Crooked biker cop in Wellington - lane splitting

[octanepwr]

I haven't been on here in years. However this has really grinded my gears.

I ride every day from Newlands to Wellington CBD.

Yesterday I got done lane splitting on the section between where SH2 joins SH1 and Thorndon. The cop was very angry and insisted any form of lane splitting was completely illegal unless the traffic was stationary. In the end I think he would have let me off if I had been going slower. He obviously didn't get a speed lock. He ticketed me for 'passing on the left' $150, no demerits. I wasn't indicating as I think that just confuses people.

Today he moved from his location between the joins of SH2 and SH1 onto the corner where SH2 passes over SH1. Obviously moved closer to my house to try get me again, even though the traffic is barely moving at this point so I would assume according to him it is near enough to stationary and therefore legit. I was tailing two others between the cars at a sensible speed when I saw him and pulled into the left lane (so I couldn't be done for passing on the left) and the other two pulled into the right lane. I expected him to have seen me pull in and pull me over but he didn't, I thought he was being reasonable. Then the guy at the front pulled out of the right lane and began to split again (this is at like 20kph traffic) and the cop put his lights on and went after him immediately.

Guess what bike he was riding? One that was almost identical to mine so much that I bet the cop thought it was me.

This is criminal. What is the bet he will be there tomorrow? I have been riding this route 9 months and never seen him before, but now he will surprise me on a regular basis. I feel like I should sell the bike and resort to a scooter ride along the Kaiwharawhara road. Depressing. There is nothing unsafe about lane splitting at slow speeds.

What can we do about this? Anyone else seen this?

If I lane split with an indicator on could I get out of the whole passing on the left thing?

Oh yeah - in Auckland I came up behind motorbike cops lane splitting on the motorway who waved me on through!

[Madness]

This is criminal.

[Mike.Gayner]

[James Deuce]

I'll let my mate with the black VTR know that he's not being watched any more.

[vtr]

I haven't been on here in years. However this has really grinded my gears.

I ride every day from Newlands to Wellington CBD.

Yesterday I got done lane splitting on the section between where SH2 joins SH1 and Thorndon. I was 'probably' exceeding the posted speed limit anyway so fair enough. The cop was very angry and insisted any form of lane splitting was completely illegal unless the traffic was stationary. In the end I think he would have let me off if I had been going slower. He obviously didn't get a speed lock. He ticketed me for 'passing on the left' $150, no demerits. I wasn't indicating as I think that just confuses people.

Today he moved from his location between the joins of SH2 and SH1 onto the corner where SH2 passes over SH1. Obviously moved closer to my house to try get me again, even though the traffic is barely moving at this point so I would assume according to him it is near enough to stationary and therefore legit. I was tailing two others between the cars at a sensible speed when I saw him and pulled into the left lane (so I couldn't be done for passing on the left) and the other two pulled into the right lane. I expected him to have seen me pull in and pull me over but he didn't, I thought he was being reasonable. Then the guy at the front pulled out of the right lane and began to split again (this is at like 20kph traffic) and the cop put his lights on and went after him immediately.

Guess what bike he was riding? A big red v-twin, which the cop I am sure would have thought was me even though I ride a VTR1000 and this guy was on a Duke.

This is criminal. What is the bet he will be there tomorrow? I have been riding this route 9 months and never seen him before, but now he will surprise me on a regular basis. I feel like I should sell the bike and resort to a scooter ride along the Kaiwharawhara road. Depressing. There is nothing unsafe about lane splitting at slow speeds.

What can we do about this? Anyone else seen this?

If I lane split with an indicator on could I get out of the whole passing on the left thing?

Oh yeah - in Auckland I came up behind motorbike cops lane splitting on the motorway who waved me on through!

So yeah can you keep up the good work of keeping him away from me. Thank you, that is all

[Ulsterkiwi]

This guy has been making a name for himself for a wee while now. All reports suggest he has a hard on for ticketing bikes. The law on this point seems to be a crock of shit, in so far as we as road users are at the mercy of the whims of such officers. It isn't to hard to find another traffic cop who does not see sensible filtering as a problem or a priority.
If the filtering issue does not present an opportunity for the various motorcycling organisations to lobby for a fix, I do not know what does.

[willytheekid]

The law-

"
Passing on the left

You can only pass on the left when:

• there are two or more lanes on your side of the centre line and you are able to pass safely by using the left-hand lane
• you are directed to by a police officer
• the vehicle you are passing:
  
  • has stopped, or
  • is signalling a right turn, or
  • is turning right.
  
  

At all other times, when you are passing, you must pass on the right.


"Filtering" through slow or stationary traffic is legal (moving up to the lights while all others are stopped)
"Lane splitting" through moving traffic however is a grey area in NZ transport law...you can argue it in court, say that you are legally passing the vehicle in the left lane legally, AND you are passing the vehicle in the right lane legally as there are two lanes on your side of the centre line...but the odds are against you as most see "lane splitting" as dangerous

End of the day tho...lane splitting is simply not advised by the police and they DO take action (As you have found out)...only got two options

1- Change your habits and stop lane splitting, and just rely on legal filtering at the lights to make up time

2- Strap on a HD camera (to keep BOTH parties honest and civil), print out the road code, and go have a talk with the guy about the law and his view point....you may just both agree to disagree, or you may see his point of view or vice-versa...if he gets shirty, just calmly remind him that he's dealing with a minor traffic offence!, not a murder!, and your just seeking clarification of the law as you intend to challenge the ticket

...just cos he's a cop dosn't mean you can't talk to the guy about the issue....after all, the guy rides bikes just like the rest of us*




note* if he proves to be a "fake"...cock punch him!...IMMEDIATELY!!!

[James Deuce]

Willy, you can't talk to this guy. The fact that he rides a bike is irrelevant, it's just a work tool to him. As far as he is concerned, bikes should be banned.

[Murray]

Probably the same guy referred to in post 13 of this thread

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...lane+splitting

[octanepwr]

Yep. That will be the guy absolutely.

The guy who got done this morning (who the cop hoped was me again) was not doing anything unsafe. The traffic was barely moving.
He must be on a spree as I have been commuting this route for 9 months and never seen him before.

Not worth expressing my opinion any more as clearly a lot of people down in Wellington agree with this same problem. I expect anyone who disagrees does not commute daily in Wellington. Motorbike cops in Auckland are clearly a different breed. Police in cars have also never cared.

I guess the other option is to start work at either 8 or 9 instead of 830 and hopefully miss him? What time do people usually see him? The last two days it has been 815-820.

[buggerit]

This arsehole needs something productive to do, maybe sought out the traffic chaos from motorcyclists now traveling by car breaking down in close proximity to his whereabouts and blocking the motorway( placing your helmet on the passenger seat may give him a clue to yournormal mode of transport)

[jellywrestler]

Yep. That will be the guy absolutely. The ticket yesterday I deserved, I admit that.

But the guy who got done this morning (who the cop hoped was me again) was not doing anything unsafe. The traffic was barely moving.
He must be on a spree as I have been commuting this route for 9 months and never seen him before.

Knowing that is his usual spot I will merge in down the gorge... typical he sits at the most clogged part of the ride...

Not worth expressing my opinion any more as clearly a lot of people down in Wellington agree with this same problem. I expect anyone who disagrees does not commute daily in Wellington. Motorbike cops in Auckland are clearly a different breed. Police in cars have also never cared.

I guess the other option is to start work at either 8 or 9 instead of 830 and hopefully miss him? What time do people usually see him? The last two days it has been 815-820.

how cute, you think you have your own Cop eh!

[mossy1200]

how cute, you think you have your own Cop eh!

On topic comment. Bad Cop.

[Tazz]

how cute, you think you have your own Cop eh!

I'd believe it. I had some cop in a Holden wagon set himself up to ping me a bunch of times when I was heading North out of Wellington 3 weeks ago. Never seen anything like it.

I wanted to pull up and hand him a my 'autograph' but chickened out incase he pinged me for something random.

[octanepwr]

haha you can't blame me when I haven't seen this guy in the 9 months I have ridden this route at the same time, I get a ticket and he moves closer to my address at the same time on the next day after we have a reasonably heated discussion on lane splitting/filtering?
But it clearly is not an isolated incident...
Obviously great for the quota though.
If he has only started this recently I expect some cagers have complained to the cops about how they are stuck in traffic and we can pass through. The govt should be motivating people to get out of their cars, not back into them.