Submitted by buddhamanjpb t3_123z6zr in RhodeIsland
" A Providence police officer drew a gun on a group of illegal ATV and dirt bike riders in the city on Sunday before making an arrest.
According to police, the group of riders of ATVs and off-road vehicles -- which are illegal for use on city streets -- had gathered off of Niantic Avenue around 4 PM."
Weren't they all.just crying because one of these morons decided to drive at night with no lights at high speed and drove into a car and wound up road pizza??
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I've experienced a lot of 6/7 run ins with these groups, generally Allens Ave, the park with the pedestrian bridge and weybossett streets. They take over multiple lanes, ride head on to get you to move to the side, run red lights, its so dangerous- and even more so at night. Dirt bikes in the groups ride sidewalks.. I sincerely don't feel bad for any of those operators. I do believe there should be a place for them to ride, but logistically how would it work? They're going to ride via streets to get to it.
When do we riot???
Finally!!
Why do a bunch of city dwellers need special areas for riding dirt bikes? They aren't the dirt bike kids from the sticks riding the powerlines, this is transportation and enjoyment for them. If the city bought a plot of land and turned it into a dirt bike track it would be empty and unused and these people would still be riding around the city doing dumb shit.
they're getting these kinds of bikes specifically to fuck with you, why would we section off a little sanctuary for them?
ask the Providence subreddit though and I'm pretty sure they'll tell you these guys are just local flavor and definitely not problematic at all.
I've almost hit one of them on multiple occasions because like you said they drive against traffic
They are everywhere, like the plague
It’s called a track
Scumbags
Correct. They aren’t just on the streets because there’s not an off-road track available. They’re hoping to start shit with people.
During the pandemic when nobody was bustling around and there were fireworks 24-7 it was fun and novel but it had its time and now it’s definitely a big problem
No, the pvd subreddit also dislikes them
Nah not a problem at all, need the state to spend more money to make them a dirt bike park.
Why reward their awful behavior? Give them a park and they'd still be assholes.
Throw the book at them.
Welp it appears they may have girl bossed a little too close to the sun 😄
Didn’t this kind of behavior end badly for two people last week? One of the wildest things about the brain of a young adult is the lack of self preservation instincts, when your young you are immortal… until you’re dead of course.
Why don’t we just let people register these things for the street?
Edit: Wow, spectacular downvoting. For those who think I’m just talking shit, my comment is in good faith - I think if you provide a legal pathway for these guys there’s a lot less incentive to ride in packs and commit other crimes to evade police.
Here’s the rider’s logic in a police pursuit: Option 1: get pulled over, have your bike taken, and probably get arrested if not assaulted. Option 2: Run like hell
But if your bike is legal, you at least have an opportunity to cooperate with police without losing your bike and your freedom.
Off road bikes and ATVs are a little different, but there’s no technical reason they can’t be ridden on pavement. In fact they are probably a lot safer around providence than your run of the mill 1000cc, 200mph sportbike which you can take anywhere, not to mention the hoardes of obnoxious retirees on straight-piped Harleys that descend on any place you might expect to have a quiet afternoon all summer.
It’s funny how many people here routinely cheer the destruction of public property and law enforcement institutions in the name of racial justice, but LOSE THEIR MINDS over some black kids having fun on motorcycles. Let’s not forget the cop PULLED A GUN on someone here as if that’s an acceptable deescalation tactic.
TLDR: the initial illegality of this particular kind of bike/atv adds to a culture of recklessness among people who choose to ride them. Allowing folks to register might disincentivize riding like a complete asshole to some extent.
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They are degenerate bums with no jobs or parents
> Are there neighborhoods to avoid
Yeah, it's called "Providence"
These riders are assholes. If they want areas to ride legally there are areas and competitions for this, maybe not much in RI, but travel to MA, CT. Small state, less options. Even if City/State builds them riding areas, the assholes will still ride the streets and torment the law abiding citizen. Their criminals, not tax paying contributors to the overall good. Fuk'em.
Hard to register stolen property
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There are dirt bikes for the street, they are called street bikes. I see some around at times. It's about being road-worthy, headlights, signals, mirrors and such. Do you think these people that do this illegally as is, would when there are places to drive these legally? Or if their manners of driving would be proper versus their complete illegal behavior currently? Doubt any of it and biggest one being them even bothering to have the proper equipment or paying for registration and insurance.
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Okay except the girl that was passenger is not a part of this whole thing and was just riding on back one night. The way you so callously talk about the death of teenagers makes me wish the world didn’t have non-empathetic cunts like you.
Truly rot in hell.
Edit: knew I thought I saw you say some other nasty shit the other day. https://www.reddit.com/r/RhodeIsland/comments/120lksl/family_friends_mourn_2_killed_in_cranston_dirt/jdi8vj2/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1&context=3
Yes it’s always that simple, isn’t it?
Why don’t you give them a job then?
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They were a 20 and 21 year old, and the guy that was driving wasn’t just responsible for her death, he could’ve killed the driver of the car that unfortunately hit them. I am all for feeling sad about the deaths of young kids, but both of them should’ve made more intelligent decisions, and the fact that they were the only ones to die is honestly the best case scenario all things considered
She was 8 months outta high school. And now you fucking backpedal your language. You’ve been spewing for days how happy you are these kids are dead, don’t try to say you feel bad because you clearly fucking don’t with the repeated things you’ve chosen to say.
Wish you made more intelligent word choices before you tried to walk back your callousness
You’re not replying to the OP
Plenty of wooded areas with dirtbike trails in the semi-local area too if you know where to look. Don't even have to go as far as Big River.
Mother Theresa over here😄
/s, whoops! Honestly to me it’s laughable that this is a continuing issue in the city.
Maybe we could get the lifted diesel truck enthusiasts to meet the unregistered motor cycle enthusiasts..and let nature take its course
Street-legal bikes are both less cool and more expensive (because they have things like blinkers, etc.).
These kids buy dirt bikes knowing full well it isn't legal to ride them on city streets.
As far as I know it's not legal in parks, either, or most publicly-owned woods, but they don't seem to care about that, either. Pretty much these are for privately-owned land.
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I know this is an RI sub but how'd that work it for this elderly guy in Boston. I drive through Dorchester, Mattapan, Roxbury, Boston, etc. These riders are punks who think they should be allowed to do whatever pleases them. The only hope for a safe summer would be a Semi vs these pricks.
I would try to but they are too busy riding around on their atvs and dirt bikes illegally
The teenagers last week did the running down, or in their case running into a SUV. It was a hard physics lesson, but they passed and unfortunately lost.
He didn't. Massachusetts has a decent amount of concealed carry holders. Some MAY get away some may not if they screw around and find out with the wrong person. It's just so around not good. It's not just dangerous for them, it's dangerous for innocent people trying to go about their lives.
These riders are corny AF. I’m embarrassed for them when I see their type riding down Thayer St or residential areas.
It’s cringey and looks like they’re trying to impress teenage boys with this behavior. Certainly no woman can find it attractive.
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Except a lot of them do work and have jobs and families. You’re clearly not a peoples person though
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LMAO, I saw them while having pizza yesterday on Federal Hill. Wanted to snap a photo but hands were dusty from the pizza.
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Your missing the point that they’ll spend the money on the atv/dirt bike but not money on a truck to haul em cus that’s “too country”
No matter how you feel about ATV riders or cops, I think we can all agree that these kids were dumb af. Like who goes up to an armed cop and then thinks they can fuck around without finding out?
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This seems to be unique to Providence. Why have I never heard about it in other cities in NE or other states?
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...google. They're in NYC, Philly, Baltimore, Chicago.
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Thanks!
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It’s nearly every decent sized city.
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Wow these people have just royally ***** themselves. Threatening an officer, vandalizing the patrol car and this in the face of the 2 lives lost last week.
The city is definitely going to bring the hammer down.
Stooopid.
It is illegal to ride on RI state property with any off road vehicle. Unless it’s the beach and you have a CRMC beach pass and are within the regs. RI is not friendly for state land usage aside from hunting or fishing on foot.
I’m not here to defend these dick weeds. I’m just stating facts. I spend a lot of my time in CT when I want to fish/hunt/do things in the woods.
You're not wrong, but it'd still be better than city streets.
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If the ATVs aren't stolen in the first place.
Tell me you’re a entitled asshole, without saying it. 🙄
its like the circus has arrived in town wen these motorcycle stunt gangs shows up in your town wen r tha elephants gona show up
There was a recent “takeover” of the interstate 🛣️ in Miami.
I know but the stunts are lame. They should go train up proper and save the big show for the next time something worthwhile is in town like the RonDeSatan show…
Charlotte has their fair share.
They get a kick out of riding in the city
Zero tolerance, lock them up and crush their rides.
Aren't there laws against this? I don't get why the cops don't coordinate to mass arrest them a few times.
>They are mostly teenagers. And yes, many are annoying scumbags like most teenagers
are you psychotic
Before crushing make sure they aren’t stolen. If stolen return to legal owners who probably ride them on a track (in another state) or private property.
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That cop should be fired. Defund the police
Because the last time they tried to stop them it ended in multiple riots.
And in that case one of these losers drove into a brick wall on his own, cops never even touched him. Imagine if PPD were to actually put their hands on one of them!
Like cornering and threatening a woman with two small children. Fucking low life scum.
Not that these riders would know, but the rules in RI are unclear. They define that something with low pressure tires can be a snowmobile. Atvs have low pressure tires, it’s not even a debate. And there are several state parks where they are allowed. It’s written very unclear….
Section 8.2 definitions:
https://rules.sos.ri.gov/regulations/part/250-80-00-8
They go on to list where these recreational vehicles are permitted, but if you went there you’d have a problem because not even the DEM know how they’re own rules are written.
Areas where you “can” ride:
8.13
https://rules.sos.ri.gov/regulations/part/250-80-00-8
Now if you show up to these places, they’ll all say “no motorized vehicles”. The dem also expects you to register said vehicles even though you can’t ride it anywhere in public.
Under now circumstances can you free ride on the road like this, it’s reckless. You can make a parallel crossing safety, but that’s it.
I had some behind me on 10 riding my bumper so I built in a little space and then gave them a good scare by a hard brake. They backed off a little more. Not a smart move on my part but I was pissed. The cop should have used a shotgun.
> except the girl that was passenger is not a part of this whole thing and was just riding on back one night.
That makes her involved.
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Reminds me of living in Philly, the dirt bike/atv gangs literally took over the main road in center city.
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>Massachusetts has a decent amount of concealed carry holders.
No, it's those of us in full sized trucks that they're going to do something remarkably stupid in front of and we won't have time to stop.
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Uh, it happens in Boston even more.
>they’ll spend the money on the atv/dirt bike
Most of these bikes and quads are old and shitty or stolen.
It’s about damn time. Fuck these clowns. They do wheelies at me, and then give me a look of complete disbelief when I don’t veer away and they have to dip and fall.
Lot easier to make space for a bike or an ATV than a truck. Cost is also different.
You keep saying that lol These motherfuckers aren't teenagers, bud.
I think you might be missing the point that ATVs are dirt cheap and take little space to store.
Trucks and trailers are expensive and take up tons of room.
I don't think it's merely about appearances.
No way. It tears up the trails and is disruptive and dangerous for anyone hiking. Designated off road trails-- fine. But otherwise, definitely not better.
>It was a hard physics lesson, but they passed and unfortunately lost.
This probably isn't the place for wordplay, but you could reverse a couple of those words and it would still make sense; It was a hard physics lesson, but they lost and unfortunately passed.
This is all part of life in democrat run cities
This is what the people voted for
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Works either way, I like my wording better.
Delusional much?
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Cops are no different from everyone else
I'm not going to respond to the racism aspect of your reply, because I firmly believe in equal rights for all and preach nothing but love for all people who try to do the right thing. I will say I that I don't actively root for people like this to be hurt, however I'm not going to act like they haven't brought this upon themselves and don't feel bad for them when they get hurt.
However, as far as building a legal place inside the city of Providence for them to ride, I believe very firmly you are wrong. The people you see out riding the bikes on public streets (and certainly not just in Providence) are not going from point A to point B to relax and chill with their like-minded friends, they are riding completely illegally on city streets with no regard for basic standards of care on the road. They frequently do not wear helmets, have no safety equipment (lights, signals...) on them, and do not pay to register them with the state. They fly through red lights, perform wheelies or other tricks going the wrong way in traffic, ride on sidewalks and bike paths and will even cut through city parks to get to where they want to be. These are not the activities of kids looking for a legal place to ride, as there have been adults seen mixed in with the kids out causing the same mayhem.
The kids I grew up with who rode dirt bikes never rode on public roads to get to the riding spots, other than to cross the roads. Yes, they rode illegally on public/private land often, but the truth is that doing that bothers no one except the property owners. Sometimes they would ride along the roads if it wasn't an easy crossing, but it wasn't for long periods of time. The ones I knew that rode in the legal spots typically needed to transport them there, pay to use those spots and ad to have a full set of safety gear. They also needed to follow the rules of the tracks because there was many people of different skill levels using them.
If the communities got together and agreed to build a dirt bike park, do you actually see the person leaning back on 2 wheels on a quad with no helmet loading up their equipment into the back of a trailer and transporting it to the facility, then paying a use fee and being fully in compliance with the rules asked of them? Black, white, Indian, Asian, Hispanic, gay, straight, or any other type of way a person can be identified, you don't need to see the future to understand that a dirt bike facility would never be utilized by the people we are talking about now. At the end of the day, ATV's have very little practical use anywhere, let alone a city. There is no need to cater to city dwelling ORV riders in a fucking city.
I'm pretty sure you're just using race as a way to bait people.
And as for them being stolen or not... c'mon man, do you really think dozens of teenagers and young adults are riding around on legally bought $1000 pieces of equipment? Be honest with yourself.
This guy rides dirt bikes on city streets ^^
This is really one of the worst arguments. A cheap dirt bike is significantly less expensive than a medium tier full suspension mountain bike.
Smiley needs to do something, it's only going to get worse with warmer weather.
The sand dunes in big river is the perfect area to sanction. I wish RIDEM could get their head out of their own ass and work to accommodate all user groups.
Shit that land was taken from the public via eminent domain for a project that never happened…
I agree that the dunes should be reopened as a riding area, however these jerks will never go there to ride. It doesn't server their purpose, and it would be too far for them to ride there, lol.
Yup, how many of them ever go to the track in Richmond to pay for a day of off road riding?? None I bet.
I had to go down Dupont Drive on a Sunday afternoon recently to drop off a package at the Amazon Hub there. It was initially a bit chaotic, but the riders were at least staying away from me and my car.
I know it's not a solution, but I'd rather see them riding there on a Sunday when the majority of businesses there are closed, than up and down neighborhood streets clogged with kids...
These type of riders have no interest in going to the track and riding dirt
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Yes. The fuck. They are.
And if it were me in place of that cop and I was being surrounded by them, I'd draw my weapon too
I’m actually shitting on that opinion, that “lazy people who don’t bother to work are destroying the traditional family dynamic of American society” nonsense but I guess not being from around here the dry sarcasm doesn’t come across as well as I’d have hoped.
And yeah, coming from a position of poverty does cause further crime, but the solution that people should just “suck it up and get a job” ignores the realities that there are unimaginable hurdles for many people to be able to make any meaningful change in that regard (education, transportation, hell it might even be difficult to be presentable - consider the extreme example of homelessness). Upward mobility is only possible if someone somehwere gives you a chance, and as a society we’ve backed off of that significantly, if we were ever good at it at all.
Assistance programs can help, and should be well-funded and not shamed; currently this is possibly the only way out for many.
But it all comes back to systemic issues; even with assistance, everything is designed to keep the “poors” down, as an example to the middle class of what’ll happen to them if they start to question the status quo and how they’re being squeezed. It’s expensive to be poor.
So what happens when you live in a place that kicks you when you’re down, and you don’t even have the ability to get around it?
You stop giving a fuck, and you form stolen ATV gangs for kicks.
Fight for a more equitable society, homies. It’ll be a better world for literally everyone.
There was a lot of reporting early on when this started happening during the early pandemic that the ATVs were being stolen. If that is no longer the case then it’s no longer the case, but that was reported.
Quads are like $7k average.
Wow, I had no idea they were that expensive. I just looked up the price of used dirt bikes and the average seemed be about 1k.
I'm a Providence native, living in deep rural Kansas for the past 20 years. At some point this year, I'll be moving back to Rhody.
I've been following the ATV saga closely for the past few years...and I can say in all seriousness, when I am driving through the city and a bunch of these fools comes up on me trying to puff out their scrawny chests and behaving in a menacing way...if I think I can pull it off, I'll be mowing these fucktards down like the first day of the Macy's $99 bridal gown sale.
I have zero tolerance for shitheads like this, and zero fucks to give.
See you at the gates of hell, asshats.
Wrong.
If these sub-moronic ATV riders were, in fact, exclusively Anglo...that would make me want to beat their collective asses even more for acting so shitty and making the rest of us Anglos look so bad.
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Well sorry to hear. Maybe they should you know..ride off road vehicles…you know off the road?
My friends car got smashed. He’s pretty torn up about it seeing how he works hard to be able to afford it these people didn’t even stop. They are literal cunts.
Same deal in NYC. I used to live in rural NJ and a family member had his ATV stolen out of his locked garage. Turned up in Brooklyn a week later. A lot of the bikes you see ripping around East Coast cities are stolen, so they don't care if they have to ditch it when running from police. Pretty frustrating.
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Sound good. Hope you have a great day
I ride a DRZ. In many places you can get MX bikes registered if you add mirrors, horn, and appropriate lights. Just seems like if these kids were legal they’d have less of incentive to blast through red lights while being chased over paperwork/other traffic infringements.
If you’re unregistered and you get pulled over, it’s impound and maybe arrest. If you’re registered it’s a ticket. So to me the whole incentive for these guys to bolt and do dumb stuff and ride in packs is based off of the fact they are committing a misdemeanor off the word go.
Sort of like when I used to buy weed from the drug dealer I’d accidentally leave with a gram of coke and three perc 30s. Now I just go to the store and everything is kosher.
We will see if anything gets done. Elorza didn't want to piss off his amigos.. lets see if Smiley can do better
They just wanna ride wild - -
where they can see - -
and be seen-
not in the woods/rural areas
You can get mirrors and lights on Amazon for probably under $100. Provided everything else works that’s all you should need to be road worthy. If you have a legal bike registered in your name, not only can you enjoy it like a normal person but you might think twice next time you flip off a cop. That’s my logic
If they were legal on city streets, do you think they’d still buy them?
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Nice! Hope to see you out there!
Oh, I didn’t look at used. It’s possible then, but looking at some stats about used pricing most recent models (2017 and up) are still starting around $3k. Definitely more accessible. How old are the ones they’re using?
As long as they are loud and can be used to misbehave, I think so, sadly.
ATVs are illegal to drive on the streets of Providence- the law is clear on this. Just confiscate these vehicles, destroy them, and fine the offenders. Should solve the problem pretty quickly, no?
Then why not collect some tax revenue from it?
Just to add a step, if stolen return to rightful owners, or dealers they are sometimes stolen from. A shame when a reputable shop needs to block the door with their truck and chain their inventory to the floor.
My guess is because the DMV is only charged with managing vehicles for use on roads.
Tractors, for example, are only subject to their requirements when they are moving from field to field -- and even then they kind of get a pass, running with their flashers on.
Again, that's my understanding from growing up in an ag state.
I saw that thread too. Try saying it to them a different way, isolated from an informational article, like, "is it problematic that there are gangs of children in ATVs menacing the citizens of PVD?"
and you will find a fat % of them denying it's the case, or saying WELL I heard about that stuff but I've never seen it, another fat % telling you your comment has unwholesomely racial overtones regardless of its content, a substantial % asking you whether you just need PVD to be more similar to the suburbs, and then yeah maybe a small group who do perceive the behavior as a problem requiring a solution. None of them realizing for an instant that the victim blaming and "well I haven't experienced it so it must not exist" attitudes are exactly what progressive liberalism has been intending to combat for the last couple of decades. Then you might ask if the cops and simple enforcement are an appropriate solution and see how that goes--and I say this as an ACAB guy.
I can absolutely guarantee you, having posted in that forum on this exact topic before, albeit with a different account, that the bulk of the users there are more concerned with how you've identified this as a problem and how that might make YOU problematic, than with it being a problem in the first place.
Right stealing dirt bikes and riding in the streets all day is a great way to improve their livelihood.
Thanks for the essay of sympathy BS.
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ynwp t1_jdx3xys wrote
Are there neighborhoods to avoid? I am worried about my car insurance if I hit one of them.