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Police say man on moped pointed what appeared to be a gun at a T driver
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No Helmet?
Don't moped drivers have to wear helmets also?
Yes they do
So do any passengers.
http://www.massrmv.com/rmv/license/7moped.htm
At least he's only likely to kill himself due to the lack of a helmet - and his face was fully visible when he chose to give the bus driver an ammosexual display!
I can't help but think that
I can't help but think that these announcements from the T police would be more helpful if they weren't released 14 days later. For all we know, this guy could've blown town days ago. You'd think with the tech we have now, something approaching real time reporting could be possible.
Pedantic, but that's a
Pedantic, but that's a scooter, not a moped
Truly pedantic
There's no such thing as a scooter (or technically a moped) in MA. That is a Limited Use Vehicle. The other thing is written in the law as a Motorized Bicycle (although it is abbreviated as moped on some RMV forms).
Yes it is
Mass Law is rather dated on this and the state Legislature doesn't do any real work, so we have archaic laws never getting fixed, unless its a very public fix to one overturned by courts like upskirt photography and free speech buffer zones around abortion clinics (shouldn't buffer zones around polling places be the same?). Then it takes just a couple days for a change vs. never.
Less than 4 wheels with 50cc motor or less is a motorized bicycle and can't have gears to shift, making for a speed limiter. Over 50cc is a motorcycle. Both require helmets, and the latter a motorcycle drivers license endorsement. Motorized skateboards are another category.
A helmet would have made the scooter driver harder to identify. Might have been mad that the MBTA driver cut him off pulling in or out from a stop.
Incorrect
Your definitions are incorrect or only partially correct. There are speed limitations written into the law. There's a category of Limited Use Vehicles to capture what everyone calls "scooters" which are not big/powerful enough to be on the highway but too powerful for the state to want to allow in the bike lane or to drive without insurance or a plate. You don't need a motorcycle license endorsement for the Limited Use Vehicle either. And so on...
Citation?
Got any links?
Here you go.
http://www.massrmv.com/rmv/mcmanual/3_Definitions.pdf
150cc is the scooter
150cc is the scooter>motorcycle designation.
Also over 150cc is not allowed to be parked on the sidewalk. A lot of them are though.
150cc Piaggio
I see 150cc Piaggios like the one my husband used to have, only without plates and on the sidewalk with the little scooter stickers. They share a lot of features with their 49cc cousins, but they are still motorcycles.
We bet that the people riding them haven't taken the MSF courses or otherwise earned their motorcycle licenses, either.
Well, assuming it isn't
Well, assuming it isn't covered and debadged, a police officerf would have to have fairly intimate knowledge of the brand and model in order to ticket for lack of plates if it's on the sidewalk. People just do whatever because the chances of being ticketed are fairly slim.
Worst is the idiot in the back bay with a piaggio mp3 350 (I think that's the trike model one down from the top of the line mp3 500) who attaches the enourmous bloody thing to bike racks.
Not really
The designation between Limited Use Vehicle and Motorcycle is a matter of maximum mph obtainable, not engine cc.
This OFTEN falls into the 150cc engine range, however if you can engineer a 100cc engine to get you going fast enough, you're on a motorcycle, not a Limited Use Vehicle (popularly called a scooter).
If I was a grown man wearing
If I was a grown man wearing an outfit that my 10 year old son would look really cute in, and driving a toy on a congested city street, I might have road rage too! Yes honey, your tough guy attitude will somehow create a force field between you and a bus or truck.
What a fool.
"driving a toy"
That sort of vehicle happens to be pretty common in much of the world's urban areas.
Just because they are less so in the US doesn't make them "toys".
The guy is an idiot, though.
Call it what you will...a
Call it what you will...a grown man riding one of those things looks ridiculous.
The ones that aren't flashy
The ones that aren't flashy Chinese junk are actually pretty decent looking. They price some of these absurdly low prices (like $1000) and they all have plasticy rice crap on them stock to appeal to kids and are both unsafe and gaudy.
It gets him where's he going
It's useful, gets him where he's going, and it's relatively cheap. Not everybody needs a Harley to prove their manhood.
People without a clue say the same thing about cyclists, too.
A grown man
... who equates adulthood with a motor vehicle sounds ridiculous.