I need to warn others of what happened to my daughter and a friend late this afternoon today. They were traveling down cleveland school road from JCC from classes. My daughter is a new driver so this really did scare her. A person with a dark helmet and on a motorcycle was approaching her at a high speed, but he had strobing lights in his front light of the cycle. She put her turn signal on to show she was pulling over for him. Well with him right on her bumper he swunge wide and went around her. I do not know why or what he was doing, but he scared her, she thought he was a legal police officier and she was scared she was not doing the right speed limit so she did the proper procedure for a traffic stop. He was wearing a dark helmet and she could not get an ID on the plates because of his speed and she was scared that something was wrong. We wondered if he went on because he had spotted two heads in the car to late and went on around or what. I had a lengthy chat with the Johnston County Sherrif department tonight. I know you know what I am going to say. They said there are those who are out there that are want to be Police officiers. I am writting this for everyone. Please tell your younge daughters and wifes and mothers and younge guys be on the alert. If you see this motorcycle call 911 and tell them which way he is headed. They would like to meet him and talk to him. Any thing you can document from any motorcycle with this strobing light please call the sheriff or 911 to alert them to describe it and let them know which way the cycle is traveling towards . Please becareful. Thank you advance. I spoke with the non emergency number and the 911 dispachter was very concerned about this.
I've seen the strobing headlight on bikes before, and just figured it was a "daytime headlight" thing to make them more noticable on the roads and in traffic. I've seen atleast 3 or 4 bikes with them recently in my travels to and from work. Now.. the whole riding up on her bumper and then zipping around her... sounds like he wanted to be doing 100mph and she was in his way.
It is not uncommon to have a motorcycle (especially a sport bike) that will have an automatic alternating high/low headlight on it now days. It is a safety feature that attracts more attention to the motorcycle during daytime riding (which as we all know are harder to see than a car). I have also seen the same feature used in the brake light on motorcycles. Then again the Sheriff's Department should have know this as well, so it looks as if they may be out of the loop on some of the safety improvements used by some motorcycle manufacturers now days. Or perhaps it was someone that actually knows the common practice used through out the entire world (with the exception of the US it seems) of the flash to pass. There are other countries in the world where you can actually be stopped and written a ticket for failure to flash your headlights prior to passing another vehicle. And the majority of the world holds to the flash to pass. My personal thought as I have owned several motorcycles in the past and have really missed having one during these recent high gas prices is that it was a newer motorcycle with the safety stobe headlight. And that more than likely with the closing speed of a motorcycle that the rider ran up onto your daughter's bumper rather quickly due to him wanting to pass and her slowing down to pull over. Also I know that what I am about to say applies to women, not sure if it does to men or not. If you feel threatened by having something or someone come up on you that quick, even with blue lights flashing, as a female you can continue to drive to a point where you would feel safe pulling over (convience store, school, someplace with other people around). Now that being said you will be questioned when you do stop and you may receive an additional citation for not stopping, however that citation will be thrown out be a simple explanation to the da when you go to court. I've seen it happen and know for a fact that when I worked for the prison that is what we instructed any of the women to do if they had to transport an inmate anywhere for any reason. Craig
Personally I find the strobing lights annoying but that is just my 2 cents. As for CraigSPL's Comment I agree but... As a former Police Officer, here is my penny's worth Yes it is true that if you are a female and you see blue lights and are in an isolated area that in today's world it "might" be wise to not stop until you are somwhere more public, HOWEVER, a few tips: If the car is a MARKED car with fixed blue lights (not a little bubble gum dash light) then it is probably not a good idea to try and use this reasoning (People have!!! trust me) Secondly, If you do not stop immediately and like 99.9% of the US population pick up your caell phone and dial 911 while you are driving and let them know what your are doing. Once you do stop I can tell you again from experience the last thing a police officer is going to want to hear is someone telling him why they refused to stop for his lights and siren. Think about it, you have just diobeyed a police offieer and he/she does not know why. Officer safety dictates taking a more catious approach which probably means getting you out of the car by gunpoint so do not be shocked, rather once you stop STAY IN THE CAR!!! LISTEN to the police officer's orders and DO WHAT HE SAYS!!!! Don't stand or sit there and try to explain. Let him/her get you into a position where they feel you are secure. Inevidably they will ask "why did you not stop" Calmly explian the reason and tell them you called 911 and reported what you were doing.
Headlights I have also been driving (coincidentally on Cleveland School Road) and had motorcycles behind me that had lights that appeared to be "strobing" or alterniating between high and low. I assumed it was a safety feature or something like that. I wouldn't worry too much about this one person. It sounds like the issue is more of a concern because of the proximity of the motorcycle when your daughter was getting ready to turn. I have at times pulled into a driveway or side street when someone is tailgating me really badly, let them pass, and then gone on to avoid being rear-ended. Now, I assure you that I drive plenty fast, so if someone's that close to my car I know that I should be concerned about him/her going too fast and not being able to stop in time. Anyway-just a thought about the motorcycle you saw with the lights. Also, it's interesting that the police didn't know about this feature, since I've seen it countless times...
I have had this same guy behind me on Raleigh Rd he just wanted me to move out of the way b/c I was doing the speed limit. So I did not move & he passed me at an area that is no passing at a high rate of speed. my son & I watched as a deer crossed his path & then he saw a police car coming from the other direction so he turned on that side st. by WJHS & he was gone the officer followed but like I said he was gone. I knew that he was not a motorcycle cop. He had the smaller biker helmet on. The guy is just an idiot. I was hoping he & the deer would've collided. No such luck. Someone like him is going to hurt someone else bdfore he hurts himself.
