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August 25, 2005
Legitimate Stop or Police Harassment?
If any of you aren’t aware of this law, motorcycles can run red-lights after a complete stop because we do not set off lights that have weight sensors. This law was passed several years so.
So today at about 9:30am I had pulled up to Broad Street off of I-24. There was little-to-no traffic on Broad. I stop and then pull up some more to see further down Broad. I did see that there was traffic about ¼ mile down Broad and I did notice a cop car at the head of the traffic (I’m only noting that I saw him).
So I turn left on red and sure enough, the cop flips on his lights and U-turns in beside me.
He had sped up so much that he almost rear-ends me as I pull over immediately being the law-abiding citizen that I am. He pulls up dangerously close beside me and at a speed that I was not comfortable with. He then rolls his window down and yells at me to get off the bike. So I do. Once off, he comes around and asks for my license and my registration.
As he retunes to his car I kinda squat down at the window and ask him why he pulled me over advising him that I am aware of the red-light law. He says that that is why he pulled me over and that he made me get off my bike because the last two he has tried to pull over has ran and he can’t keep up with them in a car.
He then says that he ‘doesn’t know’ if they’ve passed the motorcycle red-light law or not. And I assure him that it’s a law that has been in effect for some time now. In my opinion, he does know, he just wanted to stop me.
He then proceeds to ask me if my wrecks were on my bike. Well, as a side note, my motorcycle wreck is not documented with the insurance company or the police so I look at him really funny and he is like ‘October 1996, March 1998’…
At this point I realize that this guy is just trying to mess with me. So I advise him I’ve only had my bike for less than 2 years.
He then hands me back my license and pretty much drives off.
| By gravits | 10:00 AM
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Comments
As another comment, I just want to know WHY if I did nothing illigal, I got pulled over. Sounds like this cop had a problem with motorcycles to me. Because again, I did NOTHING wrong.
Posted by: gravits at August 25, 2005 10:11 AM
Congratulations, you've just been profiled!
If a cop has nothing to do and can find a reason to question anyone who looks like they belong to a more criminal profile (motorcycle rider as compared to Volvo driver) they will.
How do you think they arrest all those drug mule fools on I-75?
Posted by: jfb3 at August 25, 2005 01:59 PM
True that! He sure looked surprised when I took my helmet off and was a girl.
Well, if I didn't do anything wrong and he expected me to run knowing that he couldn't catch me... then why even bother pulling me over? I guess he was hoping to find me with no motorcycle license and give a ticket to help meet his quota for August...
Posted by: gravits at August 25, 2005 02:17 PM
Your going to kill yourself on that damn thing
But we love you anyway :>
Posted by: Stephanie Hendricks at August 26, 2005 11:05 AM
Come-on now... :(
There were no cars around!!
Posted by: gravits at August 26, 2005 11:06 AM
Aren't most sensors tripped by motion as opposed to weight? I didn't know motorcycles could run red lights.
Posted by: g at August 26, 2005 12:56 PM
I googled it and found this tid-bit:
Motorcyclists had complained they were forced to wait excessive periods of time at stop lights because sensors that control the lights did not recognize motorcycles, which are now made mostly of aluminum and fiberglass, not metal.
So I'm not sure exactly what trips the sensors... but I do know that for some reason motorcycles do not.
When I went to the DMV on Bonny Oaks in 2004 to get my license, the lady had to stand outside and watch me as I make a left turn onto Bonny Oaks then turn around and she told me to treat the light as a stop sign since my bike would not set off the sensor.
Posted by: gravits at August 26, 2005 02:11 PM
The sensor is a electrified wire loop just under the pavement. When a large enough metal object passes over the loop it creates a pulse that the sensor control unit reads as "Hey, that's a car!".
Bicycles have the same problem. Sometimes on one of the steel framed bikes I can trip the sensor by leaning the bike over almost all the way to the ground directly over the sensor loop. It all depends on how sensitive the controller is set. Most controllers seem to have been set less sensitivly in the last few years, probably to avoid false positives.
Posted by: jfb3 at August 26, 2005 02:55 PM
Is it true that if you live in GA, you don't have to have a license? And do you HAVE to wear a helmet?
Posted by: bamaiam7802 at August 27, 2005 02:22 PM
I DO know that GA has a helmet law. There are only a few states that do not have helmet laws... FL doesn't for sure.
As far as the license... you need to check GA's specific laws. I know that you DO have to have a license but there are sometimes exceptions. For example, in TN you only have to have a license for vehicles of 150cc+ which is all street-legal motorcycles. Only some scooters are
On a side note, I have wrecked a bike and had serious injuries... and trust me, you ALWAYS need that helmet!
Posted by: gravits at August 28, 2005 12:09 AM
There are so many things to learn, but thanks for the info!
Posted by: brandy at September 5, 2005 08:20 PM