Woe, my detest for traffic cops runneth over

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Jordan

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Yep, I am goring one of TFL's sacred cows here tonight... those who grow faint at the sight of sacred cow blood should move along.

I rolled through a STOP sign on the way to work this morning and now I owe the State of Alaska $60.00 and have surrendered a third of the points that comprise my driving "privilege" (my car, my fuel, my roads... "privilege. Go figure)

Consider the following:
-This is a RURAL Alaskan highway. "Rush hour" might be defined as one car passing every five minutes.
-The 'scene of the crime' is an intersection with good visibility for over a half mile either direction.
-The motorists using this stretch of road at 8am are coming from a good neighborhood and are either mothers taking their kids to school or other productive citizens trying to get to work.
-It is a s t r e t c h to say that rolling through that stop posed any safety risk at all. I am a member of the most brilliant species on this planet... where judgement calls are concerned I feel pretty confident going up against a sign on a post.

And we have a State Trooper hiding out in sweaty palmed anticipation waiting to make his big "Bust".

I said to him that I wished voters realized that MORE cops doesn't mean LESS crime, it means MORE of this kind of crap... then I complimented him on a job well done and told him he could be proud (I don't know if he caught the sarcasm there).

He said that he couldn't make everyone happy.

That got me thinking. So my question to you is: Who does this make happy?
 
Well, Jordan, I'll tell ya... just the title of this thread doesn't make me do Lawdog's Happy Dog Dance(tm), if you know what I mean.

The picosecond this turns into a cop-haters vs cop-lovers thread, it's history. Just so's y'all know.

(reaching for the Shiner and a couple of Percs...)
 
I feel your pain, man! :) Something similar happened to me late last summer. I was stopped by a traffic cop for speeding in a school zone, when the blasted school zone light wasn't working (to top that, that sign didn't have hours posted either)!!! "How in heck was I supposed to know I was in a school zone", I say to him... he sputters, "Sorry m'aam but I still gotta give you a ticket." PPPBBBHHHHTTT on him!!

That one cost me $125, but I was able to do deferred ajudication.
 
Coinneach: I'm kinda sorry about the harshness of the title... but I'm also going to tell it like it is.

TFL'ers: Please *don't* turn this into a bash-fest. I am quite interested in your thoughts on PUBLIC SERVANTS and their tactics.
I'm frustrated because I am sure I could've polled 20 fellow motorists that were out this morning and not find ONE that gave a rat's @ss that I rolled that stop! YET I HAVE NO RECOURSE! I am not convinced that this is the public's will.
 
Coinneach,

Thanks for the warning!! I was just about to weigh in my thoughts in that manner, so to make sure MY comment doesn't close this thread, I will just say this...


Jordan, if you don't want a ticket, don't break the law, period.
 
Jordan, sorry but what part of " STOP " didn't you understand?

I have done that, grumbled and paid; my fault.
 
Was it an almost a total stop roll or a slowed down some type of roll? Probly a C.S. ticket, but you did break the law by not coming to a stop. The fine and points seam excessive. Too many tickets and laws are for generating money for the local government.
This I know too well as I was a L.E.O. for 15 years. Some days the traffic officers would make bets on who would scratch the most cites. Alot of C.S. tickets were written on those days. Ideally only cites for unsafe driving should be written. Rolling a stop sign can be very unsafe depending on the location and other conditions. Some officers figure if you rolled that sign, maybe you roll others too.
Too many laws and signs tend to cause people to disreguard things they shouldn't.
I'm just glad to be retired. John K

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NRA MEMBER? GREAT, NOW JOIN GUN OWNERS OF AMERICA
 
never mind.

I like this Lawdog guy. Cops aren't all bad.

[This message has been edited by xyzman44 (edited May 25, 2000).]
 
A fun little analogy for those who think rolling stops should be OK when the big red octagon sign says "Stop:"

Imagine the "sweaty palmed" trooper pulling you from your car after your traffic infraction. Imagine then, that he pulls an expandable baton from his belt and begins beating you severely around the head and shoulders with it. Of course you yell at him to "STOP!" Now, do you want him to stop, or just slow down? :D

Thought it was cute the first time I heard it, but it does kinda' make a point, no?
 
yorec, that's pretty funny.

I never got a ticket I didn't deserve, and when I got arrested for drunk driving on my Motoguzzi in 1985, one of the Highway Patrolmen drove my motorcycle to the jail so I wouldn't have to leave it on the side of the freeway.

Sorry, pay up.
 
I got a ticket for running a red light when it turned yellow and I felt like it would be safer to go thru the light instead of slamming the breaks and posibly sliding. Of course the cop knew I was speeding until I asked to see the radar, he didn't have it on. Basic fee grabbin that took $83 and 3 hrs in court because I didn't want my insurance to skyrocket. Personaly I think quotas should be outlawed. You shouldn't be required to write a certain amount of tickets, just wright them when the law is broken.
 
No offense, Jordan, but you chose to make an incomplete stop, you got busted, so take your medicine.

I got zapped going 79 in a 55 a few years back; I quite honestly didn't see the sign that moved it from 65 to 55, and I was going WAY to fast for a 65 anyway.

But hey, it was a 6-lane highway, I was out there by my lonesome, I figured hey, who am I going to hurt, so I CHOSE to go 79.

I found out who I was going to hurt... Myself! $150+ fine!

The cop, a PA State Trooper, could easily have made my life a living hell by giving me a reckless citation. I was right on the cusp.
 
Yeah I *KNOW* I broke the effen law! My question was (regarding the blind enforcment): Who does this make happy?

You see, as I understand it, those guys ultimately answer to _us_ and I don't think (if I may speak for us) _we_ care if someone wants to go 79 out on a straight empty road, or roll through an empty intersection in the middle of nowhere, or whatever... Yet there is no recourse. I guess it's kind of like jury nullification or something.

The cop said, "I can't make everyone happy." Who *is* made happy?

[This message has been edited by Jordan (edited May 25, 2000).]
 
Well, I'm happy! "Stop" means "stop", as stated before. I get really upset when I see people rolling through stop signs, particularly when they do it to pull out in front of me. They probably have their justifications for doing it, as you felt you did--no traffic; just going a short distance before turning off the road so why wait, etc. So whether the road is busy or deserted, the sign always means the same thing.

I'm especially happy because perhaps now one more driver (you) have learned how to be safer. No flame intended. All of the eleven times I've been stopped for violations in the past 22 years (approximately 450,000 miles) of driving, I've been upset about it for a few days, too. How many times was I truly guilty? Nine. So what reason did I really have to be upset?

Also, be careful of the "they answer to us attitude." Does this mean that people who pay the highest taxes (and therefore the largest 'contribution' to an LEO's salary) should get more slack cut their way than someone who pays less taxes?

As a good citizen, you answer to the laws. LEO's enforce them, and they certainly don't answer to those who break the law. Just friendly advice...


[This message has been edited by rbbrew (edited May 25, 2000).]
 
The sign did say "STOP", right? And you do know what "STOP" means? Sorry, no sympathy.

In almost all cases (my wife's school zone incident, as noted above, is an exception) the violator chooses to break the law, and thus has no right to gripe about getting caught. If you don't want to get "caught", don't give them a reason to "catch" you.

BTW, this would make me happy, if I were a resident of Alaska, because it means that the Trooper was earning his pay, and you now will think twice before rolling thru another stopsign. You never know when a car might come out of nowhere, even when you THINK it's all clear.

[This message has been edited by Jedi Oomodo (edited May 25, 2000).]
 
Your only hope is to explain it to the judge and hope that he accepts your good judgment as the basis for not complying with the stop sign. Chances are that he will not.

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Better days to be,

Ed
 
I'll tell you who it helps. It helps the kid on the bike who you'd "roll" over if you didn't come to a stop. Maybe the cite will make you think, next time, that the world doesn't revolve around you and you can drive any way you like.
And no, I'm not some sweaty palmed motor cop. Matter of fact, I don't write many traffic tix at all (just ask my sgt). There are a bunch of chicken sh*t cops out there, but most good cops I know reserve their cites for arrogant a**holes who need one.
I'd much rather take some doper/burglar/etc off the street, but you'd be amazed at how many of those hit jail just because some "detestable traffic cop" stopped 'em for a "minor" violation.
Pay your fine, quit whining, and take responsibility for your actions.
 
One thing I enjoyed about living in Germany, was that they did not use stop signs like we do. They relied more on yield signs. As a child I was riding with someone who rolled through a stop sign and got a ticket. I don't remember the driver complaining about the ticket, but this situation did not elevate my opinion of the law. Many stop signs are ridiculous in my opinion, especially when you can see for half a mile in either direction. IMO writing tickets for rolling through those kinds of stop signs is straining at gnats.

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Alexander Solzhenitzyn:
"Freedom is given to the human conditionally, in the assumption of his constant religious responsibility."
 
Who is happy? Well, I'm sure whoever made the complaint about non-compliance at the intersection is estatic. After all, If this place is as desolate as you make it seem, the trooper wouldn't have been there in the first place without someone bitching. That probably explains the "can't make everyone happy" comment. I suggest you question your neighbors.
 
Jordan you got what you desreved. law Enforcement has nothing to do with making anyone happy, it has to do with with enforcing the law.

The highways and roads are the most dangerous places in the US.

I moved to the Detroit area 5 years ago and that five years changed me from a person of your attitude to one who applauds every traffic stop I see. These people around here are the worst and most dangerous drivers I've ever driven with. They speed excessively, tailgate, weave , get mad when you go the speed limit, eat, read, talk on phone, yak while looking sideways instead of ahead etc.

I was rear ended twice in one week last year by inattentive drivers who where in hurray to get either to and from work. I spent two nights in the hospital and suffered a ruptured disk.

Driving can be dangerous and frankly requires responsibility that most drivers lack. Next time you roll through a stop you are to much in hurry not to stop at and look for uncoming traffic, you may meet, instaed of a cop, a Michigan driver, barreling along in his Dodge Ram 15 miles above, eating a Bic Mac while talking to his girlfriend on the cell phone and listening (and yelling about) to the Tigers loose yet another ball game in their brand new ballpark that I paid for!

Drive safely and obey the law and you won't have to hear my rant!
 
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