Auto Club Media Advisory: Mini Motorcycles Pose Safety Threat

LOS ANGELES--Aug. 3, 20040, 2004--

WHO:    The Automobile Club of Southern California and the Los Angeles
        Police Department

WHAT:   It's illegal to ride miniature motorcycles, known as pocket 
        bikes, on city streets and sidewalks. Yet it happens every day
        all over Southern California. Reporters are invited to drive 
        cars and SUVs in simulated traffic situations involving pocket
        bikes.  

WHEN:   Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2004, 10 a.m. - noon

WHERE:  Dodger Stadium parking lots 27 and 29. Please enter through 
        the Elysian Park Ave. entrance to Dodger Stadium. Tell the 
        guard you are attending the Auto Club event in parking lots 27
        and 29.

WHY:    Pocket bikes are a growing safety problem. They are being sold
        in toy stores, auto supply stores and neighborhood shops. One 
        company expects to sell more than 500,000 by the end of the 
        year. Already, one child has been killed in traffic. Police 
        across Southern California are impounding pocket bikes being 
        ridden in the streets or on sidewalks.