Busted!
I got pulled over by a cop two days ago had my moped declared "unfit" and got a nice collection of fines and my plates taken away.
According to him the following things need to be changed to make it fit for the road:
Horn: I had it disconnected because it kept going off without me pressing the button. I plugged it back in and it was it's usual not very audible self. It also went on when I took my finger off the button. I don't really see the problem here as the engine is louder then the horn anyways, and AFIK there are no standards for how loud they have to be.
Brakes: Like many older mopeds my brakes shoes are glazed and don't work that great, but there was no issue with them potentially failing. I can't find safety standards for brakes other then this: "any bonded brake lining is thinner than 1.5 millimeters (1/16 inch) at its thinnest point" as an example of the minimum allowed for a brake shoe.
Tire: My front tire was the original so it was dried out tiny surface cracks. The treads are fine though. I also tested the tire by drawing with a hi-liter on the largest cracks and then over inflated the tire overnight to see of they got bigger.
Brake lights: apparently I need a brake light. Most older mopeds don't have them and hand signals are allowed up until dusk. Again, I don't see the problem here.
Speedometer: It wasn't hooked up either. I know that an odometer used to be the only requirement under the HTA and I didn't have that either, but wasn't written up for it. According to a site I found I need one to get a Safety Standards Certificate (SSC).
Chain guards: I know you need these for motorcycles, but I'm not sure about mopeds. Its not like there is any real safety issue since my pants are not close enough to the belt to get caught when riding.
Tire Pressure: It was supposed to be around 35psi, but he measured it at 26. I later measured it with my digital gauge at 27psi rear, 28psi front. They should be about 1-2 psi higher since we both let a bit of air our of the tires when measuring the pressure.
He was also nice enough to give me a few other tickets:
Failing to signal a stop: I only bother making a hand signal if I think I should wand the person behind me because I'm stopping unexpectedly. I assumed that since he was signaling for me to pull over that he knew I was about to stop.
Having two licenses: I applied for a G1 a month or two ago and kept the temporary one wrapped around my registration in a weird part of my wallet. When I got my new plastic license I put it in the regular card part of my wallet and forgot about the temporary one, so I had two licenses. This law is obviously meant for people who are doing something abusive with the multiple licenses, but I got charged anyways.
Invalid sticker: I went and got my new sticker at the same time as I got the G1 temporary license and forgot to put it on my plate, so it was inside my folded up temporary license and registration. I think the point of a plate sticker is revenue for the province and as a was to make sure that people pay fines before getting it. Since I had it on me I had obviously satisfied those requirements.
It seems obvious to me that the cop was excessive in the tickets he wrote, either he didn't like me or didn't like mopeds.
To get my plate back I need get a certified shop to do a safety inspection. The problem is that as far as I can tell, and as for as anyone in the government that I have called there are no safety standards for mopeds other then what is in the HTA. This is good in that if it is impossible to do then the "Certificate of inspection of Defective Vehicle" that I got is then invalid.
I'm going to keep updating this for any others that might get stuck in this unfortunate situation.
According to him the following things need to be changed to make it fit for the road:
Horn: I had it disconnected because it kept going off without me pressing the button. I plugged it back in and it was it's usual not very audible self. It also went on when I took my finger off the button. I don't really see the problem here as the engine is louder then the horn anyways, and AFIK there are no standards for how loud they have to be.
Brakes: Like many older mopeds my brakes shoes are glazed and don't work that great, but there was no issue with them potentially failing. I can't find safety standards for brakes other then this: "any bonded brake lining is thinner than 1.5 millimeters (1/16 inch) at its thinnest point" as an example of the minimum allowed for a brake shoe.
Tire: My front tire was the original so it was dried out tiny surface cracks. The treads are fine though. I also tested the tire by drawing with a hi-liter on the largest cracks and then over inflated the tire overnight to see of they got bigger.
Brake lights: apparently I need a brake light. Most older mopeds don't have them and hand signals are allowed up until dusk. Again, I don't see the problem here.
Speedometer: It wasn't hooked up either. I know that an odometer used to be the only requirement under the HTA and I didn't have that either, but wasn't written up for it. According to a site I found I need one to get a Safety Standards Certificate (SSC).
Chain guards: I know you need these for motorcycles, but I'm not sure about mopeds. Its not like there is any real safety issue since my pants are not close enough to the belt to get caught when riding.
Tire Pressure: It was supposed to be around 35psi, but he measured it at 26. I later measured it with my digital gauge at 27psi rear, 28psi front. They should be about 1-2 psi higher since we both let a bit of air our of the tires when measuring the pressure.
He was also nice enough to give me a few other tickets:
Failing to signal a stop: I only bother making a hand signal if I think I should wand the person behind me because I'm stopping unexpectedly. I assumed that since he was signaling for me to pull over that he knew I was about to stop.
Having two licenses: I applied for a G1 a month or two ago and kept the temporary one wrapped around my registration in a weird part of my wallet. When I got my new plastic license I put it in the regular card part of my wallet and forgot about the temporary one, so I had two licenses. This law is obviously meant for people who are doing something abusive with the multiple licenses, but I got charged anyways.
Invalid sticker: I went and got my new sticker at the same time as I got the G1 temporary license and forgot to put it on my plate, so it was inside my folded up temporary license and registration. I think the point of a plate sticker is revenue for the province and as a was to make sure that people pay fines before getting it. Since I had it on me I had obviously satisfied those requirements.
It seems obvious to me that the cop was excessive in the tickets he wrote, either he didn't like me or didn't like mopeds.
To get my plate back I need get a certified shop to do a safety inspection. The problem is that as far as I can tell, and as for as anyone in the government that I have called there are no safety standards for mopeds other then what is in the HTA. This is good in that if it is impossible to do then the "Certificate of inspection of Defective Vehicle" that I got is then invalid.
I'm going to keep updating this for any others that might get stuck in this unfortunate situation.
posted by Lars @ 1:01 PM
7 Comments:
At 2/24/2006 3:42 PM,
Anonymous said…
WOW!
Tough Luck Lars, Sorry to hear about all the crap. I thought about this though, and it seems as if you have just had a reality check.
With all the profile given with the SML nowadays, I am guessing the cops will be out in full force stopping any moped they see. God help you getting stopped on a pocket bike, but to anyone with a vintge moped, better make any obvious repairs.
Exactly how many fines, and how much did you get?
Bill
At 2/24/2006 7:24 PM,
Lindsay R Casey said…
dude, that SUCKS. i'm so sorry.
At 2/25/2006 7:23 AM,
Anonymous said…
I think you got a cop on a bad day. I would take those tickets to court. BTW mopeds are exempt from the "Safety Standards" that other vehicles are required to meet. Also, all you have to meet is the standards of the vehicle when it was manufactured.
So go fight those tickets.
Good luck
Paul
At 2/25/2006 1:35 PM,
Bjerg said…
yeah admit a few problems but definitely fight it. Try to show the judge you're a responsible moped owner. I don't think you can get all the tickets thrown out, but some of the more frivolous ones should be fine. The ones you should concede are probably the horn and liscense issues - they'd definitely ticket car drivers for those offenses so you're stuck there.
I think almost anyone would agree that getting all those tickets for a grab-bag of reasons like that is just asinine and clearly a case of the cop coming down unfairly on you. I mean seriously, the failure to stop ticket is grossly abusive, not to mention silly as hell. Make sure you know the regs when you go, like Bruce says.
At 2/26/2006 9:22 PM,
Freddie said…
Lars, This guy wanted to teach you a lesson. He hit you with every thing in the book he could think of. They do it to street racers all the time. Maybe they have it out for mopeds now.
Lars, enter a not guilty plea and have your say in court. It'll probably take about a year for your first hearing, anyway.
For your own safety though, make all the necessary repairs, ie: tires, horn, brake light, head light, chain guard. You should have at least one mirror. Trust me, when it comes to safety, don't play games. Your playing with your life. The expenses you need to make are not great. Just do it!
At 2/27/2006 3:49 AM,
Lars said…
The only things I feel actually are a problem are that my brakes suck and that I don't have a brake light/turn signals. The horn is more of a legal issue as my engine is much louder, but an air horn might be nice. Legally I'm sure that I can get out of basically everything he wrote me up for, but I have a lot of research to do.
At 2/28/2006 8:57 AM,
Anonymous said…
It's a wake-up call, Lars. Plead guilty with an explanation to those charges on which they have you cold, like the licence issue (I forgot to get rid of the old licence) and the horn issue ( I was riding it to find out what worked and what didn't, so I could get it going for spring), and you might get away with it. Chances are the cop won't turn up anyway.
On the other hand, the last time we rode, your bike was pretty shambolic, so it's probably time to do what freddy says and make the cheap and necessary repairs to make it worthy and reliable. Good luck.
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