BUSTED! ticketed in New Jersey!

[zcookie49]

Well, I guess anyone on the east coast that traveled to the sand pits in Port Elizabeth/Millville New Jersey can kiss that good bye now. We've been going there for years, no problems. Once in a while, someone would die doing something stupid and the pit owners would shut down the property, then leave open on weekends again. We would go up and camp out fri nite and ride saturday. well today we woke up, broke down site, geared up ready to roll out in AM, I take a quick cruise to check if our other friends have arrived yet and i see NJ state police. We go back to site, it was sort of secluded, but about an hour later, a helicopter starts making low sweeps and we had to eventually push our bikes out of woods. cops came, Each truck owner got a ticket for "riding on private property, and each bike got the same ticket, so I got 2" no amount was given to us yet, we have to call in and also find out if we have to appear in court in NJ, we live in MD. A pit representative was there, they had to get the police there for all the past deaths, the last one being that family sueing for large amount of money even tho the person ran his atv into a tree himself. the guy was cool, siting they had to do this for legalitys sake to show they are trying to keep people out from here on out...We understood, but it just sucks. A lady photographer and male journalist show up and start taking our pix's, they were zooming in on the YZ and all... I hope the fines arent that expensive, for what a cost to learn. Oh yeah, Even though we drove our vehs out on our own power, we had to hook up to the tow trucks that were called in for about 2 seconds, and then pay them $60 each. They said they were spending about $40,000 this weekend to bust people.... SO THIS is a warning to anyone who rides in this area, I wouldnt go back, and as the pit rep said, for at least 3 years. (now i have to spend money on finds when I could have used it for some things on the bike, oh well)
...More and more of our riding places are disappearing, the track I also belong to I bet has a life span of 1 more year... I need to buy some land, one of our friends was suggesting a bunch of us pitch in money and buy some land to ride on hassle free, any one out there know of anything like this or have done something like this? do you need insurance for it if it is only owners?
che-ching, theres my donation..:(

 

[MarksCR250]

Sorry to hear about that incident. What a crappy way for the weekend to end. For what its worth, Travis Pastrana is in all kinds of legal doo-doo because he made a track *on his own property!* ..it turns out he interfered with the flowing of a stream or accidentally broke the branch off of a tree or something. Anyway he has to pay about 30grand to put things back the way they were.

 

[MARK IT]

You can't blame it on the pit owners, vent your anger at the Commies (anyone that sues anyone) these are the ones that caused this situation. There a lot of privet land club's and it seams like this is going to be the only way to ride in the future. Check local shop's, clubs, your local Enduro club could be helpfu,l you can find it through the AMA. Riding in restricted areas
makes us all look bad. Hope the fines arn't to bad ya'll.

 

[zcookie49]

status still unknown

Yeah, we arent mad at the pit owners at all, they have to do what they can to protect themselves from what you said, "the commies".. that sue whenever they can, even in their own fault....
....
we called the NJ clerk, the charge for "operating a veh on private land (truck)" is probably $78, as reckless driving, but could be more..
.
the charge for "operating an atv on private land" could be $100-$200 or more, depending on what the judge rules...THEY ARE MAKING US APPEAR IN COURT THERE, so we will all have to travel out there..
.
My ? out there is , I think we can fight the charge of "operating an ATV on private land" for we were never seen riding our bikes. Actually, when the police pulled up in the cars, our bikes were loaded up already, we were taking off our gear. The helicopter saw us pushing our bikes out of the woods, but no one actually saw us operating them......
also, they put a "road closed" sign on the fire road back to the pits, it wasnt there when we got there the nite before at 10pm.. and 1 police officer even said that all the no trespassing signs were ripped down... they are giving us the ticket based on fact that the road closed sign was there, and we came in, but in fact, it wasnt there when we came in... I wonder if this is something we should discuss with an attorney or whatever...
*** Dont get me wrong, we learned our lesson.. It is just upsetting for we've rode there years and can never go back, and these citations may stick to our records now. oh well. just venting some more....

 

[SCHLAVA]

I feel sorry for your situation but Millville has always been illegal to ride. We tell our club members never to ride there. I have a friend who works at a local dealership in DE and he always informs prospective buyers of off road vehicles to stay out off that area. They have been cracking down there for the past year and a half. The fact that you just got caught is lucky in itself. If you want to just travel a little further up to RT72 there is chatsworth orv park which is pretty cool and its the cheapest park to join in the area.

 

[sixstring4137785]

I agree on the "commies" thing. These people are everywhere in numbers and almost seem to jump at the opportunity to sue....A few months back here in my hometown a 28 yr old man fell to his death at a popular sand pit close to my house. it is now heavily patrolled and very quiet. Now it seems the parents of this "grown man" able to easily make his own decisions are suing the landowner. I know all the legal bull@$!* is there but how can anyone justify suing the landowner for the death of a man - that trespassed on his own freewill and rode knowing the possible dangers of the sport and the land he was on. Especially the parents who had absolutely nothing to do with the incident ???? It's just so ridiculous, and it will make it as far as the courtroom. I just can't handle the fact that our state people can see this as a good case.. It's killing me.

 

[zcookie49]

exactly

you are so right. how great it would be if it was always ride at your own risk, and everyone understood that. that is how i am. i am in control of the bike, and i must know where i am riding and what is a head, failure to exercise this and any injuries would be negligence. unfortunately, this world that we live in with the "ambulance chasing" attorneys everywhere, no one is safe.
..in our situation, we have been up at the pits in the past, and the workers would tell us where to park and where to go and to stay out.... but then the bad apples come in, break beer bottles all over the place, leave their trash there, and then someone hurts or kills themselves by being careless, and the family wants to sue for a 30 yr old man. ... When I got my first 4 wheeler, there were stickers on it stating that operation of this veh could cause a fatality if caution not applied. When purchasing any type of motor vehicle, we all put ourselves at risk of death, but when it is a 1 party loss, and the negligence is soley on the operator, I just cant comprehend (in my mind) how anyone can justify suing a property owner. .... One persons greed over a law suit ruins it for everyone else....
**** the pit owners were toying with the idea of donating some land for riding last year they said, then this lawsuit came around and all talks have stalled..... well, I get to call today for my ticket prices, its just great that they have the ability to "pick out of thin air" any rate they so choose, when all the other violations are listed and priced on the ticket.

 

[GlennP]

The problem is this country is in need of legal reform. There are too many lawyers and frivalous lawsuits. They make it easy for some people not to be responsible for there own actions. This also works to the tree huggers' advantage. This is THE REASON that land is lost. Before the lawsuit craze hit, Enduros in NJ had much more land to work with, and entries were only $10-$15.

Before I got back into riding a few years ago, I was a deep water tecnical wreck diver. This is a very small community, an extreme sport that claims lives off the east coast each year. Every death brings the threat of a lawsuit to everyone involved, from boat captain to equipment mfg. The cost of wreck diving equipment has a large markup to cover mfgs. legal expenses.

Whats interesting about the Port Elizabeth area is that is where Rich Lafferty ran an Enduro school I attended in March. Perhaps he had special permission, as I doubt he would take everyone on an illegal ride Good Luck.

 

[SCHLAVA]

Listen to this one. Im on the board of the Delaware Enduro Riders. Well a couple of years ago at our enduro a guy drove straight off one of the dykes and got hurt. It was properly arrowed and x'd and all that stuff. Well he tried suing us! We have over 400 riders and he was the only one to go off the dyke at that spot and he said it was our fault!! I also agree with you guys about port. There are a lot of responsible people who ride down at port and then there are the yahoos who polute and tear the place up. I think the last guy who got hurt down there was riding a four wheeler without a helmet trying to do tricks for someone video taping him. Well it resulted in a free helecopter ride to the hospital and a lawsuit. What happens is they want someone else to bear the burden of the medical fees. A loophole exists that is bad for a land owner in this case. What happens is that although the rider trespassed on someones land and then injured themselves. They can sue the land owner saying that they didn't properly maintain or have gated access to stop people from going on their land. It sounds crazy but that happened up at a pit in acto, nj where i used to ride at.

 

[zcookie49]

yeah schlava

you are correct about the last incident with the 4wheeler...
Even tho I belong to a track about 25 mins from my house, I still like to trail rdie alot... I think we will now join Tower City Trailriders in PA, it is about 2 hours from us, same distance as Jersey, and you dont have to worry about any more tix's. speaking of which, the driving of our veh on their land (trucks) will probably be $78, as reckless driving. the other tix will be about $100-$200 depending on the judge that day. That would have been enough to cover the Tower City membership, oh well, thats the breaks sometimes.
Hopefully the George Bush tax releif check will come soon, so much for any more upgrades, it'll pay the fines..... I heard the same thing about the Laffertys enduros up there at Port too....That is why is stings a little, because it was cool till this lawsuit....
it was crazy up there sometimes, you would see these clowns riding brand new raptors, or Kx250's, with only goggles on!!, sometimes, not even over their eyes, just sitting on top of their head like a fashion statement! and they tear all over the place with no regard for anything, like blasting thru your camp site, or blasting thru intersections without disregard to you or a young one puttering along on an xr50...
but as the old saying goes "one bad apple can spoil the whole basket"
case in point.

 

[bigred455]

I live a half hour away from the port.I rode their plenty of times .last time was 3 weeks ago,i lost my bottom end and i am just waiting for my cylinder to get back.I guess in 1 aspect i was lucky that my bottom end gave out or i probably would of been down their when they issued tickets.When someone got hurt in the past they would bust balls the next week ,then you would not see the state troopers for a while.Whipco is the company that owns the land(quarry)i agree you cannot blame this company for wanting to get riders off of their land.I was talking to a driver on a loader down their about a year ago he was telling me riders who get hurt down their turn around and sue the company and they win.I cannot believe the litter that is all over the ground,it is a disgrace, the same idiotic people who happen to be into the great sport we love, have ruined it for us again.Me and my buddy have a few courses cut up their, great for free practice,their have been a few times, where some idiot just comes across the track without even looking and well you know the story.We cut these courses out,THINKING SAFETY, so we are out in the open NO BLIND SPOTS,but it does not seem to help ,some carelees idiot always seems to come in direct line with us.I am sickened by these losers who are careless and have no respect for land and other riders.I was a member of chaddsworth(ORV),but I am not too fond of the track(TOO SMALL)now i guess i will check out jack frost mtn in the poconos or englishtowm practice track.I race,but 35 dollars for practice at english town and then another 35 to race the next day well it adds up.The port was great for practice and very convienent, so much terrain.They have a enduro every year at port elizabeth,whipco owns the land so i would say they are a very reasonable company to allow a enduro to go on.They have every right to take action getting us riders off of their land,sadly for the ones who respect the sport and the land we must suffer too.Thanks idiotic weekend warriors.

 

[wfodbiker]

I would be careful about a "reckless driving" charge. In Illinois, it is a very serious offense, court action, big fines and worst of all, it has the same impact as a DUI when the insurance companies look at your driving record. Crazy, but true. Unfortunately, an 80mph wheelie on a GSXR1100 gave me an opportunity to learn about the "reckless driving" penalties.:p

 

[zcookie49]

No doubt..

I just got my auto insurance renewel yesterday, coincidently, and was reviewing the policy and it stated that reckless driving is viewed at 4 points.......!!! My buddy said they told him "careless driving", maybe i misunderstood, but still
that would completely suck, for we dont even do more than 5 mph in the pits, for they are all studder bumps and such, and you dont want your bike falling off of the trailer or truck, ya know.... that is ridiculous...:confused:

 

[zcookie49]

went to court!

Just an update, for any east coast riders in the delmarva-new jersey area. We made our 2 hour drive out to New Jersey for our multiple tickets. There was a group of 25 of us there. the prosecuter took us from the court room to a small room and made an offer to us. They recognized that we were first time offenders, and from out of state. They basically combined our 2 tickets into one, dropped all transferable points and any chance of it being on our record, we just had to pay a $250 fine + $30 court costs...
.
How Ironic that the day before court, I received my $300 tax relief check from George Bush....Oh well, its a wash..... They said this is the 3rd massive ticketing they have done this year and they will continue to get the point accross... So anyone else out there that rides in Port Elizabeth, I wouldnt unless you have the money to spend on fines!!!...

 

[Vannaman]

I've read the thread, but don't see where the reckless driving was. It seems to me if you are not on a public road, any ticket you get shouldn't apply to your insurance/drivers points.

Where you in your truck or ORV? If you were NOT in your licensed truck, then it surely shouldn't be held against your driving record!

Of course some of those eastern states are more sadistic than others. :)