Modern Buddy

Some of you may remember that I got pulled over by a UCop last summer for not putting my foot down at a stop sign- or maybe it was for "riding while female." No ticket (whew).

Since then, I've been pretty careful about putting my foot down. The cop may have been a jerk, but... After all, if you're thinking about balancing, you're spending part of your brain that could be used for looking for traffic. Also, the real stop means you are slower pulling into the intersection, so collisions will have less force. OK.

So that was me. So a little while ago, my darling got busted to the tune of $159.

Owwwwch.

Yeowch!

LisaLisa wrote:...not putting my foot down at a stop sign...

Around here it's called coming to a complete stop.


And when I see the PoPo, I ALWAYS come to a complete stop.
When I don't see the PoPo, I call it conserving gas!!

LisaLisa wrote:
So that was me. So a little while ago, my darling got busted to the tune of $159.

The "my darling" has me a little confused. You or WaMo got busted?

Either way, it's a bummer, but at least you took the hit in the wallet instead of the scoot. :\ Small comforts, right?

I can come to a full complete stop for a good long time without ever putting my foot down. Its not a distraction, or even an effort. Its not the cop's job to tell me where to put my feet. Its his job to determine that I stopped legally.

I'd fight any ticket that determened the speed I was moving (I.E. Stopped/Not Stopped) by where my feet were at the time. I know the law around here doesn't mention foot position when defining a legal stop. It just states how long a vehicle must be at a total stop and where they must be positioned.

Anyway... Enough ranting from me

What Kaos said.

sometimes put my feet down just prior to rolling through.

i know in wi if both feet dont thouch the ground they can and will ticket you

jmkjr72 wrote:i know in wi if both feet dont thouch the ground they can and will ticket you

Does it say that legally or do they just do it though? I know of people who have been ticketed in Oregon for doing a stop without putting their feet down but the law (ORS 811.260 if you're interested) doesn't list the feet being down as a requirement, simply that the wheels have stopped rolling forward.

Kaos wrote:

jmkjr72 wrote:i know in wi if both feet dont thouch the ground they can and will ticket you

Does it say that legally or do they just do it though? I know of people who have been ticketed in Oregon for doing a stop without putting their feet down but the law (ORS 811.260 if you're interested) doesn't list the feet being down as a requirement, simply that the wheels have stopped rolling forward.

That's good to know, Kaos. Because if they ticketed me for not putting both feet down it would be tantamount to ticketing me for RWS - Riding While Short. I can get toes from both feet down, but it's a stretch and I rarely do it. One foot down works just fine.

pdxrita wrote:That's good to know, Kaos. Because if they ticketed me for not putting both feet down it would be tantamount to ticketing me for RWS - Riding While Short. I can get toes from both feet down, but it's a stretch and I rarely do it. One foot down works just fine.

RWS - guilty as charged

Sorry to hear that! Where was he when the PoPo hit him for failure to stop?

Kaos wrote:I can come to a full complete stop for a good long time without ever putting my foot down. Its not a distraction, or even an effort. Its not the cop's job to tell me where to put my feet. Its his job to determine that I stopped legally.

I'd fight any ticket that determened the speed I was moving (I.E. Stopped/Not Stopped) by where my feet were at the time. I know the law around here doesn't mention foot position when defining a legal stop. It just states how long a vehicle must be at a total stop and where they must be positioned.

Anyway... Enough ranting from me

Another spin on that is that I can do a rolling stop and touch BOTH feet down. It'd clearly not be a stop.

A stop's a stop. If motion is halted, it's a stop. Pretty simple, right?

I wonder what the cops would say about an MP3, where you never have to put your feet down.

Sigh.

Anyway, I enjoy stopping to annoy the car behind me. Who was on my tail ever since I pulled out of my driveway, chittering on the cell phone.

LisaLisa wrote:I wonder what the cops would say about an MP3, where you never have to put your feet down.

Sigh.

Or a bike with a sidecar. You also don't need to put your feet down. Thats why the law doesn't specify the feet requirement. It's not universal.

so sorry lisa^2! where'd he get stopped?

i would have hoped the cops would have a little bit more compassion for anyone scooting in these cold temps we've been having!

LisaLisa wrote: Anyway, I enjoy stopping to annoy the car behind me. Who was on my tail ever since I pulled out of my driveway, chittering on the cell phone.

Nice! I enjoy doing the same thing to tailgaters...stop slowly and completely, pause, pause, pause, pause.

Kaos wrote:

LisaLisa wrote:I wonder what the cops would say about an MP3, where you never have to put your feet down.

Sigh.

Or a bike with a sidecar. You also don't need to put your feet down. Thats why the law doesn't specify the feet requirement. It's not universal.

There was a long thread on MV recently about "when a stop is a stop." The legal language varies from state to state. Some have a "2 second" rule, I believe in CA the only guideline we have is "full stop." But what it almost always comes down to is whether a LEO thinks you stopped or not.

Putting a foot down is just a good way of signifying, "Hey, see, I'm NOT MOVING!" I don't know whether it's required in some states—may be—but on the trafficked roads, it's just a good idea.

In my residential neighborhood, it's California roll all the way, though!

If you are ever riding through Island Pond, Vt., be sure to fully stop,both feet on the ground, scratch something and look around awhile or.....
Constable Teddy will get you!

Don't even ask.

It's best to learn your own individual state law for a complete stop. Regardless of what we as scooterists think a safe stop is, Smokey has the option to ticket you based on the letter of the law.

Here in CO, the law states you have to put BOTH feet down. All of the above arguments are completely valid about stopping: Many of us can stop briefly without putting our feet down or you can roll through a stop sign with both feet down.

Do what's safe unless the police are around. Then do what's necessary .

Driller wrote:If you are ever riding through Island Pond, Vt., be sure to fully stop,both feet on the ground, scratch something and look around awhile or.....
Constable Teddy will get you!

Don't even ask.

ericalm wrote:

Kaos wrote:

LisaLisa wrote:I wonder what the cops would say about an MP3, where you never have to put your feet down.

Sigh.

Or a bike with a sidecar. You also don't need to put your feet down. Thats why the law doesn't specify the feet requirement. It's not universal.

There was a long thread on MV recently about "when a stop is a stop." The legal language varies from state to state. Some have a "2 second" rule, I believe in CA the only guideline we have is "full stop." But what it almost always comes down to is whether a LEO thinks you stopped or not.

Putting a foot down is just a good way of signifying, "Hey, see, I'm NOT MOVING!" I don't know whether it's required in some states—may be—but on the trafficked roads, it's just a good idea.

In my residential neighborhood, it's California roll all the way, though!

Where I live, in Missouri (okay Kansas suburbs of Kansas City, Mo.) older folks almost universally call a rolling stop a California stop.

Driller wrote:If you are ever riding through Island Pond, Vt., be sure to fully stop,both feet on the ground, scratch something and look around awhile or.....
Constable Teddy will get you!

Don't even ask.

So, does that make him a Teddy Bear?

KCScooterDude wrote: Where I live, in Missouri (okay Kansas suburbs of Kansas City, Mo.) older folks almost universally call a rolling stop a California stop.

We use that term in California too. That's funny though.

SFJess wrote:

KCScooterDude wrote: Where I live, in Missouri (okay Kansas suburbs of Kansas City, Mo.) older folks almost universally call a rolling stop a California stop.

We use that term in California too. That's funny though.

In SoCal, we call it a California Roll.