Should bike abuse be illegal in Moab, Utah?

WOW - running over a bike? I hope someone took pictures or a video to show that guy a few days later after he'd calmed down. And then I hope someone took video of his reaction. Wow, I can't believe that! It reminds me of Danny LaRusso blaming his bike when he got the snot kicked out of him by the bad boys of karate in Karate Kid. "I hate this stupid bike!" :)

Maybe we here at YourMTB.com should set up a bike abuse hotline - anytime you feel yourself getting angry at your steed, you can call Walker, who will talk you down.

LOL, thanks for the karate kid memories neal!

At first I thought the list above was your personal list, Walker!

Until I re-read and realized it was only what you had heard, it made me wonder if I really knew the real you.

I guess it could have explained your yearly budget of that past forum
How much does mountain biking cost? (he-he)

MikeG

Either riding or Thinking of Riding... The madness of MTB, I love it!

The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. For some unknown reason I couldn't get my tubeless kit to seal so i slammed my rim on the concrete and bent it. Such a f-ing idiot I was.

I saw a guy in a mechanics class trying to true his wheels get so frusterated. He yelled at the wheel, spun the wheel really hard and then punched the wheel as it was spinning in the truing stand. Spokes 1-Knuckles 0

I LOL when I read that sarge.

MikeG

Either riding or Thinking of Riding... The madness of MTB, I love it!

I thought it was funny, a little bloody, but funny.

I'd beat my kids before I'd hurt my bike. Somebody needs anger management.

Umm, I think you should probably re-think/re-phrase that statement. Either that or you've got some serious issues figuring out your priorities. Sorry, just calling it how I see it.

MikeG

Either riding or Thinking of Riding... The madness of MTB, I love it!

Mike, come on, I love my kids. You gotta throw in a joke from time to time. Should I have said my dog?

I guess I should reiterate that this was my dry cop humor. In response to the forum, I’ve never actually seen “bike abuse” but I guess it’s out there. My friend abuses his golf clubs and I’ve never understood the purpose as I didn’t’ with this. Unless you’ve got tons of money to dump down the drain. Other than not washing my bike after every ride (and Sarge thinks that’s abuse) I couldn’t conceive of actually “harming” my bike.

The Utah Legislators will make bike abuse illegal before they even think about making hitting children illegal. They have not even made it illegal to beat children with "paddles" in private schools.

According to the Salt Lake Tribune article "Weird Laws Clutter the Utah Code" Utah parents can give written permission to teachers to hit their children even though none of Utah's public school do it. (Dan Harrie and Judy Fahys, January 18, 1998).

The law was passed in 1992 and says:
"A school employee may not inflict or cause the infliction of corporal punishment upon a child who is receiving services from the school, unless written permission has been given by the student's parent or guardian to do so."
UTAH LAW 53A-11-802
www.le.state.ut.us/~code/TITLE53A/htm/53A0C034.htm

In other words, who ever a child lives with- be it an adoptive parent, step-parent, or uncle- can tell teachers to hit the child with a thick board leaving redness and welts. The thick board is called a "paddle" and was invented to beat slaves.

Since the end of slavery in 1865 America's schools and institutions have step by step abolished corporal punishment. Hundreds of global and US organizations like the United Nations, the US Parent and Teacher Association, and the National Association of State Boards of Education have passed resolutions against corporal punishment. They believe students have the same right to be protected from physical violence as do wives, animals, and criminals.

According to Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, "the LDS church has consistently discouraged this approach to child rearing. President Hinckley: "called physical abuse of children unnecessary, unjustified and indefensible." He said: "I have never accepted the principle of 'spare the rod and spoil the child.' I am persuaded that violent fathers produce violent sons. Children don't need beating. They need love and encouragement." (http://www.religioustolerance.org/lds_intr.htm)

Now 15 years later the state Office of Education has a regulation against beating students but it does not override the law allowing beatings with guardian permission. Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance stated in a 2006 report that while it is not practiced, some school districts "do not have a formal ban in place."

While school staff may be under the impression that it is illegal, some districts are still printing handbooks saying teachers can beat students with permission.

For example, the Salt Lake Tribune reported that San Juan School District's school board unanimously opposed the idea of ending school beatings. Its handbook states:

SAFE SCHOOLS POLICY
A school employee may not inflict or cause the infliction of corporal punishment upon a student who is receiving services from the school unless written permission has been given by the student’s parent or guardian to do so. This applies to students under the age of eighteen (18), or under the age of twenty three(23) if the student is receiving educational services as an individual with a disability.
http://www.sanjuan.k12.ut.us/Policy/6000/6500/6510.htm

Kane School District's handbook has the same policy.
http://www.kane.k12.ut.us/html/policiesA.htm

How is beating students with thick wooden board part of a "Safe School?"
And safe for who? Teachers who can't handle students criticizing them to their friends?

What kind of school lets guardians give permission to beat 22 year old disabled students?

WOW! What a post... I have no idea how to answer your questions, except anecdotally. When I was younger, my sister and I were punished through coporal means: wooden paddle on the bottom. When my Mom found out about this she stormed into the principal's office. She yelled with great anger. At the end of the conversation, the principal knew never to allow a teacher to hit us again and that we (my sister and I) would get it far worse at home, so DON'T SPOIL THE PLEASURE :)...

Walker T

Off the road, on the mind...

i don't think i've ever abused a bike (maybe neglected, but never abused). i DID, however, knock over a tree one time when i repeatedly failed to clean a rock garden. ok, so the tree was dead, and apparently rotting, but i still did not expect to knock the thing over. scared the tar out of me, then i laughed hysterically and tried unsuccessfully to knock down another tree. i'd almost forgotten about that. put me down for as a tree abuser. (if i'm also a tree hugger, does anyone else feel a little uncomfortable with that?)

I never abused a bike (too expensive!). But I have verbally cussed out Keith Bontrager for making such crappy tires. I did this on video after I rode over a golf ball sized rock that the tires did not grip onto, and I crashed. The video was erased.

I'm having some tire issues, too. I won't go into details, but what's up...???

Walker T

Off the road, on the mind...