In that last crazy long post I covered what can and cant be done on PA streets.
HOWEVER... even though I'm an adult, sometimes I still
knowingly break the law, take my life into my own hands, and ride my mini bikes in the streets of my town. I dont know what the cops will do to minors (anyone under age 18) for riding a minibike in the street. But I do know what can happen to me, and here's what I can be charged with.
1. Fleeing a police officer. This is a felony. If the cop says you saw him and took off, then that counts as fleeing the police. Even if you DIDN'T flee the police, who is the judge going to believe? The cop, or the person caught on a mini bike in the street? There are hundreds of youtube videos of people doing dumb stuff like running from the cops on dirtbikes and ATVs. The judge is going to believe the cop who is telling the court that he had to pursue you before you stopped. By the way... whether you are on a minibike, quad, trike, whatever... and the cops approach you... DON'T RUN. Don't take off. They have ALL day and night to chase after you and after chasing you long enough, they will probably get angry and drive the crown vic over you. If you live to tell about this, you will probably have to pay for the damages that the vic sustained driving over your body and bike.
Now, on to the various ways you can be charged in PA for minibikes or pocket bikes on the street.
2. Whatever offense you committed because you didn't have turn signals or brake lights, etc, it starts here. If you get pulled over by a cop that wants to make an example out of you for fools everywhere, he or she can start writing individual tickets, one right after another, starting with the fact that you violated a turn signal or speed limit or school zone law or whatever. By the way, female police officers, for the most part, are not at all impressed by pocket bikes or mini bikes and so forth. In fact, all the ones I've met, positively hate them. Most of the time, female officers in PA are themselves also moms that are sick of saying "I told you so". Also, many of them view pockets and minis as cripplers and killers of children. Probably rightfully so, I do know of accidents involving pockets that have ended up with the bike and the rider dead in the front wheel well of a pickup truck. That's besides the point, I still have my pockets and minis. Anyhow, if you find yourself being pulled over by a female cop, get ready for more grief than you could ever imagine.
PA Troopers aren't much easier to deal with. They love to write tickets, and lots of them.
On to the other offenses that they can (and many times DO) write you up for:
- Failure to exhibit a valid certificate of inspection (no points, but $)
- Failure to exhibit a valid certificate of emissions inspection (no points, but $)
- Operating an unregistered vehicle (up to 90 days PA Drivers license suspension and lots of money in fines)
- Operating a vehicle without insurance coverage (up to 90 days PA Drivers license suspension and lots LOTS of money in fines)
- Careless driving
Now, another thing they can get you for (and this one is serious...) If you are rip roaring a pocket or modded mini around a neighborhood and some panicky mom called the cops and tells them that she's worried you are going to hit one of her precious children, they can throw something at you called Reckless Driving, which is a criminal charge. It only gets worse from here.
Let me cover school parking lots, shopping centers and parks while i am at it.
State parks: UNLESS the state park has ATV trails (I don't know of any in PA), and you have an APPROVED atv model with quiet exhaust and a spark arrestor AND it has a current, non-expired silver sticker from the PA Department of Conservation of Natural Resources, forget it. Stay away from all state and county parks.
Interesting note: If your ATV has this silver sticker from the DCNR, and a SNOW EMERGENCY (these words "Snow Emergency" must be used) is CURRENTLY IN EFFECT, then for all intents and purposes, your ATV is STREET LEGAL for the duration of the snow emergency, in the area the snow emergency is declared, until the snow emergency is lifted.
School parking lots: Public schools... No. Forget it. Private schools and shopping center parking lots.... Probably not. I'll explain why.
Many, if not MOST private schools, large businesses and shopping centers have given written permission to the local police to enforce, on their private property, Title 75, which is the PA vehicle code that spells out all the things you can't do. The private schools and shopping centers do this so that the police can patrol their property and make the property owner's insurance company happy.
This list is not everything you can be hammered with. I'm sure theres others I've missed. So... if you are going to take a pocket or mini or ATV into the street in PA, know what you are up against. It's dangerous, illegal and can be very very costly. They can impound your pocket or mini and make you pay the bill for the tow truck to take it to the impound yard.
So, you are probably asking "Where can I ride my pocket bike legally in PA???"
It makes no difference if it's under 50cc, or battery powered, or whatever. Unless it is HUMAN POWERED ONLY, you can only ride these things in your own yard, or your friends yard if they OWN THE PROPERTY and say it's okay for you to ride there. Can you ride on a sidewalk? NOPE. The only thing allowed on sidewalks are people and pets. Baby carriages and little red wagons are allowed, but not much more. I've never seen a cop write a ticket for a bicycle operated on a sidewalk, training wheels or not, but within the limits of PA law, it can be done. So your pocket or mini will definitely get you into trouble on a sidewalk.
There are also people that say "I ride my pocket bike in the street all the time, and the cops never say anything, they never bother me." Well, each time that happens, you are very fortunate, because you are totally in the hands of what the cop wants to do. If he or she wants to start writing tickets that equal more ink than War and Peace, they CAN.
Good luck.
