Standing Up On Pegs

6. Not sitting on the drivers seat? So if I put a folded beach towel on the drivers seat I'm a stunt driver? Standing on the pegs is not not sitting on the drivers seat.
 
Ah yeah it IS part of section 172...

Ok I will post the ENTIRE section, (found here http://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/070455 ), for your reading enjoyment:


Highway Traffic Act
ONTARIO REGULATION 455/07
RACES, CONTESTS AND STUNTS
Consolidation Period: From July 26, 2011 to the e-Laws currency date.
Last amendment: O. Reg. 360/11.
This is the English version of a bilingual regulation.
1. Revoked: O. Reg. 406/08, s. 1.
Definition, “race” and “contest”

2. (1) For the purposes of section 172 of the Act, “race” and “contest” include any activity where one or more persons engage in any of the following driving behaviours:
1. Driving two or more motor vehicles at a rate of speed that is a marked departure from the lawful rate of speed and in a manner that indicates the drivers of the motor vehicles are engaged in a competition.
2. Driving a motor vehicle in a manner that indicates an intention to chase another motor vehicle.
3. Driving a motor vehicle without due care and attention, without reasonable consideration for other persons using the highway or in a manner that may endanger any person by,
i. driving a motor vehicle at a rate of speed that is a marked departure from the lawful rate of speed,
ii. outdistancing or attempting to outdistance one or more other motor vehicles while driving at a rate of speed that is a marked departure from the lawful rate of speed, or
iii. repeatedly changing lanes in close proximity to other vehicles so as to advance through the ordinary flow of traffic while driving at a rate of speed that is a marked departure from the lawful rate of speed. O. Reg. 455/07, s. 2 (1).
(2) In this section,
“marked departure from the lawful rate of speed” means a rate of speed that may limit the ability of a driver of a motor vehicle to prudently adjust to changing circumstances on the highway. O. Reg. 455/07, s. 2 (2).
Definition, “stunt”

3. For the purposes of section 172 of the Act, “stunt” includes any activity where one or more persons engage in any of the following driving behaviours:
1. Driving a motor vehicle in a manner that indicates an intention to lift some or all of its tires from the surface of the highway, including driving a motorcycle with only one wheel in contact with the ground, but not including the use of lift axles on commercial motor vehicles.
2. Driving a motor vehicle in a manner that indicates an intention to cause some or all of its tires to lose traction with the surface of the highway while turning.
3. Driving a motor vehicle in a manner that indicates an intention to spin it or cause it to circle, without maintaining control over it.
4. Driving two or more motor vehicles side by side or in proximity to each other, where one of the motor vehicles occupies a lane of traffic or other portion of the highway intended for use by oncoming traffic for a period of time that is longer than is reasonably required to pass another motor vehicle.
5. Driving a motor vehicle with a person in the trunk of the motor vehicle.
6. Driving a motor vehicle while the driver is not sitting in the driver’s seat.
7. Driving a motor vehicle at a rate of speed that is 50 kilometres per hour or more over the speed limit.
8. Driving a motor vehicle without due care and attention, without reasonable consideration for other persons using the highway or in a manner that may endanger any person by,
i. driving a motor vehicle in a manner that indicates an intention to prevent another vehicle from passing,
ii. stopping or slowing down a motor vehicle in a manner that indicates the driver’s sole intention in stopping or slowing down is to interfere with the movement of another vehicle by cutting off its passage on the highway or to cause another vehicle to stop or slow down in circumstances where the other vehicle would not ordinarily do so,
iii. driving a motor vehicle in a manner that indicates an intention to drive, without justification, as close as possible to another vehicle, pedestrian or fixed object on or near the highway, or
iv. making a left turn where,
(A) the driver is stopped at an intersection controlled by a traffic control signal system in response to a circular red indication;
(B) at least one vehicle facing the opposite direction is similarly stopped in response to a circular red indication; and
(C) the driver executes the left turn immediately before or after the system shows only a circular green indication in both directions and in a manner that indicates an intention to complete or attempt to complete the left turn before the vehicle facing the opposite direction is able to proceed straight through the intersection in response to the circular green indication facing that vehicle. O. Reg. 455/07, s. 3.
Exceptions

4. (1) Despite section 2, “race” and “contest” do not include,
(a) a rally, navigational rally or similar event that is conducted,
(i) under the supervision of the Canadian Association of Rally Sport,
(ii) under the supervision of a club or association approved in writing by the Ministry, or
(iii) with the written approval of the road authority or road authorities having jurisdiction over the highway or highways used;
(b) motor vehicle owners engaged in a tour, scenic drive, treasure hunt or other similar motoring event in which the participants drive responsibly and in a manner that indicates an overall intention to comply with the provisions of the Act; or
(c) an event held on a closed course with the written approval of the road authority having jurisdiction over the highway, including any event lawfully using any of the trademarks “CART”, “Formula One”, “Indy”, “IndyCar”, “IRL” or “NASCAR”. O. Reg. 455/07, s. 4 (1).
(2) Despite sections 2 and 3, “race”, “contest” and “stunt” do not include any activity required for the lawful operation of motor vehicles described in subsections 62 (15.1) or 128 (13) of the Act, or the lawful operation of an emergency vehicle as defined in subsection 144 (1) of the Act. O. Reg. 455/07, s. 4 (2).
5. Omitted (provides for coming into force of provisions of this Regulation). O. Reg. 455/07, s. 5.


Thanks for posting that. Those are the regulations but regardless, surely the intent of regulation (6) has more to do with things like "ghost riding" automobiles, riding on the handlebars, standing on the seat while riding, and other such nonsense. There can be no doubt that riding a motorcycle off the seat, as long as you are standing on the footpegs constitutes PROPER OPERATION of a motorcycle and there is a huge amount of evidence to prove that. I would have absolutely no problem fighting it in court with plenty of expert testimony and other evidence. Indeed, the law as it is written is an ambiguity and could probably be thrown out. Riding while on the pegs should in fact be considered being in the driver's seat.
 
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No I personnally wouldn't have pulled someone for standing on the pegs for a short period of time to cross tracks or to stretch. I agree 100% with your comment 99.9% of the things many people do everyday on their bike or in the cage "could" result in a ticket. But they never get pulled over as they are doing nothing that attracts the officers attention.

That is why I say ride responsibly and your likely to never have an interaction with an officer. Do we really think that someone who drives for 40 years and never gets a ticket always drove 100% of the time within the law?

Most coppers, (at least the ones I know), see s172 as a terrible regulation. It was, (as are most sections of the HTA), a poorly written piece of legislation. That isn't to say they won't write someone up for it. As one friend said, if I pull someone over for doing something that could be dangerous, (like driving at double the limit), when the road is full of other users), then they start with the attitude, what may have been a costly speeding infraction now becomes a s172. Now that doesn't on it's face sound fair, but then he said, I am willing to give a break to anyone, but if you start in on me for simply doing my job, then education is likely not going to end well for you. It wasn't my fault you twisted the throttle or hit the accelerator. Society has said they want rules and regulations for everyone to follow. They then decided they required peopel to enforce those rules and regulations. I didn't write the rules and regulations, I am just the one who is assigned to enforce them. Yes I have dicretion as to how they get enforced, (hence I am given the opportunity to give those who realize what they did was wrong a break. But it also gives me the opportunity to not give a break to those who flaunt the rules or blame others for their misdeed. Take responsibility, if you want to drive/ride outside the rules and regs, then you need to realize that you will likely face the consquences.

Many officers also, take into consideration the potential insurance ramifications, and try not to screw over people needlessly. Some seem to think that all an officer does is write speedign tickets. Most "general patrol officers" actually write very tickets, the vast majority are those assigned to traffic duty. A patrol officer can "justify" not writing as many tickets, because they are responding to calls for service. A traffic officer only really has two main functions, investigate collisons and enforce traffic violations. If an officer is assigned to traffic duty and told they are to do radar when not on a call are expected to come back with more tickets at the end of shift. When i was a supervisor, if I sent out an officer to do traffic duty and he came back with 2 tickets, and the other officer on traffic came back with 30. Then the first officer needed to show me why his production output was lower. Just as everyone of our bosses do daily in our job if the guy beside you makes 100 widgets in a shift and you turn out 12, you best be able to show why your production was lower.

So in essence, if you strecth fr a few seconds or to pass over an obstacle, as opposed to standing on the pegs on the 401 doing 140 during rush hour your not likely to ever have an interaction.

Still, I contend most officers wouldn't hassle you unless you get the wrong cop on the wrong day, or have a record. When I go over tracks, I'm lifting myself maybe 2-3 inches at most. When I'm stretching, I'm standing on the pegs for maybe 5-10 seconds at best, and to me it is pretty clear what I'm doing.

Hedo, if memory serves you either are an officer or were one. Would you pull over someone for stretching for 5-10 seconds, or just while going over tracks? Again not saying no one would ever charge you for doing this...I'm just saying most would not. Also, like I mentioned before...if you do see a cop coming the other way, or sitting behind you, just stretch at another time. To me, the real reason these are written in isn't for someone quickly stretching or going over tracks...it's for the idiots who want to stunt on public roadways.

Also, if we really want to get down to the letter of the law...then any group ride is very likely 172 chargeable, by the very 2 first lines. When riding as a group, isn't at least 1 other bike attempting to keep up/maintain distance from a fellow rider? Also if the two bikes are even going 1km/h over the limit, then that still is "2 or more vehicles beyond the lawful rate of speed". 172 in theory could also be used if you pass 2 cars in succession on the 401 that were doing 100km/h, due to " repeatedly changing lanes in close proximity to other vehicles so as to advance through the ordinary flow of traffic"...and my Sena comms unit is illegal because it is mounted to a helmet (also against the law to 'mount anything on a helmet'). Point is, the laws are kept rather vague in places, and do need to be taken with at least a single grain of salt.

EDIT: My real point is...for a lot of things, you either need to be doing something else to attract attention, or have a record so police are looking for a reason to pull you over. Although there is always the 1 in 1 million...I doubt many officers are going to put down their radar gun, run to their cruiser, and chase because they saw a rider stand up for 5 seconds, while doing no more (or doing less) than the speed of the vehicles around them. Just like how many wouldn't pull over a bike just for having a fender eliminator...but if they catch you doing 20 over or you manage to really piss them off, be aware they might ticket you for that as well.
 
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