Metropolis Council member Ald. Pat Dowell needs crackdown on motorbike golf equipment wreaking havoc

Ald. Pat Dowell (third) for years has railed and legislated towards the “drag-racing sub-culture” of bike golf equipment wreaking havoc on DuSable Lake Shore Drive, Columbus Drive, Decrease Wacker and the streets and sidewalks of her South Loop ward.

To crack down on these golf equipment, which she stated are “a whole lot” sturdy, Dowell championed an ordinance giving police the ability to impound bikes, filth bikes and different “non-highway autos” accused of drifting and drag racing.

The ordinance additionally imposed stiff fines towards motorcyclists who function with out license plates, although Chicago police have already got vowed to “swarm” motorbike rally factors and use helicopter, license plate recognition cameras and noise displays on DuSable Lake Shore Drive to cease motorbike riders from “goading” legislation enforcement into chases by utilizing social media to disseminate movies of their stunts.

On Wednesday, Dowell noticed one other, extra sensible alternative to crack down on these golf equipment — and he or she took it.

The Finances Committee she chairs was poised to approve a $1.3 million Neighborhood Alternative Fund grant to Motoworks Chicago. The cash would go towards renovating its constructing at 1901 S. Western Ave., increasing its motorbike driving college and including electrical bikes to its choices.

Motoworks acquired the cash — however not till Dowell used the event to stress proprietor Johnny Scheff to incorporate in his motorbike curriculum a assessment of Chicago’s guidelines of the street, in addition to of the ordinances prohibiting riders from inflicting chaos.

“Chicago has been experiencing, over the previous couple of years, these massive motorbike crowds wreaking havoc on our Chicago neighborhoods. What are you able to do as a motorcycle-riding college to assist the town of Chicago quell among the habits that we’re seeing by means of, maybe, educating your purchasers about metropolis legal guidelines, decorum in neighborhoods, not driving on the sidewalks? How are you going to assist us?” Dowell stated.

Scheff replied, “I sit up for and I might say that I already do. We’re on the identical group on this regard. We don’t set up after-market exhaust [systems]. All the pieces we do is authorized and EPA-compliant. That’s not a section of the market that’s our core buyer.”

However the Motoworks proprietor acknowledged he may do extra by means of his driving college and its “group engagement” to “create a driving tradition and proceed to create and foster a tradition the place this kind of habits is simply not acceptable.”

He added: “Frankly, I discover it distasteful. However above and past my discovering it distasteful, it’s a menace to my enterprise in addition to it’s a menace to the protection and safety of our metropolis. You’ll discover that I will probably be a dependable associate for many years to come back in that respect.”

Underneath questioning from Dowell, Scheff acknowledged whereas his driving college supplies 4 hours within the classroom and eight hours on the vary, the curriculum doesn’t embody “a assessment of metropolis of Chicago ordinances.”

However, he stated: “It’s completely one thing we are able to add and it’s a nice suggestion.”

Dowell then extracted a verbal dedication from Scheff to “add that part to your driving college class” and requested that the redevelopment settlement be amended to incorporate that promise in writing.

Retiring Ald. Howard Brookins (twenty first) stated he’s “in all probability one of many solely” Metropolis Council members he is aware of who recurrently rides a bike.

Dowell’s line of questioning was simply “somewhat bit unfair,” Brookins stated.

“It’s clearly harmful to experience a bike within the metropolis of Chicago the best way individuals are driving. It’s safer to experience a bike in teams as a result of individuals will see you,” Brookins stated.

As for Dowell’s complaints about motorcyclists driving recklessly, disrespecting pedestrians and motorists and driving on sidewalks, Brookins stated it “must transcend” cyclists and embody motorists “appearing a rattling idiot,” as he put it.

“One in every of stuff you don’t perceive is, my motorbike prices as a lot as a few of my vehicles,” Brookins stated.

“You park a bike on the road after which, some fool backs up on it and knocks it down. So lots of people are parking bikes on the sidewalk as a result of there’s no protected house to park it on the road, with the best way idiots are parking and driving.”