopping for pedestrians in the crosswalk, speeding, etc. The difference from this event is that it isn't hundreds of cars driving recklessly at one time.

Yes, it's scary. All cases of reckless driving are scary. It doesn't matter what you're driving recklessly. The reckless driving is the issue, not the dirt bikes.

Except it wouldn't be possible for hundreds of cars to drive recklessly at the same time in the radius that the dirtbikes were. I have no issue if the city wants to legalize them/require registration/teach safety courses, but there needs to be a better plan of action in place by the city, and particularly the police, when events like this happen so they aren't just given free rein of the city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Irrelevant.

Why?

Because you don't start arguing about laws you don't like once you've been accused of breaking it. That is not a valid defense in any jurisdiction.

I haven't been accused of breaking any laws about dirt bikes.

I'm asking why dirt bikes should be illegal in DC.

Have you tried googling it and becoming more informed? Or do you prefer ignorance? Many do. Less work that way.

Still no explanation of why dirt bikes (vs the dangerous operation of motor vehicles) should be illegal in DC.

If something is illegal, it’s illegal, regardless of whether you get an explanation or not. It is still illegal. Dangerous operation of motor vehicles is also illegal, regardless of if they are all caught.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Irrelevant.

Why?

Because you don't start arguing about laws you don't like once you've been accused of breaking it. That is not a valid defense in any jurisdiction.

I haven't been accused of breaking any laws about dirt bikes.

I'm asking why dirt bikes should be illegal in DC.

Have you tried googling it and becoming more informed? Or do you prefer ignorance? Many do. Less work that way.

Still no explanation of why dirt bikes (vs the dangerous operation of motor vehicles) should be illegal in DC.

If something is illegal, it’s illegal, regardless of whether you get an explanation or not. It is still illegal. Dangerous operation of motor vehicles is also illegal, regardless of if they are all caught.

+1
To add, the drivers are deliberately shielding their faces, and it is an extremely loud event when it happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

If something is illegal, it’s illegal, regardless of whether you get an explanation or not. It is still illegal. Dangerous operation of motor vehicles is also illegal, regardless of if they are all caught.

Generally laws are instituted for a reason. What is the reason for the law the bans dirt bikes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think that a lot of the posters here that are equating this with other reckless driving in DC aren't grasping the full magnitude of Sunday's event. My family, including my 5 year old in the backseat, got caught directly in the mass of dirtbikes/ATVs on Georgia Ave. It wasn't just one, or a few of these bikes driving recklessly. It was hundreds of them running red lights at high speeds, speeding on the wrong side of the road, riding up onto the sidewalks into the grassy areas beyond, and narrowly missing hitting both pedestrians and other vehicles on the road while taunting them. The estimate that one article gave of 100 bikes isn't accurate - there were at least 200, if not more. It was terrifying.

And yes, I regularly do get mad about cars (yes, they are often commuters) driving recklessly through DC streets, and I wish the police did more about it. I live on a street that people frequently use as an alternate to Georgia Ave, and I find myself yelling at cars a few times a week for not stopping for pedestrians in the crosswalk, speeding, etc. The difference from this event is that it isn't hundreds of cars driving recklessly at one time.

Yes, it's scary. All cases of reckless driving are scary. It doesn't matter what you're driving recklessly. The reckless driving is the issue, not the dirt bikes.

Except it wouldn't be possible for hundreds of cars to drive recklessly at the same time in the radius that the dirtbikes were. I have no issue if the city wants to legalize them/require registration/teach safety courses, but there needs to be a better plan of action in place by the city, and particularly the police, when events like this happen so they aren't just given free rein of the city.

Yes, it's not possible for hundreds of people to drive cars in the same space, because cars occupy much more space.

But hundreds (if not more) of people drive cars dangerously in DC every day, day after day after day after day. It's a routine occurrence. We don't even notice, because it's just everyday life.

Whereas a group of people driving dirt bikes dangerously is an unusual occurrence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

If something is illegal, it’s illegal, regardless of whether you get an explanation or not. It is still illegal. Dangerous operation of motor vehicles is also illegal, regardless of if they are all caught.

Generally laws are instituted for a reason. What is the reason for the law the bans dirt bikes?

because they don’t have safety inspections like street legal vehicles do. They also use 2 stroke engines which are highly polluting .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

If something is illegal, it’s illegal, regardless of whether you get an explanation or not. It is still illegal. Dangerous operation of motor vehicles is also illegal, regardless of if they are all caught.

Generally laws are instituted for a reason. What is the reason for the law the bans dirt bikes?

because they don’t have safety inspections like street legal vehicles do. They also use 2 stroke engines which are highly polluting .

No safety inspections for cars in West Virginia either, but they're allowed on DC streets.

Diesel dump trucks are highly polluting, but they're allowed on DC streets.