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Comment by georgemcbay | Hacker News Reader

FWIW, the motorcyclist in that video was never once "at gunpoint".

The officer drew his weapon because he did not know how dangerous a situation he would be in with the motorcyclist and he was in a tactically weak position by having to pivot around to face the person he was stopping. He never pointed the gun at the motorcyclist and quickly reholstered it after assessing the situation was non-threatening. And as you can see in the full video, the traffic stop was totally warranted, the idiot on the motorcycle was a danger to himself and everyone else on the road:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7PC9cZEWCQ

There are plenty of bad cops out there caught on video doing horrendous things, but I don't get why anyone would use this as an example of bad police behavior -- the cop in this video was totally reasonable and professional.

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True he wasn't technically at gun point.

However, how was the rider a threat to anyone by that point? He couldn't run the officer down like you could with a car (he would just end up on the ground). He was boxed in.

I would also challenge the notion that the rider is an 'idiot' and a danger to himself or others. Of the 3m39s long video, there's only about 10 seconds (starting at about 0:35) where he accelerates significantly faster than the surrounding cars, and that was clearly to get around a group of cars/transport trucks. Otherwise, he was going just slightly faster than the general flow of traffic. Both of these tactics are basically inline with conventional motorcycle safety recommendations: http://www.sportrider.com/ride/146_9508_motorcycle_riding_ti...

Also, it appears that the officer is hiding his gun when the marked cop car pulls up behind them. I think it's worth pointing out that they charged the rider with wire tapping (which the judge ultimately threw out) and raided his house after discovering the video had been posted on YouTube. It's hard not to interpret these actions as embarrassment on the part of the police. Why would they object to the video being posted if he was completely justified?

The video wouldn't be approaching a million views on YouTube if most people agreed that his actions were as reasonable and mundane as you imply. He didn't show his badge or even identify himself as a police officer until after charging at the guy with gun in hand. That doesn't strike me as 'professional'.

I read the entire page you linked and I can't find the recommendation that states that after having just cut off a tractor trailer and wishing to pass a bus, you should pop a wheelie while accelerating at a very high rate of speed... but it must be in there somewhere, right?

If he dumps on that wheelie, you're looking at a multiple vehicle pileup involving a motorcycle, a tractor trailer, a bus, and other cars. It is virtually a given that people(including but not limited to the motorcyclist) will die.

The motorcyclist in this video is a total prick and if you don't see any of the many things he did wrong (both in the sense of being illegal and just plain dangerous/stupid) in that video you must not be paying attention.

I'm not sure how you're defining 'cut-off' but there's no way he forced the transport truck to brake. There was ample space between the vehicles by the time he changed lanes since the motorcycle was accelerating quickly at that point.

Granted it's not recommended, but the likelihood of an experienced rider going down from a short, low wheelie like that is quite low. Saying that it is likely to lead to a pile-up and multiple deaths is hyperbole hardly worth addressing. Pile-ups almost always involve inclement weather.

Anyway, it's no more dangerous than the countless drivers I see chatting on their cell phones, disciplining their children in the back, eating lunch, etc. -- activities that probably the majority of drivers engage in at some point.

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