License and registration, please

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By Chris Connors
Posted 2009/09/04 @ 6:06 am
Category Energy

I’m sure this must have been a hassle when it happened, but the ticket is a riot. Apparently LOLrioKart will have to stay off the streets/sidewalks at least until it has a proper signaling system.

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11 Responses to License and registration, please

Brian Lutton on September 5th, 2009 at 3:22 pm said:

Living in MA all my life, I am not surprised, but you think the Cambridge Police would be used to this kind of stuff.

Since it is not a registered vehicle, how can they charge him with any motor infractions? Plus I don’t recall Mass passing any laws since 1988 that requires someone to wear a helmet while driving in a shopping cart.

Plus, they had him listed as operator and not owner as well.

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- Andy L on September 6th, 2009 at 1:41 am said:
  
  Actually, these all look pretty legit. They can get you for a moving violation on pretty much any vehicle.
  
  It’s not uncommon for bicycle riders to be ticketed for doing stupid things.
  
  Here is a ticket received by a noted pretend FBI agent for running a red light on his bicycle.
  http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/xfiles1.html
  
  Let’s look at this one at a time.
  1) He’s on the sidewalk with a vehicle. — You’re not supposed to do this, it’s dangerous for a variety of reasons. They routinely nab bikes for this, why not motorized shopping carts?
  2) No helmet. — Just about any small vehicle like this you’re going to have to wear a helmet in Mass.
  3) Failed to Signal — This is probably the weakest of the three, but you are expected to use hand signals to indicate your turns if you’re on a vehicle that doesn’t have blinkers. Most cops usually don’t stress out about this unless they see you pulling out in front of someone, but we don’t know the situation here.
  
  The police in the Boston area have done some pretty stupid things recently, but this doesn’t seem like one of them. We should be congratulating them for treating a silly homemade vehicle just like they would any other vehicle, instead of doing something stupid like impounding it for no good reason.
  
  You didn’t honestly think that using an unregistered, homemade, vehicle meant that the traffic laws don’t apply to you and that you can do whatever the heck you want?
  
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- Doug_in-PDX on September 6th, 2009 at 10:56 am said:
  
  Make a great copy of it, because I think the original gets consumed in court.
  
  Frame it.
  
  When this person is older, it will speak back to a free, uninhibited and fun time.
  
  Seriously cool!
  
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Jim on September 6th, 2009 at 10:58 am said:

My mother, when she was still alive, got around by an electric scooter chair. She was never told to wear a helmet, signal turns, and stay off the sidewalk. Granted her chair doesn’t go as fast as the shopping cart, but it did travel at quite a good clip. (The staff at her apartment complex kept threatening to give her speeding tickets.) So obviously there is a dividing line somewhere that says a motorized conveyance now must obey they vehicle laws of the state. Where is that dividing line?

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- AndyL on September 6th, 2009 at 2:30 pm said:
  
  Who says there’s a line?
  
  Perhaps there is a special exception for wheelchairs. That seems very likely.
  
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AndyL on September 6th, 2009 at 2:33 pm said:

The cops routinely ticket bicycle riders for these same issues.

I don’t see why an improvised shopping cart wouldn’t be subject to the same rules.

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- cde on September 12th, 2009 at 6:38 pm said:
  
  because Bikes and Cyclists are specifically outlined in state statures.
  
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sean on September 6th, 2009 at 8:38 pm said:

What, they’re too good to be courteous to their fellow drivers and use standard hand signals for turning?

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Stephen on September 6th, 2009 at 10:58 pm said:

This is a big leap that’s just not how the law works. Just because there’s no motorised shopping trolley legislation on the books doesn’t mean that you can drive it unhindered by any rule of law. That would be crazy. We’d all be doing it. It’s not connected to the fact that the statute book says the name of your car, it’s connected to the fact that it’s on the road.

Firstly, it’s an unregistered vehicle. Is it insured? Does it have a licence plate? It’s got a motor in it, it gets up to a fairly high clip and it’s brutally dangerous for driver and victim if it hits someone. If it’s tearing about the place without signalling it might well end in tears. I can’t make out the ticket too clearly but does that also say it was on a sidewalk? Can you really see nothing going wrong there?

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cHaRlEs on September 7th, 2009 at 8:07 pm said:

yeah, because i stopped on a sidewalk to stop for the officer. sightly illegit there and i have half a mind to go contest it.

but for what ends…

“wait, you were driving a what now?”

(also, i insist that hand signals count as signaling.)

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- Jeff on September 8th, 2009 at 12:59 pm said:
  
  Having known Charles for a few years, I’m suprised it took him this long to get a ticket
  
  Reply ↓