Time to set the record straight. Katherine Mellor is my ex-wife.
Let me start off by saying that contrary to the opinions that many have formed, and as was recently suggested by Wheels Columnist Allan Johnson of the Toronto Star, Bill 117 may not have anything to do with a bitter divorce and everything to do with a mother who is concerned about the welfare of her son. After much investigating, it is still unknown at this time, who actually convinced MPP Jaczek to submit this Bill.

Having known Katherine for half my life, I can say that she is not by nature a malicious person. Her letter to Minister Bradley had nothing to do against me as her ex-husband nor does she have any concerns that I am anything less than a capable and cautious rider, but moreso about her fear of others on the road. Her letter actually focused largely on the general lack of skills of drivers of cars, but that part of her letter was left out of the debate (because it addresses a larger issue…the real issue).

There lays the real issue about how to make our roads safer…improve driver training and situational awareness and our roads will be a safer place. Bill 117 however, is a solution to a problem that simply doesn’t exist.

Although my ex and I don’t see eye-to-eye on everything, I object to her being portrayed as “the disgruntled ex wife” (nor does she want to be portrayed as such). Although I believe she is misguided about the dangers of motorcycling, her concern is for her son’s safety…nothing more and nothing less. Which is why she supports this Bill. However, she wasn’t aware of the Bill until after it passed the first reading.

Yet the statistical likelihood of our son being injured in organized sports is far greater than him being injured from going for a ride on the back of my bike.

However, Ms. Mellor has her opinion and in the end it would be far easier for her to say to our son “I’m not forbidding you from riding with daddy…it’s just illegal now”.

When I stated that I wanted to take our son riding, she expressed her displeasure with the idea but never said “no”. In fact, her response was “I don’t like it but just make sure he has proper gear on”. We also had civil discussions and set guidelines about certain riding conditions (not at night or in the rain, no +5hr rides that I’m known for doing, regular breaks, etc). These were terms that we agreed upon as conditions for taking my son for a ride. At no point was their any “arguing” about it.

The next thing I know…there is a Private Members Bill being considered to ban children from motorcycles. The MPP who authored this Bill could have easily introduced a Bill making driver training courses mandatory and although that would have addressed the real issue, it would never fly. Instead, they chose to do this, which in the end will have no impact on improving overall road safety.

Once again…this was NOT the result of my ex-wife and me not being able to come to an agreement. I said I wanted to take our son riding, she set some conditions that we agreed too as rational adults and I stuck to them.

This is the 28th thing the Liberals have banned or tried to ban since taking office. It seems to me that they are quite focused on banning anything that they deem as unsafe and that they need to protect us from ourselves. Just another step closer to the Nanny State mentality that we are all fearful of.

Their success so far has been banning parts of our lifestyles that on paper, seemingly only affect a small group of people that can easily go unnoticed (like riders) or prey upon peoples fears (like unsafe drivers).

The general public are simply ignorant about motorcycles (either fearful of them or simply dislike them as a result of the 1% group that always make the media). As such, passing a law like this can easily go un-noticed but the implications are far reaching and restrict how a parent can raise their child and the parts of life that we want them to experience.

In another case, Bill 203 (that also started as a Private Members Bill), the highly toted Street Racing law passed with flying colours because it preyed upon peoples fears. The media, law enforcement and politians went nuts about how dangerous street racers are and that they are causing deaths left, right and centre. In the end though it’s the average Joe who has seen the brunt of that Bill. Soccer mom’s are loosing their minivans, blue collar workers are loosing their jobs and essential emergency vehicles in remote communities have been impounded, which actually put lives at risk. Nearly no “street racers” have been affected at all. Turns out Bill 203 is a great cash grab for the Province of Ontario. It sure as hell isn’t making our roads safer though.

Next…banning the use of hand-held cell phones while driving. Just another attempt to “make our roads safer”. Oh please spare me this ongoing ignorance! It has been proven over and over that hands-free cellphones are NO safer than hand-held. Having a conversation on a phone while driving is equal to about 3 drinks, therefore causing a driver to be legally impaired. Taking the phone out of a drivers hand is NOT going to make one bit of difference. Driver education will though.

Drivers in Ontario suck…no arguement there. However, instead of focusing on making better drivers, the government believes it will be easier to remove distractions. What’s next? Ban phones altogether? Keep going. No eatting, drinking, shaving, reading? Seems like a good idea. Lets keep going. Ban GPS’s, radios….KIDS??? I can’t count how many times I’ve seen car or minivan swerving on the highway, only to realize as I got closer, that the driver was trying to tend to a child in the backseat.

Bill 117 does NOTHING to improve road safety in Ontario but hey…we gotta “save the children”. Jaczek has already stated that she will next look at ATV’s and Snowmobiles to protect children from them also.

Not once in over 10yrs of MTO statistics has a child been killed on a motorcycle, which to my knowledge can’t be said about any other recreational or sporting activity (with the exception of playing Chess perhaps).

Where the hell is this going to stop? When will people wake up and realize that certain lines are being crossed and once that’s done, you can’t stop or go back.

A child was just killed on Friday when his toboggan crashed into a tree. Hmmmm…I wonder if that will spawn another Bill? It may very well if we have another fatality this winter. At that point some politician will claim that there has been a shocking increase in “tobogganing related fatalities” and that this increase is epidemic and the recreation needs to be banned…to “save the children”.

Hmmm…may I remind you of the movie “V for Vendetta”? The society in that movie was based on the government preying on peoples fears in their attempt to protect them from themselves.