Are you really legally stopped when....?

Question

On a motorcycle, if you come to a stop to the point that the wheels are literally stopped, but your feet never touch the ground before you go again, is it a legal stop?

Answer 1

I had a similar problem some years ago. I was on my motorcycle and came to a stop sign at an intersection. I slowed way down until I was almost at a complete stop. A police officer saw me and pulled me over. He made me get off the bike, and put my hands on the seat. Then the cop started hitting me in the back and legs with his billy club, and I was crying out, STOP, STOP, STOP. The officer then said, "Do you want me to stop or just SLOW DOWN?" You figure it out.

Answer 2

The idea of coming to a stop has to deal with the vehicle, not the position or orientation of the operator's limbs, hands, feet or any other body part. If your bike is at a complete stop and you can balance without putting your feet down, I say you've come to a stop. If you were in a cager, as long as the vehicle was stopped it wouldn't matter if the operator had their legs crossed, on the floor or on the pedal. The vehicle would be stopped. It's the same thing for bikers. I stop lots of times, balance without touching the ground and ride off. Granted, I can only do this for 3 or 4 seconds, but there's nothing I know of that says how long you have to stop. This doesn't work too often for stop lights. I've never had a problem with the cops. Just remember to come to a complete stop. Consider this. If you dragged your feet on the ground while going slowly through a stop sign your feet would be on the ground but would you consider this as being stopped?.

Answer 3

By law a legal stop is not determined by when your feet hit the ground but when you come to a complete stop. If it were then a three wheel motorcycle would be in continual error.

Answer 4

That depends on what jurisdiction you're in. Some states have laws that only reference coming to a complete stop; however, some reference coming to a complete stop, and for motorcycles, one or both of the rider's feet contacting the ground. The only way for you to get the correct answer is to look up the requirements in your state's motor vehicle code.

Answer 5

Not moving forward or back is considered a stop. If you can balance your bike while not moving and your feet on the pegs, consider "trials" racing.
It's a closed course with obstacles, hills, logs, you name it. One person on the course at a time and they're timed with a stop watch. You win the race by going around the course slower than anyone else without touching the ground. Each time your foot touches the ground, points are deducted from your score. I just felt like throwing that in. Sorry about the babbling LOL
Back to your question...a stop is a stop.

Answer 6

In New York State a rider must stop and put both feet to the ground before starting again.

Answer 7

I did cycle license exams (MIT=motorcycle in traffic test) for Wisconsin DMV in the early 90s. We were told to watch the rear tire when we were following the bikes, it was real obvious when watching the tread that the tire wasn't moving/that the cycle had stopped. As long as I saw the tread "freeze", it was a stop, the feet didn't matter AS MUCH as the tire stopped rotating. Now just the opposite of this, you would get an occasional guy who wouldn't get a real "stop" in, BUT he did plant his foot momentarily with the bike still moving, did NOT count as a stop. Usually a guy who did that did other things wrong too, you would just add this infraction "to the list" of things he did wrong. If that's all he did, hell just pass him if that's all he could "come up with". It was funny, cuz I'd hear stories about roadtests, and someone would say "so and so" did JUST THIS ONE THING wrong and got flunked, when in reality it was "this and this and this" not just this ONE thing. One thing to leave you with boys and grills, when stopping, put your LEFT foot down, leave the right one on the peg. You want to use BOTH brakes when stopping normally, they look for that. Plus if you leave your foot on the brake you can release the front brake and have your hand free for taking off, AND your brake light will still be on, a plus when riding at night, say when waiting for a light to change. Plus when going uphill, it'll be easier to manage getting going again if you are in this habit of holding the rear brake when stopped.

Answer 8

If the wheels are not rolling, regardless of whether your feet are on the ground, you are stopped. There was once a guy in my town who rode a Harley and I have seen him stop and sit nearly a minute without putting his feet on the ground.
Convincing a cop behind you that you stopped and did not put your feet down might be hard to do, unless you can demonstrate it several times in a row.

Answer 9

a legal stop is when you feel the vehicle jolt backwards a little bit... if you want to get technical about it.. then when you take your feet off the bike and place them on the ground ina standing position.. then most of your weight is supported by the ground... therefore.. technically... your standing up, and off of your bike... this means your are no longer on your bike anymore, which means it is parked.. and it is illegal to park in the middle of the road... --- that is pretty much stretching it a bit, but if you get pulled over for some reason.. just tell the cop thats the logic that ran through your head and the cop will prolly just be so dumb-founded that he will stop caring and tell you to be more careful and leave.

if you can balance on your bike long enough that you feel the jolt backwards.. then congrats..

Answer 10

Yes.

Once a cop stopped me because he said I only came to a full stop because I saw him coming!

Stop means stop. If you can stop without dropping your feet, that's good in my book.
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