Legality of of pushing broken bike?

[peterperkins]

carinaman said:

Would it have made a difference if they had a helmet or not?

No. Not in the circumstances I outlined.
But I did advise them to wear one if off roading for basic safety.

[Wacky Racer]

Back in 1967, when still at school I bought a ratty 350 3TA Triumph twin for £12 to use as a field bike. Myself and a mate pushed it seven miles along the pavement from near Manchester city centre to Stalybridge, It didn't have any lights and was a wreck but ideal for it's intended use.

A couple of police cars pulled up en route, but were fine with my explanation.

After a couple of years of great fun I sold it in bits, after putting an advert in MCN for £50 (£25 for the engine), a lot of money back then for a schoolboy.

[AdeTuono]

D'you reckon the OP's made it home yet?

[Derek Smith]

cmaguire said:

Ask them to start it then.
Are we really this petty now?
It would be more risky if he tried pushing a fully loaded wheelbarrow with bricks in it. He could get tired and tip it over. A brick might land on someone's foot, or end up on the road and have a cyclist off.
It doesn't bear thinking about.

You think it petty that a police officer would report someone for not tax and insurance? It's amechanically propelled vehicle. The fact it probably won't start doesn't alter this, nor does removing a chain. A police officer might be sympathetic if it was 100 yards, but nearly 4 miles! They might be sympathetic if there was no alternative, but there are lots of different ways of getting it to your home.

You have no idea of petty.

[FNG]

I think he's got a better idea than you.

Doing someone for pushing a non running but otherwise roadworthy and MoT-ready bike along the road would be outrageous. He's harming no one.

And I don't see why 100 yards would be ok but a few miles not. What about 200 yards? When does it become so damn far that he should be done for it?

[Foss62]

Reading through all this, it occurred to me that there must be a point at which a vehicle is not a vehicle? An engineless rolling chassis could presumably be wheeled along a pavement without breaking any laws? If this were not the case then where does it stop - walking down the road with a couple of spark plugs in your pocket?

[anonymous-user]

FNG said:

I think he's got a better idea than you.

Doing someone for pushing a non running but otherwise roadworthy and MoT-ready bike along the road would be outrageous. He's harming no one.

And I don't see why 100 yards would be ok but a few miles not. What about 200 yards? When does it become so damn far that he should be done for it?

Agreed, it doesn't matter if he's pushing it 10 miles - he's still not harming anyone and just trying to make the best of a bad situation, and I'd hope any sensible police person would see it the same way once they'd determined that he'd not stolen it - there is zero reason to prosecute someone for pushing a non-running motorbike a few miles to their house, tax / insurance or not - it really would be a very petty thing to do and a little bit of give and take makes the entire world a nicer place for everyone.

[Bigends]

JimSuperSix said:

FNG said:

I think he's got a better idea than you.

Doing someone for pushing a non running but otherwise roadworthy and MoT-ready bike along the road would be outrageous. He's harming no one.

And I don't see why 100 yards would be ok but a few miles not. What about 200 yards? When does it become so damn far that he should be done for it?

Agreed, it doesn't matter if he's pushing it 10 miles - he's still not harming anyone and just trying to make the best of a bad situation, and I'd hope any sensible police person would see it the same way once they'd determined that he'd not stolen it - there is zero reason to prosecute someone for pushing a non-running motorbike a few miles to their house, tax / insurance or not - it really would be a very petty thing to do and a little bit of give and take makes the entire world a nicer place for everyone.

We'd often find kids pushing an old banger of a moped or scooter up to the woods on the estate I was stationed on. Invariably we'd know the kids. The history of the origins of the bikes was often lost in the mists of time so there was no point in arrests for theft or handling. We'd usually get them to push the bikes down to the local nick and hand them in as found - thus getting the bikes out of circulation. Rarely considered any document offences unless we found them ridden on the roads. The youngsters knew we'd done them a favour which could be returned later when we needed bits of info on incidents on the estate

[monthou]

Derek Smith said:

You think it petty that a police officer would report someone for not tax and insurance?

In those circumstances? 100%.
Jobsworthy.

[Nibbles_bits]

Is pushing a motorcycle (with no key in) "driving"??
And if you're just pushing it, does it need insurance, tax and MOT?

Most Coppers would just check you own the bike. In fact I've done just this, didn't bother checking insurance or MOT. Helped the owner push his bike up the hill.

But a Traffic Officer.......