Yes, dad ..it's all just light hearted fun, nothing to see here ....


Jules *runs*

 

I jumped on my bike one Sunday morning, shot down to the local shop for the Sunday paper & packet of smokes. As I was paying for my stuff & chatting with the lady who owned the place, heard the distinctive sound of a kwaka 900 4 into 1 exhaust & caught a glimpse as it flew past, some dude & a female pillion. About 5 seconds later as I walked out the door, along came 1 then a 2nd cop car, sirens screaming. I rode about 2 clicks down the road & was coming up to this nasty 25kph (15mph) right hander with armco railing, (Remember we use the left side of the road) & there where the cops, the bike on its side, dust still in the air, one cop looking down at the crumpled body of the pillion.
As I started to slow to a stop, this one cop waived me on & as I went by, the rider was on the ground, but had propped himself up on his elbow, looked straight into his face & met his eyes. Later found out that they both had died at the scene, his crime, cops tried to pull him over for speeding, but he had outstanding unpaid fines, cops has chased him for about 20 kays, but radioed ahead to try & cut him off.
What a bloody waste, why run? close my eyes & can still see his face, even after 20 years.

 

 

Here's that guy with the "I got a buddy who's a cop and he says. . . "

But, seriously: I got a buddy who's an Illinois State Trooper, and usually patrols I-355 from Ogden to North Av. He says they're trained to never give chase to a biker that "is clearly running from you." Apparently a massive amount of deaths occur every year involving bikers gunning it to run from cops, because they have no bike credentials like license, insurance, registration, etc. He says you can usually tell who has no credentials cuz most of them ride around with sneakers and no helmet, and are already driving like idiots.

They can, however, still catch you. He says most of their cars are equipped with video cameras now, so as long as they catch your plate and you evading persuit, they just run the vid by a judge, who then approves a warrant for the plate owner's arrest. The real mess starts when the plate owner was not the rider. If the rider in the vid had a helmet on, or is in fact not clearly not the owner, the plate owner has a good chance of getting away with the "I let my friend borrow my bike" excuse, but in IL the court is still allowed to level a hefty fine against the owner (similar to traffic light camera violations).

Also, right now IL (and maybe other states) is running a police campaign to reduce these guys who go riding around with no credentials and have no idea how to operate the bike beyond make it go forward quickly. This means totally RANDOM traffic stops.

Bottom line: Pull over, and be respectful. Chances are if you weren't doing something completely stupid the officer will see you have all your paperwork in order and are wearing all the legally required protective gear (and then some?), and let you off with a warning because you're not really the guy they're trying to catch. And don't lend your bike to your buddy who just wants to "take it around the block."

Side note: if you already have several convictions on your record for what you're being pulled over for (speeding. . .) the officer is MUCH less likely to give you a warning, because he recognizes you as a repeat offender who "hasn't learned his lesson yet." STILL: be respectful, and you'll probably get away with just the ONE ticket.

 

On a related note, here's the IL Police Persuit Handbook:

http://www.ptb.state.il.us/pdf/PURGUIDE.pdf

Bare in mind it's treated as a guidline, not a set of hard and fast rules.

 

+1

Confirmed by my run-in with FHP this weekend.

"Everything looks good with you're endorsement and I appreciate you slowing down and pulling right over. Have a nice night, watch out for other drivers out there."

 

Hee hee hee, ya called him a plank ...