Is a Policeman allowed to knock you off your motocycle with his patrol car?

Question

I was riding home along the motorway, and saw blue lights behind me. I pulled to the side to allow him to pass, and continued riding well within the speed limit. After a while I checked my mirror as the patrol car had still not passed and saw it was actualy me he was signaling to pull over, which I then promptly did so. It was just a routine check, and being completely legal was allowed to proceed, but he said if I had continued without yielding, he would have knocked me off of my motorcycle with his car. Is he legally allowed to do this? would he be held responsible for any injury or death as a result of crashing his car into my bike?

Thanks for all your answers so far. Just to clarify, I am in the UK.
I was travelling in the outside lane at 60mph (temporary speed limit) along with other traffic and noticed the blue lights far into the distance behind me. Thinking I was being courteous, I pulled over to the inside lane (not the shoulder) out of his way long before he was near, and before any of the other car drivers did which were now passing me. I was now only travelling at about 45mph and to stop completely would have been dangerous. When stopped, I was both polite and respectful, and opologised profusley, but was met with abuse. I`m sorry to grumble to all you guys but I am a law abiding citizen...I always pay my tax, insurance, mot, etc - even parking ticket if I ever get one - and being treated in this way makes me feel what`s the point?

Answer 1

no he is not allowed to do that and he should have spoken to you in a better way its not very professional. my other half was stopped by a police car and they said he was driving badly and they thought he had had a drink, both of which were incorrect they then said they would be reporting him and keeping an eye on him, he took their number and made a complaint against them and received an apology.

Answer 2

In certain circumstances, yes.

The police can make 'tactical contact', however this should only be done in extreme circumstances by officers trained in TPAC (Tactical Pursuit and Containment). This would need to authorised by the Force Incident Manager, unless to wait for such authorisation would endanger life.

By extreme cases I mean a vehicle being pursued about to do something that would endanger life. An example of this would be a vehicle about to enter the motorway the opposite way, via the exit slip. In this case Tactical contact could be appropriate.

In no way should a pursuit continue where the danger becomes high.

In your case the officer was merely wanting you to stop. He would not have made tactical contact with you.

In respect of motorcycles I would doubt very much that we would do this anyway. The danger of serious injury or death is high and therefore serious consideration would be needed before doing such a manoeuvre.

Answer 3

Knocking a rider off his motorcycle is now generally seen by the police as an acceptable last resort, much the same as bumping a car in a high speed chase trying to make it spin. The difference is in a car you don't fall over and get run over by the police.

They have the right to stop you for, as they put it, a routine check but unless they have a genuine reason to believe that you pose a serious risk to others the last resort should not be used.

Welcome to the world of once supposed freedoms that are being eradicated by your local friendly government in the name of your safety. In case you survive and want to sue the courts are more inclined to believe police officers than ruffian motorcyclists I doubt you'd get very far taking the officer to court.

You could go to your local police station and ask to speak to a member of the traffic section and ask them, don't be stroppy with them they have no reason to lie to you. If they ask why you're asking tell them what happened, if nothing else you'll know if something similar happens in future.

Answer 4

You may need to clarify where in the world you are for my answer to be appropriate but where I work this could be seen as reasonable force.

That however and the consequences of the actions, would have to be justified by the officer using the relevant level of force.

In the UK there is an offence under section 163 of the road traffic act of failing to stop for a constable in uniform and you would be committing this offence if you didn't stop. You could argue that you didn't realise you were being signalled to stop but its usually made pretty obvious by the officer. Having said that, I myself have sometimes had to get out of my vehicle and run up to the car and actually knock on the window to make the driver realise that 'yes, it is actually you I'm signalling!'

Answer 5

** UK ANSWER **

I take it you are in the UK as you say it was blue lights, OK as far as i know the Police need to be authorised by a senior officer before they can use "Tactical contact" on ANY vehicle, it is very unlikely that this authorisation would be given against a motorcycle unless there was an imminent danger to the public (I.e. Terrorist threat) but if this action was authorised then i really believe that it would be legal as the Police were acting in accordance with Home Office Directive's regarding this type of encounter..

Answer 6

Yes, he's legally allowed to do this. You would be resisting arrest. Actually you would be responsible for your injuries, damages to your bike, damages to the police car, damages to anything else you crash into. I've been there too, trying to get out of the policeman's way only to realize that he was pulling me over. The license plate had fallen off of my car. I can see where a police officer might think that you are trying to flee, but in most cases someone fleeing would speed up. I think most of them would give you the benefit of the doubt and cut you quite a bit of slack before deciding that you are knowingly and willfully refusing to pull over.

Answer 7

I don't think he would get away with that unless you were committing a serious Road Traffic Offence or you were wanted. He would have to answer for his actions. Perhaps he got out of bed the wrong side. I have found motorway Police to be very helpful and courteous, like I said he must have been having a bad day.

Answer 8

There are some cops who like to threaten people this way. If this were a matter of hot pursuit, there are ways to make a biker stop without having to ram the bike and knock the driver to the ground. If there were serious injury to the biker or if the biker got killed, then the cop would probably be in very deep $h!t indeed.

Answer 9

Um, Yes. They can shoot you, why not knock you off your bike? They can do whatever they need to do to stop you and prevent you from hurting others. You assume all risk for your actions when you commit a crime, so no you can't sue the police for injuries sustained when you voluntarily try and elude them. Cops knock people off bikes all the time.

BTW...The law states you must pull to the side of the road (in BOTH directions) and STOP upon approach of a emergency vehicle. (ambulance, police, fire..anything with lights and siren) once they pass, then you can procede.

I can't begin to tell you the numbers of morons who can't follow that simple rule. They drive into oncoming traffic, race on the shoulder or my all time favorite, come to a complete dead stop right in front of me.
It doesn't state pull to the side and continue drivng along the shoulder. That is actually a moving violation and I am surprised he didn't site you for that.

In the future, when you are approached by any emergency vehicle, pull to the side (no matter wht direction you are going in or they are going in) and STOP. If he goes by, lucky you. If not, well than you are stopped and can find out what you did.

Answer 10

Yes. If you fail to stop when being flagged by police, they can use what is called a "pit" movement. That stands for Pursuit Intervention Technique.

It is used regularly when someone is trying to outrun them. They are trained to bump the vehicle in such a way that it causes the driver to lose control of the car.

When you see flashing lights behind you and they don't pass you running, you should assume it's you they are after and come to a complete stop immediately.