Stopped for Wheelie

[Tireshred]

This was around 2002 and before I had a CHL, I'm waiting on mine now. I was riding my sportbike (hence the nickname) down Bay Area Blvd in Clear Lake, I had a really bad week at work so I treated all my guys to a nice dinner and drinks. I only had sipped one beer over several hours so that wasn't an issue. As I was leaving I did a wheel up salute to the guys and right past a Harris County LEO, he pulled me over into a vacant parking lot and when I got my helmet and leathers off, he looked shocked. I had my DL and insurance out and gave it to him. He said he thought I was a kid, but I was well into my 40's then (and should've known better). He asked if I knew why he pulled me over and I said "Sure officer, I did a long wheelie right by you". He said to keep my hands on his hood, he was calling for backup. I thought, oh well, going to jail. About 10 minutes go by and a large crowd had gathered (several restaraunts are nearby) to watch me get arrested although I'm sure none saw the wheelie. The second car pulls up, he's gesturing to the other LEO what he saw me do, they walk over to me and say "You know we can arrest you for that". I say "Yes officers I do". The first LEO said, "Here's what we're going to do, if you can wheelie to the freeway again, I'll just write you a warning, if you can't, we come get you and write that big ticket". I thought I misheard and asked for him to repeat it, he smiled and said "We're both riders and want to see another one". I said "This isn't one of those things where I do and you come beat me is it?" They both laughed and said no. So I gear up and wait for no traffic and wheelie to the freeway. I can't imagine what the folks who were just out of earshot of the whole conversation thought when I left on one wheel! I did go buy a lottery ticket that night, but I guess my luck had run out. And now that I've applied for a CHL I can see how that would have been very bad. I've been riding fast bikes since I was old enough to work and buy them (age 13), and are the only things that might get me into trouble enough for CHL purposes. All my moto buddies are doctors, NASA scientists, engineers and I'm the youngest of the bunch and we all ride the same way and most of them are CHL's. When we get stopped as a group we never get tickets, I think the gray hair helps a bunch (for those of us who have hair that is ). I don't speed or drive aggressive in my truck, but I do love to get to the hills and ride a brisk but safe (and illegal) pace. But now I'm rethinking that area of my life too.

[getnit1]

I need your luck. I have never been that lucky.

[iratollah]

My most unpleasant encounters with LEOs have been while on my sportbike. Like the time Houston PD helicopter and a few squad cars followed me home and drew guns on me in my own driveway. (Mistaken identity, guy on a bike ran from them and they saw me, all bikers look alike.) Or the Korean policeman who tried to kick my motorcycle over with me on it. I have a few more. In 30 years of riding however, I've only gotten 1 speeding ticket. I guess based on their experience, the police expect attitude from the riders so they start out the encounter with a bad attitude.

You got of lucky with the wheelie. I got stopped once because my riding partner did a magnificent launch in front of a cop who thought someone needed to be reprimanded for that, so he pulled me over and actually tried to provoke me into escalating.

[Lumberjack98]

Very, very cool!

[Excaliber]

As surprising as it may be to some, under the "command presence" appearance, most police officers are really good hearted people with a fine sense of fairness and a well developed (although sometimes a bit bizarre) sense of humor. They're not out to "get you" or make your life miserable for no reason, and one (or ten) traffic tickets more or less doesn't make or break their day.

After the kinds of unpleasant experiences they have with many folks every day, dealing with someone who is honest, cooperative and clearly a good guy in daily life is a breath of fresh air. There's a fairly strong tendency to let such folks go with a warning about whatever the stop was over because they know that with good guys, that will have as much of an impact on future behavior as a ticket would. If they have a common sport interest with the subject, things are even more likely to go the way they did for the OP here (minus the wheelie performance test) unless the guy or gal does something really dumb to shift things the other way.

When I was on the other side of the badge, I averaged at least 3 warnings for every ticket issued. DWI's and reckless or intentionally dangerous driving earned paper or an arrest just about every time, but I viewed minor offenses as educational opportunities unless the driver worked hard to turn it into something else.

[iratollah]

Not to be misunderstood, my cousin married a police officer and we have become very close. He is a genuine 'mensch'.

[KBCraig]

Just curious, what violation of the Traffic Code would be cited for a wheelie? Failure to maintain control? That one would be pretty much countered by the fact that you were in full control.

What about brakies? It takes full control to put the rear tire in the air without crashing, so doing it successfully is proof that you maintained control.

[srothstein]

Most officers would write the citation for reckless driving, which is actually a trip to jail and not a ticket.

It used to be a display of acceleration but the changes to the law for racing make that much harder to prove and not applicable for cases like this.

[Wildscar]

I got one for "exhibition of acceleration" Not this time though. I had a friend that got one along with a failure to signal when changing lanes in the middle of a wheelie.

[Tireshred]

Nice wheelie, as long as we're sharing.

http://media.putfile.com/Speed-4-Onboard

I've been told by LEO friends that it's most likely reckless driving (riding?) and that charge was changed recently to a much worse thing and would stop a CHL from being approved, I can't remember if it's 5 or 10 years though.

I have one more story, a friend who is a local radio meteorologist and I were riding some country roads and did a side by side wheelie right past a hidden LEO, after we got our bikes stopped and PPE (personal protective equipment) off, I asked my buddy "Think he saw the wheelies?", the officer strolled over and said "Nice wheelies", my buddy said "Is this one of those cases where if we admit it we get tickets?" Long story short, the officer was as nice as could be, said he was dead tired of scraping kids off the curves but he didn't feel we would be a problem. The really cool thing is after letting us go he led the way so we could have some fun in the corners, very nice guy.

[jbirds1210]

I looked it up after reading the posts.....might as well share

§ 545.401. RECKLESS DRIVING; OFFENSE. (a) A person
commits an offense if the person drives a vehicle in wilful or
wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property.
(b) An offense under this section is a misdemeanor
punishable by:
(1) a fine not to exceed $200;
(2) confinement in county jail for not more than 30
days; or
(3) both the fine and the confinement.
(c) Notwithstanding Section 542.001, this section applies
to:
(1) a private access way or parking area provided for a
client or patron by a business, other than a private residential
property or the property of a garage or parking lot for which a
charge is made for the storing or parking of motor vehicles; and
(2) a highway or other public place.
(d) Notwithstanding Section 542.004, this section applies
to a person, a team, or motor vehicles and other equipment engaged
in work on a highway surface.

[Wildscar]

Nice wheelie, as long as we're sharing.I've been told by LEO friends that it's most likely reckless driving (riding?)

Yeah its funny when they lump motorcycles verbige with car verbige. At one time I didn't have any mirrors on my bike and was stopped for that. The officer wrote me a ticket for not rear view mirror. I was able to get it throw out casue Motorcycles are not required to have a rear view mirror. They are only required to have side view mirrors. Since that not what he wrote it was wrong and tossed.

[KBCraig]

Is there a statutory definition that wheelies are "reckless driving"? Or a binding court ruling?

There are thousands of video sources out there proving that just because you have the front tire off the pavement, doesn't make it dangerous or reckless. Heck, you could bring in any decent amateur observed trials rider as an expert witness; he could ride his bike up the courthouse steps, down the aisle, and probably right into the witness stand without ever putting the front wheel down. Probably be able to swear in while he was at it.

He might have trouble passing the metal detector, though.

Wheelies on the street are not necessarily an "exhibition of acceleration". It's easy to demonstrate that you can accelerate at the same rate (or even faster) with the both tires on the pavement, just by shifting your weight. And that you can wheelie while barely accelerating at all, again with a weight shift and tug on the bars.

What would they call brakies? "Exhibition of deceleration"?

Just for the record, I'm solidly middle age; my broad mind and narrow waist have traded places, and I drive a 7,700 pound conversion van with quarter mile times of "sometime this year; oh, wait, is it December already?" The last time I was on two wheels was after I assembled a kid's bicycle.

In other words, I'm no daredevil, but I certainly knew what I was doing back in the day. I know that riders are ticketed more for how things look, than whether they're actually unsafe or not. If officers wanted to ticket truly reckless behavior, they'd crack down on the 40-something guys with less than 2,000 miles total riding time, who are on a 700 pound, 1,800cc cruiser wearing nothing but flip-flops, cut-offs, tank top and sunglasses, with an overweight woman riding passenger and similarly attired. That is an emergency room bill waiting to happen.

[bryang]

I once lived across the street from an old Wall Mart store that have been vacated for a more grandeur and larger new building. Anyway, that left this very large parking lot that was a magnet to most of the bikers around. They would do wheelies up, back, and around the big ole' empty parking lot and had a ball. Some of those guys were very good at it too. However, there were several in the neighbor hood that continually complained to the police about the noise, therefore the police would come out and ask them to leave. The funny thing was I saw a couple of the LEO's pull up on the side street out of sight and watch them for a while before running them off. The really were good. But that put and end to the show, and as far as I know, they were not ticketed just told to leave because of the complaints about the noise.

-geo

[BTin]

My understanding of the law is that it is only reckless driving if you are around other cars - like on a public street or crowded parking lot. An abandoned parking lot would not be ticketable/arrestable. However - you are supposed to have the owners permission. Not that I would ever wheelie.