Description

We know the police say that it's the mayor's decision not to address the very dangerous dirt bike, motorcycle and ATV situation but there has to be something a community can do that is endangered and having its quality of life destroyed. Large groups of motorcycles, atvs, and dirt bikes continue to use Madison Avenue as a raceway and location for extremely dangerous stunts where they have little control over their vehicles. Members of this community have discussed the fact that they've been in accidents with some of these vehicles and are trying to pay them off when they already lived check to check because many of these drivers are not only unlicensed but uninsured. So by making the decision not to deal with them, not only are drivers and pedestrians at personal safety risk but also very serious financial risk if you are involved in an accident with one of these drivers because they do not have insurance and should never be on the road. Last night, while dozens and dozens of people tried to enjoy the nice weather and free cone day at Ben & Jerry's, a large group raced up and took through the intersection at Madison and Willett multiple times including doing donuts in the middle of busy intersections blocking traffic and pedestrians who had the right of way and burning rubber spewing noxious fumes toward all the people simply waiting to get their ice cream cone. Had even one of these vehicles lost control as they stood on the seats of their bike, many adults and children could have been seriously injured or worse. When they are standing on there bikes and fall off which people have witnessed, the bikes go spinning out of control and no one knows where they will eventually land or who or what they will hit in the process. You can see the circles at the intersection of Madison and Henry Johnson and at Madison and Willett. The police were called. As always, there was no indication any officers ever came to the scene and, as many have said, what is the point if they've been told to do nothing? The noise itself is beyond sustainable to this neighborhood and the people who live here let alone all of the other issues. We tried to eat at El Loco recently and rather than enjoy outdoor dining, both our party and the waiter were so sick of having to completely stop in the middle of our orders because the motorcycles were so loud none of us could hear, we had to move indoors , but the noise was disruptive even inside. To allow the level of abuse this community is taking is wrong on so many levels and beneath what any City leadership should be comfortable with and what the community should accept. There is a lot that can be done in between total avoidance and high speed chases. If our Police Department can bring down entire drug rings, surely they can figure out solutions to this growing scourge before a child or adult suffers catastrophic injuries or we lose them all together in a completely avoidable collision that the city was warned about time and time again.