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Florida: Police Hope to Seize Motorcycles Without Trial
Florida Highway Patrol seized 344 motorcycles last year by accusing owners of a felony.

The Florida Highway Patrol on Thursday showed off a trio of high-powered sport motorcycles it had recently seized, including the $9300 Yamaha YZF-R6.



"All the law says is we get the tag number, we just come and pick up the bike," Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Kim Miller told the Orlando Sentinel newspaper.

Last year, the force grabbed the rides of 344 motorcyclists, usually claiming that their owners had run from the police -- a felony -- based on a memory of a license plate number. No police car can keep up with either a sport bike's top speed or ability to accelerate, and Florida police have a policy restricting high-speed chases. Although police claim the confiscation policy is done to save the lives of innocent motorists, no automobile driver has been killed by a motorcyclist on the run.

The most common state police tactic is to accuse a motorcyclist of a felony, initiate the seizure proceeding, then drop the charges. This allows police get to keep the sport bike without the effort of a court battle or the danger of a not guilty verdict. Even an innocent motorcyclist will think twice about fighting an an unjust seizure since the felony charges carry jail time and a permanent black mark on more than just the driving record.

Source: http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/15/1537.asp

Don

glad i live in aus..

what PIGS. that sort of $hit makes me wild.

Sounds like a hell of a scam they got there. They better have more proof than their word that I ran.

I won't ride in Florida. You have the police on one side, idiots like Billy Lane on the other and a whole lot of retirees who simply can't drive worth a crap. If you aren' killed by one you might be canned by the other.

based on a memory of a license plate number

Ok, so if Jim Boy and Atta Boy "think" that last number was an 8 instead of a 3 I could lose my bike because they got the wrong plate number? What a crock of sh!t.

I can't see this "law" lasting. I don't see how memory alone holding up in court. If they have video evidence that's one thing. Either that or the lawsuits that are bound to follow will kill this eventually.

It probably will be ammended to "those convicted of the felony" which it should had been in teh first place. Idiot biker runs, gets arrested after, bike impounded. After teh trial if found not guilty of the felony the bike is returned. If found guilty, sold dat auction.

FL probably is going hardball like this due to the number of complete retards running from cops and endagering everyone on the road.

I realize they have to be able to do something for all the morons out there, but they had better be damned sure who they are going after.

Don't they have a law in California that if you get busted for racing they can take your car/bike and have it crushed?

YZF Rob's probably got it right ... some people deserve to have their bike taken. I ride like crazzy and don't ever get tickets in FL ... because there's so many worse riders. If you keep your 100+mph sprints on the BIG roads instead of populated, congested streets in the middle of town, your all right. I always cut lanes up to the front of the line at bridges to get off and watch the boats go by. This time I actually drove in the oncoming lane to the front , right by a cop. He got out walked up to me and gave me a warning ticket and said not to do it in his town. Now in IL they ticket you EVERY time they get out of the cruisers ... no matter what. I got a lawyer to fight a 'median violation' ticket for when I pulled over after a guy rear ended me. They don't do that too in FL that's for sure.

sorry guys, but im glad im aussie. your cops sound like powerhungry dickheads. people would not put up with that shit were i am from. you work with the police and vice versa, it keep the places we live in safe. when you have piss ant big head cops like that running around, the general public gets angry with the police and trouble happens. if only some people were not too blind to see.

anyway, thats my rant.

have a banana

yes, most cops in the states are powerhungry dickheads. it's even worse when there's a bike involved.

I remember when I was riding a Suzuki and had a cop with a Hardley jacket on come to the scene of our little accident. He was such an understanding individual that he let the cager go without a ticket for running me over. Seems he had no problem understanding how someone driving southwest couldn't see a burnt orange motorcycle at 6:30AM on a clear, crisp fall morning.

I remember when I was riding a Suzuki and had a cop with a Hardley jacket on come to the scene

There's the mismatch - you either needed to be riding a Harley or have a cop wearing a "Got Rice?" jacket come to the scene in order to get his support.

DOn