I got arrested and thrown in jail!

[Nitro]

So it was yesterday, a nice day in Binghamton NY. I could not resist and I took the afternoon off. At 1:30 I got to my place, check few things on the bike, put my full Spidi suit on, and went for a ride. As usual I took route 10 from Deposit to Walton into 206 into 30 and back. On the way back right at the end of the reservoir, near Deposit, I passed a trooper who was coming from the opposite direction. I was almost dragging my right knee but I even did not bother looking back because I know cops don’t pull you over on those roads; boy I was wrong! I pulled into town looked at my clock and having seen was still early, 3:45, I decided to turn around and hit the same route again. As soon as I turned around the trooper was behind my back with lights and sirens on. So I pulled over, took my helmet and earplugs off and wait for the gentleman to talk to me. He comes by and goes “Do you know how fast you were going?” I go “Honestly I don’t know, I was not looking down at the speedometer” he goes “I got you at 115 mph in a 55 zone”. After couple of minutes four additional patrol cars showed up. I get handcuffed, thrown in the back of the car and witnesses bunch or morons almost disassembling my bike in the attempt to remove the seat; they were looking for drugs! After 10-15 minutes a tow truck comes by and a guy with a sweat shirt and a .2 helmet get on my bike and tries to turn the machine on. After about four minutes he realizes how to do it and takes off. Next thing I know I’m in front of the county judge with FIVE tickets hanging on me! I got charged with speeding (115 on a 55), reckless driving, speeding (70 on a 30), blowing a stop sign, and running away. The first one I buy it the other four are just a pile of crap. The judge decides to give a $1000 bail and next thing I know I am escorted in jail! On the way to the jail I have a chat with the officer who ended up really liking me and now feels sorry about what happened. So I arrived at the Delaware county jail in Delhi. As soon as I walk in all the deputies turn around and look an me and comment my outfit and they ask the trooper if it was some sort of joke! Another deputy comes in and goes “this is a sign!”. He is shopping for a bike for moths and starts talking to me about bikes. He has never ridden before and he wants to get a Hayabusa or a GSXR! So I go “get yourself a SV650S instead”. He even did not know the bike. I lecture him about over powered bikes and other stuff. Then he makes a comment on my worn knee sliders and he now wants to know how to drag knees! Well, next thing I call my girlfriend and leave a message telling her to bail me out. I’m now in cell # 2 and finally at midnight my lady got me out. She could not stop laughing! So now I got to get an attorney and fight this.
The funny thing I'm a MSF instructor and on the 17th I was supposed to become a certified DMV instruction due to the fact that one of the sites I am teaching for is commercial!

Cool!

PS

BT 010s rock! And they loved the bike!

[motoman]

Nitro: Verry sorry to hear about your tangle with the law! Maybe since the cop is such a good buddy now, you can get him to drop the charges!

Too bad you aren't a chick! Check this out--130 mph on the L.A. freeway on her Hayabusa, and she gets a walk!!!

http://www.labusas.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=9430&highlight=

[jclark]

!!

jeff

[Chris Geuting]

You ride your S like it's ment to be ridden
and you end up in jail...What a police
state!The deputy if he ends up getting a
bike will get away with it.At least the
lawyers will love you since they have to
make to bimmer payments,too...;-))
If you had it up to 115 why bother to pull
over,can outrun a radio,but in most situations it is cheaper to run and hide.
Costly lesson;all this is additional taxmoney
for the sake of "safety"...
Fine and the insurance man digs deeper in
your pocket,too..:-(
Chris

[R-monster]

Nitro,

I have great sympathy for your situation as you were right in that the S has enough hp to get you in trouble -clearly. I hope you get a good attorney as you are going to need it. I hope you did not say anything to incriminate yourself.

Advice to anyone stopped by Police: Do not say anything other than your required information such as ownership and insurance! Even under threat of violence, take the beating, it will be much cheaper in the long run! Anything additional that you say in your defence will be taken down as evidence and will severly limit your attorney's ability to exonerate you!

I drive from Toronto via Binghampton to New York often and I have been stopped so many times in Goshen it is not funny. The New York State troopers are a real joy to deal with.

Come up to Canada for the Rally and we will show you where to ride. Also, we do not have as many police vehicles as in the USA. Most of our secondaries are wide open in rural areas especially the less travelled roads.

Busabim

[johnty288]

Is there a web site that shows state laws as to penalties for speeding at different speeds? At what speed does the violation become a felony,etc.

[markjenn]

This sounds awful. I'd get a lawyer ASAP.

My strategy on speeding: I always slow down immediately to the limit or below after I pass a cop if I think there is any chance they're going to pull me over. If I see them doing a u-turn, I just pull over right away before the lights flash. There is nothing that gets a cop's blood pressure up as fast as a chase.

On my last trip to BC, a cop was hiding in the bushes way up ahead and I saw him start up his cruiser to pull me over while I was still a 1/4 mile away. I just pulled over and drove over to near him so he didn't even have to get on the road. He said, "Thanks, slow it down a little, Ok?" Didn't even have to show license or registration.

A few years back, I was doing about 25 over and had a sheriff pass the other way. I slowed way down and pulled over immediately when I saw him do the u-turn. When he pulled up to me, he immediately said, "Hey, thanks for stopping, most guys take off....slow it down and take it a little easier please" and that was the end of it.

Maybe I'm just lucky. But this strategy gives me about a 75% chance of avoiding any ticket, and the remaining one every five years or so, I accept as the cost of doing business and/or have my lawyer contest them.

The fact you continued on without even letting up while doing 100+ probably convinced him you were running, even though you weren't. My guess is that you'd have gotten a speeding ticket, but that's all if you'd just slowed down and let him get you. They REALLY don't like runners and generally throw the book at anybody they suspect is running. And I got to say, to pass a cop doing 115 in a 55, not let up, and then turn around and go back to strafe the road again is pretty ballsey.

Again, this sounds awful and I'm truly sorry you had to endure this. My suggestions are intended to be pragmatic and don't justify the way traffic enforcement is handled in most parts of the US nor the way you were treated.

- Mark

[tytus_de_zoo]

'Police state' my ass. I would have slapped you a reckless driving ticket myself.

I would hope an MSF instructor would know better than to do those speeds on public roads. Next time, go to the track, especially if you're so hot as to be scraping your knees at 115mph, you should be on TV. At the rate you're going, you'll get there when they're scraping your bloody ass off the pavement somewhere.

Markjenn has the right approach. Respect the law and the officers which enforce it, and you'll be more likely to get cut a break.

[YAHBO]

Is this fakkin weird or what...I got my new AMA rag today, open it up, start reading a letter from a dude who decided to outrun state park rangers and other assorted law enforcement officers for over 100 miles! What a moron...page 6 in the new AMA rag, then I jump on the computer and read this nonsense. Crazy...

As a youth, I always freaked it and bailed. Haven't had a good cop scare in over a decade. Luck, I guess...I'll probably still gun it and get killed or run over a bunch of school kids. I don't live in LA, so at least it won't be on TV.

"Few people understand the pyschology of dealing with a highway traffic cop...most people pull over...this is wrong. Make the bastard chase you, he will follow..."

Hunter S. Thompson

[Mark Smith]

could have been worse. - IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN MEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

[rob_wijhenke]

So I was on vacation with my wife in the Deeeep South and end up somewhere near Swainsboro, Georgia.

Huge hill, going down, tempted to do a hundred or so but manage to keep it at 60 cause I saw this redneck fat ass cop hiding in some bushes.

Next thing I know he shows up behind us with sirens and lights and shouting through his speaker to pull over. So I did, after 50 meters or so.

Well, I ended up in jail handcuffed and all, accused of speeding (I was so fast he couldn't get a reading on his radar), trying to escape and insulting an officer. I was released after 6 hours and paying 800 bucks bail.

I think I was expected to show up in court 2 weeks later. hehe, idiots!

[R-monster]

You da man Rob. Georgia be real fun for motorbike billy ridin' fast in da south. I have always enjoyed driving through Georgia on the way to Florida.

Those of you who mention going 25 mph over the limit miss the point. You trying to tell me you never go 90 or 100 on the superslab? Well? That is more than 30 miles over the posted limit and in some states if they want to, they haul you in.

Does everybody remember the beautiful National 55 mph limit? Did you not go 75 or 80 back then?

The speed limit in non school zones and public highways has jack to do with safety an all to do with revenue generation.

I have said it before and will say it again-

Tell me how much I gotta pay Da Law per year to go fast and leave me and my insurance alone. Who do you think provides most of the free laser/radar devices?

[Bill Vining]

My best friend down here is a DPS Trooper and he rides. I'll only do those speeds if I'm riding with him. We've been pulled over once.
Two sheriff deputies got us at 90 in a 45. We immediately pulled over. They asked us to pull off our helmets, which I did immediately. My buddy went for his I.D. instead. I learned the real meaning of "professional courtesy" that day! Call it a get outta jail free card! Get to know an officer and get him on his own bike...then you're really ready to ride!

[jclark]

Shaft drive bikes won't do 90 or a hundert.
None of 'em can.

jeff
gonna get me a belt drive, yup, yup, yup.

[Rattus]

Bloody Hell Nitro this is one adventure you're not going to forget in a hurry. And it all boils down to bad luck.

[dezntz]

Just make sure thst you get yourself a good lawyer that knows the laws of Deleware and that is not going to go in a plea bargain. Did you get get arresested because of the fleeing or the speeding? Some states like VA you can be arrestd ofr 20 mph over the limit. I know that Maryland you can not be arrerested for speeding.
Make sure when you go to court you get to see that he has all of his certification, and the radar set was calibrated. A lot of time, the police do not bring that stuff. A good lawyer will be able to find a lot of loop holes in something like this. Del Troopers are pretty hard core and a lot of time police mistake somebody speeding on a bike for trying to out run and they like to pull the fleeing ticket quick. A lot of police do not know that it is hard to tell if somebody is behind you when you are having fun, plus you can not hear the sirens either. Other than that good luck.

[Eron Flory]

Track days are cheaper, and more fun too! Good luck and hope you find a good lawyer ( is that an oximoron?).

Eron

[Raven]

I'm with Eron, the track is cheaper!!

One of the reason I'm no longer an MSF instructor is the"you should know better" comment every time something goes wrong. ALL motorcycles are high performance machines that tend to go fast. Instuctors are human also! Get a grip on reality here. Do a quick check around with the Cheif instructors and find out about their driving records " Honest officer my bike won't go that fast". I have a lot more respect for an instructor that can handle a motorcycle at speeds above the accepted slow death speeds spit out by those who would dictate what is proper instructor behavior is.

Sorry, some one hit a nerve

[t0land]

I salute you!

I’d agree with every one about a good lawyer (bastards all of them). I was once in a jam in the backwoods of VA; Officer RedNeck threw the book at me (and some). Officer InbreedWhiteTrash wrote out 6 tickets (one for having the year and month registration stickers on the wrong sides of the plate, which oddly enough were/are on the correct side here in Maryland were the bike is registered). I walkout of court with PBJ for doing 53 in a 35. The rest of the tickets: gone. A good hard working lawyer saved the day Officer PlaysWithHimself was left red faced as the States DA just dropped everything.

Max out or black out!

[Markermc]

Damn... sorry about your misfortune. Cops do get the "running" confused with just continued speeding. I must admit though, I would have considered myself lucky for NOT having been stopped up to that point, and NOT have been in sight of a cop after getting out of there. I wouldnt have turned to go back.

I had that happen once in TN while riding at a rapid pace. A friend I was riding with had not made some of the passes I had made on other cars and I couldnt figure out why. So I kept looking back at him wondering why he didnt pass and then pulling out and passing another car or two myself. Turned out, there was a Trooper behind him that I didnt see, and he was after me!

When he finally caught me several miles down the road, he was pissed off of course, and told me I must not have known whether to run from him or not since I kept looking back at him... Well, this served to piss me off and I politely told him about looking back at my friend, not him (as my friend rode past us) and that if I WAS running, we obviously wouldnt be having this conversation, now would we.

He actually agreed and decided to let it all go, the speeding and all. I was lucky that day.

And yes, we MSF instructors know better than to ride like squids, but just like was said elsewhere, we too are actually human and the bike occasionally beckons unto us to go too fast, just as it does to non-instructors. I too like to keep the really fast stuff reserved for track days, as I have now in my late 30's, begun to enjoy riding "the pace" moreso than going all out on the street. But occasionally, the speed demons in my head still call my name...

But, no judgements from me. We have all done it and those of us who havent been caught going all out, have just been luckier than others. I found out on a deserted stretch of road in AZ that the S will turn about 138... with saddlebags on.

Best wishes to you in court. Let us know how it turns out.

Mark
San Ramon CA