August 15, 2007
Should Scooters Get a Pass on Registration Laws?
Over at the Examiner, Scott McCabe points us to the rage of L'Enfant Cafe co-owner Christopher Lynch, who was reportedly arrested and jailed for several hours last week after being caught riding an unregistered scooter. After hearing similar stories from a friend and a pizza delivery driver who works nearby, McCabe posted a rant on the door to his restaurant, decrying the mixed up priorities of the MPD, who in his view are aggressively targeting scooter riders while more serious violent crimes in the Adams Morgan neigborhood remain unsolved.
The article notes a couple of interesting facts about scooters: they are relatively environmentally friendly, getting far better gas mileage than automobiles, and the police believe drug dealers use them to ... peddle their wares, so to speak. We will admit to not being aware of the latter trend -- it seems somewhat preposterous to suggest that people driving adorable Vespas are automatically more suspicious than any other person, but if any drug dealers are reading our site and wish to verify that scooters are in fact the mode of transportation of choice for their set, we'll happily accept the argument.
But the real story here is, of course, that Lynch was caught not in compliance with the law, and he's bummed out about it. As anyone who has ever gone through the interminable vehicle registration process in the District knows, it's just one of those things you have to go through to earn your stripes as a D.C. resident. If you buy a scooter, you have to register it, just like any other vehicle. Should these folks really be given special consideration because they are more environmentally conscious, or because they may be being more aggressively targeted because they're suspected of being drug dealers? Of course not.
Now, the question of whether unregistered vehicles merit arrests or deserve merely tickets is another matter. Being thrown in the slammer for a few hours does seem an excessive punishment for this kind of offense -- Lynch's sign also accuses the MPD of making these kinds of arrests in an effort to boost their stats during Chief Lanier's "All Hands on Deck" initiatives this summer. Still, allow us to point out the instructions for first-time vehicle registration in D.C., readily available on the internet. Do you think Lynch's anger is justified?
Photo by katmere
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what is the law based on again? is it engines below a certain c.c.? i was under the impression things like motorbikes and those midget crotchrockets didn't need to be registered.
anyhow i see more dudes tearing ass through the streets no helmets up sidewalks, whatever, whylding out on those things than i do people put-putting along on their vespa thowbacks.
Everyone bitches when they get fined for something by cop that cops have "better" things to do more "important" things to investigate. Somehow, I think it's a different department investigating murders than ticketing illegally parked cars or scooter patrol. I'm sure the Segway squad wasn't put together to combat terrorism, either. You got caught for something on the books, and if it's a law they should enforce it or get the worthless thing out of the codes.
No wonder McCabe is angry. It's not like he was committing some heinous crime, like walking his pooch off-leash.
It would be useful if the DMV site would actually define (in a conspicuous place) what they consider a "vehicle" to be for purposes of registration. A quick read over of their site doesn't readily present that information. You have to go to "fees" to see that there's a fee for "motorized bicyle registration" ($25 - apparently a one-time fee), but again no definition of what does or does not qualify to have to register. Not terribly helpful.
@guest1
I agree, my wife and I put around on a Vespa (we live in MD though, but drive in the district quite a bit) and have not registered in either DC or MD. We were always under the impression (even told by other Vespa riders) that registration wasn't required.
I actually noticed the signs at L'Enfant on my way to work this morning and what I was able to glean from a quick look is that it's a rant, yes, but also a PSA. Kind of a "Hey, this happened to me, don't let it happen to you, and oh did I mention I feel pretty aggrieved about it?" I don't think this kind of violation merits a night in jail, but it's definitely unreasonable for him or anyone else similarly situated to expect a pass on any sort of consequences.
A few years ago, there was a rash of kids running wild on motorbikes in certain neighborhoods. If the crack down on unregistered scooters keeps that problem from re-occuring, then I'm all for it. Lynch should shut up, sit down and obey the law.
By the way, DMV is not the ordeal it used to be. In fact, you can even renew online.
"Motorbikes and those midget crotchrockets" probably don't need to be registered, guest (1), but they're also not legal to ride on the street, no matter what kind of paperwork you've filed.
Vespas and other full size scooters may not get up to Beltway speeds, but they're running in traffic just like any car or motorcycle. I think it makes perfect sense that they need to be registered, get a license plate, the whole nine yards. The environmental argument is a total red herring ... are we going to let Prius owners, or people who run their cars on bio-diesel, just not register their vehicles because they're better for the environment? Of course not, and it shouldn't be part of the discussion here.
Some scooters are not exactly environmentally friendly. Gas mileage isn't everything. Those old bikes with 2-stroke motors that some people ride around are much more dirty than an auto engine. They have made great advances in 2-stroke engines in the past 5 years. From what I can tell, there is only one Vespa model that uses the old style motor.
Anyway, Lynch's anger is certainly justified. There's no reason for jail time here.
I have my scooter registered. It certainly isn't an easy process in DC and they still have it screwed up (my manufacturer wasn't in their computer, so my title now identifies my Kymco scooter as a Kawasaki motorcycle). The other scooter issue that comes up a lot is parking -- if you do bother to license your scooter and leave your license plate on it when you lock it to a street light, chances are you'll get a $100 ticket for "parking on the sidewalk". Finally, the DC Motorcycle road test (which you are supposed to have to drive a scooter) is a complete joke: "drive around this parking lot once. Ok. You passed."
Jail time is a rather harsh punishment for the offense. Why not a warning/fine allowing 20 or so days for him to register his scooter? Such harsh punishment for a seemingly innocuous act makes individuals angry at the already flawed system.
Anything over 49cc is treated like a car or mortorcycle and needs to be registered. It's a safety thing- environmental correctness is completely beside the point.
Drug dealers use both scooters and bikes for the obvious reason that they are concealable, easily available, and have great mobility advantages vs cars, horses, or Segways. An interesting side fact- that abandoned car on your street- the one that people never seem to move, has bogus temp tags, and people come and go between is probably being used to store contraban.
I've got a vintage vespa scooter. 200cc. It's a 2-stroke. It's registered in the district. It's just like registering any other vehicle in the district, a pain in the ass, but that's the law, it needs to be registered.
The newer scooters are much more environmentally friendly than a car and yes the old ones not so. But the old ones don't have to meet the same emissions tests as newer cars. The are grandfathered in just like old cars are.
As for the scooterists that are saying that other people told me I didn't have to do it, go and check it out for yourself, don't rely on others words. Heck I was told you didn't need a helmet in DC by other scooterists, but the fact is you need one.
DC considers "motorized bikes" as Class A vehicles. Which they have down as a $25 registration fee, however unlike car and motorcycles this is a one time fee (since there is not "/year" next to the $25). The bigger question is insurance, DC requires anyone getting a registration to have an insurance policy, at minimum it, must contain the following liability coverage.
Coverage Minimum Amount
Property Damage Liability $10,000
Third Party Liability $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident
Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident
Uninsured Motorist property damage $5,000 subject to $200 deductible
What is really interesting are the bicycle registration requirements, just wait until DCPD gets really tough and starts throwing unregistered bicyclist in jail.
Come on, MPD isn't ignoring real crime....they ticketed people at the dog park just the other day!
I highly doubt this is true. If a bicycle can (and should) be on the street, why wouldn't a motorized bicycle be allowed on the street?
On another note, I don't understand the complaints about the registration process. I'm not sure what you people are expecting, but I have found registering a car in DC to be a breeze. If you've ever had to do it in Virginia, you count your blessings when going through the registration and, in particular, inspection process in the District.
Don't you have to register your BIKE in DC?
VA and many other states don't require anything special if you are riding a 50 cc or under. DC applies the full DMV regime for safety, parking, driving ability, etc. to anything larger than an electric bike. (For the record, you can get a ticket on a bicycle too.)
But Guest #10's post shows us that despite any legislative rationalization for the state regulating scooter use and ownership, the regulations and procedures created to support the safety end of things, i.e., the driving test, are a joke. The system created to register ownership (i.e. so that police can see if that 12 year old riding a $4000 vespa owns it) are a joke because they don't even include one of the most common scooter manufactureres (Kymco--a lot of people drive the "Kymco People 50" model).
So the city really doesn't care about scooter safety or preventing theft of scooters, which is common. What do they care about? Revenue. Issuing parking tickets for parking on the sidewalk as if you were a car parked half across the sidewalk. DC just wants your money. If you don't register you get fined, arrested, and jailed. If you do register, you get fined for parking normally.
Just last week, on a run with the dog, I saw a guy riding a little red (non-Vespa) Scooter from the sidewalk at Dupont Circle over to the G2 stop on P Street. He rolled up to a guy sitting at the bus stop, talking on his cell phone, and within a seconds a quick little drug exchange took place. It was a tiny packet--my guess, cocaine--and completely discreet for being 7pm on a Thursday.
Can't say it's huge proof of a larger drug/scooter trend in this town, but I know I saw it.
I'd be interested to know the history behind this, but I was just looking up the DMV regs online and it says that the definition of "motor scooter" was repealed at some point, so "motor vehicle" is now the umbrella term that covers pretty much anything that isn't a bicycle or a motorized wheelchair.
Parking on the sidewalk is not "normally", even if you do have a scooter. It is yet another people think they are entitled to do even though there are laws against it. I believe (but could be wrong) that you aren't even allowed to lock your bicycle to light poles and some of the other object scooters get locked to.
Any motorized vehicle - scooters and mopeds included - should require registration with the DMV. It's as simple as that.
And riding said vehicles on sidewalks should be against the law, with no exceptions save for mobility assistance devices (e.g. motorized wheelchairs). A sidewalk, where the pedestrian has absolute right-of-way, is no place for a motorized vehicle of any kind (and I'd almost go as far as saying that Segways fall into this category, as they are luxury mobility devices that are seldom used by people who can't otherwise get around, and can go incredibly fast).
(And being an avid cyclist, I also think that the sidewalk is no place for a bicycle, either, especially in areas of high pedestrian traffic. They already do this downtown, and in my opinion the rule should be expanded to include Adams Morgan, the U Street corridor, all of Dupont Circle and Georgetown.)
Again, just my $0.02 - your mileage may vary.
You must have a valid driver license with motorcycle (M) endorsement to operate motorcycles in the District of Columbia.
DC law provides that a motorcycle is a 2 or 3 wheeled motor vehicle that has one or more of the following characteristics:
* Piston displacement of more than fifty (50) cubic centimeters
* Capable of traveling over 35 miles per hour on level ground
* More than one and one-half (1.5) brake horsepower (S.A.E. rating)
* Wheels under 16 inches in diameter
* Manual transmission
Note: If your 2 or 3 wheeled motor vehicle has none of the above 5 characteristics, it falls under the definition of motorized bicycle and may be operated by a person holding a provisional operator's permit or a driver's license (provided the vehicle passes inspection, is registered, and is insured).
The DC DMV is really not bad at all. I've encountered only friendly people the several times I've gone. People need to get over it.
Don't go at lunch time and maybe the wait won't be "interminable".
Of course they shouldn't get a pass. The law is the law. Deal with it.
But what's missing from this story is the detail on the five hours he spent in the lockup. If DC is actually hauling people downtown over an unregistered motor scooter, then yes, our priorities are completely screwed. Are we back to this again? The lady who got arrested because her drivers' license had expired? The dupont circle wine lady? God help us. This should be handled like a moving violation and nothing more.
I have to wonder, though, given the rage of this Christopher Lynch, if the arrest had less to do with the actual infraction, and more to do with how he reacted. I'd like to know exactly what transpired. If he was really straight up arrested without a fight, then the cops and the law are f*cked.
If those selling illegal drugs are using scooters, then arresting drivers of unregistered vehicles gives investigators time to check out the driver's story, as well as time to determine whether the vehicle is stolen. Jail seems excessive.
doug, maybe the terms are more regional than I realize, but my understanding is that a motorbike and a motorized bicycle are two completely different things. Motorbikes are those short, bmx-looking mini-motorcycles that are used almost exclusively off-road. Motorized bicycles are normal bicycles with motors attached, and can be ridden without the motor running just like a normal bike. I'm honestly not sure what the laws are in the District, but back where I grew up motorbikes were definitely illegal for riding on the street.
A friend of mine was mugged in Arlington this weekend, the cops showed up while he was getting mugged and did not pursue the muggers. He yelled at them, and was arrested. It is all in how you respond to the situation.
Having been through the VA registration process a few years ago and in the process of going through it now, I have to say it's MUCH worse in DC.
In VA, I walked in, got everything done at once except the inspection sticker, took the car to a gas station where the inspection was done in 15 minutes, and went back to the DMV to get the sticker. I don't remember exactly how much time was spent in the DMV but I don't think it was an unreasonably long wait either time I was there.
In DC, I went to the DMV on a weekday morning before it opened and there was already a huge line. They made everyone go through a metal detector which slowed things down (WHY?). I was able to get my license pretty quickly (after an hour and a half wait), but was told I had to get the car inspected BEFORE getting my registration. Ok, that makes sense, but the website failed to mention this, and it was the opposite of the way they do it in VA so it's not like it was some universally understood prodcedure.
I made an attempt to get my car inspected on Saturday. I was expecting a long wait, but not the gigantic line, unmoving line that wrapped around several blocks. After getting cursed out by a cab driver who thought I was trying to cut in line when I slowed down to ask him where the end of the line was, I decided to come back on a weekday.
Luckily, I live and work very close to the DMV and inspection station, so I could come back at an odd hour on Monday. The line was much shorter this time but the process still took over an hour. The DMV was closed on Monday so I had to wait until the next day to get my registration.
Tuesday I tried going to the DMV after the lunch rush but before the post-work rush. It was still a two hour wait. When I finally got to the counter I was told they needed a copy of my car loan contract. Why? VA doesn't require it. Again, there was nothing on the DC DMV website that said I needed this. Besides, there was a special signed form I needed to fax to my loan company that only the DMV employee could provide. Thankfully, I did get a temporary parking permit so I could stop getting ticketed on my street on a daily basis.
Now I need to fax the form to my loan company, have them send the contract to the DMV, call the DMV to see if they got it, waste another two hours of my life at the DMV, and hopefully by then everything will be done.
I know DMV horror stories are nothing new, but based on my experiences I don't know how anyone could say the DC DMV is better than in VA.
A big factor in some of these little bikes (sorry, I don't know what to call them.... they are tiny, seem to be low on power, and often emit a lovely milky gray smoky haze) is noise. I don't know if DC govt has even considered this (as so many of our officials live outside the city), but some of these little bikes are very noisy, giving off a very high pitched whine (not unlike some of us DCist posters). Much more noise than a car, typical scooter, or even a large motorcycle.
DC needs to proactively figure out how to deal with this, as these little bikes have become very popular in other cities (particularly in Europe) and I'd assume they may start showing up here at some point.
Don't you have to register your BIKE in DC?
You do, and the cops can confiscate your bike if you don't. And the bike registration process is not nearly as smooth as the DMV.
So far, the bike registration rule has chiefly been used for "pretext stops" -- we suspect this bicyclist is carrying drugs, but don't have enough evidence for a search. Still, the system is definitely screwed up, and the Council is looking at changing it to make registration optional.
An excellent City Paper article on the topic is available at https://secure.washingtoncitypaper.com/cgi-bin/Archive/abridged2.bat?path=q:\DocRoot/2005/050902/dl_cycle&search=bicycle%20registration&SelectYear=All&SearchString=bicycle+registration&AuthorLastName=&x=0&y=0
Hillman, agreed. When I visited Rome several years ago it seemed like the entire city was zipping around on scooters, and the noise was deafening. It really put a damper on my enjoyment of the city. Can you imagine being a DC tourist and trying to appreciate our city's great monuments with all that racket?
Here's my question: I live in Virginia. My scooter is titled in Virginia, and my license is a Virginia license. The law in VA says that anything 50 cc or below does not require an M endorsement and does not have to be registered. I go pulled over a month ago in DC and threatened with fines and arrest. After consulting with area dealers, and friends familiar with the law, I wwas told that as long as I'm obeying the laws of my state, I could not be ticketed/arrested in DC. It's the same deal with if you live in Tennessee and only have to have one plate...you can't get a ticket for that elsewhere because you're obeying the laws of your state. Is this true? I've started driving my scooter in again, but I always have a heart attack when I see a cop.
Scooters don't make even a fraction of the noise of the chopped hogs which seem to be in fashion of late. Bikers are increasingly concerned about being heard when they can't be seen by larger vehicles, but the noise is much more pronounced than any scooter I've encountered
Guest29 -
You're a moron.
You're critique amounts to this,
"But! But! Virginia doesn't require it!"
"But! But! Virginia doesn't have metal detectors".
And who do you think you are to complain about waiting for something? Are you used to everything being expedited for your privileged golden ass?
guest[33]: I would find a copy of the Virginia code regarding an M endorsement and keep it on you whenever you ride in.
33: Since the vehicle is not housed in DC, it does not fall under the DC registration laws. Same thing goes for the license.
#35, I knew someone would completely miss my point and make a comment like yours.
As I said, registering a vehicle is never a pleasant process, and I wasn't expecting it to be, and I'm not terribly upset that it was. That's just life.
My point was, it's a hell of a lot easier to register a car in VA than in DC. And all those unnecessary transactions at the DMV are a huge waste of resources. There's a lot that could be done to make the process more efficient like Viginia's.
29: wow, the DC DMV actually has a section on their website that explains first time registrations: http://dmv.dc.gov/serv/registration/register.shtm
I used it several years ago when I moved back from virginia. The only major problem I encountered was Tim Russert and his son skipping ahead of me in the line...
Guest 33, I would get a sticker made that states the code, and stick it directly to the bike.
That still doesn't mean you won't be harrassed, and parking sounds like a risky proposition.