Egregious Fines Abound in VA

File under: People I do NOT want to be.
As if cyclists don’t have it hard enough. Kajuan Cornish, a 19 year old Virginia resident, was running to Burger King on his lunch hour, when he was pulled over by police and hit with a $1,050 fine for reckless operation. (1/14/08-Thanks Andy! Added: According to reports I've heard and read he was speeding, er... going too fast, and therefore it was justified.) The catch is, he was on his 18-speed Huffy. One day after Gov. Timothy Kaine called for a repeal of the states abusive driver fees that are failing horribly. I guess we should give kudos to Kaine for kicking off this years legislation by calling for an appeal, realizing the law was an asinine idea. This is just one example of why we need to get two wheelers mobilized, and act as advocates to work for change. Another example would be found in my past “Freakin’ Cars” posts (Freakin’ Cars, Freakin’ Cars Redux, and Freakin’ Cars Redux, Again).
I would love to hear more from Kajuan, and hear what comes of the fines, and find out if he actually winds up paying them or if it get overturned. Furthermore I would like to hear from Gov. Kaine’s representation to see two things. First, what they plan to do with the egregious fines, and second what if anything they are doing to actually overturn the laws. If you have contact with either please feel free to pass along that they could contact me via the contact in the upper right hand corner of the sidebar.