is weaving in your lane illegal? got pulled over

[breakdirt916]

Is it illegal to weave within your lane (ie. move side to side continuously)?

I will sometimes do it to avoid road hazards, if I'm bored riding in a straight line, or to enhance my visibility to others by constantly moving. Today I was only going ~55 in a 50 zone (146N...where the flow of traffic is ~60-70mph) with no cars in front of, nor behind me for about 1/2 mile.

cop: license and registration

me: (get out my wallet and hand it over)

cop: why were you riding like a moron?

me: To avoid road hazards, get even tire wear, and increase my visibility to others (I know...it's a lame excuse, but I was nervous and just honest)

cop: you know you can cause an accident riding like that. Where are you coming from?

me: sutton

cop: what were you doing there?

me: visiting a friend

cop: where are you going?

me: worcester

cop: do you always ride like that?

me: no

cop: when was the last time you received a citation?

me: I've never received a citation.

He goes to his car to check me out, then slowly walks back and does a quick walkaround to inspect the bike.

cop: you keep riding like a moron and you're going to get other people hurt...I catch you riding like that again and (I ignored the rest...)

Is this legit? I figure anything to increase my visibility to others w'out speeding and staying within my own lane is perfectly legal.

[tWeEzy]

I do it too cuz I read somewhere that cagers are afraid to tailgate as much if you do that so I do it sometimes for that or if Im bored. If I get pulled over ill just tell the pOpo that there was debris in the road

[Paul_E_D]

You can get a ticket and it's generally a bad idea. It is possible for the bike to get away from you if the pavement is less than perfect.

I especially hate it when racers do it. It's just dangerous for no reason.

[MissTwisties]

I do it from time to time. Lightly tho, not all over my lane.

Did he really call you a moron?

[Cheese]

Originally posted by Bhavesh
Is it illegal to weave within your lane (ie. move side to side continuously)?

I do it to warm up, dry off and scrub the sand off my tires all the time. Hmm ... guess I'll have to watch for po po next time.

[mikeb]

Originally posted by Cheese-GSXR
I do it to warm up, dry off and scrub the sand off my tires all the time. Hmm ... guess I'll have to watch for po po next time.

+1, i also do it a little if there's been a long stretch of inactivity (slabbing it)

[ZX-12R]

You are allowed to occupy any part of the lane you feel like at the moment. I'm sure there is some sort of rule about "driving to endanger" that covers your scenario. That said I think they would be hard pressed to make it stick if you fought it had you gotten a ticket.

Your best bet is to just drive by the book when the po-po is around.

[Ken C]

I wil weave after coming out of my muddy driveway to clean the tires, but that lasts about 50 feet. After that, no weaving.

Think about it. Doing things like weaving for no apparent reason can be considered dangerous driving because it confuses other drivers and distracts them from dialing their cell phones.

Seriously, unnecessary weaving looks stupid and has no significant benefit.

[capt1014]

If you stay in your lane it is not illegal but if you switch lanes and it looks like you are weaving you might have an issue with the po po.

[legalspeed]

Weaving does not heat up your tires on a bike.

[Cheese]

Originally posted by Ken C
I wil weave after coming out of my muddy driveway to clean the tires, but that lasts about 50 feet. After that, no weaving.

Exactly. I'm just starting a ride, a short distance from a dirt road or where the pavement dries up after a rain. I do it for my own comfort/safety reasons. Common sense and leaving yourself an out pretty much dictates when it should and shouldn't be done (making a sharp left-hand turn towards oncomming traffic with only the counter sharp right-hand turn to stay out of traffic isn't leaving much of an out). Perhaps the cop wasn't concerned about the weaving as much as where the weaving was taking place.

[ultraTwist]

It's not illegal that I know of and it sounds like you didn't get a ticket. But the police are allowed to use it as an reason to pull you over, in your case driving like you may be drunk. I'm sure if a cager was doing it you'd like to have him checked out.

[NinjaSwan]

Sounds like a stupid reason to pull someone over unless you're looking for something like a stolen bike. You said he did a walk around right?

[RandyO]

Weaving IS moronic,

it serves no purpose, it doesn't heat tires and dirt comes off without weaving

[Paul_E_D]

it IS illegal. Driving erratically can easily be considered "aggresive driving", "driving to endanger", or "reckless driving" A cop would have no problem making it stick.

[mikeb]

Originally posted by RandyO
Weaving IS moronic,

it serves no purpose, it doesn't heat tires and dirt comes off without weaving

thats your opinion. i feel alot better about going to a full lean knowing there's no crud left on the outside of my tires from the dirt/mud parking lot i just left. i know most of it will be gone with in seconds just be maintaining a strait line but a little low speed weaving doesn't hurt anything.

don't most agree and i've always been told that when you put on new tires your surposed to scrub them in that way?

[Rye]

Originally posted by legalspeed
Weaving does not heat up your tires on a bike.

True dat! Aggressive accel/decel will though.

[Paul_E_D]

weaving on new tires is a quick way to end up on the ground. Just lean it a little further each time you corner. Do it progressively as the tire heats up.

[RandyO]

Originally posted by mikeb
thats your opinion. i feel alot better about going to a full lean knowing there's no crud left on the outside of my tires from the dirt/mud parking lot i just left. i know most of it will be gone with in seconds just be maintaining a strait line but a little low speed weaving doesn't hurt anything.

don't most agree and i've always been told that when you put on new tires your surposed to scrub them in that way?

yes , my opinion, based on a lot of dirt road riding and transition to pavement

weaving is a wasted effort , a wasted moronic effort, served no purpose except make you look stupid when you do it

[Kham]

isn't the bike made to weave like that? how is it wreckless if you're in control? same arguement as a stunter doing stunting and corner junky.

[Paul_E_D]

A car is made to turn, but weaving down the road would not be normal. This is so basic that I can't believe I'm still posting here...

[NinjaSwan]

can someone find a link or page from a law book that states swerving is illegal for motrocycels?

obviously driving to endanger is a law but is there an actual written law against accessive swerving?

[bigred875]

Originally posted by NinjaSwan
can someone find a link or page from a law book that states swerving is illegal for motrocycels?

obviously driving to endanger is a law but is there an actual written law against accessive swerving?

like paul said

Driving erratically can easily be considered "aggresive driving", "driving to endanger", or "reckless driving"

this is up to the interprentation of the officer...if he feels it is any of those he can cite you...

[mikeb]

Originally posted by RandyO
yes , my opinion, based on a lot of dirt road riding and transition to pavement

weaving is a wasted effort , a wasted moronic effort, served no purpose except make you look stupid when you do it

wasted effort ok . while it may serve no purpose except peace of mind or cure boredom while putting around 20mph or less i feel its no more moronic that have the shit i see pulled on the road.

[ultraTwist]

There doesn't need to be, if your acting like an idiot, that's reason enough for the police to pull you over and check you out.
Also, once your pulled over they usually check your vehicle over for other infractoins, such as inspection and so on. Is there really a problem with that. They use swerving as a reason to pull drunks over all the time.