Steve Magas is Ohio's Bike Lawyer. He has written about Ohio Bike Laws, bike crashes, bicycle advocacy and court cases for some 30 years. Soon we'll be adding a series of features about your favorite Ohio bike shops.
Yes, what a fun day. I picked up my “new” bike this week. The Independent Fabrication Club Racer I had found on Craigslist up in Minnesota had been transformed from a nice looking copper bike to a bright, shiny yellow and black Bike Lawyer branded machine!
I was able to take my first ride the other day! What a blast! Matt Bell did such a great job adding “Bike Lawyer” graphics to the yellow re-do. He got the website
and my name
Pretty cool!
THE SELZ CASE REVISITED – AN IMPORTANT DECISION FOR THE NATION’S BICYCLE OPERATORS
By, Steven M. Magas, Attorney at Law – BikeLawyer@aol.com1
In the summer of 1999 I was asked to become involved with a young man who had received a traffic ticket for “impeding traffic” in Trotwood, Ohio. Little did I know that the case would ultimately garner international intention, cause buckets of emails to be sent to the City of Trotwood, and generate an appellate court ruling that is extremely favorable to the nation’s cyclists!
From an interesting website comes this listing of funny INSURANCE stuff… yea, yea, I know. I was skeptical too. But, these are a scream. A list of some of the goofy stuff people have written to try to get their insurance claims paid! WoW~ Keep Up The GREAT STUFF “Swap Meet Dave!”
=======================Funny insurance claims: |
| Read the rest of this entry » |
I have been looking to replace, and upgrade, my primary ride. The folks at Independent Fabrication make a darn good bike! I found one used at a good price recently and snapped it up. It’s a steel frame Club Racer.
Mitch, at BioWheels, accepted shipment and tore it down. From what he could tell, it has barely been ridden. Mitch recommended Matt Bell as someone with the skills to put a very cool paint job on the new bike – something suitable for framing, or at least Advertising the Bike Lawyer Brand of Bike Law! Here’s a shot of what we’re shooting for [and the misspellings WILL be corrected in the final draft]:
I’ll let you know how it turns out!
UPDATE 9/1/2010
Well, the parts have been stripped by Mitch and the painting is underway. Matt Bell sent me the pix below to let me know that it’s LOOKING GOOD! I agree 100%
Ottawa Hills, Ohio. I remember hearing this name as a kid – some fancy, rich little community up near Toledo, Ohio. Wikipedia states that there are 4,564 residents, as of the 2000 census, and a police force.
The Police Department’s webpage is ominous.
“Our enforcement of traffic laws in well known in the region and we believe that traffic enforcement is a fundamental tool for keeping the Village safe. Fair and consistent law enforcement is a key characteristic of our department.”
What comes to mind when you read THAT? To me, that says “…we cut you no slack on speed, stop signs or red lights…” Sure enough, I mention Ottawa Hills to a friend and the first word that comes up is “SPEEDTRAP.”
National Public Radio asked this simple question “Tell us about your favorite bike ride…” The request was posted on Facebook around midnight. In the first 10 minutes they had more than 300 responses. Overnight there were over 1000 responses. During the few seconds between my two posts this morning there were another dozen or so responses.
NPR hit a nerve here. They tapped into an important section of America’s brain – our psyche – and exposed an important truth. We LOVE to ride bikes. In reading some of the 1000+ responses, we quickly find that there are “favorite” rides all over the country – all over the WORLD. The rides described are not huge, fancy, expensive group rides or tours – they are simple rides through beautiful spots – India, Kentucky, the Blue Ridge, various Rails to Trails spots, Belgium, Vermont, New York, Ohio…
Lisa & I rode the trail today. Neither of us had been to the Trail in Loveland in some years so we drove up to Loveland and took a ride. It was an interesting day, which brought up an interesting legal issue!
On August 19, 2008, bicyclist Anthony Patrick, from Huntington, West Virginia, was Tasered by Lawrence County, Ohio Deputy Charles Hammonds and Chesapeake Police Department Dennis Gibson. Patrick was riding his bicycle with another rider when Deputy Hammonds told Patrick to get off the road. Patrick told Hammonds he had as much right to be on the road as the deputy. A series of events unfolded thereafter which ended with Patrick be Tasered, arrested and charged with a series of “crimes” including “Riding a Bicycle on the Roadway,” resisting arrest, failing to obey a lawful order and other crimes.
NHTSA’s 2008 Traffic Data report on Bicycling confirms what I’ve been saying – CYCLING IS SAFE!
Well, they don’t come right out and say that … but… let’s look at the numbers.
In a wild new decision, the Ohio Supreme Court has decided that a cop’s VISUAL determination of speed is all that is needed to support a speeding ticket!
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