To the Editor,
Re: Mounties crack down on motorcycle riders, May 3.
In recent years it has been amply demonstrated that a certain, very small percentage of police officers are bullies and thugs with no respect for the rights of citizens.
The vast majority of police, however, are honest, dedicated professionals who perform a difficult job with honour and decency. It would therefore be unfair to condemn all police for the actions of a few rogue cops.
By the same token, it is unfair to condemn all motorcyclists just because a very small percentage may choose to act like adolescent idiots, roaring through city streets with their straight pipes rattling windows, speeding and riding recklessly.
But this is exactly what is being done lately in Nanaimo. Law-abiding motorcyclists are being pulled over by police simply because they are riding motorcycles.
When no other violation can be conjured up, they are subjected to a completely arbitrary ‘noise test’. The threshold applied here is 91 decibels, with the engine revved to an unrealistic level.
The average lawn mower would fail such a test, as would any chainsaw, and many of the over-powered pickup trucks that are so popular as well as numerous heavy commercial trucks.
If a motorcyclist is riding recklessly, speeding or actually disturbing the peace, then he or she should be cited, as should any motorist. But the current campaign against bikers smacks of prejudice, profiling and selective enforcement.
Such arbitrary action by police only breeds contempt for the law.
Parnell Walsh
Nanoose Bay
