Police checking gloves?

[Jonathan]

Pulled to the side of the road today by an officer manning out of order lights in Kilbernie. The reason why I was pulled over? He wanted to lecture me on the importance of wearing gloves saying "only an idiot rides without gloves".

I was not wearing gloves as I was running late for a job and I could only find one glove (the other was later found by my girlfriend wedged under a chair), so decided to risk my hands in order to make it to work on time. Told the officer this and he said "why didn't you find something else then? What? Mittens? Kitchen gloves? I wish I did have my gloves, it was bloody cold.

Is it usual for an officer to pull you over for this reason? I would think that as long as you take care of the statutory stuff i.e. helmet, what you wear or not wear is none of their business. Or am I wrong?

[silverado]

"only an idiot rides without gloves".[/QUOTE]

I'd have to agree. Leave your gloves on your bike. Won't have to look for them then.

[iwilde]

What hits the ground first when you're knocked off by some idiot driving blind? Normaly your hands, and when they are ground down a bit it takes a long and painful time to heal. But you're right, it's none of his business as you're following the law, he must have been pissed at something and saw you as an easy target to vent out at.

[Jonathan]

"only an idiot rides without gloves".

I'd have to agree. Leave your gloves on your bike. Won't have to look for them then.

I don't disagree. Just saying that if I want to be that idiot and risk my own hands in certain circumstances shouldn't that be my choice?

And leaving gloves on a KR150 under a tarp next to the pavement is a sure way losing some hard earned student dosh.

[Ixion]

Lost one glove away from home recently (why on earth is it ALWAYS the right glove I lose ?). Had to ride home with only one, felt very odd and vulnerable.

Hands are delicate, and one of the body bits most commonly injured in a bin, and nothing (almost nothing) hurts worse than a hand injury.

Always wear gloves. Having said that there is no legal requirment to do so, so the police cannot force you to, or ticket you for not doing so.

But, the cop probably realised (from the bike) that you were an relatively inexperienced rider (no offence, apologies if you are not), and just wanted to give a bit of helpful advice. Good for him, he's only trying to help. I suspect he may have been a biker, not many non bikers would notice.

[Jonathan]

Lost one glove away from home recently (why on earth is it ALWAYS the right glove I lose ?). Had to ride home with only one, felt very odd and vulnerable.

Hands are delicate, and one of the body bits most commonly injured in a bin, and nothing (almost nothing) hurts worse than a hand injury.

Always wear gloves. Having said that there is no legal requirment to do so, so the police cannot force you to, or ticket you for not doing so.

But, the cop probably realised (from the bike) that you were an relatively inexperienced rider (no offence, apologies if you are not), and just wanted to give a bit of helpful advice. Good for him, he's only trying to help. I suspect he may have been a biker, not many non bikers would notice.

True. He was indeed a biker.
I'm just bitter at being made further late for a job.

And yip, still not the most experienced rider...

[silverado]

Sorry dude. I sometimes forget that not everyone park their bike in the garage. Stick it in your helmet.

[justsomeguy]

If all cops were like that Cop we would love the police. Someone who knows him buy him a cold one.

Crashed TL, rather high speed, up near the 200kph mark going over backwards from a fucked up wheelie, i hit the deck hard and tumbled down the road for a fair distance. Holes in arse, both elbows, kness, stitching apart on chest, small area on back and thigh. They held up pretty well considering, and were repaired back to normal by Kerri at MSW for a mere $250, only i had put on a fair bit of weight and they didn't fit to well, next time i tried wearing them, doh.
The only real damage to me other than bruising, was that i broke bones in both my hands.
Really chances are i would've been dead if i wasn't wearing leathers, cordura/kevlar just dont cut it for me, i couldn't give a shit if it's lighter and more breathable, fuck it, it's your life at the end of the day.
Spool is good and i dont think you have to spend $3000 plus on the likes of Spyke, Dainese, Astars etc. if you got the money go for it.
On another note, spend some serious money on gloves, your hands are the most vunerable part on your body (as i found out), reckon one of the best value gloves around are the Teknic Violaters, around the $200 mark, i was wearing Astar GP plus when i crashed, they did well and i dont think asy glove could've prevented what happened to me, but the Astars are still $300+.

[Karma]

If all cops were like that Cop we would love the police.

You'd think so, but you'd be wrong.

[Jonathan]

The fact of the matter is that, notwithstanding the advice being good advice, to me he came across as being condescending and arrogant. I do understand the importance of wearing gloves. Of course I know that if I am to crash without hand protection I am stuffed. That is not what I am arguing.

I made a conscious decision to leave home without wearing gloves, just as I may make the conscious decision to smoke despite knowing it will harm me. I sometimes jaywalk, drink too much, run with scissors etc. Would you want anyone who sees you doing any little risky thing to take you aside and interrogate you and tell you how stupid you are? I also see in many threads people complaining about being caught speeding.

I agree with Ixion, however, that he took me for an inexperienced rider (as I am, been riding only two years so far) based on my wee bike and decided to give me some good advice. I just think he could have been a little more pleasant about it but maybe that is asking a little too much. I personally don’t feel any animosity towards the police force as I have had both pleasant and unpleasant experiences with cops and I understand the actions of an individual do not speak for the force as a whole.

If he had simply said something along the lines of "are you aware it is dangerous to ride without gloves" I would have ridden away happy that he cared rather than annoyed that some stranger believes it to be their right to lecture me.

[Jonathan]

Heh, maybe I should change the title of this thread to be "Why aren't police more polite?". HOHOHO!

[crack]

I learnt the hard way, had my gloves nicked on a Friday night in town from being stuffed into my helmet, hanging from my bike.( 1973).

Monday morning "QUOTE" my late Mother, Look its cold, middle of winter and the road is slippery, walk to the bus, leave your bike at home, and Dad will get you some more gloves when he is in town today.

16 and know everything, "NAGGING MUMS KNOW NOTHING", started my bike and left Mum shacking her head,went around a corner faster than I should have, lost the front and went down HARD, automatically put my hands out:

Result: F--- it hurt, hands in bandages for two weeks, weeks off work,you don't know what to do with them it hurts so bloody much, make your eyes water I tell you.

You can't even pick up your bike, you can't even pull the pebals out off your knee.

No shit mate it hurt.

[Fat Tony]

Must have been about 20 years ago, my father-in-law (George) offered to go and collect a bike for my brother-in-law (Mick) who hadn't ridden a bike for years and didn't feel comfortable riding it back the 50 miles from where he was buying it. Having said that, George hadn't been on a bike for years either so why he volunteered I don't know.

Anyway, they get up to Lancaster, have a look over the bike and agree to buy it, hand over the cash and Mick passes George his helmet with his gloves stuffed in side it, then heads off to get in the car for his drive back home.

George puts the helmet on and follows Mick back. They get home and George jumps off the bike, dying to get the helmet off coz it's absolutely killing his head... dozy bugger hadn't looked inside the helmet and had somehow managed to squeez his head in there with the gloves in situ, lol

(RIP George - you're missed)

[Trudes]

Maybe they should also pull over the twats riding about in shorts and t-shirts as well. In fact I saw a dude riding a trail bike up the road last week - attire: shirt, shorts, jandals. No helmet even, hell, what a mess if he came off, he can't know about the accident ratio within kilometers of your house thing.

[Grahameeboy]

Guess the cops cannot win....we all have our different manners and I guess that like beauty, arrogance is in the eye of the beholder and when you do not know someone it is hard to get a fix on them and their mannerisms and mistakes are made.