On and off ramps practice stopped by police

[RR929]

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Last week, a friend was pulled over by a cop but did not get a ticket. He was going on ramp to 404 on Maj Mac. He was doing his loop (Maj Mac to Elgin and back) late at night. Luckily it was only his second loop and he is just warming up his tires and the weather is cold. He wasn't even going over the ramp limit by too much. Normally, he hits it at 120+ with better grip in the summer.


He was lectured on not to treat this as a race track although the cop did not mentioned anything about speeding because he clearly was not. But it seems the cop had watched him went up the previous time and knew he was doing the loop.


Does the cop bother you with this? Even if you are within speed limit or normal pace onto the ramp?


If you are going 100+ on the ramp, yes, I can see that there might be ground to stop you and or give out a ticket but I think it could still be argue that you need to merge with traffic so it would be impractical to maintain that 30km/h throughout the entire hairpin turn.

 

[omnivore]

The ramps don't have a speed limit. Just a speed advisory.
White signs = speed limit = enforceable with a ticket
Yellow signs = speed advisory = not enforceable

....however, any cop at any time can pull you over, take your licence and bike for "street racing and stunting" for whatever reason he feels like, with or without evidence. Period.

 

[ViperZ]

The ramps don't have a speed limit. Just a speed advisory.
White signs = speed limit = enforceable with a ticket
Yellow signs = speed advisory = not enforceable

....however, any cop at any time can pull you over, take your licence and bike for "street racing and stunting" for whatever reason he feels like, with or without evidence. Period.

Aren't you supposed to treat any road to be 80 km/h limit if it's outside city limits and no signs are posted (50 for the city)? So if you're going 100 on the ramp with no speed limit posted, you might as well get a speeding ticket?

 

[daisoman]

Good point but doesn't the cop need evidence of you speeding for you to be found guilty of speeding(ie. radar). I'd imagine it would be hard to catch you on radar on a on ramp

 

[toysareforboys]

Does the cop bother you with this?

When doing ramps last summer the cops blocked off the entrance to the DVP and stopped the entire group. Most of the group just drove around the cop and went to L&L, but some stopped. One of them was charged with stunting because "his bum wasn't on the seat" (i.e. hanging off on the ramp), had his bike impounded, etc. He is still waiting for his court date, not sure of the details thus far. If they catch you ripping a ramp, they can make your life complete hell, even with no proof

Good point but doesn't the cop need evidence of you speeding for you to be found guilty of speeding(ie. radar). I'd imagine it would be hard to catch you on radar on a on ramp

The cop can visually estimate your speed. They are actually trained in this. I haven't had the pleasure of fighting a ticket that wasn't done with radar or pacing so far, but I've got one coming up soon

-Jamie M.

 

[04turbowagon]

The cop can visually estimate your speed. They are actually trained in this. I haven't had the pleasure of fighting a ticket that wasn't done with radar or pacing so far, but I've got one coming up soon

-Jamie M.

It is impossible for a cop to tell how fast you are moving simply using his eye and they are not trained for this.

 

[omnivore]

TAFB is right. A cops "expert witness" testimony as to his visual estimation of your speed does hold weight in court I am afraid.

 

[7seven7]

DuetstTte

 

[at_28]

I do my ramps practice daily and thought it was ok.
Thanks for letting me know that I can get in trouble for this.
Don't know where else I can practice anymore next season

 

[toysareforboys]

It is impossible for a cop to tell how fast you are moving simply using his eye and they are not trained for this.

http://www.lawfirms.com/resources/c...s-examine-officer-speeding-ticket.htm#trained

I've seen cops testify that they visually measured the speed of the vehicle in two court cases while I was in court for another person/case. The defendants didn't make any defence so the prosecutor won easy, so not sure how easy it would be to defend against it.

-Jamie M.

 

[f1mauro]

I do my ramps practice daily and thought it was ok.
Thanks for letting me know that I can get in trouble for this.
Don't know where else I can practice anymore next season

The track?

 

[R1Style]

Speeding aside he can also give you a ticket for either careless driving or dangerous driving if he witnesses you doing something stupid which is far worse than a speeding ticket.

 

[ViperZ]

It is impossible for a cop to tell how fast you are moving simply using his eye and they are not trained for this.

Why not? If he knows the length of the ramp and just times you with his watch, that's all he needs. Cop can assume best case scenario for you (you're riding at constant speed and not accelerating) and will simply figure out your speed.

 

[daisoman]

So what is the legal limit on on ramps? I know yellow sign = recommended speed but I don't see white signs.

 

[Scuba Steve]

I think the speed limit on a ramp is the limit of the road you are leaving.

 

[Redrock]

Lets ignore the officer for a minute and focus on what your buddy is doing. In weather like this, getting on the bike and doing a few rounds on a ramp is fine execpt the fact that those tires will cool within minutes of riding straight line(typical street riding). What he's doing is pretty much pointless, unless he's going out to continue doing laps on a ramp. Riding in cooler weather can be tricky, He should just focus on be smooth with the throttle, brakes, turning and leave plenty of stopping distance from the vehicle ahead.

 

[fastar1]

The track?

Stop it with the obvious talk, you.

 

[toysareforboys]

What he's doing is pretty much pointless, unless he's going out to continue doing laps on a ramp.

I don't think anyone runs a ramp to "warm up their tires" unless they are planning to do more ramps (i.e. a loop)

-Jamie M.

 

[Shaman]

....however, any cop at any time can pull you over, take your licence and bike for "street racing and stunting" for whatever reason he feels like, with or without evidence. Period.

Which is why we should not continue to tolerate this "law."

 

[omnivore]

Oh I know.
We need some gearhead lawyers who like to stretch the legs of their Ducatis and Ferraris on public highways to get caught in this mess, and only then will the powers that be see a need to overturn this dog's breakfast.
Otherwise, Joe Public will continue to say "why do you ever need to gover 150 kmh anyways?".......hopefully some young motivated lawyer's grandma gets her licence and car yanked for doing 3 lanechanges in traffic and a cop decides that's "too many".....and busts her for stunting,LOL

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