So I almost got in trouble from the law tonight. It was pouring rain, and I wanted to get home. I was at a stop light and spun my rear tire to get the water off it for something that resembled traction. It was that wet outside.
So, I ride off, hit about 100km/h, thats it. Speed limit is 90. NExt, Im riding up the hill that seperates my neighbourhood from the city, and I cross about 2 feet into the oncoming lane. There is noone else on the road besides me and this @$$hole tailgating me. I only cut in the other lane so I didnt have to make as severe a turn in the rain. I pull up at my mailbox which is down the street from my house, and some guy with his wife in their Patherfinder pull up beside me. He pulls out a badge. I tell him "Nice badge @$$hole". He got pretty mad. So this is what Im asking: He said that I comitted about 5 offenses, and that he could take away my license and fine me. I tell him "Try it Dickhead". He says nothing. I say "Your not on duty, you cant do shaZam!. Even if I did something wrong, you cant prove it." He proceeding to give me a lecture on respect, and I proceeded to give him the finger and ride home. So can he send me a ticket in the mail as he said? Or even do anything not being on duty?

PS: Yes Ed_In_Az, I am a punk.

from everything i know of the law, yes,  he can mail you a ticket.  since however, you did not get pulled over, you could try to weasel out of it by saying it wasn't you on the bike.  it was night out, raining, and if you had a full face helmet on, gloves, coat, and anything else, him identifying you would be pretty rough.  i don't know who you'd say it was on the bike, but that's not the point.  he has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it was you on that bike.  you can say you were letting your buddy borrow it that night, or that he flat out misread the plates on it (rain, darkness, etc).  but yeah, you can get a ticket.  however, being that it's a registered owner's ticket, i don't think you can get hit with points for it, just a fine.  but hey, we got a cop on this forum maybe he can help you more.

he can infact call in with your tag number and have a cruiser roll out to your address and issue you one in his name, he will be required to show up in court and more then likly he will bring the witness that was with him.  all he has to do is write it up as carless driving. and have the Off duty cop sign it . now if im not mistaken, you will be required to sign the ticket anyway, even on a plea "it wasnt Me on the bike" you will have to go to court where they have to prove it was you, or they will make you disclose the name and address of the person you loaned your bike to. but i guess you could plead the 5th on it. heheheh

here are the statues, they should be uniform across the states for USA.

316.192  Reckless driving.

316.1923  Aggressive careless driving.

316.1925  Careless driving.

yeah, i know them well enough. Dont ask.

yeah, but hes a damned canadian, (sorry rich, had to)(just kidding) :lol:
but im assuming that canada or its provinces, cities etc. have somewhat the same setup, or something similar to it. around here, if an off duty leo, see's that,  he calls an on duty leo, to do the writing :dunno:

Years and years ago my buddy and I were on our bikes...I was on My F2 he was on his Gs...(I had just gone from the gs to the F2 the previous season..)..

Anyway there's a section with a looong right turn lane and clear view (can see if any cars are coming to turn onto the road..)and only two business's  on that side-so only two places  to be concerned with.. We get the green light and I use the right lane to blow by everyone....My buddy catches me shortly after that (had to slow down...more traffic lights ahead...)

So I busted the speed limit and kind of did somethign sorta stupid by using that lane ....but hey I was what....21-22 years old.....

So anyway we get down a few lights and the chucklehead in a Mitsubishi 3000 gt  rolls up on us  (FAST) and comes up beside us in the right lane ( merge lane he is in quickly dissapearing...)... Flips open his badge and starts saying something  (wish I could recalll what it was...but you can imagine...trying to intimidate and give me shaZam! about the laws I broke..( Like the same laws he broke catching up to me in a non police vehicle..)...

I looked at the badge and said... "That's nice " and  gave it a little more throttle.....  He couldn't do anything or he would have.  He had no radar  nobody in the car with him....and no authority (or maybe just no way to call his on duty buddies..) but no damn way was he going to "Pull me over" in the circumstances  we were in.....


Now in your case... It was raining and dark.... Hard to see etc etc and some @$$hole was tailgating you...

If he COULD have done it he would have (try it dickhead??hehehehehe Good one.  That would have been enough don't ya think?)

Anyway....  I don't think you'll get any more grief....unless he patrols near your house...hhehhe

He can't prove it was you riding the bike, there is no picture or video. He did not see your license.

There is nothing to worry about

damn dude... if you'd have used that kind of language in front of my wife and called me a dickhead, I'd have shot you. :lol:

Ever think he might remimber you next time he IS on duty?

Letting your anger rule you is never good advice, be it in front of a cop (on duty or not) or anybody else. But the, I gues you know that yourself.

Dunno about legislation on giving somebody the finger in Canada. I know that in Europe that can get you in serious trouble.

I wouldn't worry about it. I'd watch myself though - you don't want to run into him ON duty! I've had situations like this and nothing came of it.

Never ever tell a cop to f%$k off.  That's my policy.  I just smile and speak respectfully and respectfully disagree while thinking to myself what a worthless piece of bacon he/she is.

John has a good policy there.  I would refrain from swearing at cops.  Just like poking bears with a pointy stick.  There are things ya just don't provoke.
:mrgreen:

 

In the states, at least, (dunno about Canada, never been there  :dunno: ) even an off duty cop can give you a ticket if he wants to go through the hassle.  It's a lot harder to make a case if he doesn't give it to you when you are on the bike, so (if the laws are the same) my guess is that he didn't have his ticket book with him.  If he did, on or off duty (at least here), he could have given you a ticket.  Also, he doesn't need video proof, or a picture... in all ticket cases, it's his word against yours.  it's just a question of what you can convince the judge of.  If you were wearing a helmet, you'd be a bit better off because you could make a case that it was someone else (hard to make out details through a helmet) but if you didn't have one on, and he had a witness...  at least here in the states, he could send you a ticket, and bring his witness to court, and you'd get nailed.

had he actually pulled you over, it's considered an arrest until he lets you go... and I'm pretty sure that treating him like that could constitute a minor offense here, though most cops aren't going to do anything about it.

I'd say you got lucky, myself. =]

but again, I'm not sure how much of this is valid in Canada as well.  Some might even be Utah, rather than Federal, law.

Quote from: richardand I'm pretty sure that treating him like that could constitute a minor offense here, though most cops aren't going to do anything about it.

In the US, police will often cite/arrest you with disorderly conduct for flicking them off or for verbal abuse.  Speech alone normally cannot constitute disorderly conduct, however, so the charges would merely be an annoyance, and likely not result in any conviction/fine/etc.  Of course, like anything else, this varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and some states/cities/towns may have statutes that deal with it differently.

That said, it is NEVER, EVER a good idea to say stuff like that to a cop.  Say, for instance, he had given you a ticket, and you want to argue it in court.  I can guarentee you, 100%, that he will show up for the court date for somebody who said that stuff to him.  I can also guarentee you, 100%, that the judge will not look kindly upon a young motorcyclist flicking off police officers who make legitimate traffic stops.

Most traffic codes prohibit crossing the center line except in marked passing zones.  That alone if enough for a legitimate traffic stop and/or citation.  If you're polite, no cop will ticket you for something like that.  If you act like a duck (my personal opinion of th conduct you described), you shouldnt expect any leniancy.  Treat cops with respect and they are a lot more likely to treat you with respect.  Treat them poorly, and you're going to end upscrewing yourself eventually.

Quote from: richardbut again, I'm not sure how much of this is valid in Canada as well.  Some might even be Utah, rather than Federal, law.

In the US, none of it is federal law, unless you're in a national park, on a military army base, or otherwise subject to federal jurisdiction.  Traffic laws are all state and/or local rules, and differ greatly from state to state and even from county to county.  Again, I never took "Canadian Traffic Law" in law school, so who knows.

My experience is a judge will always believe a cops word over yours.

Quote from: JohNLAMy experience is a judge will always believe a cops word over yours.

Yup, been there, done that. I got a ticket one day (going 110km/h in a 100 zone). Cop said I was in a 90 zone (which I wasn't the limit changed to 100 about half a mile before the place I was stopped). I argued the point a while at the side of the road, but then just took the ticket and went to court.

Well...I showed up at court, and so did the cop. Before I even got to go up the lawyer guy came over to me and said "you're not really going to go through with this are you?"  I looked around the courtroom and the only people there were me, the judge, the lawyers, and 4 RCMP officers. Then he says "it's your word against his and he's a cop, there's no chance."

So basically, the cops win...even when they're a lying POS.  So I got a $160 fine, points off my license, and higher insurance for being 10km/h over the limit, on a major highway, on a sunny clear day, with no traffic.   :guns:  :guns:

Rich,

Like to kow how this turns out being that I'm just north of you

By the way 'goofy newfy', I'm in Edmonton by way of Nfld - a Townie to be exact. Regarding your story... What's the point of court!  :dunno: Going to refute/rebutt (whatever) a ticket - its always going to be the cop against the little guy joe citizen. Joe always loses (maybe - help me out here). Why is there a court?   Why waste everyone's time? Anybody ever 'beat' the system using the system?

Dandy

I used to have a police badge- found it in the street....   Recently I remember hearing about a couple punks who strobed their car and dressed like cops- they raped a girl...  

Off duty or not - they are still police.  But if they pull you over, detain you, whatever- they better do it like they are on duty.  I wouldn't have used naughty words but I would have been skeptical.

Hahaha- You told off the man!!

OK!