noisebeam

Sure - and very easily if on downhill. However speed limits are often well below this. On my ride into work I have 15 (school zone), 20 and 25mph sections (as well as higher)

Al

KevinmH9

So far I've toped my bike off to 27 mph, but around here that isn't close to breaking any laws.

twahl

My computer shows that I hit 29.5 today on my comfort bike. Of course that was downhill, but I know that a decent rider on a road bike can do better than 35. I could probably do better than 35, just not for very long!

capsicum

Well just last weekend I was in 35-40mph traffic on my mtb with panniers on a four lane highway and I merged into the left lane and kept up for about 1/4mile, when I took my left turn into the store. (about a 3% down grade and some distant drafting) 38-39MPH in that section according to the bike 'puter.

dfchatten

I love it when I come upon one of those portable speed detecotrs the police put out. I always try and hammer past the limit.

atbman

Situation in the UK is the same as Canada. since the law does not require cycles to be equipped with a speeometer, the law cannot, logically, require you to abide by a speed limit if you cannot measure your speed.

So they charge you with "furious and reckless riding", an offence dating back to the days of the horse, well before the invention of the bicycle.

If your local, state or federal laws do not require you to have a speedometer, but do require motor vehicles to have them, therefore....??

cryptid01

Oh, that's awesome. I would much rather get a "furious and reckless" ticket than one for merely "speeding."

noisebeam

But what if you bike does have a speedometer that the officer notices after stopping you?

Al

HereNT

Quietly take it off of the handlebar mount while they are still in the car. If they notice the mount and cable, tell them the battery died a couple of days ago, and that you usually use it to make sure you're not speeding, but couldn't because the battery is dead. Promise to get a new battery.

pitboss

how about dipping into an alley (for those urban dwellers)?

madpogue 

Cars are required to have a working speedometer. If it's not working, it's an equipment violation. Bikes have no such requirement. Speeding laws apply nonetheless, but having a speedometer won't help or hurt you legally. If they try to use it against you, you can always say you don't consider it accurate.

HereNT

Alley isn't always an option - even then, I think the saying goes "you can out run a cop, but you can't outrun Motorola".... Depends on how far you are from home/safe place, and how good of a look they got at you and your bike.

I was thinking more for the bikers that are trying to be nice to the law and stopping for them... just palm the damn thing... Then make excuses. Your hands are probably already on the handlebar, taking the speedo off would be really easy. Especially if you go to lean the bike on something.

KevinmH9

I guess I am the lucky one, it seem thats most speed limits where I bike are at least 35-55 mph, and even then I couldn't top my bike out even past 35 mph (fastest I gone on a flat surface is 31 mph). I always have concerns about traffic lights and where I can stop where cars turning right can still turn or where I am not in the way of cars who are going straight.

madpogue 

If you're not turning right, you should be to the left of those who are, or in front of them. Just like if you're driving a car.

cryptid01

So before I go too much further making up cover stories, mapping escape routes through every neighborhood along my rides, or fabricating a 'stealth' install for my cyclocomputer, I have to ask -

Is there actually anyone here who has been cited for speeding while on their bike?

Baz

I have been stopped for speeding, clocked by a cop with a laser gun at 41km/hr in a 20km/hr zone on a paved bicycle pathway. (It was the bottom of a steep gully I had hoped to carry some momentum through.)

In Alberta a bike is counted the same as a car, so whether you have a driver's license or not, a ticket can still be issued, and those demerit points are kept track of. If you later get a driver's license, the demerits are applied. I have met courriers who will have thier driver's license revoked the minute they get it due to too many tickets (mostly running red lights).

The cop told me that a speeding ticked for 21km/hr over the limit would be something like $250 plus demerits, told me to slow down, and then gave me a 40$ ticket for "not having a bell" (I had taken it off for a race the week before and hadn't put it back on yet, and apparently politely stating "passing on the left" is not a substitute for a bell).

You can't really frame a ticket for "not having a bell"

qmsdc15

Points on the license before you have a license! Canada! That's nuts!

I once clocked myself at 45mph going UPHILL on Rhode Island Ave. NE. I was skitching on Mayor Barry's mobile headquarters at the time. HE was speeding, I was only hanging on!

Erick L

Same here in Quebec. Points stay on record for two years.

khuon

Like these?



The last time I was stopped on my bike was several years ago. I live up on a plateau where the average grade to get up to the top is 9%. There's one climb that's about a mile long. Going down however, I build up speed pretty quickly. The road is four lanes (two in each direction) and the speed limit is 35MPH. Traffic was light that day and moving seemingly slow so I krept my way up to the front where there was a large gap. After passing the front car, I just tucked in low and spun out my 53x12. My speedo was reading... well I don't know what it was reading at the time because I was too scared to look. I later toggled over to the Max Speed setting and saw 53MPH.

Also unbeknownst to me at the time but soon to be knownst, the reason there was a large gap at the front of the pack of cars was because everyone was pacing a cop who was in the left lane. He didn't need to paint me with the radar gun. After hearing the sirens and quickly glancing back to see him right behind me, I slowly braked and pulled into the parking lot of the mall at the bottom of the hill. As chance would have it, I stopped right in the parking lot of the Krispy Kreme.

When the cop asked me about my speed, I explained to him that I didn't want to ride my brakes all the way down the hill as that would have burnt them out. I told him that my rims could get very hot and that being forced to slow down as it was because he stopped me, my rims were overheating. He looked curious and touched my rim slightly only to quickly yank back his fingers. He let me go with a warning and suggested I find a different route down the hill next time... one which I could better control my speed.

redfooj

my god.. people... you dont need to have a speedometer to go past the speed limit not carrying id doesnt not make u immune to tickets... if only that were the case... around here they'll detain u until they know who u are. lie about your identity? dont even try that one

capsicum

The cops I know call it the halo effect, everyone in a circle around them is all goody two shoes.
This almost got me an impeding traffic ticket. I was limited to about 35mph due to mech, difficulties with my moto and so people are passing when it's safe on this twisty country road, then a copper shows in my mirror and stays there, (to see if I'm impeding things I guess) well no one wants to pass a cop so they stacked up and he pulled me over (I kept riding untill there was some shoulder). he was like didn't you seee that line of cars you should have let them pass. I was like there was no place to pull out and they were passing fine untill you showed up. yada yada bla bla ... he let me go .

TechJD

I wouldnt try to piss a cop off to much as he can always impound your bike
and say he suppected it of being stolen cause you were goin someplace fast
put you in a holding cell
then you will have to prove who you are to get out and get it back besides pay a impoundment fee