News Sections Indiana Supreme Court Hears Moped Law Arguments
 Print    Archive    RSS  (INDIANAPOLIS) - The Indiana Supreme
Court heard arguments Friday over Indiana's confusing and
outdated moped laws.  Sandra Chapman, of WTHR reports, the high
court took its courtroom on the road to Martin University on the
Indianapolis east side.  The case starts with a loophole that
allows habitual traffic violators back on the road, on low-
powered 49cc mopeds designed to travel 25 mph.  "The citizen
can't be held accountable in criminal law for laws that are
unclear. That doesn't tell him what's right or what's wrong,"
explained Acting Chief Justice Brent Dickson.  At the center of
the case is Michael Lock, a habitual traffic offender with no
license. In 2009 Lock was convicted of driving while suspended
after a State Trooper pulled him over on U.S. Highway 24 on his
49cc moped.  It wasn't the horsepower but the speed that got him
into trouble. He was cruising at 43 mph.  Prosecutors say
anything going that fast is not