Someone filmed my DH on his bike - could he get in trouble?

[ilythia]

He was riding, at legal limits, on a country road with his friends, however, being an idiot, he did a wheelie on a straight clear stretch of road as he was coming up to a house.
He then noticed that some weirdo was filming them from his front step, and as they went past he turned the camera to catch all their rear plates.
What I need to know is...would the police do anything if shown that video (of him wheelying?) or is there nothing they can do.

Depends on the circumstanses though, doesn't it Ingrid?

I have a 550, and would never dream of wheelying outside someone's house. What if a dog, or god forbid, a child, had run out. On two wheels, you can swerve. On one wheel, 20 stone of bike and rider is going to plough into the unfortunate obstacle, and wipe out.

And if he didn't see the house, shame on him, because he should have been paying attention.

Yes it totally depends and ner at your 50 cc more than me

If it was wheelying in heavy traffic like this eejit then of course, not totally safe is it.

If it was on the approach to a house - say 50 yards away - which isn't clear from the OP, then I would say the risk of someone coming out of the house unobserved before he put the front down was pretty small.

Obv wheelies are never ideal unless somewhere away from everyone else/traffic/houses etc but not sure it would be classed as dangerous.

I however have no idea as I do boring riding. Sometimes sans headgear though, I must admit, not so much these days but it's such a nice feeling. while you're still alive

Is it a GS Colditz? Trying to think of 550s now!

It's a <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Kawasaki-Zephyr-550cc-4cylinder-1991.jpg&imgrefurl=nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bestand:Kawasaki-Zephyr-550cc-4cylinder-1991.jpg&h=480&w=640&sz=52&tbnid=SZNI-E7JsLn-GM:&tbnh=103&tbnw=137&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dkawasaki%2Bzephyr%2B550%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=kawasaki+zephyr+550&hl=en&usg=___-YsRX-U6IzF0nBysNR-j5jDs-4=&sa=X&ei=55-sTbWIEZG7hAf-mrTTCQ&ved=0CCQQ9QEwAg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Zephyr

I have the Market Harborough to Melton Mobray road right onmy doorstep, so having a motorbike is Very Important to me.

It's an American import, although they were released here they were never fast enough to please the British market and didn't sell well.

Oh that's nice. I like. Mine's a 1980 Guzzi if you're at all interested! Very noisy, very boxy, terrible gearbox but I find it a bit boring riding 'normal' bikes now, I think I need the thrill of slipping gears all the bloody time.

I have a ZZR6. Personally I wouldn't pop a wheelie in a built up area, or outside someones house just in case someone let their animal/child loose. Barr that I quite like my life! and the ZZR6 is quite hard to get up.

Thanks for all comments, he has an R1 for those asking.

He wasn't right outside someone's house, it is a long country road and was a driveway with a house at the end of an open driveway (ie no hedges), so visibility was not as much of an issue as if it were in town.
TBF he isn't a mentalist, he is pretty good ontneh bike, but he saw deserted road (is veyr, veyr straight old roman road) with clear visibility, only one house with no vehicles etc and thought he would have a little play

OMG Colditz!!! I had a 550c zephyr in midnight blue for about 15 years.

I now have a er6f. Still miss the old zephyr though.

The police can, and have, used amateur video as evidence for prosecution of road traffic offences. A biker videoed himself doing 175mph(!) on his Fireblade and when the police found the tape he got sent to prison.

Whether the police would bother in this instance depends on whether they see the tape and whether they can be bothered.

Pulling wheelies on the road is a dumb thing to do though. I'm not saying I've never done it myself but it isn't something that is a good idea. It's also something that the police are well known to take a dim view of so if a prosecution does result it's nobody's fault but the rider's.

It could definetly be used to prosecute him for either dangerous driving or driving without due care and attention.

Well the knobhead who was doing 60+ through our village high street, swerved on a bend, hit the bridge wall, flew over it down a 20 foot drop is now lying in a morgue.

Sorry but DH was behaving like an idiot and wheelies are illegal on a road just like 60mph in a 30 zone.

They dont call bikers organ doners for nothing. Not just very very at the death wish some bikers seem to have.

Doing a wheelie on a public road = dangerous driving (as in the criminal offence). Many many many motorcyclists have been prosecuted for it, whether they were speeding or not, whether an accident was caused or not. Lets hope he doesn't get caught...and more importantly does not do it again.

Someone got a ban a while back after posting his own footage on You Tube to show how clever he was to be riding at about 150mph. So yes - if number plates are clearly visible I'm quite sure it can be used as evidence.

Don't suppose it'll be a long ban but your dh's insurance premiums will go through the roof afterwards!

The police will happily take the video evidence and stick him on for driving without due care and attention - probably 3 points.

It serves him right tbh - weekend warriors and group riders give the rest of us a bad name.

My main ride is a Speed Triple so I understand that sometimes it can be tricky keeping the front wheel on the ground but really there is no excuse.

I sought an opinion from DH, whose bike is bigger than those mentioned here.

::unseemly boast::

He says that there are Bold Bikers and there are Old Bikers. But there are no Old, Bold Bikers.

There's no such thing as a safe wheelie from the police pov. With the front wheel in the air, you can't steer or brake. You also can't see where you are going properly as you have a huge hunk of metal in front of your face. You are therefore out of control, and can certainly be prosecuted for dangerous driving.

As RambleOn says, a wheelie is by definition dangerous driving, wherever it's done, as the biker no longer has control of the bike; they cannot steer. It's irrelevant from a police point of view where he was, if he was on the public road it's dangerous driving. Your DH will have to wait and see if the guy filming him does anything with it; if he does, then there's no defence. The filmer might not pass it on of course, he might just have been doing it to deter frequent offenders. Regardless, your DH needs to stop being an idiot on the road, regardless of how safe he thinks he is.

(from an ex- ER5 and Suzuki Goose owner so not being a sanctimonious non biker)

I used to know someone who thought he was a good rider.
He was a lovely lad but often boasted of riding no handed at high speeds, doing wheelies ect.

He's dead now at 28 years old.

Your dh is an idiot.

Funnily enough, I was only telling DH yesterday about a twat on a motorbike who was pulling a wheelie coming down a hill towards me last week. No matter how good a rider he might have been, he could still have lost control and ploughed into my car, killing or injuring myself or any of my three children who were with me.

As other posters have said, the police could potentially charge him with driving without due care and attention.

When he kills himself due to "having a little play", it'll be a great comfort to your DC's that he is a good motorbike rider. That'll soften the blow no end.