[scottw]

why don't they go to washington county to ride their atv's, dirt bikes etc? or is providence just supposed to make it legal for them to race around the city when they feel like it?

instead of your usual pathetic insinuations tell me what you two geniuses would do?


I started the thread because


"Protesters march against police brutality, call for justice for Jhamal Gonsalves"

there is no evidence of police brutality and the guy hit a curb trying to elude police and wasn't wearing a helmet apparently...I don't know what "justice" they want....


don't the law abiding residents have "rights"?

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WJAR) — Several Providence neighbors told NBC 10 News their safety is at risk because of large groups of people illegally riding ATVs, scooters, and motorbikes on city streets -- and another incident over the weekend is elevating concerns.

Cell phone photos captured by a neighbor show an ATV and a motorbike illegally driving on the Providence Pedestrian Bridge around 8 p.m. Sunday.



"They became more and more brazen. They would take over the entire street," said the neighbor.


The woman said the illegal riders have been a problem in Providence for months, but the groups have become more aggressive lately and even confrontational towards people they come across.

"It happens in broad daylight. It happens, now, any day, whenever they feel like," she said.

The woman asked NBC 10 not to identify her after she said she had a frightening run-in with another group of riders during the day while she was out for a walk on the pedestrian bridge.

"They fully intended to go over the bridge. So, I literally stood in the middle to the concrete path," she said. "They stopped, they taunted, they harassed. They used lots of horrible profanity."

Now, she said, she fears for her safety.

"They are harassing people," she told NBC 10.

Tensions over the issue of illegal ATV and motorbike riders in the city boiled over in recent days after a young man on a moped was critically injured in a crash involving a Providence police cruiser.

Jhamal Gonsalves, 24, remains in a coma, and the Rhode Island Attorney General's Office is investigating the crash.

If the groups continue to gather, neighbors told NBC 10 they worry that more riders or bystanders will be injured or killed.

"We've already seen that bad things happen, and this to me is the tip of the iceberg," the neighbor said.

City Councilman John Goncalves told NBC 10 he's been working on an ordinance to address safety concerns over the ATVs since July, which is now going through final vetting.

"The pervasive nuisance of ATVs and motorcycles in our residential neighborhoods has been an incredibly challenging issue. The recent disheartening events make it clear now, more than ever, that we need robust measures and creative mechanisms to address this issue City-wide to ensure the safety of Providence residents," Goncalves said in an email.