Weird tickets and lessons learned.

[RedShark]

Christmas eve, a couple years ago I'm riding my Wee-Strom home around 9pm or so. Long straight down and back up a big hill, 2 lanes with passing and lots of shoulder. Conditions are clear & dry.

Going at or about the 45 posted limit I come up on an old Microbus traveling 10 or so under. The driver sees me, signals right and fades right (two wheels over the fog line like they do in Europe & Cali) and I go around him. No sweat. All done in 20 seconds and On Our Way.

But no.

There is a patrol car at the crest of the hill a quarter-mile away who sees this blatant trangression of The Law and flips on his gumball machine.

I get written up for an improper pass ("You didn't leave your lane. You can't pass somebody in thier lane.") -- Nevermind there was no other traffic around and I COULD have gone over the centerline but CHOSE not to, - we both had plenty of room : he had to make sure I knew who was boss.

Didn't argue, got the ticket, provided a written explanation, ticket cancelled, with fees it still cost $ 25.00.

Don't pass in the same lane in Hawaii. Christmas eve or not.

In the rest of the world this wouldn't raise the slightest eyebrow. In italy you could do this move on one wheel and nobody would care. But not here, nope.

[jules083]

Originally Posted by RedShark

Don't pass in the same lane in Hawaii. Christmas eve or not.

In the rest of the world this wouldn't raise the slightest eyebrow. In italy you could do this move on one wheel and nobody would care. But not here, nope.

I was in texas a few months ago, passing in the same lane is standard, even in cars. 2 lane roads, traffic both ways. The car in front would pull on the shoulder and keep driving while the cars behind passed, then pull back on the road and keep going. Speeds of 60 to 80 mph the whole time.

[Rick G]

Two years while on my cross country trip in Oregon I learned that it is not ok to pass a pickup truck pulling a large boat up a mountain pass on a double yellow even if you have the space to do so safely, espcially when that pickup truck happens to an unmarked Oregon State Police vehicle pulling a patrol boat up to Canyon Lake

Lesson learned!

Rick G

PS Wifey still doesn't know about that $285 brain fart.

[car94]

Originally Posted by jules083

I was in texas a few months ago, passing in the same lane is standard, even in cars. 2 lane roads, traffic both ways. The car in front would pull on the shoulder and keep driving while the cars behind passed, then pull back on the road and keep going. Speeds of 60 to 80 mph the whole time.

That is one of the best things about Texas. That driving technique/custom dates back to the early days of Auto's in Texas, the FM Roads(Farm to Market) have large paved shoulders so that Farm vehicles or Vehicles of Animal Husbandry can pull over and allow faster traffic to pass.

[Mknpwr]

Originally Posted by RedShark

Christmas eve, a couple years ago I'm riding my Wee-Strom home around 9pm or so. Long straight down and back up a big hill, 2 lanes with passing and lots of shoulder. Conditions are clear & dry.

Going at or about the 45 posted limit I come up on an old Microbus traveling 10 or so under. The driver sees me, signals right and fades right (two wheels over the fog line like they do in Europe & Cali) and I go around him. No sweat. All done in 20 seconds and On Our Way.

But no.

There is a patrol car at the crest of the hill a quarter-mile away who sees this blatant trangression of The Law and flips on his gumball machine.

I get written up for an improper pass ("You didn't leave your lane. You can't pass somebody in thier lane.") -- Nevermind there was no other traffic around and I COULD have gone over the centerline but CHOSE not to, - we both had plenty of room : he had to make sure I knew who was boss.

Didn't argue, got the ticket, provided a written explanation, ticket cancelled, with fees it still cost $ 25.00.

Don't pass in the same lane in Hawaii. Christmas eve or not.

In the rest of the world this wouldn't raise the slightest eyebrow. In italy you could do this move on one wheel and nobody would care. But not here, nope.

I was passed in my lane doing 75 in a 55 by a HPD motor cop while on my GS. Pulled up next to me, checked out the bike, waved and took off.

Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk 2

[codyh]

Not on the bike, but this was pretty weird to me. A couple of weeks ago I'm returning to GA from a trip to Colorado. Me, the wife, a 3 & a 4 year old in a camper van, Cruise set on the speed limit (70) in the middle lane of 3 on 40 just west of OKC. I see a Tahoe closing in on me fast, so I hit the blinker and move to the slow lane. I have no idea it's a cop at this point. The Tahoe moves over behind me and hits his lights, so I pull over. He ask me the usual questions, then "Can I get you to step out of the car?". A spread eagle pat down follows and he stick me in the Tahoe. My minds racing, but I know I haven't done anything wrong. He returns to van and speaks to my wife, then back to me. He asks several questions and then tells me why I was pulled over.....

For not signalling a full 150 ft before changing lanes.

I thought that the treatment was way excessive for the crime, but at least he only gave me a warning.

[univibe88]

I bet if you signaled for 150 feet before moving over that he would have cited you for failure to yield to a police vehicle or some other bullshit.

[WVhillbilly]

Originally Posted by jules083

I was going to a friend's house in West Virginia, and we decided to drive a round a bit to see what people were throwing away. We stopped at one point to, he was picking up a computer sitting on the side of the road, and the cop nailed us. Apparantly that is illegal in WV.

This is what I do with stuff I don't need that is too good to throw away but not worth the bother to sell.
I've set out furniture, washers and dryers, wheels/tires and so on.
Never had anything sit for more than a few hours.
If you want to make sure it disappears quick, sit it out of sight of the house with a for sale sign. They think it's worth more then.

Got clocked doing around 80 in a 55, pulled over just as soon as I saw the cop.
He looked at my paperwork (all in order) and asked if I could have out run him easily.
I said yep, but I'm too old for that shit.

Wrote me a warning for speeding and told me to slow it down.

Last summer another inmate and I got pulled over because the cop said it looked like I was "getting ready" to wheelie.
Said he saw my front suspension unload.
And that I must have been speeding because he clocked the car in front of me at 32 in a 25 and it "looked like" I was catching up to it.
I asked him what he clocked me at and he wouldn't play along.

Treated us like public enemy #1 for about 20 minutes then said how he was just concerned for our safety.
Sent us on our way after he couldn't charge us with anything.

[ttpete]

Years ago, I had a fun VW sedan that I had stuffed a Porsche engine into. It was school bus yellow with black racing stripes. On the way to work, I passed a cop car that had pulled someone over. The cop was outside at the guy's window. After I went by, I blipped and downshifted to go around a car that was going slow. About a mile down the road, the cop pulls me over. He comes up and says he had clocked me on radar at 10 over. I said "no, you didn't, you were out of your car when I went by." He said that it had "locked" onto me. I said "That's fine. Write me up. It'll be interesting to me and my lawyer to see if you perjure yourself in court". He ran my stuff, came back, and said that he hadn't gotten a good clock so he was letting me go on my way. Asshole.

[RxZ]

Originally Posted by codyh

Not on the bike, but this was pretty weird to me. A couple of weeks ago I'm returning to GA from a trip to Colorado. Me, the wife, a 3 & a 4 year old in a camper van, Cruise set on the speed limit (70) in the middle lane of 3 on 40 just west of OKC. I see a Tahoe closing in on me fast, so I hit the blinker and move to the slow lane. I have no idea it's a cop at this point. The Tahoe moves over behind me and hits his lights, so I pull over. He ask me the usual questions, then "Can I get you to step out of the car?". A spread eagle pat down follows and he stick me in the Tahoe. My minds racing, but I know I haven't done anything wrong. He returns to van and speaks to my wife, then back to me. He asks several questions and then tells me why I was pulled over.....

For not signalling a full 150 ft before changing lanes.

I thought that the treatment was way excessive for the crime, but at least he only gave me a warning.

Well, at 70 MPH you travel 102.667 feet per second (so long as my math is right). That means while he was traveling at a greater speed than the speed limit (lights off per your story), he just "noticed" that it took you less than 1.47 seconds to change lanes after hitting the blinker? And then proceeded to waste everyone's time to make a stop? What a wanker.

And cops wonder why the general public hold them in such high esteem.

[lemieuxmc]

He was profiling you as a possible out of state drug or cigarette smuggler. I'm surprised he didn't write you up for some bogus fine as well, you must have a cute wife and kids.

The local jurisdiction gets the proceeds from cars seized as a result of drug seizures, and of course the fine that you will pay by mail because you aren't coming back to appear and contest it.

The justification for this form of hassling is that it catches a few drug criminals.

You were pretty fortunate, Google "Henderson police taser diabetic driver"

You could also make a pretty good argument for shooting anyone out in public while wearing a hoodie after 10 pm... just sayin.

[AZbiker]

Originally Posted by lemieuxmc

You could also make a pretty good argument for shooting anyone out in public while wearing a hoodie after 10 pm... just sayin.

Especially when the person in the hoodie knocks you to the ground and starts beating the shit out of you...

[SgtDuster]

Originally Posted by WVhillbilly

Last summer another inmate and I got pulled over because the cop said it looked like I was "getting ready" to wheelie.
Said he saw my front suspension unload.
And that I must have been speeding because he clocked the car in front of me at 32 in a 25 and it "looked like" I was catching up to it.
I asked him what he clocked me at and he wouldn't play along.

Treated us like public enemy #1 for about 20 minutes then said how he was just concerned for our safety.
Sent us on our way after he couldn't charge us with anything.

[bwalsh]

Originally Posted by AZbiker

Especially when the person in the hoodie knocks you to the ground and starts beating the shit out of you...

Not if you deserved it for sticking your nose where it doesn't belong. There's a thread for that in Jo Momma you know.

[AZbiker]

Originally Posted by bwalsh

Not if you deserved it for sticking your nose where it doesn't belong. There's a thread for that in Jo Momma you know.

I don't go to JM. Since when is observing someone grounds for an aggravated assault?

Instead, I am going to donate money to Mr. Zimmerman's legal defense fund.