Sisyphus wrote:Wow, there's a lot of misinformation floating around about what law enforcement can and cannot do.
#1 Police officers can't "hide" with their lights off (i.e. you must be able to see them).
-I don't care who you are...that's hillarious. Why should law enforcement be visible? So you can see them and try to hide your infraction? Most uneducated people would try to claim entrapment, but how did that officer coerce you to do something that you wouldn't normally do?
#2 There's some preset limit to how far a police officer can "follow" you.
-Another laughable misconception. You can be followed however far the officer feels like following you. How else would a DWI driving case be put together?
99% of law enforcement personnel are "average Joe's." They did the same things that you are doing as they grew up. The difference is that they now see the danger in excessive speeds, careless driving, etc.
Give cops a break, there's no sense in mouthing law enforcement...what will that help? Pissing someone off that can potentially levy fines and/or take your freedom. Where's the sense in that?
Normal People + Power = ...hmm
Power corrupts.
I can't even count on my hands. and feet. how many times I've seen cops do illegal moves here in San Diego. Moving violations, parking. you name it.
And you know what, you know they get away with it.
I don't trust law enforcement very much. I let them do their job. I don't speed. I'm a damn safe driver... and I get pulled over for having a bulb out.
Spent 30 minutes looking up my record because I am from nevada....
and eventually tried to give me a ticket for my exhaust... But.. I'm from @!#$in nevada! The laws are different there.
Nuff said.
Quote:
I'm a damn safe driver... and I get pulled over for having a bulb out.
Just FYI, but law enforcement has to make contact with the public anyway they can. Yes, an average Joe may become irritated over being stopped for minor equipment violations, but:
-Did you know the bulb was out? If yes, then you admit that you were in the wrong because equipment violations are part of your state's laws just the same other "more serious" offenses.
-Do you think that person(s) with felony warrants, suspended/revoked licenses, drunks, etc. speed excessively or commit obvious infractions?
Just last year a triple murder was solved because of contact made due to a 6mph over the limit case. Just food for thought....
Also, on the cops not being model drivers; certain liberties have to be taken in the course of a shift:
-Parking the patrol unit in a manner that would be a violation to a civilian...officer may have been on a call/follow-up/check well being/other reason, but bear in mind that if you were being beaten severely by 8-10 people and 911 attempted to dispatch the officer off of the call that he was on to assist you, wouldn't he need his car to be more readily accessible?
-Moving Violations? Was the officer making a u-turn to build a driving case on a drunk driver, maybe the vehicle matched that of a vehicle in an earlier armed robbery, perhaps they had just been dispatched on a Code 1 call.
Speed....possible same situations.
I'm not trying to justify anything that I didn't personally observe, but you can't just take things at face value. Also just to clarify further, officers perform their duties under "color of law."
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A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the crickets no relief,
And the dry stone no sound of water. Only
There is a shadow under this red rock,
(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),
And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow in the morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.
5 tickets on 4 wheels speeding twice dark tint twice dark tail lights
120kph in a 100 zone on my bike $110
one night i was going home in saskatoon i was going 250kph (cbr929rr it will go lots faster) the cop slowly got closer as i slowed down because i thought it might be the cops and it was but all he did was follow me home that night and every night there after
the limit was 80 or 90 but it was 3 am that was the only rason for the speed no one on the road but the cop hahahaha my luck he followed me home so much i did move after a while
but that is what i get for being stupid its better than the other way$$$$$$ and no bike
Quote:
-Do you think that person(s) with felony warrants, suspended/revoked licenses, drunks, etc. speed excessively or commit obvious infractions?
Quote:
-Moving Violations? Was the officer making a u-turn to build a driving case on a drunk driver, maybe the vehicle matched that of a vehicle in an earlier armed robbery, perhaps they had just been dispatched on a Code 1 call.
i have to agree with this. a while back i was being pulled over on a daily basis sometimes 2 or 3 time a day. simply because when the cops ran my plate, they drive around all day and run them. my name matched that of some guy in Toronto that was wanted for beating his wife and kid. they would ask me the same questions where are you from, I D please, ever lived in Toronto. stuff like that. after questioning me and running me through CPIC they would say "ok your not the guy where after" and send me on my way. it got pretty old after the first few days.
now this was done by many different cops over the course of approx 2 weeks, each and every one of those cops knew that this guy was wanted and where looking for him (100km east of Toronto) so sure why shouldn't they be allowed to make u-turns and speed for all they knew i was in fact this ass hole who beat his wife and kid. IMO if it protects the victims and the public let them do it.
most of my experiences with cops have been me getting in @!#$ (my fault) i don't really like them, but i do think they should be allowed to do there job.
http://registry.gmenthusiast.com/images/my2005cav/my%20car%20the%20bash.jpg
First time: I just pulled onto I-65, a car started tailgating me, I sped up. The car was a cop. 83 in a 70. No ticket, probably because I was petrified. I was out past curfew.
Second time: Again on I-65, someone else was pulled over, I didnt get in the left lane when I passed them. Was pulled over. No ticket. I said I didn't know about that law. Which was true.
Third time: The officer pulled me over on suspicion of being drunk. Again on I-65. I was tired, so my driving wasn't the straightest it could have been, but it was in my lane. I remember making sure of that. Pulled me over, license and registration thing. I told him I wasnt drunk when he asked, he checked my ashtray. I jokingly told him there were just a bunch of pennies in there. I opened it, sure enough aout 50 pennies. He let me go.
These were all in my '88 LeSabre. I drive a lot more aggressively in my Cavalier, and I've never been pulled over.
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2265283
i forgot i had this posted!! HAHA, funny storys i love the pic with the cop with the thing on his head lol, keep the storys comin!
What the deuce?
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/819414
I thought there was a rule that a police car (at night at least) AT THE ROADSIDE must have there lights on because otherwise they would be creating a hazzard. I believe that is what people confuse with the "no lights off speedtrap" fantasy.
So now the fantasy becomes that if an oficer's sight of the vehicle it's pursuing for more than 4 seconds they will not be able to prove in court that they ticketed the right driver.
Good luck with that.
PAX
most of my trouble was in slowest vech. i ever owned. 86 s15
75 in a 55-knocked it down to 65 $167 fine
burned out tail light no front plate and cover on rear plate (plate was covered in mud repaving road i live on) no ticket
smoking tires-warning for reckless use of a motor vech.
warning speeding 55 in a 35. load of crap. 0-55 in a 100 feet with a 2.8L is b.s.
no front plate and $10 seatbelt in my z28 said i was speeding but no radar. fix it ticket for plate.
cop said i took corner too fast and only gave me a $10 fine no seatbelt. said if i didnt pay fine he would send reckless driving ticket. yea like im going to not pay a $10 fine in exchange for a $150+ fine. funny part was i had a sticker on back window if guy wizzing on number 88 and i looked at ticket later and the cops badge number was 88! HAHAHA.
dont know why everybody has trouble with loud exhaust. had 82 regal with duel glasspacks and never had any trouble. used to drive home a 6 in the morning with it.
that pic of the cop in the costume is great.....
ive only been pulled over once, 66 in a 55, cop complimented me on my car, said he recognized it from the org, and that he was on there. I thought for shure he was gonna let me off, nope, shure enough after talking about cavs for a few min he was like oh yea and sign here, gave me the ticket but for only 9 over, and didn't charge me for not having my licence on me.
i never did see him on the org, searched his last name that was on the ticket and everything. so who knows
I've been pulled over three times:
Once in my Lumina
Once in my Z24 (Story below)
Once in my CRX.
All in the city I live in.
The weirdest time I got pulled was for having a burnt out license plate bulb. The officer asked for my license and insurance info, told me why I got pulled over and then complimented me on my bumper sticker (It says "F*CK Terrorism"). I just got a verbal warning to get a new light bulb. I think the only reason I got pulled over was i because it was Saint Patrick's day and the officer just wanted to see if I was drunk.(Didn't even look at my insurance info)
First time getting pulled over was for 67 in a 55
Second was for running a stop sign
I had just pulled out of the driveway of my friends house and stopped at the stopsign about 20 meters away. 1 car went by, and another was on it's way. I didn't feel like waiting for it since it was going slow, so I gunned it a little bit and pulled out into the road.
Well, just as I did that, some PMSing woman cop is pulls onto the road I just pulled onto comming in the opposet direction I'm travelling. Does a U-Turn and pulls me over. She INSISTS that I pulled out too fast to have stopped at the stop sign. I try to tell her what happened and that I just pulled out fast, but she keeps cutting me off like a damn 5 year old saying "No you didnt, you pulled out too fast" and refuses to believe me, even when I tell her I have a WITNESS! (Van that pulled up behind me when I was stopped and pulled into a driveway). - $75 dollar ticket, I still get sick to my stomach when I think about it to this day.
Third time was for license plate light out, warning
Fourth was for my underbody lights. St. trooper said that they're illegal on the highway because they're a distraction. Blue red and white are illegal. I felt like being a smartass and changing them to green, but thought better of it. Warning. Tried to look up the infraction he listed and could not find it anywhere. Closest matching was a speeding violation?
and finally fifth was for 'speeding'. However my radar detector went off, I slammed on the brakes, and got pulled over anyway. Cop wouldn't tell me how fast I was going, he just said "Don't you think that's your job to monitor?" Didn't care because he just told me to slow 'er down and have a nice night.
I had 5 different exhausts on my old Z and ive had 9 exhaust tickets
ive been pulled over for speeding in one town but the cop was a cop for a different city so i just got an exhaust ticket.
I live in teh middle of 5 big counties and go to school in teh middle of 4 and have been pulled over numerous times in all 5 that i live in and 2 that i go to school in....
but my worst ticket so far is a 72 in a 35...yeah im a dumb ass driver....oh so my total number of tickets counting the 9 exhaust tickets come out to be from 17 to 20....needless to say my DL has a lot of holes in it.
when i had my 04 cavvy i got pulled over a few times for speeding, my first was 95 in a 55 when i was 18. I remember he hardcore tailgated me for a mile or two going about 65 before he pulled me over, which really upset me, i kind of feel like i was being harrassed. I recognize that I should have gotten a ticket, but that seemed a little unnecassary. Ive always wondered if i could have complained or something about him tailgating two feet behind me going 70, especially without his lights on.
oddly enough ive never been busted in my prelude going 130 mph on the same highway. ever since i started paying attention to VASCAR lines ive never been pulled over. i think in PA only state cops can use radar, and only on highways.
