Got pulled over riding a bike yesterday! - Page 2 - Cycling Mob: Road Cycling, Mountain Biking and More

08-24-2003, 11:34 AM

"Quiet Desperation" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...
> I was pulled over by a police car on Friday while biking on my day off.
>
> My only crime was I fit a local profile of a solitary man riding a bike
> during the day on a work week.
>
> The officer checked by ID, asked where I lived, where I was headed and
> if I was on parole (!), and then just sent me on my way. He was very
> civil, but the whole thing struck me as weird. I asked if some crime
> had happened in the last few minutes, but he said no, and that's when
> he came right out and told me about the profile.
>
> A sweaty guy wearing an iPod and headphones on a bike fits a profile?
> And I was on the home stretch of my ride against a hefty head wind, so
> I way just tooling along pretty leisurly.
>
> Anyone else have this happen? It didn't even strike me as odd
> initially. I thought I just had a good little cycling tale, but it
> seems odder and odder the more I think about it.

If you had your number safety-pinned on your jersey, the cop might have
pulled you over due to "racing profiling."

M>

08-24-2003, 11:35 AM

On Sun, 24 Aug 2003 12:34:27 -0400, "Rich Clark"
<[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:

>> I was pulled over by a police car on Friday while biking on my day off.

>
>Where were you when this happened?

On his bicycle, but that's not important right now...

08-24-2003, 11:53 AM

In article <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]>, Rich Clark
<[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:

> Well, wearing headphones while operating a vehicle is illegal most places.

He mentioned it but didn't say they were a violation. They are open air
headphones, so I hear everything fine. In fact, I don;t wear them all
the time because It becomes pointless if I'm going to be near a lot of
traffic.

> Where were you when this happened?

Lakewood, California.

08-24-2003, 12:20 PM

> Thanks for doing the home work. The way I read it means; that you can ride
> with one earphone.

Possibly correct.

>It also gives me one more reason for getting those Bose
> noise cancelling earphones.

Possibly *incorrect*. I quote the code again:

> > (iii)
> > nonprosthetic, closed-ear, open-back, electronic noise-cancellation
> > devices designed and used to enhance the hearing ability of persons
> > who operate vehicles in high-noise environments, provided any such
> > device is being worn by the operator of a vehicle with a gross vehicle
> > weight rating of 26,000 pounds or more.

NB the proviso that they may be worn in high-noise environments where
the gross weight rating of the vehicle is 26,000 pounds, or more.
From time to time this NG has discussed the equipment needs of
"clydesdale" riders--but should this provision apply to you and your
bicycle, I think it might be a record of some sort.

The provision that headphones not cover both ears, absent the
conditions stipulated above, remains in effect. Wearing those Bose
headphones while riding a bicycle is therefore *illegal* in the
Commonwealth of Virginia.

Something like this, however:

<http://www.clearercom.com/index.htm>

May be permissible. The headphone is only in one ear, and it can be
connected to a communications system. Although the language of the
statute specifically permits the use of such a device on
*motorcycles,* I am unsure as to whether such a device would be
permitted on regular pedal cycles.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. The foregoing has been my own
understanding of that section of the code, after a close reading of
its provisions. For proper advice, seek proper professional
assistance.

-Luigi

08-24-2003, 12:58 PM

Marlene Blanshay wrote:

> Something like that happened to me years ago! My boyfriend and I were
> riding our bikes (regular old crappy bikes at the time) and all of a
> sudden these cops pulled us over! They said we matched the description of
> a couple who had just committed a robbery in the area. They were shining a
> flashlight in our faces and it just struck me as so absurd I was laughing,
> and one of them said severely, "It's not a joke." Duhhhh. I was just
> wondering who would be doing a getaway from a robbery on BIKES?

Back in the 70's in Toronto the "10 Speed Bandit" robbed several banks in
downtown T.O. His m.o. was always the same. A big bank in the congested
downtown area, at rush hour. Handgun, baseball cap, sunglasses, and a 10
speed bike outside the door.
He'd escape by simply speeding off thru the normal afternoon crush of cars,
often going the wrong way on one way streets. I don't think he was ever
caught.
Bernie

08-24-2003, 01:33 PM

On Sun, 24 Aug 2003, bgaudet0801 <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:

> What if you aren't carrying ID? I often do not.

In NYC, if they arrest you and you have no ID, they then take you in and
hold you until someone can come in and identify you. During the Guiliani
years I think this meant you were taken downtown to the central holding
jail. You could be held for 24 hours.

The one time I was arrested in NYC was pre-Guiliani. One of us was a jogger
that did not have his identification with him. One of the not arrested
cyclists had to take his key and go to his apartment to get his wallet.

Don <donwiss at panix.com>.

08-24-2003, 03:40 PM

"Don Wiss" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...
> On Sun, 24 Aug 2003, bgaudet0801 <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
>
> > What if you aren't carrying ID? I often do not.
>
> In NYC, if they arrest you and you have no ID, they then take you in and
> hold you until someone can come in and identify you.

Arrest me for what though? I'm riding along and let's say I don't commit
any minor traffic infractions but the cop thinks I might look like the 70's
Toronto 10 speed bandit and I dont have any ID.

What can the cop do? Can they really hold me until I identify myself?

08-24-2003, 03:55 PM

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ] (Luigi de Guzman) wrote in
news:308301c1.0308241120.12090b54@posting.google.c om:
>
><snip headphone use on bikes illegal in some states of the US>
>
> Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. The foregoing has been my own
> understanding of that section of the code, after a close reading of
> its provisions. For proper advice, seek proper professional
> assistance.
>
> -Luigi

If you WHERE a lawyer no doubt you could convince that it is illegal NOT to
wear headphones

Fragg

08-24-2003, 04:35 PM

"Pat" <me@privacy.net> wrote in
news:bibgio$7jbul$1@ID-194653.news.uni-berlin.de:

>
> If he "where" a lawyer, he'd tell you that the word you are looking
> for is spelled "WERE."
>
> Pat in TX

so sue me

fragg - DOH!

08-24-2003, 06:52 PM

"Sam Yorko" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...
> bgaudet0801 wrote:
> >
>
> >
> > He gave me the standard: 'Have to follow the rules. It's still counts
as
> > demerits against your licence.' He did ask for ID which I told him I
didn't
> > have and that I don't have licence - which left him a bit flustered.
[who
> > _doesn't_ have a licence???]. But I was suitably meek and apologetic. I
> > didn't cop an attitude and he let me go with a warning.
> >
>
> Not if I ever get pulled over. I carry my passport with me; ain't >no<
> way they'll be able to put the ticket against my driver's license.
>
> Sam

Ya think?