Got pulled over by a cop on my ebike this morning

Z

zombiess

10 MW
Joined
Jan 31, 2011
Messages
3,048
Location
Oklahoma City
As I exited off the bike path I saw him on the street and hung back because it's a 15mph school zone and I keep it at that speed. This road comes to a T intersection and has a bike lane. Since traffic was backed up I passed the cop in the bike lane and got to the stop sign where I slowed down to about 2 mph and balanced, but there was a car turning left so I decided to shadow it for my left turn using it for protection. A short distance later got some cherries and berries behind me so I pulled off to the side and pulled my helmet off. As the cop got out I said good morning to him. He then asked if I knew the rules for bicycles and I said yes and he then explained he stopped me because I didn't stop at all for the stop sign, and he was right, it wasn't a 100% dead stop. From his vantage point several cars back around a bend there is no way he could see that I was almost at a stand still balancing (no foot down). I've seen enough episodes of cops to not argue so I just played along, he was quite polite and as I gave him my license I also told him I had my concealed firearms permit but wasn't carrying a weapon.

At this point he told me he wasn't going to give me a ticket, just a verbal warning to be more careful. He also commented on my carbon fiber full face helmet and said he was glad to see me wearing such a good one.

During this whole stop, he never even noticed my bike was electric :lol: Of course he never saw me going any faster than 25mph either. Anyways, whole thing was a non issue. Maybe some time in the future I'll find out what will happen if I get caught going the speed limit, but I'm always careful to watch for cops to not draw too much attention. Just like when I play hard with my cars.
 
I got my first license at age 14 and my first pull-over a month later on my moped not because I didn't stop, but because I didn't put my foot down.


zombiess said:
Maybe some time in the future I'll find out what will happen if I get caught going the speed limit, but I'm always careful to watch for cops to not draw too much attention.
Click to expand...
Did you mean "if I get caught going over the speed limit"?
 
gogo said:
I got my first license at age 14 and my first pull-over a month later on my moped not because I didn't stop, but because I didn't put my foot down.


zombiess said:
Maybe some time in the future I'll find out what will happen if I get caught going the speed limit, but I'm always careful to watch for cops to not draw too much attention.
Click to expand...
Did you mean "if I get caught going over the speed limit"?
Click to expand...

No, I mean going the speed limit. Not normal to see someone on bicycle that looks like a BMX that can take a lane and keep up with 40-45mph traffic. I try not to take a lane unless I have to and usually keep to to 35mph or slower. On the paved bike paths where people walk I go no faster than 20mph (the same I'd pedal on a road bike) unless it's empty, then I'll go 30-35ish since no one is around.

I will say I'm pretty sure some cops have seen me going 30-35 mph and never even looked at me. Bicycles just don't seem to be noticed.

This cop also mentioned something to me about walking my bicycle in a cross walk, but I still can't figure out what he was talking about since I didn't use any cross walks. He also said I had a daytime driving restriction on my license which I don't, and verified by calling the DMV. The DMV and I figure it was from when I had my motorcycle learners permit back in 2004 which has a daytime restriction and the cop just looked up the wrong info.

The officer was nice just like all the other ones I've had interactions with (even when I was in go to jail speed violations), but the #1 rule is don't argue with them, treat them with respect even if they are wrong and things usually go OK. You just have to remember that most officers are not highly intelligent and do not know much about the laws they are enforcing, but they have all the power. Being polite goes a very long way because most of the time they guys deal with belligerent asshole punks who lie and have tons of excuses.

I'd have a wall of tickets if I wasn't able to control my tongue :twisted:
 
What a useless POS cop.

Is Las Vegas really so perfectly utopian crime free that they need to pull over bicycles for making legal turns?
 
lol.. i was pulled over earlier this season for not stopping to give him the right of way, while in a traffic circle with a car on my ass .. as if i was going to hit the brakes and stop the car behind me while on a 70 lbs bicycle..

Same as you, he gave me the speach, i nodded and agreed and was on my way.. no need for drama. he never noticed the bike was powered, or said nothing about it.. 8)
 
liveforphysics said:
What a useless POS cop.

Is Las Vegas really so perfectly utopian crime free that they need to pull over bicycles for making legal turns?
Click to expand...

Yup, kinda like utopia here no crime at all LOL. Technically I didn't come to a complete stop so I was wrong. Honestly the officer was not upset with me in the least, just concerned about my own safety because of all the "idiot drivers not paying attention and doesn't want to see me get creamed" <-- his words. I typically dislike most cops because they are power tripping douche bags all to often, but almost every interaction I have with them I'm able to control the situation through passive manipulation and make the conversation friendly, whether I'm right or wrong (usually in the wrong such as 130mph wrong) and they let me go.

Once he said that, I explained that I did not completely stop as I should have because I decided to use the car to shield me through the intersection which he agreed was a good idea and I admitted it was wrong to not completely stop. Neither one of us was upset, it was a light friendly conversation, he checked my license and then I was off to Del Taco to get a breakfast burrito before heading to work. Whole incident was less than 5 mins.

Rule #1 when dealing with the police, don't argue, you'll only make it worse.
Rule #2 Try to be polite and respectful, they aren't use to it and it goes a long way.
Rule #3 If they are a flaming asshole out to get you, be nice so they don't get nervous, then pull your gun, put a bullet in their head, police your brass if you aren't using a revolver (if semi auto make sure you wear gloves while loading the magazine in case you can't find the shell) and leave the scene as long as they haven't gotten any way to ID from you.

P.S. #3 was just some dark humor :)
 
Closest I've come so far: I was doing 25mph without peddling up a hill in a 30mph zone. Lanes were narrow so I was taking mine. Out of the corner of my eye I notice the car next to me has slowed down and is pacing me. I look over and see it's a cop and think "Opps".

A few seconds later he speeds up and goes on his way. Guess he was just checking out my sweet ride. 8)

Gary
 
Ypedal said:
lol.. i was pulled over earlier this season for not stopping to give him the right of way, while in a traffic circle with a car on my ass .. as if i was going to hit the brakes and stop the car behind me while on a 70 lbs bicycle..

Same as you, he gave me the speach, i nodded and agreed and was on my way.. no need for drama. he never noticed the bike was powered, or said nothing about it.. 8)
Click to expand...


It all sounds very familiar and I handled my situation the same. I could have argued my point but my goal when talking to a cop is to leave without a ticket.

The last thing I like to do is to stop when a car is following me at a stop sign. The other day I had to stop at a red light, in a right turn lane with a van on my ass. I couldn't roll through due to traffic going by, so I pretty much just had my eyes on the van behind me as stopped, making sure he was not going to hit me. THat's what I hate about riding with traffic on busy roads. That, and cars merging into you from the side because they don't look closely.
 
Usually cops won't pull us over b/c if there's any harm being done in an accident, it's to us - not to anyone else. That being said, I would still encourage you to all stop at stop signs. Because of the majority of cyclists (at least in my area) who don't, it's no wonder that motorists hate us. It'll definitely help our relationship with motorists if we abide by the rules of the road. Plus, I need you guys alive so you can help me with my build. Ride safe, y'all.
 
zombiess said:
... I passed the cop in the bike lane and got to the stop sign where I slowed down to about 2 mph and balanced, but there was a car turning left so I decided to shadow it for my left turn using it for protection. A short distance later got some cherries and berries behind me...
Click to expand...
That's not much of a story, no chase, no arrest, no ticket, and no argument even. There's no liberty against fascism here. And it was a legal stop too, which prompts my question: Why didn't you come to a full stop when you knew there was a cop behind you? Don't cops in your area usually enforce that one?
I drive (a car) as though there is a cop always behind me. That's mainly because I drive without the burden of one of those totalitarian license things. But it doesn't always work. One time, in Chase County, Kansas, when I got pulled over for a cop-fabricated mistake, I asked the cop, "Well how was my driving other than that?". He responded, "Oh, it was very good. Maybe, too good".
 
I think I almost got pulled over yesterday... I decided to drop by taco time after school because practice didn't start for a half hour. I got to taco time and ordered some mexi-fries and a drink in the drive-through... it was only after they handed me the drink when I realized my mistake. School was only about half a mile away so decided to just risk it and ride with a drink in one hand, other hand on the throttle :mrgreen:
Of course, I pull out of the taco time parking lot, head down the road, and there is a cop going the other way. Immediately after I passed him, he pulled an unsignaled left turn onto my side of the road. I didn't see what happened behind me after that, and I turned left at the next intersection to head back to school. Maybe he just decided that darwin would take care of me :p
I don't think I'll ride like that again... I survived, but there are about 5 giant speed bumps on the road leading up to my school, and going over those while trying not to spill a drink is hard... amazingly almost all my Dr. Pepper was still there when I got to school, ice unmelted :D
 
Nice example of passing the attitude test. Once you are stopped, job one is passing.
 
fizzit said:
I think I almost got pulled over yesterday... I decided to drop by taco time after school because practice didn't start for a half hour. I got to taco time and ordered some mexi-fries and a drink in the drive-through... it was only after they handed me the drink when I realized my mistake. School was only about half a mile away so decided to just risk it and ride with a drink in one hand, other hand on the throttle :mrgreen:
Of course, I pull out of the taco time parking lot, head down the road, and there is a cop going the other way. Immediately after I passed him, he pulled an unsignaled left turn onto my side of the road. I didn't see what happened behind me after that, and I turned left at the next intersection to head back to school. Maybe he just decided that darwin would take care of me :p
I don't think I'll ride like that again... I survived, but there are about 5 giant speed bumps on the road leading up to my school, and going over those while trying not to spill a drink is hard... amazingly almost all my Dr. Pepper was still there when I got to school, ice unmelted :D
Click to expand...

What do you think you think you were doing wrong, other than riding in a manner unsafe for yourself? Don't tell me there's a law where you live that you can't ride one-handed or with no hands or while sipping a non-alcoholic beverage, because that would be just too over the top.
 
I think it's legal (in most states?) to ride with one hand....
No hands - illegal.
 
Look mom no hands! Look mom no brains! lol. I used to do it all the time when I was a kid. Also, I used to give two neighbor kids a ride home on my rock solid bmx bicycle sometimes with no hands and no none of us were wearing seat belts..or helmets. lol.
 
veloman said:
I think it's legal (in most states?) to ride with one hand....
No hands - illegal.
Click to expand...

Well that's good, I guess I was just being paranoid. Maybe the cop was inspired and decided that he needed some taco time too, and didn't have time to signal his turn :mrgreen:
 
wineboyrider said:
Or he was headed for the doughnut shop...err :lol: :lol: :lol:
Click to expand...
Nowadays, it's anachronistic to make lame cop & doughnut jokes. Cops are so self-conscious about the association, you wouldn't catch a uniformed cop dead eating a doughnut. Think about it, when was the last time you actually saw one of our finest and a toroidal pastry together? They've moved on to bare claws.
43policedonutsd.jpg
 
sk8norcal,

Talk about disappointing. The stuff you find is typically pretty interesting, but that was lame. I really need to do some videos for you guys. :mrgreen:
 
I thought that video was ok, except for the wind noise on the camera. Thankss. As to cops and bikes, the only time the didn't crucify me was when they didn't catch me, which was never. :oops: I usually deserved it too! :twisted: No problem.
Brian L.
 
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