'Group' ride etiquette question

[PeteSC]

If the police pull over another motorcycle riding with you, do you stop, also?  (assuming the officer is not making any signal for you to stop, also.)

  Last month, while riding in Colorado, Banditnek was following me on some twisty stuff near Lake City.   An unmarked Suburban pulled in behind us, and eventually turned on his lights, and pulled Kent over.
  We were maybe 10-15 MPH over on the curves....not too much in between.
    I didn't notice the officer signalling me to pull over in my mirrors, or make any indication...so I continued on to the next safe place to park on the side of the road....1/4 mile or less up the road, and parked in plain sight.
  I didn't think we were going fast enough to get a ticket, and was guessing Kent would get a warning, or maybe something looked funny with his license tag....since the cop was following us for a couple of minutes.

   I parked, hoping Kent had all his papers in order, and was planning to ride back if he didn't show up in a few minutes.
   A few minutes later, the Suburban drove by, and I waved at the officer.
   Kent showed up right after with a verbal warning to pass on to me......

   Just some thoughts, and questions on 'etiquette' regarding such situations...


    Was it chickenshite of me to keep going, even though I did park a little bit up the road, in plain sight, although around another curve....in case the officer wanted me.

   Was I opening myself up to 'elluding' charges from an overeager cop?
   (I was on my DR650.....unless I headed cross country...I doubt I could outrun him too easily...)

  If you are riding in a LARGE group, and the police just pick off the last bike, what would you do?


 I admit, I didn't stop with Kent in case the cop turned out to be a jerk and was going to ticket both of us.  There also wasn't any indication that he wanted me to stop, either, and I was looking.....


     I DO stop when the police want to pull me over, but an incident 20 years ago convinced me to never 'be too willing'  to comply with a 'less than direct'  attempt to 'pull me over'.   "Who, Me...you want me to pull over?"

    I was driving a tractor trailer in TX, in a construction zone, going maybe 10 mph over the limit.  Both sides of the highway were down to one travel lane, each, with 'jersey barriers' separating them.
   A trooper passed going the other way....then I heard somebody call my truck by company name...(Easy to do with ten foot high lettering on the trailer.....) on the CB, and it was the trooper, telling me to pull off at the next off ramp and wait for him.
  I did, and sat there 10-15 minutes....and was getting ready to leave, when he showed up.  (Due to construction, it must have taken a long time for him to turn around......)
  The trooper proceeded to write me a ticket, and I felt totally stupid for complying with the request over the CB radio to pull over.
   Shortly after that....the CB was usually not even turned on in the truck, and a few years later, I didn't even bother to have one mounted in the truck.


  What would you do, if a member of a riding 'group' was pulled over?
  Do you pull  over as a 'group' or act dumb, and not pull over unless an armada of police cars appeared.....or a road block......so that it's really 'obvious'!

[Kamzilla]

With the group I ride with, we established a rule that only the person the cop is targeting pulls over.  I think it's probably the best way to do it, because you don't want to volunteer yourself for the cop to fill his quota.  Plus, we assume that if an officer pulls a whole group over, he or she may be a little nervous based on the fact that at the moment, there are more of us.  Then you've got to wait for back up to arrive, etc...  

To keep things simple, only one person pulls over and the rest ride to the next diner or exit.

[chippi]

I agree with Kamzilla. Especially with a NY State Trooper! If they mean to get the group they WILL LET YOU KNOW. I've personally seen a three car pull over. Don't volenteer, they might not be in the mood to get you all buuuuut since your here and I called it in

With the group I ride with, we established a rule that only the person the cop is targeting pulls over.

Kudos! Good idea- establish the rule before it happens. That way if someone you ride with gets stopped they want be suprized or think you wanna run. Also good to know if someone doesn't agree you will know you're in for an ass chewing when they catch up

[PeteSC]

That's kind of how I feel....unless it's obvious they want all bikes to stop....anybody who can continue on...should go.
  This isn't any attempt to suggest to anybody to attempt to outrun the cops.
 I don't think Kent was pissed that I kept going.  (Maybe would have been different if he got a ticket, and I didn't...though!)

  4-5 years ago, another Bandit rider and I were speeding a bit on the Cherohala Skyway, and were waved over by a trooper standing on the shoulder of the road.  THAT time it was obvious he wanted both of us.
 

[mike]

The cop was blowing shi%& with the warning...  he was just venting and power tripping on Kent, IMHO.  If he woulda or coulda done anything, he would have stopped when he saw you down the road and nabbed you for fleeing.

[gtbandit]

I agree with the sediments expressed here. Under the circumstances, I would have done the same thing you did.

[B6mick]

As a rule we,  the group of good people that the minister of war and I ride with, we all pull over. Now I'm not having a go at cops in general, but, when they have more than 1 person to deal with, the attitude is mostly a lot more lighthearted, and warnings are more frequent than tickets. Now thats gotta be good, cause its not to often that we are being good.

[scooter trash]

Disclaimer: This thread is not to be used to get out of a speeding ticket nor is it in any way to be accepted as the proper way to handle being stopped by the police. Also, this is not the procedure for VA State Police. This is one officer’s way of handling speeding bikes in a group.

I was interested in your situation so I asked my next door neighbor (a VA state trooper) what should be done in that instance.

When riding with two or more bikes in a group. He said that you would know when he wants to pull you over. If he comes up behind you and flashes the lights he has been pacing the last bike in line and it’s only that person he wants, the rest move on. If your whole group is speeding he will move to the left and go up front to the leader and point to each of you to pull over. Now this is where it gets tricky. He has to have enough room to safely move out and get all of you stopped safely. Getting someone hurt to serve a ticket is self-defeating.

So there it is Pete. You did the right thing.  

One more thing. For two or more bikes being stopped, back up has been called and is rolling before he tells the first bike to pull over. So running is just a very bad idea.

[WEINERDOGBONE]

You did the right thing Pete. If the cop had wanted you, he would have told your buddy to stay put and driven after you. I wouldn't volunteer for a ticket.

Just as a point of order: If the cop gave you a warning it isn't a sign that he had no reason to pull you over to begin with. More likely is that your buddy displayed some common sense during the stop and the cop didn't think a ticket was necessary.

[PeteSC]

Naw, this Cop was cool, according to Kent.   He told Kent there had been a lot of livestock on the road recently, and for us to slow down.
  I was leading Kent astray, fast enough to get a ticket, but not quite fast enough to make it worthwhile for the Cop.
   When he pulled Kent over, I guessed it was either for a warning, or maybe for some violation he noticed on his bike.  (Tag, etc,)
  The Suburban had pulled out of a parking lot, as we exited town....and followed us a couple of miles.   I saw it, but wasn't sure it was a cop, and slowly increased my speed a little.....offering Kent up as bait!

  I literally gave a friendly wave to the guy when he passed me on the side of the road after he cut Kent loose.  He passed me so quickly, I knew he didn't have time to write a ticket, or handcuff Kent.
   Of course, I kept my eye out for the vehicle as we rode on.  He must have found a good place to hide......

[B12Teuton]

I'll never stop when another ride gets pulled over.  I made that mistake once.... never again.

A buddy had just gotten his permit and I was riding with him on 684 in NY.  He pulled into the left lane and went speeding away.  About a mile later I see him pulled over so I stopped because he only had his permit and was supposed to be with someone that has a "senior" license (me).  Long story short, I got a ticket for 78 in a 55

[NHBubba]

I agree, you did just right. Legally bikes are no different than any other motor vehicle, right? So why should riding in a group be any different than if you are driving in a group of cars? I wouldn't have stopped either. If the cop wants both of you he would have made it known..

My complaint is that it is sometimes difficult to get an idea of what the officer wants from you when you are on a bike. Not too long ago I was riding locally. I was on a twisty country road minding my own business right about at the limit behind a car. An officer pulled in behind us, but just followed for a while. Eventually the lights came on. I pulled to the side expecting him to pass on his way to an emergency. I had done nothing wrong afterall, right? The car in front of me also pulled over. The cop pulled right in behind me and got on the PA. Between the full-faced helmet, traffic, and the crapy PA he had (remember PA in Charlie Brown?!) I couldn't understand what the heck he was saying. I tried to express this by turning around and shrugging at him. Eventually he very angrilly walked up to me and told me to get lost; he was after the car in front of me. I very sheepishly tried to explain I didn't hear his instructions, but he was having none of that. "Beat it!" He repeated. I didn't agrue, I just rode off.. I'll never understand what I should have done differently there..

[PeteSC]

It sounds like the cop was either in a bad mood, really apprehensive about the car he was stopping, or possibly just a jerk.
 

  Heck, sometimes in a car, it's hard to tell who they're pulling over.

[EODSarge]

Having worked on a Traffic Unit before, I've got a few cents to throw in...

If I clock a group of vehicles travelling over the limit, I'm going to try and stop either the fastest vehicle in the group, or, if traffic is such that the only one I can get to is the last guy, I'll stop him. I have stopped up to three cars at once before; but I did this by pulling alongside the first and motioning for them to pull in behind me, then the next, then finally getting behind and stopping the third. In other words, if I want the whole group to stop, I'll indicate that; and will probably have someone on the way to nab the ones that get past me.

If you do stop as a group, however, I would suggest letting the cop deal with the one he's stopped without any interference. Traffic stops and domestic violence calls are statistically two of the most dangerous "routine" calls faced by police, and we tend to get a little loud when surrounded by a group of people yelling that we had no right to stop their buddy. Stay on the bike, wait for him to conclude the stop, and let your buddy join you when he's done. (As a side note, if you're lost and need directions or something short of a dire emergency, and see a cop on the side of the road writing a ticket and want to ask him your question, wait until he's done with the stop. Nothing annoys me more that having someone be-bop up to my car and start asking for directions while I'm trying to figure out if Bobby Scumbag with the suspended license and nervous demeanor wants to jump me rather than go to jail.)

Re: tickets vs. warnings... I gave a lot of warnings when I was on traffic. Maybe I'm just a softy; but I would stop you for whatever unsafe behavior I saw and, if I thought you would take that warning to heart and modify your driving behavior, I'd give a warning rather than a ticket. But I always hated hearing the "quota" crap. I never had a quota, was never suggested that I needed to get so many tickets a day. The gauge my bosses used was Did complaints and accidents go down, or not? If not, step up enforcement. If so, good job, keep up the good work. Quotas are illegal in my state. As for "Don't you have anything better to do"... no. No I don't. Press hard, five copies.  

[Oldschooler]

I'm with EODSarg,

In my 17years (so far) I've worked 6 as a motor cop and traffic homicide investigator. I also gave way to many breaks.

I think PeteSC did just the right thing. If the cop wanted you he would have motioned for you to come back, or, have stopped where you were after dealing with Banditnek.

I've stopped large numbers of bikes before, and the way I did it was to run to the front of the pack and motion for the front guy to pull over. Then I would turn around and in true wagon train fashion, I would give a big over handed pull over sign to the rest of the pack and we would all come to a slow stop. Worked every time. Usually when I stopped packs like that it was to give all of them a warning about what they were doing. The only time (twice) I gave anyone in a pack a ticket was when a couple of them thought they were Matlock and couldn't keep their mouths shut.

My response to the quota thing was "No I don't have a quota, I can write as many as I want".  

I based most of the tickets I've handed out on honesty. If the person was honest and didn't try to come up with some type of outlandish reason why they did what they did, I'd give em a break 99% of the time. I'm gonna get beat up here but... women and young kids seem to lie A LOT

Okay, I'm off my soapbox.