That is the message the illustrious Washington State Senator, Adam Kline (D) Seattle, has sent quite loudly to ATV owners in this statement via David Postman at the Seattle Times. It was promted by an email from an ATV/ORV enthusiast.
Dear Mr. Helgeson,
I signed on because I have been annoyed, endangered, and angered one too many times by people riding motorized dirt-bikes and other off-road vehicles that have no damn business anywhere. To me, this bill is narrow — it doesn’t include those “personal watercraft,” seemingly jet-powered little missiles whose only apparent purpose is to risk death and dismemberment for boaters and swimmers, for the amusement of spoiled drunk teenagers.
Yes, I am sure there is the occasional responsible person who rides one of these machines on land or water. And yes, like every human being I have been pleasantly surprised to find my stereotypes broken. But why, why, why, do folks insist on motorized “sports”? Those two words are an oxymoron.
There is nothing sporting — athletic, physically demanding — about riding any machine anywhere. And it’s a damned annoyance to folks who see the outdoors as a place to go for quiet and solitude and self-exploration. I would be happy to ban the use of the internal combustion engine off-road, by anyone without a handicapped sticker, subject to a stiff fine. Maybe we could call this an anti-obesity measure.
Please circulate this to all motorized sports enthusiasts, so they can remember never to vote for me.
Adam Kline
We here at RNS have all heard of Senator Kline before. He testified alongside Senator Tom at the anti-gun show bill in Olypmia. Senator Kline, as well as Senator Tom now appears to be, is in the pocket of the local Brady Foundation affiliate, Ceasefire Washington.
Here is a map of Senator Kline’s district. There is not one single place where anyone could legally ride anything remotely resembling an ORV. This bill will not affect him or his neighbors in any way.
That is why he signed on to it. He doesn’t like ORVs, just as he doesn’t like firearms, and he is of the belief that no one else (except for the police, who have quads and dirt bikes in the motor pool) should be allowed to have them.
Make sure you hit the link to the rest of the Postman story. It has the email that prompted this response as well as Senator Kline stating that while he shouldn’t write while he is angry, he doesn’t regret a single word of what he wrote.
In case any readers have had their head in the sand in the last 50 years, there is a now-raging culture war in these here YouNighty States.
My only caution for boneheads such as Kline who would destroy our oudoor culture is that perhaps he should be wondering just how hot that culture war will get?
He’s quite totally wrong about how athletic and physically demanding riding a dirtbike is. MX racers rank at the peak of physical fittness among sportsmen and my guess is Cross-Country and Enduro Riders are above even them. Don’t know about water craft or Quads – never ridden one.
This is not at all unlike the anti-gun arguments, or anti-black-rifle arguments.
It’s the whole “I don’t see a reason for it so neither should you” snobbery.
I work at a ski resort and board or ski about 3 days a week. Not bragging, just letting you know I’m in shape. Some buddies and I went to the Florida Keys for vaction and I got to ride a watercraft for the first time. We rode for about an hour in 1′-2′ swells. The next day it was about all we could do to walk our quads were burning so bad. So, yea, watercraft are quite the workout.
Used to ride watercraft on Marine Patrol. Put in an 8-hour day on one, riding in the correct arched position (NOT sitting down), and you will have had a workout probably equal to three or four hours of kickboxing practice and drills, done intensely.
Perhaps this chowderhead Kline might want to test HIS fitness on a watercraft.