I've had one ticket in the past 25 years and I had that one deferred.
Around here, we have scores of sneaky motorcycle cops who hide everywhere. They will write tickets for 5MPH over. Maybe you think that is within normal "tolerence" levels. They never give warnings, just tickets!
I am not a speeder anymore. I do, however tend to catch myself drifting 5-10 MPH above the limits sometimes. Don't you ever do this?
Wouldn't you appreciate it if someone was kind enough to give you a flash or would you rather just get a ticket?
....and do and will give warning flashes, if I'm somewhere I clearly notice a speed trap. It's just that, in the city of Chicago, they barely exist. I can only think of a couple: on Lake Shore Drive there are several, and occasionally on the Dan Ryan (94 expressway, south of downtown). When driving to my mom's (Indianapolis area), I will flash-for-traps, definitely, and I've always appreciated likewise. The only other time I flash, regularly, is if some idiot has their brights on (last night was once), driving down a well-lit city thoroughfare (in this case, north Pulaski). Also, I'll regularly flash at a four-way stop if I'd prefer someone has the ROW, or if they're snoozing.
Around here, the motorcycle guys sit in groups of two or three. They will sit at the bottom of long hills where there is a 30 MPH speed limit. It is difficult to not pick up speed sometimes and they are well aware of this.
They will pull cars over three at a time without ever getting on their bikes. They just shoot you with their gun and point to the side of the road.
At 125.00 per ticket, they do them assembly line style and it's all about generating huge amounts of income.
Sorry Delray, but that is BS and why I warn people!
Its called alert driving. A seasoned driver should know that gravity will boost your speed on a downhill slope and adjusts accordingly. Take your foot off the gas, if you need to slow down more downshift then apply brakes if need be.
Sorry I have no sympathy for people in the situation you described.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Where I drive, the tolerance is generally about 10 mph, as long as it's not above the speed of traffic flow. Snakeweasel is right. I don't "drift" much because I either use cruise control or glance frequently at my gauges, including the speedometer.
I have never needed a warning about speed enforcement, but I certainly have appreciated warnings for hazardous conditions up ahead (but out of my view), or courtesy flashes to let me into a stream of moving traffic.
As I said, I'm not a speeder (anymore) and I do know what to do when driving down a long grade. Even so, there are times I'll look down to see I'm 5-10 MPH over the limit. That's all it takes to get nailed around here so I do appreciate a warning.
Being a retired law enforcement here in Disneyland, i.e. Ca., I never needed a radar gun to get a clock on a speeder, as I just knew how fast the driver was going. And when I had to go to court to testify, the judges knew me and the fact that I was professional, and not a wet behind the ears newbie, there was no problem with the verdict.
And I did not have to hide. Indeed one of the more important aspects of helping the public, was to be seen and that translated into obeying the laws. And cops are just as insane as the rest of the world. My best friend on the job was run down be a 'drunk driver", others are just run over, shot to death, and or shot themselves to death, or get divorced.
Finally, we don't have to look for you, as you will usually find us first and all we have to do is to make a safe stop, be courteous and try to listen to the excuse, and then have you sign the ticket. Oh, we also needed to say thank you or good bye.
Good luck to all and stay safe.
jensad
Oh I almost forgot, I was able to assist the mother to deliver her baby in the family car, on the side of ther freeway. Her husband was the main helper and I was his helper. I.e. we just dont' give tickets folks. Now I am done.
Since I just wrote a long reply and lost it, let me say this briefly.
I was a city and then a CHP. I learned to clock i.e. pace speeding vehicles, and over time, I could estimate their speed just from where they started and where they ended. I developed an HONEST relationship with judges and over time, when the situation required it, I testified that I estimated the defendant's speed, over a long length of streets/freeway and the judge trusted my judgement. This was a RARE situation, but I always stated in court that i estimated the speed.
This is not really an unusual occurrance. If I observed a car passing 4, 6, 9 cars on the freeway, and from my experience, I estimated the speed as being much greater than the max speed limit, it did not take much brain power to cite the person for a speed greater than the max, but less than what they probablywere really going. Eg. 65 =s max, driver =s95, citation read, 75 in 65.
No I never used radar as i retired long before this tool. I do think it probably saved some officer's and citizens lives due to the officer not usually required to go high speed to catch and then clock the speeder. On the freeway I had to go 115 mph to catch a speeder going 90 mph and that high speed chase stuff killed many CHPs, including my best friend. now they got radar and I hope all is safe.
Disneyland is a reference to the whole state of Ca. Sorry about the mix up but I was raised in Hayward, San Leandro, and SF and the whole state is Disneyland just not Anaheim. But then I grew up with farming communities that became tract housing.
Around here, there are a couple of local lawyers who are quite adapt at getting people out of tickets. I'm not sure how they do this or what they say in court but they never miss (well, almost) at getting their clients off.
They charge 300.00 to do this. I'll bet the police just love these guys!
I tied to be a professional law enforcement officer. The CHP doubled in the late 1960s, and many came on were really green but then I was really green on Berkeley PD before I came on the CHP. But they got better and became excellent at what they did and I enjoyed working with them.
I knew some of the "ambulance chasers" and they got to know me. We became friends but kept our professional distance. I know this - I loved lawyers as I almost always got over time pay as I worked most of career on shift that gets off at 11 PM, and/or the midnight shift that got off at 8am and then I got overtime for court. All of us got our due.
I don't miss the old job, except for the high speed runs as its in my blood. But I do think this one of the better boards on any web site. We all get along and enjoy sharing our part of the country. And I laugh here alot with the funny situations we share.
Oh come on, I can teach you how to park like the Blues Brothers did at Chez Paul. :shades:
I am glad you're a perfect driver!
I am not a perfect driver nor have I claimed to be. When I goof and get pulled over I man up and accept that I made the mistake and not try to make excuses for it.
I know areas where doing 1 MPH over will get you a ticket, those places I know to do under the SL as I pass through.
Now if you think you have been wronged by the system then fight the ticket in court, I have done so and got tickets thrown out for various reasons.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Never been to your state so I was surprised you didn't use radar, used it for 30 years along with VASCAR, I always hated radar, both moving and stationary, not because they weren't accurate, but I preferred moving clocks altho they are more dangerous.
Watched the above video, yeah, thats for real all right. I had full ash trays from the car thrown in my face, spit upon and much worse. The danger was you never knew when, as Jensad can attest. By the way, any subject that reacted in the above manner had at the very least a traffic citation to concern themselves with. I did my best to remove them from the vehicle through their window, not letting them open their door.
I really liked the exit ala the window you utilized. The problem in Ca was in 1960s up to recently CHP was not allowed to use radar. Now its much different and its got to be saving lives of the officers. Almost every law enforcement entitiy in Ca had radar but CHP was not permitted.
Grateful I got retired and I found a more helping profession I went into and now I am totally retired and love it!!
Hey xwesx, I also in 1969 was driving to the hospital at fast as our VW bug could go as my wife delivered our daughter in the car. But then I bet any law enforcement members here could also share many stories.
And yes Isellhondas, it was a strange and dangerous time to be in law enforcement, but I needed a job, because our son was going to be born very soon. So in 1965, I became a Berkeley PD officer. (And I had to pay the bills.) And I liked the work and later became a CHP.
Good luck to all and stay safe.
jensad
I have posted more messages in the last two days than I have done in the last two months!
This morning around 0545 I got to slam on the brakes on a 35mph road, because the Toyota pickup in front of me slammed on the brakes, for no apparent reason - no other cars on the road. Feeling the ABS kick and the car do that final slide before a stop is not a nice way to wake up in the morning. The pickup had recently pulled out of a grocery store parking lot...I suspect someone spilled their coffee or dropped a donut.
Down here in South Florida one can get a ticket for flashing the oncoming traffic. Think that's nuts but I've heard that one can get one just for trying to be nice to other drivers.
The Sandman :confuse: :sick:
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2025 VW GTI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
Here in the area a small township police department is famous for quick traps of speed or minor violations for tickets. The department seems to get the cops that others don't want to employ because they are on ego trips to have a uniform on and they pop the buttons.
On a Saturday evening a cop left his brights on so someone would flash him. When they did, he turned around and gave them a ticket. A lot of young people use the road on weekends, so he thought they would just pay the ticket and the officer would have no problem. Instead the youngster and his dad gained legal advice and beat the ticket.
I have always disliked that kind of traffic enforcement, which translates into deceptive practices with maybe a speed trap thrown in. My dad was about 82 years old, and an officer in the city he lived in clocked him at night with the officer's lights on.
Granted my dad may have missed something, but he was a pretty aware and excellent driver up until about 85. But then there are zealots in all professions and jobs. I am glad the youngster went to court.
There are a couple of small towns that I travel through that have "small town" police. I've been pulled over a few times for minor infractions. Never for speed. Always for stuff like a license plate light out or something like that. Never gotten a ticket. Always have been driving "normal".
The reason for actually being pulled over? To make see if they can find a "bigger" reason to give a ticket - i.e. drugs, warrants, etc. This is straight from the last cop you pulled me over for a license plate light out. He said he always finds the smallest reason to pull a car over because you never know what else they might be able to get. He told me I wouldn't believe how many drunk, warranted or otherwise people he had been able to "catch" just by pulling a car over....
So even if you are driving normally, sanely and within the speed limit, you are probably still going to get pulled over.
& while driving home a WSP stopped us to ask why we were speeding?? We had a brief conversation and no ticket because we passed his "Sniff test". I'm thankful for the selective enforcement and profiling of suspects for there is nothing to object to when innocent.
Yes, my time is worthless and I should be subjected to be hassled for no reason at anytime and anyplace. :sick:
I remember years ago I got pulled over by a newbie-looking traffic cop in my old car because he ran a check on its year-of-manufacture plates and couldn't figure out (hadn't learned and didn't bother to check) how to make the old plates work in his system. This was some time ago, when the car was much newer, so the plates were only something like 38 years out of date :: ...yeah, I just forgot to buy new tags :shades:
>I remember years ago I got pulled over by a newbie-looking traffic cop
There's nothing worse than a newbie cop with the psychological need to impress someone how important he is and how he can control others because he is so great.
I had one stop me when I went up a divided highway that merges onto an interstate and as soon as I saw the interstate was backed up, I backed down the breakdown lane to where the cop and another different jurisdiction cop were sitting apparently splitting a doughnut and coffee. Proceded to wait at the stopsign on the cross road that went where I wanted to go. Then crossed the divided highway on the road paralleling the interstate. The local cop jumped into his car (doughtnut must have been finished) and stopped me at the next stopsign. I told him I saw that the interstate was backed up (due to one lane miles away in a construction zone) and I went back. He told me it was illegal to back down a ramp. I considered it a four-lane highway as it passed over before it swung to become a ramp. I would not have willingly paid a ticket for avoiding adding another car to the long, slow backup on I70.
Come to think of it, that was probably the same jurisdiction as the newbie who gave the high school kid from our scout troop a ticket for flashing him when the cop had his bright lights on. It may have been about the same period of time.
I think he just thought he had someone who might have had a drink on Saturday afternoon. I created no danger to moving traffic because I backed down the breakdown lane, nails, glass and all.
I've never dealt with a cop that bad...some do let badge inflate their ego, but I like to think that most are balanced.
Isn't Ohio kind of jerky speedtrap cop central?
When I was a kid, I got pulled over for going 5 over, in the same old car mentioned before. Maybe I appeared suspect, an 18 year old driving a weird car like that...the cop more or less said he wouldn't usually pull someone over for barely speeding, but he wanted to look at the car. I was a mix of flattered and annoyed.
A few years ago, I was with a friend who got pulled over because someone had called in a reckless driver who apparently was driving a similar car to the one we were in (a blue Honda...oh, those are uncommon). It wasn't us being reckless of course, but the cop got a little lippy anyway, being very terse and threatening. When I was in school I remember being in a car that got pulled over for making a U-turn on a lightly traveled street. That cop...maybe a campus cop, read the driver the riot act, it was idiotic. Yeah the guy was dumb to pull a U-ey in plain sight of the cop, but it's not truly a dangerous act. But unless you get these guys on camera, there's not much to be done. And even then, their unions will save them from any real reprimand.
"There's nothing worse than a newbie cop with the psychological need to impress someone how important he is and how he can control others because he is so great". I agree. They usually make up about 10 % of the force.
But I and others had to work with them too. However, many times we were able to get rid of that newbe officer.
I have worked with other police officers, and most are NOT the one mentioned above. However, I had to break in some "newbies" in the late 1960s, who I and my partner break in officer, recommended getting rid of these idiots. Guess what? The state had put too much $$ invested in training ect. to fire these rookie-idiots. I was fortunate to be trained by "old timers" and I listened and learned which later saved my life.
This time was when Gov. Reagan doubled the CHP and WE also suffered. But that is another story. However, my experience was that if you treated people like you wanted to be treated, it was easy to get the job done and go home at night and be able say you did a good job and maybe, just maybe you helped someone.
Last point is that I and other law enforcement people will tell you that when you stop a person for 120 mph at 2 am, you might get killed, if not for the fact that your heart is in overdrive, and you within 15 seconds be able to say the canned speech, "good evening sir, the reason I stopped you was for speeding".
And then you look inside and the barrel of a 25 Beretta sticking out from under the arm rest, or maybe the person starts shooting at you. Cops roll the dice when they make a stop at anytime day or night.
Many of the points mentioned above are relevant. Very rarely did many of us stopped people for a license plate light out. However, many "night people" who we knew were the strong armed ones, or burglars/fill in here, "sign in at 10 pm" and sign out about 5 am. Those were the ones I went after. But then the world won't change, only the person can.
Oh, one example of a positive stop was stopping a car at 3am with three men in it and the woman had just been raped. All three went to jail and did not pass go and collect $ 200. The reason we stopped the car had a brake light out.
Good luck to all to the best board on the internet!!
i97, you backed down a state-highway->interstate entrance ramp in the breakdown lane? Duuuude, that's way wrong - seems like that warranted at least one civil-violation citation from either a junior or senior police-person. And it's apparently inconsiderate to the next-guy - who may actually be *breaking down* and thus have a need to legally use the breakdown lane. (How many citations did you get for that move and did you pay them all or fight/beat any!?)
No I'm not kidding. I'm surprised that anyone wouldn't know that backing up in the breakdown lane is VERBOTEN. I'm pretty sure that being in the breakdown lane whatsoever is VERBOTEN, whether you are stopped, going backwards, or going forwards. The only time you are permitted to have your car in the breakdown lane is if your car BREAKS DOWN. (If there are exceptions to that rather obvious rule, I look forward to being educated by the esteemed vehicle-code experts out there in each state .)
Sorry, you were 1. driving on the shoulder which is illegal and 2. you were going the wrong way. While I don't know if there is one I wouldn't be surprised if there is a law that limits how far in reverse one can drive.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Backing down a freeway on ramp is alittle dangerous and in Ca it is illegal.
Another extremely dangerous driving event is when you are driving on a freeway and you see coming towards you is a wrong way driver.
I encountered two such drivers, one was then taken to jail (and did not collect $ 200) and the other finally figured it out as she passed us driving the wrong way on a freeway at 11 PM at night.
She was more scared than we were and we were able to driver her car for her off the next off ramp.
Almost forgot - I was driving through the Caldecot Tunnel that connects Oakland to another county when I just about out of the Tunnel when I almost ran into a wrong way elderly driver. She stopped, I stopped. I motioned her to the shoulder and she drove veryyyy slowly to the shoulder.
That time I asked Dept Mtr. Vehicles to retest the driver. She was about 80 and was very confused but she had driven about 4 to 5 miles the wrong way on the SR 24 freeway.
Good luck to all and stay safe and have a wonderful week end.
I know the state police use a similar tool for training officers for responding and pursuits. I was watching them one time as they were just playing with it. You really don't know what they were doing.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
One of my routes home involves getting of the highway (multi lane limited access). To get on this highway there is an entrance ramp that goes up an embankment for a few hundred feet then levels off. Its about a 1/4 mile before its running alongside the right lane so you can merge. It then runs alongside the road for at least a half mile before it becomes the exit ramp for the next interchange. This piece of road is almost straight so you have over 3/4 of a mile to get up to the speed of traffic and merge.
Well today I just happened to get behind so yokal who when s/he got into position to merge (remember there is at least a half mile of road in that "lane" ahead) s/he started to brake and slow way down waiting for a chance to get in. :sick:
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
While going out to eat tonight, a police car behind us had what is essentially spotlights on in his lightbar. These lights point forward. I've never seen these turned on before. I seen the ones that shine out the sides of the light bar, but these were out the front.
And they were nicely blinding everyone in front of him.
I think they usually come on after they pull a car over. I don't think I've seen those lights on when driving. A mistake on the officer's part, perhaps? Or maybe he was justing keeping an eye on you.
These are called "take down lights" and the control panel is a central unit that controls siren, lights, side illumination lights and the front lights mentioned above. If any of these is switched on, a small green light appears above the button to alert you, but its easy to overlook sometimes.
I have driven with these on accidentally and of course embarrassed when I discover my error, they are very bright and will absolutely blind any oncoming traffic, you can bet your guy didn't mean to drive that way, a rookie mistake. Although I did it with 27 years on.
Boy do I know your "pain" with these kind of drivers. They drive me wild especially when they stop and I have to anticipate them stopping or rear ending them. I feel they are as dangerous to driving as someone going 100 mph. Good thing you did not have a t/c.
Was heading out to Philly for dinner on Saturday night when a mid 90s Continental obviously misses his exit and procedes to practically stop in the middle lane of the freeway heading to the Walt Whitman Bridge. Naturally people slamming on their brakes (traffic moving around 70MPH) everywhere while this knuckle head waits for clearance to cross 2 lanes for his exit.
One of his relatives expects four lanes of solid traffic to stop and let him make a left turn onto the blvd from a driveway. They walk among us and vote! :mad:
Today I saw a young blonde woman in a Landcruiser slam on her brakes on a 4 lane suburban arterial to get into the right lane to make a right turn. 3 or 4 cars had to stop and let her go by. I think it was the Lincoln guy's niece :shades:
I have in many occasions found myself in a situation like that, but instead of slamming on my brakes I just keep on going and go around the block or something like that.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Around here when there's construction and the lanes narrow from 2 lanes to 1 lane, most people move over early. Merging two lanes at the last minute may be more efficient, but that's not the way it's done in Boise.
So today we're dinking around heading to downtown and run into a closed right hand lane. You can see the flashing lights a good ways off. Most of us move over and merge into the left hand lane except for a couple of people who continue on and make a right turn somewhere.
As I get close to the right lane blockage some woman comes speeding up the right hand lane from a couple of blocks back and slows at the last minute, toots her horn and starts trying to cut me off.
Ah, the advantages of driving a ten year old minivan with 137,000 miles and a few dings already. I just kept on cruising.
If she'd just gotten to the end, slowed and signaled, I probably would have waved her in.
What I hate in situations like that are people who will block the right lane. The problem with that is that it blocks people who might be making a right turn before the right lane ends. I do believe a while back I posted a situation like that where I was doing the passing on the right (to make a right turn) and some halfwit suddenly pulled right to keep me from passing.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
but instead of slamming on my brakes I just keep on going and go around the block or something like that.
Yeah that is what most of us would do. The guy was from out of state, but really if you miss an exit just get off at the next one. Its generally much safer for all involved!
Comments
I've had one ticket in the past 25 years and I had that one deferred.
Around here, we have scores of sneaky motorcycle cops who hide everywhere. They will write tickets for 5MPH over. Maybe you think that is within normal "tolerence" levels. They never give warnings, just tickets!
I am not a speeder anymore. I do, however tend to catch myself drifting 5-10 MPH above the limits sometimes. Don't you ever do this?
Wouldn't you appreciate it if someone was kind enough to give you a flash or would you rather just get a ticket?
They will pull cars over three at a time without ever getting on their bikes. They just shoot you with their gun and point to the side of the road.
At 125.00 per ticket, they do them assembly line style and it's all about generating huge amounts of income.
Sorry Delray, but that is BS and why I warn people!
Sorry I have no sympathy for people in the situation you described.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
I have never needed a warning about speed enforcement, but I certainly have appreciated warnings for hazardous conditions up ahead (but out of my view), or courtesy flashes to let me into a stream of moving traffic.
As I said, I'm not a speeder (anymore) and I do know what to do when driving down a long grade. Even so, there are times I'll look down to see I'm 5-10 MPH over the limit. That's all it takes to get nailed around here so I do appreciate a warning.
I am glad you're a perfect driver!
And I did not have to hide. Indeed one of the more important aspects of helping the public, was to be seen and that translated into obeying the laws. And cops are just as insane as the rest of the world. My best friend on the job was run down be a 'drunk driver", others are just run over, shot to death, and or shot themselves to death, or get divorced.
Finally, we don't have to look for you, as you will usually find us first and all we have to do is to make a safe stop, be courteous and try to listen to the excuse, and then have you sign the ticket. Oh, we also needed to say thank you or good bye.
Good luck to all and stay safe.
jensad
Oh I almost forgot, I was able to assist the mother to deliver her baby in the family car, on the side of ther freeway. Her husband was the main helper and I was his helper. I.e. we just dont' give tickets folks. Now I am done.
I'm from your neck of the woods and I know the CHP didn't used to use radar. don't know if they do now but they used to simply pace people.
Disneyland? I know the Anaheim PD used to have a jail/holding cell underneath the park they could drive to.
I was a city and then a CHP. I learned to clock i.e. pace speeding vehicles, and over time, I could estimate their speed just from where they started and where they ended. I developed an HONEST relationship with judges and over time, when the situation required it, I testified that I estimated the defendant's speed, over a long length of streets/freeway and the judge trusted my judgement. This was a RARE situation, but I always stated in court that i estimated the speed.
This is not really an unusual occurrance. If I observed a car passing 4, 6, 9 cars on the freeway, and from my experience, I estimated the speed as being much greater than the max speed limit, it did not take much brain power to cite the person for a speed greater than the max, but less than what they probablywere really going. Eg. 65 =s max, driver =s95, citation read, 75 in 65.
No I never used radar as i retired long before this tool. I do think it probably saved some officer's and citizens lives due to the officer not usually required to go high speed to catch and then clock the speeder. On the freeway I had to go 115 mph to catch a speeder going 90 mph and that high speed chase stuff killed many CHPs, including my best friend. now they got radar and I hope all is safe.
Disneyland is a reference to the whole state of Ca. Sorry about the mix up but I was raised in Hayward, San Leandro, and SF and the whole state is Disneyland just not Anaheim. But then I grew up with farming communities that became tract housing.
Good luck to all and stay safe.
jensad
Around here, there are a couple of local lawyers who are quite adapt at getting people out of tickets. I'm not sure how they do this or what they say in court but they never miss (well, almost) at getting their clients off.
They charge 300.00 to do this. I'll bet the police just love these guys!
I knew some of the "ambulance chasers" and they got to know me. We became friends but kept our professional distance. I know this - I loved lawyers as I almost always got over time pay as I worked most of career on shift that gets off at 11 PM, and/or the midnight shift that got off at 8am and then I got overtime for court. All of us got our due.
I don't miss the old job, except for the high speed runs as its in my blood. But I do think this one of the better boards on any web site. We all get along and enjoy sharing our part of the country. And I laugh here alot with the funny situations we share.
Good luck to all and stay safe.
jensad
jensad
I was trying to imagine the roadside delivery; that must have been quite an experience! :surprise:
We had our last child at home (intentionally), but at least we were prepared for it and we had two professional midwives on hand if needed.
I worked in and around that town in the late 70's- early 80's and that was strange enough.
Still, Oakland was worse....
Oh come on, I can teach you how to park like the Blues Brothers did at Chez Paul. :shades:
I am glad you're a perfect driver!
I am not a perfect driver nor have I claimed to be. When I goof and get pulled over I man up and accept that I made the mistake and not try to make excuses for it.
I know areas where doing 1 MPH over will get you a ticket, those places I know to do under the SL as I pass through.
Now if you think you have been wronged by the system then fight the ticket in court, I have done so and got tickets thrown out for various reasons.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Tell me did you ever run into this guy?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRRTlrfTw0s
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Watched the above video, yeah, thats for real all right. I had full ash trays from the car thrown in my face, spit upon and much worse. The danger was you never knew when, as Jensad can attest. By the way, any subject that reacted in the above manner had at the very least a traffic citation to concern themselves with. I did my best to remove them from the vehicle through their window, not letting them open their door.
Grateful I got retired and I found a more helping profession I went into and now I am totally retired and love it!!
Hey xwesx, I also in 1969 was driving to the hospital at fast as our VW bug could go as my wife delivered our daughter in the car. But then I bet any law enforcement members here could also share many stories.
And yes Isellhondas, it was a strange and dangerous time to be in law enforcement, but I needed a job, because our son was going to be born very soon. So in 1965, I became a Berkeley PD officer. (And I had to pay the bills.) And I liked the work and later became a CHP.
Good luck to all and stay safe.
jensad
I have posted more messages in the last two days than I have done in the last two months!
The Sandman :confuse: :sick:
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2025 VW GTI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
On a Saturday evening a cop left his brights on so someone would flash him. When they did, he turned around and gave them a ticket. A lot of young people use the road on weekends, so he thought they would just pay the ticket and the officer would have no problem. Instead the youngster and his dad gained legal advice and beat the ticket.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Granted my dad may have missed something, but he was a pretty aware and excellent driver up until about 85. But then there are zealots in all professions and jobs. I am glad the youngster went to court.
Good luck to all and stay safe.
jensad
The reason for actually being pulled over? To make see if they can find a "bigger" reason to give a ticket - i.e. drugs, warrants, etc. This is straight from the last cop you pulled me over for a license plate light out. He said he always finds the smallest reason to pull a car over because you never know what else they might be able to get. He told me I wouldn't believe how many drunk, warranted or otherwise people he had been able to "catch" just by pulling a car over....
So even if you are driving normally, sanely and within the speed limit, you are probably still going to get pulled over.
I remember years ago I got pulled over by a newbie-looking traffic cop in my old car because he ran a check on its year-of-manufacture plates and couldn't figure out (hadn't learned and didn't bother to check) how to make the old plates work in his system. This was some time ago, when the car was much newer, so the plates were only something like 38 years out of date :: ...yeah, I just forgot to buy new tags :shades:
There's nothing worse than a newbie cop with the psychological need to impress someone how important he is and how he can control others because he is so great.
I had one stop me when I went up a divided highway that merges onto an interstate and as soon as I saw the interstate was backed up, I backed down the breakdown lane to where the cop and another different jurisdiction cop were sitting apparently splitting a doughnut and coffee. Proceded to wait at the stopsign on the cross road that went where I wanted to go. Then crossed the divided highway on the road paralleling the interstate. The local cop jumped into his car (doughtnut must have been finished) and stopped me at the next stopsign. I told him I saw that the interstate was backed up (due to one lane miles away in a construction zone) and I went back. He told me it was illegal to back down a ramp. I considered it a four-lane highway as it passed over before it swung to become a ramp. I would not have willingly paid a ticket for avoiding adding another car to the long, slow backup on I70.
Come to think of it, that was probably the same jurisdiction as the newbie who gave the high school kid from our scout troop a ticket for flashing him when the cop had his bright lights on. It may have been about the same period of time.
I think he just thought he had someone who might have had a drink on Saturday afternoon. I created no danger to moving traffic because I backed down the breakdown lane, nails, glass and all.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Isn't Ohio kind of jerky speedtrap cop central?
When I was a kid, I got pulled over for going 5 over, in the same old car mentioned before. Maybe I appeared suspect, an 18 year old driving a weird car like that...the cop more or less said he wouldn't usually pull someone over for barely speeding, but he wanted to look at the car. I was a mix of flattered and annoyed.
A few years ago, I was with a friend who got pulled over because someone had called in a reckless driver who apparently was driving a similar car to the one we were in (a blue Honda...oh, those are uncommon). It wasn't us being reckless of course, but the cop got a little lippy anyway, being very terse and threatening. When I was in school I remember being in a car that got pulled over for making a U-turn on a lightly traveled street. That cop...maybe a campus cop, read the driver the riot act, it was idiotic. Yeah the guy was dumb to pull a U-ey in plain sight of the cop, but it's not truly a dangerous act. But unless you get these guys on camera, there's not much to be done. And even then, their unions will save them from any real reprimand.
But I and others had to work with them too. However, many times we were able to get rid of that newbe officer.
I have worked with other police officers, and most are NOT the one mentioned above. However, I had to break in some "newbies" in the late 1960s, who I and my partner break in officer, recommended getting rid of these idiots. Guess what? The state had put too much $$ invested in training ect. to fire these
rookie-idiots. I was fortunate to be trained by "old timers" and I listened and learned which later saved my life.
This time was when Gov. Reagan doubled the CHP and WE also suffered. But that is another story. However, my experience was that if you treated people like you wanted to be treated, it was easy to get the job done and go home at night and be able say you did a good job and maybe, just maybe you helped someone.
Last point is that I and other law enforcement people will tell you that when you stop a person for 120 mph at 2 am, you might get killed, if not for the fact that your heart is in overdrive, and you within 15 seconds be able to say the canned speech, "good evening sir, the reason I stopped you was for speeding".
And then you look inside and the barrel of a 25 Beretta sticking out from under the arm rest, or maybe the person starts shooting at you. Cops roll the dice when they make a stop at anytime day or night.
Many of the points mentioned above are relevant. Very rarely did many of us stopped people for a license plate light out. However, many "night people" who we knew were the strong armed ones, or burglars/fill in here, "sign in at 10 pm" and sign out about 5 am. Those were the ones I went after. But then the world won't change, only the person can.
Oh, one example of a positive stop was stopping a car at 3am with three men in it and the woman had just been raped. All three went to jail and did not pass go and collect $ 200. The reason we stopped the car had a brake light out.
Good luck to all to the best board on the internet!!
jensad
(How many citations did you get for that move and did you pay them all or fight/beat any!?)
You are kidding, of course! :P
The interstate is 600 feet further and the highway continues for another .5 + mile before merging onto the right side of said interstate.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I'm pretty sure that being in the breakdown lane whatsoever is VERBOTEN, whether you are stopped, going backwards, or going forwards.
The only time you are permitted to have your car in the breakdown lane is if your car BREAKS DOWN.
(If there are exceptions to that rather obvious rule, I look forward to being educated by the esteemed vehicle-code experts out there in each state .)
cheers...
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Another extremely dangerous driving event is when you are driving on a freeway and you see coming towards you is a wrong way driver.
I encountered two such drivers, one was then taken to jail (and did not collect $ 200) and the other finally figured it out as she passed us driving the wrong way on a freeway at 11 PM at night.
She was more scared than we were and we were able to driver her car for her off the next off ramp.
Almost forgot - I was driving through the Caldecot Tunnel that connects Oakland to another county when I just about out of the Tunnel when I almost ran into a wrong way elderly driver. She stopped, I stopped. I motioned her to the shoulder and she drove veryyyy slowly to the shoulder.
That time I asked Dept Mtr. Vehicles to retest the driver. She was about 80 and was very confused but she had driven about 4 to 5 miles the wrong way on the SR 24 freeway.
Good luck to all and stay safe and have a wonderful week end.
jensad
Honda's driving simulator upgrade gets A+ from teachers (Gizmag)
It doesn't say whether there's a Starbucks or cell phone mode.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Well today I just happened to get behind so yokal who when s/he got into position to merge (remember there is at least a half mile of road in that "lane" ahead) s/he started to brake and slow way down waiting for a chance to get in. :sick:
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
And they were nicely blinding everyone in front of him.
If any of these is switched on, a small green light appears above the button to alert you, but its easy to overlook sometimes.
I have driven with these on accidentally and of course embarrassed when I discover my error, they are very bright and will absolutely blind any oncoming traffic, you can bet your guy didn't mean to drive that way, a rookie mistake. Although I did it with 27 years on.
Good luck to all and stay safe.
jensads
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
So today we're dinking around heading to downtown and run into a closed right hand lane. You can see the flashing lights a good ways off. Most of us move over and merge into the left hand lane except for a couple of people who continue on and make a right turn somewhere.
As I get close to the right lane blockage some woman comes speeding up the right hand lane from a couple of blocks back and slows at the last minute, toots her horn and starts trying to cut me off.
Ah, the advantages of driving a ten year old minivan with 137,000 miles and a few dings already. I just kept on cruising.
If she'd just gotten to the end, slowed and signaled, I probably would have waved her in.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Yeah that is what most of us would do. The guy was from out of state, but really if you miss an exit just get off at the next one. Its generally much safer for all involved!
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic