Oh, that sucks... No use arguing with "the man"...

 

...because my wallet was stolen the same day I got the motorcycle and so I've had no money to go register the bike with....

:

 

Well, my cherry is popped...had my first run in with The Man on my bike tonight. I was coming down the street, going 30 in a 30, the bacon was coming the opposite way down the street which, by the way, is divided by a rather widely curbed median. He turns around and follows me into a parking garage and proceeds to write me a ticket, even after having explained to him that I just got the bike about a week ago and have not registered it because my wallet was stolen the same day I got the motorcycle and so I've had no money to go register the bike with....

What a JERK!

Oh, and it was a campus cop no less....go figure.

So the cop turned around just to pull you over but you were doing NOTHING at all wrong. You don't hear of that happening too often.

Then you are calling the cop a jerk because you were breaking the law by riding a bike that was not registered and you got caught.

Nice logic. [thumbsup]

Swanny

 

Hmmm... An officer cannot pull someone over arbitrarily- there has to be cause. Did you have an out of state plate, or no tags at all? Have you had the bike inspected??

You knew you were chancing it when you pulled out of the driveway. You rolls the dice, you takes your chances

 

I had no tags at all : However, the officer couldn't have seen that in that split second that he and I passed eachother. I honestly think he was just bored. My girlfriend was on her monster, riding in front of me, and she got pulled over by the officer's little patrol buddy, who had NO IDEA why he was pulling her over except that the guy that pulled me over told him to do it. She seriously asked him, "Why am I being pulled over? I wasn't speeding or anything..." and the officer told her, "I don't know, the other guy just told me to do it."

Suspicious, no?

 

I believe it. I work with an ex-cop, who says it's routine to "pace" bikers and wait until we mess up. Eventually a turn will be made without a turn signal, or we'll go a bit over the limit. So, he probably turned around to follow you, noticed your missing tags, and pulled you over.

 

Eventually a turn will be made without a turn signal, or we'll go a bit over the limit.

[laugh] [laugh] [laugh]

You kids are cracking me up. Have you ever heard of the term "responsibility"

 

Sure, but are you telling me that you've never changed lanes without signaling? Or that you've never crep up in speed without noticing? Do you always use your turn signals while making a 3 point turn?

I'm not making excuses, man, but I doubt that anyone is within the law at all times. If you follow anyone for a long enough period of time, they will commit a small mistake wich can lead to a fine. It's ridiculous that cops will profile bikers. Hell, most of us don't even talk on our cell phones while riding.

 

<<<WARNING: PHILOSOPHY BELOW. PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK>>>
the following was written in a friendly spirit. I'm a student of philosophy, which means that I enjoy discussions of this nature.

For a philosophy student such as myself, "responsibility" is a very flimsy term.

How much can/should a person be responsible for?

Let's start with the can: Is it realistic for a person to callibrate the speedometer in her/his vehicle, in order to guarantee accuracy within, say, 2.5% throughout the legal speed range (0-65 mph)? If manufacturers can't do it, how could we? I'm not talking about the alleged 10% margin on bikes, cars are up or down a few mph as well. A car magazine in Brazil even calculates the % error, up or down, at 40, 60, and 100 kph for their test cars; some cars are down at 40, up at 100.

Now, say we do callibrate the speedometer. Are we responsible for recallibration every, oh, 500 miles? Tire wear affects speedometer accuracy, after all. Could a person be expected to keep up with this while leading the rest of her/his life? Could one alter one's entire life in order to follow the letter of the law, in its minutest details?

But, without having really answered the can, let's look at the should:

Now, if my bike is 2.5% off in it's speedo, that means a fine for me. I'd be going 41mph at a 40 zone. Should I get a ticket for it? According to the local laws, 1mph over is a ticket. Should I be responsible for it?

I realize that DucatiFlyBoy's case is much simpler than this; you need tags to drive, and he had no tags. But the basic principle still applies: The letter of the law states that he should do something, but particular details of his life precluded this something being done. He was a victim of a crime, which in turn caused him to violate the law himself. He has been wronged by the state, but cannot prove it. Jean-François Lyotard defines this as victimhood.
The gravity of the wrong suffered by DFB might be arguable, but to argue it in an idiom which cannot properly account for it would victimize him further. Thus, in order to properly talk about the wrong which the letter of the law caused DFB, one cannot use the legislation as the idiom of the discussion. Thus, in order to use a term like responsibility in this discussion, it could not be defined as it is in legislation. The term would need to be altered, made flimsyer, and inevitably (but far from needlessly) ambiguous. A new idiom would need to be found, which could do justice to both parties in the discussion (DFB and the Legislation). But a problem arises: once this idiom is found, how can one know that it indeed does justice to both parties? Would mutual agreement suffice? But that assumes proper understanding, and the justification becomes circular.

Lyotard explains this concept better in his book, The Differend. I don't believe I did him justice, but then it is a 200 page concept...

The basic point here is this: to require us to be absolutely responsible ignores crucial aspects of our lifes, and by ignoring these aspects, it does us a wrong. By not allowing for a proper debate, and/or by forcing us to use an idiom which cannot account for this wrong, it would victimize us.

André

 

I have the feeling I am going to run into trouble on my 1098..."but, officer, I was only going 70 and this guy was tailgating me....all I did was twist the throttle a little in 4th!!!"

"Son, you were going 120" olice:

"but kindly officer, you don't understand - it's an L-twin..and my eyes were sinking into my skull - I couldn't read the huge digital speedo!!"


:angel:

 

even after having explained to him that I just got the bike about a week ago and have not registered it because my wallet was stolen the same day I got the motorcycle and so I've had no money to go register the bike with

See, the problem is that if I heard a story like that, I wouldn't cut you slack either. It doesn't really matter if what you said was correct. That kind of story, whether right or wrong, will not go over with anyone too well. [laugh]

 

[laugh] [laugh] [laugh]

You kids are cracking me up. Have you ever heard of the term "responsibility"

Jones, God called back... he said he wants his perfect error-free life back.

(I'd listen to him, hes not someone you want to make upset)

 

I have the feeling I am going to run into trouble on my 1098..."but, officer, I was only going 70 and this guy was tailgating me....all I did was twist the throttle a little in 4th!!!"

"Son, you were going 120" olice:

"but kindly officer, you don't understand - it's an L-twin..and my eyes were sinking into my skull - I couldn't read the huge digital speedo!!"


:angel:

yep when I got pulled over going 120 (in a car) and he asked me
Officer: "whats your hurry son?"
I simply replied with:
Me: "Sir I was just trying to keep up with traffic"
Officer: "Son, there wasn't any cars near you"
Me: "Yes I know Father, thats how far behind I am"
Officer: "..."

 

I never said I was a perfect rider or that I don't break the law when I ride. Every ticket I've had was my fault. I'm just not going to bad mouth a policeman for doing his/her job.

 

I'm just irritated about the fact that the guy basically had no reason to pull me over. I have ridden on my bike for a week without any tags, passed by highway patrol on the highway, passed by REAL police officers of the city, and not a one of them has pulled me over. I even had a Waco cop tell me that my bike was freakin sweet after he looked it over, from his patrol car, in his uniform, definitely on duty. Yet, one of Baylor's "finest" pulls me over...then proceeds to ask me detailed questions about where I was going (the ice cream shop in the common area of this dorm quad), how I knew there was an ice cream shop in the common area where my girlfriend and I were going to (which, by the way, the ice cream shop was closed...double whammy...), whether or not I was a student at Baylor, why I was no longer a student at Baylor after I told him I transferred schools, etc. etc. etc. and THEN gives me the ticket after I had gone through this detailed questioning and told him exactly what happened, right down to showing him my brand new empty wallet, empty save only my brand new bank card in it, and my paper temp. license. Then to top it all of, my girlfriend explained to the officer that pulled HER over (who, again, had no idea WHY he had to pull her over) what was going on with me, how the bike was new from out of state, I had just had my wallet stolen, etc., and the guy said he would talk to my cop....and then when he came over he didn't say a word to him. There are no paper tags issued in a private party sale, even after you register your bike. The state of Minnesota (where my bike came from) does not allow you to send their tags out of state when you sell a vehicle out of state, whereas Texas allows the tags to go with the vehicle until you can place the proper state tags on it.

THAT is what I'm angry about.

 

I never said I was a perfect rider or that I don't break the law when I ride. Every ticket I've had was my fault. I'm just not going to bad mouth a policeman for doing thier job.

Thats good to hear, I'm glad someone does.

however, it may be my fault, but doesn't mean going out of the way to look for instigation is the proper way do to follow procedures.

Besides its America, its our job to bad mouth and blame officers, its not our fault unless someone got hurt.

 

I'm just irritated about the fact that the guy basically had no reason to pull me over. I have ridden on my bike for a week without any tags, passed by highway patrol on the highway, passed by REAL police officers of the city, and not a one of them has pulled me over. I even had a Waco cop tell me that my bike was freakin sweet after he looked it over, from his patrol car, in his uniform, definitely on duty. Yet, one of Baylor's "finest" pulls me over...then proceeds to ask me detailed questions about where I was going (the ice cream shop in the common area of this dorm quad), how I knew there was an ice cream shop in the common area where my girlfriend and I were going to (which, by the way, the ice cream shop was closed...double whammy...), whether or not I was a student at Baylor, why I was no longer a student at Baylor after I told him I transferred schools, etc. etc. etc. and THEN gives me the ticket after I had gone through this detailed questioning and told him exactly what happened, right down to showing him my brand new empty wallet, empty save only my brand new bank card in it, and my paper temp. license. Then to top it all of, my girlfriend explained to the officer that pulled HER over (who, again, had no idea WHY he had to pull her over) what was going on with me, how the bike was new from out of state, I had just had my wallet stolen, etc., and the guy said he would talk to my cop....and then when he came over he didn't say a word to him. There are no paper tags issued in a private party sale, even after you register your bike. The state of Minnesota (where my bike came from) does not allow you to send their tags out of state when you sell a vehicle out of state, whereas Texas allows the tags to go with the vehicle until you can place the proper state tags on it.

THAT is what I'm angry about.

Thats good to hear, I'm glad someone does.

however, it may be my fault, but doesn't mean going out of the way to look for instigation is the proper way do to follow procedures.

Besides its America, its our job to bad mouth and blame officers, its not our fault unless someone got hurt.

You guys are killing me... [laugh] [laugh] [laugh]

 

I'm sorry, I just happened to know a thing or two about police officers and a little about the law. I am sorry you got pulled over and got a ticket, just as I am sorry four of us got parking tickets this Monday at a DML lunch in uptown. I do not blame the officer, she was indeed very nice and very apologetic, we were wrong and she was just doing her job... she begrudgingly wrote the tickets at the "request" of the West Village security officer. Wasn't even her idea. We all could wax poetic about responsibility but the fact is you didn't have proper hard or paper plates. You got a "gift" from previous officers who chose not to mention it. I will admit that campus cops as well as hospital cops and local DART police do indeed have more of a "little weenie" syndrome than real college educated city and state police officers. I have seen it in court and on the street. He was still right and it's also still OK for you to not like it.

 

Word. Well hopefully me getting my bike registered before I go to my court date will at least lower the cost of the ticket....if they don't dismiss it all together.

 

I'm just irritated about the fact that the guy basically had no reason to pull me over. I have ridden on my bike for a week without any tags

No sympathy from me. You totally disregarded the fact that your bike wasn't registered. You knew it needed to be registered. It wasn't even as if you'd just bought it and the registration office was closed so you took it out for a late-night spin without tags to avoid going into withdrawal spasms - you rode around for a week.

There's no point whining about how unfair it was that you caught his attention. He was right - you were a scofflaw. You got busted for doing something you knew was illegal. It was bound to happen sooner or later. It's not as if you're going to prison or anything so suck it up.

 

Busted all the way from New Hampshire...........

 

Rough. Speaking of registration, I tried to go today and the office was closed.

 

We all could wax poetic about responsibility ....

Sir, I did nothing of the sort! Any waxing performed by me is merely philosophical in nature, and if it should ever be mistaken for poetry it would have to be poetry of the lowest possible quality. And I'd rather be a bad philosopher than a bad poet.

 

Wow, so many cool things to respond to... DFB, yeah it's cool, I bet you getting her legal and pleading your case in a really good "have pity on my young soul" sort of way just might help, certainly couldn't hurt. Besides, you have to get her legal anyway. Secondly, how cool is that to have a DML brother from New Hampshire chime in on your outlaw behavior. Your Mother can sleep well at night knowing that we are ALL watching out for your nonsense! [thumbsup] Good tidings to you mstevens from the Lone Star State (also known for our incredibly boring straight roads that can last longer than your state's length!) Scott, I bet it sets a record for a long distance bust/calling out on our local board!! And to Andre, ah ha, you fell into my philosophical trap... it's like baiting bears with marshmellows for OLN hunting shows! Your evil brother has warned us about your philosophy weak spots and as Mister Burns from the Simpsons would say, "My evil plan is working perfectly". And speaking of waxing, I got a few bikes over here I could use some help with!!! [laugh]

A happy Easter to you all, may all your carbon fiber eggs be filled with Ducati goodies!

 

I'm sorry, I just happened to know a thing or two about police officers and a little about the law. I am sorry you got pulled over and got a ticket, just as I am sorry four of us got parking tickets this Monday at a DML lunch in uptown. I do not blame the officer, she was indeed very nice and very apologetic, we were wrong and she was just doing her job... she begrudgingly wrote the tickets at the "request" of the West Village security officer. Wasn't even her idea. We all could wax poetic about responsibility but the fact is you didn't have proper hard or paper plates. You got a "gift" from previous officers who chose not to mention it. I will admit that campus cops as well as hospital cops and local DART police do indeed have more of a "little weenie" syndrome than real college educated city and state police officers. I have seen it in court and on the street. He was still right and it's also still OK for you to not like it.

nothing like rubbing in authority to the peasants that cause death-full threats.