A test drive goes wrong in Kingsport

KINGSPORT, Tenn. --
Police say a motorcycle test drive got way out hand today in Kingsport.

Kingsport say around noon today, a man they identified as 24 year old Harley J. Ramey took a motorcycle without permission from a local dealer - and punched it.

ÔÇ£Sort of surprised way people act, I don't know what he was thinking," said Kenny Roller, a manager at Cycle City, the dealership from which the motorcycle was taken.

"Obviously he wasn't [thinking] - doing a 100 miles per hour without a helmet. Not a wise decision."

Police said Ramey suffered some broken bones and will face criminal charges.

The link

http://www.timesnews.net/article/9051649/biker-with-no-helmet-crashes-during-100-mph-test-drive

Taking a vehicle without permission is not a test drive, it's theft.

True, but taking a vehicle on an approved test ride can imply ownership, almost; or so an Alaskan judge ruled. A few years back a man in Fairbanks took a new Ford truck on a test drive; he never came back. Months later the truck was found in Anchorage with thousands of miles on it. The test driver was using it as his daily driver and was arrested for auto theft. A judge dismissed the charge by ruling that the dealership could not produce a written agreement with the "thief" that specified the duration of the test drive.