Women don’t make fools out of men; they just give ‘em the opportunity.

On Karen and Danica
By Deane Mercier

          April 25, Norwalk, CT.---If I had to choose between Danica Patrick and Karen Perrine as to which lady scored the bigger win I’d have to go with Ms. Perrine . While Patrick’s recent win at Motegi in the Indy Japan 300 has proven that women can race with the guys and win, Perrine’s victory strikes a winning chord with all of us, men and women alike.   

            Perrine, you see, took on the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles and won. God bless her. 

            Her battle began back in the fall of 2005 while she riding her motorcycle on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway from her Staten Island home to her job in New York City. She was riding in the HOV lane, which under federal law was perfectly legal, or so she thought. She was pulled over and given a ticket for “disobeying pavement markers”, which is to say she was cited for driving in the HOV lane. 

            Again, under federal law, she was permitted to ride her motorcycle in the HOV lane. Back in 1991 the American Motorcycle Association was able to get a bill passed that expressly bars states from excluding motorcycles from HOV lanes unless that state can show a explicit safety hazard associated to the road. 

            When her she appeared in court in July 2006, Perrine, despite the fact she had federal law on her side, was found guilty. She immediately appealed the decision. The appeal took almost 18 months to work its way through the bureaucracy. 

            This past February Perrine was vindicated when she received a letter from the New York Department of Motor Vehicles Appeals Board stating that her conviction was overturned and her driving record would be wiped clean. 

            In the mean time she had points from the ticket on her driving record, which qualified her for something called the New York Drivers Assessment Fee to the tune of $300.00. Her auto insurance was canceled. Added together the assessment fee, the cost of the appeal and the price of her new insurance coverage came to just under $1,300.00. 

            And you know what, she could find herself in the same mess all over again tomorrow if she uses the HOV lane. It seems that New York City, even though its own DOT has drafted an amendment to comply with the federal law that was to take effect this spring, the NYPD is keeping this from happening. Kind of makes you wonder, doesn’t it? 

            As for Patrick’s win in Motegi, lets get one thing straight; she won because she out-raced the guys. She won because out-thought the guys. She played by the rules as they are written and she won. Just like Perrine did. 

Good for both of them.

Deane Mercier worked in radio for 35 years as a DJ and talk show host. He is currently the Host Broadcaster for Stafford Motor Speedway, a Motorsports correspondent for the Hour Newspaper (CT), as well as the Editor In Chief/Senior Columnist for Long Island Motorsports News.  Deane may be contacted at DeaneMercier@aol.com.

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