Tag Archives: motorcycle

Motorcycle helmets inside convenience stores

 

The in basket: Motorcyclist Bill Hottinger of Silverdale writes, “I was recently admonished by a convenience store clerk about wearing my helmet in the store.  He stated it was illegal to wear a full face helmet into a store or bank in Washington state. I have never heard this and cannot Google up any reference to this claim.  True, or false?”

Bill added that he had the face visor of his helmet in the up position at the time.

The out basket: If there is such a law, it’s news to Bremerton police, the county sheriff’s office, the county prosecutor, Kitsap Bank vice president Tony George. Motorcycle magazine publisher Mike Dalgaard of Quick Throttle magazine thinks Oregon and/or California have such a law and said there might be such a law here, but he wasn’t sure.

Kitsap Sheriff’s spokesman Deputy Scott Wilson said he was recently in Southern California and saw the following stenciled at the entrance of a bank: “For your safety and ours, customers will remove caps and sunglasses prior to entering.” He said he didn’t  know if this is state law in California, or just a requirement of the bank.

It could be either. Tony George at Kitsap Bank said it is their policy to require the removal of stocking caps or visored helmets inside the banks. And I spotted on the glass entry to Columbia Bank at the Sedgwick Road interchange an admonition similar to the one Scott saw in Southern California. Probably all banks have the same rule, and some convenience stores also might. I wouldn’t want a customer with his or her face shrouded in my store if I were a clerk. 

But it doesn’t appear to be the law.

Motorcycles crash at slick spot on Highway 3

The in basket: Way back last fall there were several incidents in which motorcyclists crashed after hitting a slick spot left on a seam between new and old pavement on the newly widened Highway 3 south of Sunnyslope.
One of them, Craig Smith of Bremerton High School, called it to my attention and Joseph Hunter also wrote about it. Craig said his bike was badly damaged.
Joseph described one of the incidents. “It was a light shower about 1 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon,” he said. “(Craig) was on his way
home with two other riders. The seam of the new pavement developed from the centerline and transitioned 5-10 degrees towards the shoulder.
“This liquid cools relatively quickly, resulting in a very glass-like finish. When wet, the surface is very slick…,” Joseph said.
“When the first bike crossed the seam in
the left tire track,” he said, “the wheels slipped, causing the rear wheel to come around just enough to develop a porpoise effect. The first rider lost
control and went down.” The second rider also fell trying to avoid the first.
The incident was mentioned in the November edition of Mike Dalgaard’s “Quick Throttle” magazine, a local biker’s publication. “Be vigilant, be aware and look ahead for ‘shiny’ spots when in an area that has recently been worked on,” the magazine advised, adding a request for rock chips or some other non-skid product to such seams.
The state quickly went out last fall and roughed up the seams on Highway 3, making them safer.
The out basket: For one reason or another, it took me months to get a usable state comment on this, probably because the fallen motorcyclists have filed claims for their damages and lawyers don’t like their clients to make out-of-court comment on pending issues.
I reckoned the slickness problem was either a new procedure or an old one in which a final step had been omitted.
Lisa Murdock of the state’s Olympic Region this month sent me this comment:
“The overlay between the old and new pavement is not something new. What
typically happens is the overlay gets seasoned with wear and tear. In this section, our crews went back out and ground the sealant to speed up the ‘seasoning’ or traction process.
“I believe this case was sent to our tort claim office and, you’re right – until we know the legal ramifications – we can’t speak to the specific incident/issue,” she said.