Police stop procedures

[Wintersdark]

6 hours ago, Brian said:

Try this. When I blew past a LEO hidden in a line of cars going slow in front of him, he stopped me and sent me on my way after I explained..."I don't get it out very often and was just blowing some of the crud out of it"

Hah I did this when I got stopped doing 200+ in an 80 zone in April last year.  "I'm sorry.  It's just it's the first nice day of the year, road's clear, just had my summer tires put on, got a little carried away on that on-ramp."  Helps that while I took the on ramp at 50 degrees and went WOT till top speed, I immediately slowed back down afterwards and it *was* clear road.  I didn't even notice the cop till I was back down near the speed limit because he was far behind me at that point.  Turns out, though, he was immediately behind me at the traffic light before the on-ramp.  Oops.

"I had that Explorer floored and you still took off like I was sitting still!"  Cop spent a fair bit of time explaining what would happen if he charged me, though, and that was kind of terrifying.  

[texscottyd]

@maximNikenGT - Here’s a few pages on the topic, after I had an impromptu roadside consultation with law enforcement last year...  

 

[Wintersdark]

7 hours ago, maximNikenGT said:

So with the weather finally getting warmer and more riders are heading out, wanted to refresh my memory on what to do if I get pulled over by police while riding my motorcycle. In general it looks like the following :

1. Turn on hazards once you get lit up by the patrol car and turn into the nearest safe place to stop. 

2. Turn off the engine, put side stand down. Q: Do or do not remove helmet/gloves?

3.  Stay on the bike with hands easily viewable by the officer. Q: I see a lot of riders ask the officer's permission to get off the bike, is this just a courtesy or a best  practice?

4. Await further information from the officer. Q: I usually ride  with GoPro on. Anything I need to formally disclose to the officer?

Anything else I might have missed? Haven't ridden long distance in awhile and wanted to refresh my memory. 

As to the OP:

In the US, I do:

6 hours ago, angrygirafe said:

Kill switch, kick stand, stay on the bike, with the heels of my hands on the bars and fingers raised. I keep helmet and gloves on as I’m not removing my hands from the bars until I’ve confirmed the officer is okay with me doing so. I also ask permission to reach for my wallet. I’ve never had to remove my helmet so far. 

And yeah, “yes, sir” “no, sir” “my apologies, sir” has kept me out of tickets so far. 

Because US cops are unbelievably crazy. 

Here in Canada:

• Hazards on if I have them, turn signal if not.
• Kickstand down (it's also how I turn off the bike)
• Key off
• Open modular helmet, or remove non-modular helmet
• Remove gloves
• Get license and registration out

I've never had a cop show any anxiety with my hands doing stuff out of line of sight (helmet, gloves, papers) here.  I wouldn't take that chance south of the border though.

And yeah.  I try to always limit myself to being as polite as possible, but limited my responses as much as possible to yes sir, no sir.  

 

If I am riding with a camera, I will never disclose that.  I'm not going to draw their attention to evidence against me.  And even if it's exculpatory, I'm keeping it to myself and will contest the ticket later. 

 

[sabre85]

 Kickstand down, bike off

hands on bars, do not get off bike, could be seen as an aggressive move

open face shield or modular helmet, don't take helmet off, could be seen as a weapon to a twitchy policeman, ask to remove helmet if necessary

ask to get off bike if necessary to access papers or license.

inform officer if you are going to reach into tank bag for papers ect.

"yes sir, no sir" always

with all the idiots, and road rage incidents, getting off the bike or reaching into bags for papers before the officer is informed could all be seen as aggressive moves.

best to wait for permission to make any moves

[fddriver2]

If you were in the wrong. We know if we were speeding. Being generally dumb. Accept it you got caught.

Pull over at the first safe spot. Turn off bike.  Very slowly take off helmet and put it somewhere it is not likely to be a weapon. This is important....

Do not reach for anything, anywhere until the officer asks you to. If your important information is somewhere on your body. Explain where it is. Get the officer's approval to reach for it.  If it's somewhere else explain it. Get approval. 

Having spent 30+ years in the system. Not everyone is nice like you. Some are passively hostile. Some are violently hostile. They have to be ready for either one. 

Be polite, accept your fate, Fight it in court. 

Chris Rock has some tips

 

[peteinpa]

Here in the US, the cops are happy if you pull over at all.

They probably have a bad opinion of bikes in general already due to the packs stunting on dirtbikes and quads on the streets, flipping them off.

I think once they run your tag they know more about you then you do. They know if you have a CWP.

Last time I told a cop I had a gun he took the mag out and left me the gun.  WEIRD.

[MightBeSasquatch]

16 hours ago, angrygirafe said:

I feel like traffic circles are designed specifically to tempt us 😂

*Traffic Slingshots

[draco_1967]

3 hours ago, peteinpa said:

Last time I told a cop I had a gun he took the mag out and left me the gun.  WEIRD.

Unless he had a lawful reason to take it, that's called theft. I would have reported him to his superiors. Maybe he had the same gun at home and wanted an extra mag? These days, taking 10-15 rounds of 9mm is equivalent to stealing $100 😆

 

[texscottyd]

18 hours ago, angrygirafe said:

I feel like traffic circles are designed specifically to tempt us 😂

😳

[angrygirafe]

1 minute ago, texscottyd said:

😳

Now THAT is proper use of a traffic circle 

[Waldo Jeffers]

 

[i_ride45]

18 hours ago, Wintersdark said:

As to the OP:

In the US, I do:

Because US cops are unbelievably crazy. 

Here in Canada:

• Hazards on if I have them, turn signal if not.
• Kickstand down (it's also how I turn off the bike)
• Key off
• Open modular helmet, or remove non-modular helmet
• Remove gloves
• Get license and registration out

I've never had a cop show any anxiety with my hands doing stuff out of line of sight (helmet, gloves, papers) here.  I wouldn't take that chance south of the border though.

And yeah.  I try to always limit myself to being as polite as possible, but limited my responses as much as possible to yes sir, no sir.  

 

If I am riding with a camera, I will never disclose that.  I'm not going to draw their attention to evidence against me.  And even if it's exculpatory, I'm keeping it to myself and will contest the ticket later. 

 

It's all the stuff you see on TV bud. I've been pulled over nearly 40 times in the USA and never had a real problem other than a handful of tickets.

[maximo]

I do whatever will let the LEO know that they're in charge, and that I present no threat to them. The specifics change with each stop.  My worst offense was passing an unmarked LEO on a double yellow curve with me going triple digits. He lit me up, I pulled over and immediately took my keys out and held them out. As he walked up to me, before he had a chance to talk, I said "will you let me take off my gear before you handcuff me?"  Luckily he thought it was funny, slapped my wrist and let me go. 

[peteinpa]

4 hours ago, draco_1967 said:

Unless he had a lawful reason to take it, that's called theft. I would have reported him to his superiors. Maybe he had the same gun at home and wanted an extra mag? These days, taking 10-15 rounds of 9mm is equivalent to stealing $100 😆

 

No just for the duration of the traffic stop.

[Wintersdark]

5 hours ago, i_ride45 said:

It's all the stuff you see on TV bud. I've been pulled over nearly 40 times in the USA and never had a real problem other than a handful of tickets.

You'd have no problem grabbing stuff out of the cop's sight?  I mean, there's a pile of American's in this very thread being pretty clear about keeping hands visible etc.  

I mean, just up this page: 

Pull over at the first safe spot. Turn off bike.  Very slowly take off helmet and put it somewhere it is not likely to be a weapon. This is important....

Do not reach for anything, anywhere until the officer asks you to. If your important information is somewhere on your body. Explain where it is. Get the officer's approval to reach for it.  If it's somewhere else explain it. Get approval.