When the law turns into an a**
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Steve,
I can sympathize to a point but this one line from the story caught my attention > " There was another one for almost $1,000 for driving with a suspended license. His license was suspended in 2011 for unpaid fines, he said, and court documents confirmed."
That's probably what caught the cops's attention and why he laid it on so thick. The law seems to be clear on that point and he was guilty.
Of course, as with any of these scenarios we've only been presented with one side of the story. You'd have to have been a fly-on-the-wall to know what was said, by whom, during the traffic stop.
My guess is the man was less than respectful to the cop. That's never a smart thing. Just a guess however and my take on this.
Tom
I can sympathize to a point but this one line from the story caught my attention > " There was another one for almost $1,000 for driving with a suspended license. His license was suspended in 2011 for unpaid fines, he said, and court documents confirmed."
That's probably what caught the cops's attention and why he laid it on so thick. The law seems to be clear on that point and he was guilty.
Of course, as with any of these scenarios we've only been presented with one side of the story. You'd have to have been a fly-on-the-wall to know what was said, by whom, during the traffic stop.
My guess is the man was less than respectful to the cop. That's never a smart thing. Just a guess however and my take on this.
Tom
Tom, I agree with you that this guy is not lily white. I'm sure he is a walking attitude but the cop was way off base with the charges. His license was suspended for unpaid fines. It was not suspended for moving violations so he was legal to ride an electric bike.
He hadn't removed the pedals intentionally. One was broken and the most he could have was a repair ticket. As I've said over and over again if your caught on a gasoline powered bike in Canada brace yourself for a fine that will stagger you. If this guy had been on one he would have been paying the $10,000 dollars unless the judge let him off.
It depends on the cop and the judge but the chance that you will be fined is there. The amount of the fine differs by province but the fines are in every province since you can't register and license and insure a gas power bike in Canada.
This cop was just full of himself. His attitude was throw it at the wall and see if it sticks. He took up valuable court time as well as the judges time so he could prove how tough he was. He may well have had a chat with the judge or his superiors about wasting the courts time.
Steve.
He hadn't removed the pedals intentionally. One was broken and the most he could have was a repair ticket. As I've said over and over again if your caught on a gasoline powered bike in Canada brace yourself for a fine that will stagger you. If this guy had been on one he would have been paying the $10,000 dollars unless the judge let him off.
It depends on the cop and the judge but the chance that you will be fined is there. The amount of the fine differs by province but the fines are in every province since you can't register and license and insure a gas power bike in Canada.
This cop was just full of himself. His attitude was throw it at the wall and see if it sticks. He took up valuable court time as well as the judges time so he could prove how tough he was. He may well have had a chat with the judge or his superiors about wasting the courts time.
Steve.
My nephew is an R.C.M.P. officer in a city a couple of cities East of me and he calls his Dad and tells him the best calls of the previous day/night that he's answered. One highlights the reason to be nice to the officer even if they aren't. It wasn't his call but one of his fellow officers.
As he said it's up to the officers discretion whether a ticket is issued or not. His friend saw a lady go through a stop sign with out stopping while tailgating the car in front of her who had stopped. He pulled her over to warn her about it without giving her a ticket. He hadn't reached her door and she is giving the cop a long list of crap about stopping her for no reason.
In the end she has a ticket for I believe $250 for the stop sign plus he went around her car and wrote up a nice list of things that were wrong with the car including the 4 tires that were nearly bald that she has 72 hours to have corrected and report to a police station with the bills proving that the repairs had been made so an officer could check them to see that the repairs had been made or face fines for everything that was listed.
Expensive for not keeping quiet.
Steve.
As he said it's up to the officers discretion whether a ticket is issued or not. His friend saw a lady go through a stop sign with out stopping while tailgating the car in front of her who had stopped. He pulled her over to warn her about it without giving her a ticket. He hadn't reached her door and she is giving the cop a long list of crap about stopping her for no reason.
In the end she has a ticket for I believe $250 for the stop sign plus he went around her car and wrote up a nice list of things that were wrong with the car including the 4 tires that were nearly bald that she has 72 hours to have corrected and report to a police station with the bills proving that the repairs had been made so an officer could check them to see that the repairs had been made or face fines for everything that was listed.
Expensive for not keeping quiet.
Steve.
No argument from me , Steve. My brother was in law enforcement for many years and he has told me some stories too.
He was on patrol one night in Florida and came upon a guy sitting on the side of the road. The man's clothes were wet and when my brother asked him how he got wet and how he came to be sitting out in the middle of nowhere the guy said someone stole his car and threw him in the canal next to the road. It didn't take my brother long to determine the guy was drunk and then he saw bubbles on the surface of the canal.
Yep, you guessed it. The guy went off the road, his car sank in the canal and he was lucky enough to get out. (canals in Florida can be deep, very deep).
He was arrested for drunk driving, giving a false report and a few other issues one of which was driving with a suspended license. He'd had previous DUIs.
Cop stories can be fun and they can be disturbing. It's usually a case of you-had-to-be-there, to get the whole story.
Tom
He was on patrol one night in Florida and came upon a guy sitting on the side of the road. The man's clothes were wet and when my brother asked him how he got wet and how he came to be sitting out in the middle of nowhere the guy said someone stole his car and threw him in the canal next to the road. It didn't take my brother long to determine the guy was drunk and then he saw bubbles on the surface of the canal.
Yep, you guessed it. The guy went off the road, his car sank in the canal and he was lucky enough to get out. (canals in Florida can be deep, very deep).
He was arrested for drunk driving, giving a false report and a few other issues one of which was driving with a suspended license. He'd had previous DUIs.
Cop stories can be fun and they can be disturbing. It's usually a case of you-had-to-be-there, to get the whole story.
Tom
Before I was old enough to understand what he meant, my stepdad told me "if you're going to tell a cop to go #@&! himself, wait till he's already gone.
I don't have to deal with that even though my bike with pedals removed and pegs have been added. My Licensed for OHV only, Dirt Bike for trail riding by CA DMV has not a pedal requirement. I had inspeced by CHP and have my sticker.
While at trails I have had Mr Green Jeans, US Gov. Ranger check for spark arrestor and sticker. This is not much done anymore as they know me, not too many with home made for trails they see.
One guy seemed to have a lot of trouble with the Ranger, but it went OK. It was the ranger was maybe not knowing of dual registration, both good for off road and the guy was probably on a paved road. It was assumed there was wrong doing, maybe since to see the special sticker is not so easy to see and recognize while moving.
While at trails I have had Mr Green Jeans, US Gov. Ranger check for spark arrestor and sticker. This is not much done anymore as they know me, not too many with home made for trails they see.
One guy seemed to have a lot of trouble with the Ranger, but it went OK. It was the ranger was maybe not knowing of dual registration, both good for off road and the guy was probably on a paved road. It was assumed there was wrong doing, maybe since to see the special sticker is not so easy to see and recognize while moving.
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