silly question

However, if a cruiser was to gain quickly on you and not pass, just slow down and pull over. If the officer falls in behind you to ask you why, just say that you preceived that the officer was going to stop you because of how quickly the cruiser came up from behind.
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Hmm, you do have quite a good point. I was in the right lane, with the left one (as well as the street in general) being pretty much empty. Although I was going 35ish on a 30 when he first started, so that's probably why... so I just took my foot off the gas and let it coast... I figured putting on the brakes would pretty much shout "I've been speeding! Please ticket me!" which might've been what he was waiting for me to do? Either way, I guess he gave up or actually had somewhere to go, so he just turned... although he could've easily just passed me if that was the case.

And yeah, I've thought of that one before... I was driving home at like 3 AM one day, going under the speed limit, and I noticed this police car following me (we were the only ones on the road). I thought "Okay, there's NO way I'm going to make it all the way back home without this guy finding an excuse to stop me." so I pulled into this subdivision hoping he'd keep going straight, but then he turned as well... and it had been a wild night *cough, cough* :shifty: so I was like "If I get pulled over, I'm :q:q:q:qed." ...so I just pulled into some random driveway and got down (pretending like I lived there), started walking to their front door and thankfully he kept going. Otherwise I probably would've given him attitude like "Is there a reason why you're following me?" which probably wouldn't have gone over so well, so good thing I didn't have to resort to that. But yeah, I suppose the guy just assumed someone going home at that hour must be coming back from a bar (or just up to no good in general?) or something, which would make them an "easy target."

ANYWAY, thanks for all of your responses, guys! :D
 
mholhut said:
I like to look at things from a different point of view...

Say, for instance, an officer is going to a call that requires that he/she get there soon, but doesn't quite require the use of lights/siren. So he gets behind some motorist hogging the lane and/or possibly refusing to move over. The next thing the officer knows is that the aforementioned motorist is slamming on the brakes to supposedly "teach the cop a lesson." So the motorist get's hurt, the cop get's hurt, there's thousands of dollars in property damage costs and medical bills, and I guarantee the cop will likely charge the motorist with aggravated assault. The only one who wins in a situation like this is the personal injury attorney, and the insurance industry has another statistic from which to try and raise all of our rates. Would you really want to risk your life or the life of someone else and damage your own property for something so stupid? You don't know what the officer is thinking and or doing, so why force an unpredictable situation. If you want some real laughs, try pulling a fake gun on an officer.

Any time I'm "gaining" on another car, my foot's already on the brake so I'm actually decreasing on them. I always know my position in traffic and am thinking of my egress route if something happens. It comes with common sense, training and experience. However, if a cruiser was to gain quickly on you and not pass, just slow down and pull over. If the officer falls in behind you to ask you why, just say that you preceived that the officer was going to stop you because of how quickly the cruiser came up from behind.

BTW... it has nothing to do with "old folks" as much as it does with one's level of maturity.
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If the officer needs to get somewhere why would he not use his lights? I am not trying to start anything but you do not have to yield when the lights or sirens are not on.
 
TheRebel said:
If the officer needs to get somewhere why would he not use his lights? I am not trying to start anything but you do not have to yield when the lights or sirens are not on.
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Because there are times, as I said in the first sentance of the first paragraph, that there may be times that:
an officer is going to a call that requires that he/she get there soon, but doesn't quite require the use of lights/siren.
 
Sometimes I need to get to work quickly. Should I speed? NO. Neither should police unless it is an emergency and then they should use their lights. Not trying to fight but shouldn't police be setting an example?
 
I don't really understand the problem you guys are having with cops coming up on you. How about you move and get out of the fast lane (left lane)and stop being d**ks. (that's the lane you seem to be talking about) frankly if anyone is coming fast on you and your in the left lane MOVE! -slower traffic keep right and pass on the left-. What's the problem with that? seems to work well on the autobahn- which is safer then the highways in the US. My guess as to why that is safer (on roads where people hit 100+) is that you don't have people trying to pass you across 3 lanes which is what happens when you have a d**k head in the left lane who doesn't want to move cuse he thinks he's obeying the law and shouldn't have to move.
 
There are three "quickness" levels a cop has at his disposal, generally assigned by the dispatcher or a superior:

Code 1 - Get there pretty much whenever you have a chance to.
Code 2 - Get there quickly, but don't use lights/siren. Try to obey speed limit laws, etc.
Code 3 - Get there, Lights Siren, the works.
 
^^^
do u continue to go over the limit when a cop is anywhere near behind u regardless of the lane ur in? Obviously if it is a random car I will continue to speed (which i "BARELY" DO, ).. it all depends on the vehicle..


i think if a cop has to get somewhere and quickly he needs to put his lights on.. if he is not in a hurry then siren the car infront and have them move out the way.. havent u seen the movie wit martin lawrence that he is a bank robber and attempts to impersonate an officer.. watch it.. there is a seen that this reminds me of.. i believe the movie is called "blue streak"
 
JaredLS said:
I don't really understand the problem you guys are having with cops coming up on you. How about you move and get out of the fast lane (left lane)and stop being d**ks. (that's the lane you seem to be talking about)
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I'm guessing you didn't read my post, because I clearly stated that I was driving in the RIGHT lane.
 
All the times the cop was behind me and tailing I was in the right lane, I never hold up traffic unless I have no choice but to sit there because of others. I use the left lane when I need to pass and if I do not than I stay in the right. I do not stay in the left lane if the right is open like some who just feel better in the left lane. But that is just me, everyone else seems to not get that.
 
JaredLS said:
I don't really understand the problem you guys are having with cops coming up on you. How about you move and get out of the fast lane (left lane)and stop being d**ks. (that's the lane you seem to be talking about) frankly if anyone is coming fast on you and your in the left lane MOVE! -slower traffic keep right and pass on the left-.
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I agree with you 100% about moving over, but I thought we were talking about a two laner or just being tailgated all togather for no good reason
 
^^^ WE ARE :). He just figured to through that in there. He just jumped to the conclusion we are sitting in the left lane.
 
stop lying all of you, I saw YOU!
-PLEASE forgive me for jumping to conclusions. lol (you could have described the situation better) my bad didn't read ur 2nd more descriptive post. anyway I just see (the situation i described) ppl do that s:q:q:q:q all the time. pisses me off
 
mholhut said:
Because there are times, as I said in the first sentance of the first paragraph, that there may be times that:
an officer is going to a call that requires that he/she get there soon, but doesn't quite require the use of lights/siren.
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this was covered in C&D a few years ago as a test driver got pulled over for speeding while following a police officer. It's not complicated, they can do what they want.
 
Here's an analogy or two I like to use...

People complain about the crappy conditions of the roads and when they go to fix them, all they do is complain about the traffic problems it causes :rolleyes:

Take that line of thinking and apply it to the way cops drive...

People complain about the police speeding on the higways for no apparent reason. Yet if that same cruiser is doing 1 over the limit, everyone get's pi$$ed because traffic is moving so slow... and it's starting to pile up behind them. Damn cops, right? So, setting the example in a case like this would really not be the right thing to do.

Usually, anyone doing the actual speed limit on a highway is actually causing traffic to stack up behind them... and creates an unsafe environment for other motorists as they try to move around them. Hence the advice, "moving with the flow of traffic."

The police have to move through traffic for many reasons. If they don't, their mere presence can cause problems. If they move with traffic, then they can only observe the vehicles around them.. you can't observe how people drive when they simply pass you on the side of the highway either/ So, they have to move through traffic to correctly do their job. Lastly, I would think that the police have been properly trained to operate their vehicle in a manner beyond the abilities of Mr. and Mrs. John Q. Public.

Either way, you're damned if you do... damned if you don't as a cop... most are used to it anyways. It's not whether the police should be liked either... If I wanted to be liked, I would've been a fireman. "Thank you so much for saving my foundation."
 
beaups said:
this was covered in C&D a few years ago as a test driver got pulled over for speeding while following a police officer. It's not complicated, they can do what they want.
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Why anyone would do that is beyond me... you're just asking for trouble IMHO.

Then there are the people who don't get out of the way of the cruiser, ambulance, fire truck when they have the light/siren going... "Sorry I couldn't save you're daughter's life... I had to stop and give a motorist a ticket for not getting out of my way."
 
so the c&d driver article was a good one. basically they were on some remote desert highway. He's speeding a little (test drive)....sees a cop way back in his rear view. slows down to the speed limit and the cop goes by. let's the cop get up about 1/4 mile then speeds up and keeps up w/ the cop. cop pulls him over for speeding. the c/d guy argues and cop say basically "I'm on my way somewhere quickly and it's not an emergency". C/D guy says "well then how can you find the time to pull me over". Neither person is really "right" here. Point is cops can do that sort of thing if they want. Call it a perk for having a job that you get shot at for having. I wouldn't trade jobs and I don't care if they drive 120MPH all day long as long as nobody gets hurt....
 
beaups said:
so the c&d driver article was a good one. basically they were on some remote desert highway. He's speeding a little (test drive)....sees a cop way back in his rear view. slows down to the speed limit and the cop goes by. let's the cop get up about 1/4 mile then speeds up and keeps up w/ the cop. cop pulls him over for speeding. the c/d guy argues and cop say basically "I'm on my way somewhere quickly and it's not an emergency". C/D guy says "well then how can you find the time to pull me over". Neither person is really "right" here. Point is cops can do that sort of thing if they want. Call it a perk for having a job that you get shot at for having. I wouldn't trade jobs and I don't care if they drive 120MPH all day long as long as nobody gets hurt....
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I think all most people would be asked here is to be left the he!! alone. Go about your merry way officer...I don't know about you the states you guys live in, our state highway patrol here are commonly refered to as "revenue collecting road nazi's" They really do nothing to "protect" the public. The run radar and DUI checkpoints. And any other revenue generating activity that they can think of. I drove from Columbus to Cleveland on a holiday weekend one time, about 150 mile straight shot up I-71 starting at about 11AM. I counted 17 cruisers, all state troopers running radar from the median strip or with motorists pulled over. If that is not overkill and a waste of my tax dollars on overtime, I don't know what is. It's not like they were going to nab any DUI's at that time of the day.
 
mholhut said:
Either way, you're damned if you do... damned if you don't as a cop... most are used to it anyways. It's not whether the police should be liked either... If I wanted to be liked, I would've been a fireman. "Thank you so much for saving my foundation."
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haha, I worked for the fire department through high school and our fire chief was always cussing the the cops for driving to fast.
 
mholhut some of the things you've said has got me thinking I understand a little more why it appears cops can break the traffic laws for no reason.

but wouldn't it be safer for police to use the sirens and/or lights anytime they need to break the traffic rules?

also another thing is why so many lights these days, I see police cars with more and more strobes and flashers than ever before, and the sirens/pattern of siren is different each time I hear them. the excessive noise and light is distracting for drivers. what happened to the consistent high/low siren and only the one or row lights on the roof of the car. are much more needed to get peoples attention?

also when seeing a police car ahead of me are in the mirror it would be nice to be able to see which way he is turning so I can react to stay out of his way. I can't do that if all the bulbs on his car a flashing at the same time and I can not see a blinker.

i'm not trying to give police a hard time I just want offer suggestions that may be safer.
 
jokken said:
also another thing is why so many lights these days, I see police cars with more and more strobes and flashers than ever before, and the sirens/pattern of siren is different each time I hear them. the excessive noise and light is distracting for drivers. what happened to the consistent high/low siren and only the one or row lights on the roof of the car. are much more needed to get peoples attention?
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I'm not a big fan of the strobes. I don't think they're as visible as the old rollers, even though they flash brighter. The constant light source of the rollers was much more noticeable at a longer distance.

The annoying sirens, however, are attention-getting, and that's their purpose. The draw your attention because of their irregular, grating sounds and rhythms; while most of us can recognize the lights and sounds of an emergency vehicle, there are a tremendous number of HUA drivers out there (who probably shouldn't even be driving in the first place) who need all the help the emergency vehicle drivers can get...
 
mholhut said:
Either way, you're damned if you do... damned if you don't as a cop...
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The Oklahoma Highway Patrol has a policy of driving at least 5mph over the limit for the simple reason that they get fewer complaints than when they follow the speed limit. On the Oklahoma Turnpikes (75mph speed limit), if you can keep up with a OHP Trooper, you're flipping well moving, stictly hotel alpha. :D
 
jokken said:
mholhut some of the things you've said has got me thinking I understand a little more why it appears cops can break the traffic laws for no reason.

but wouldn't it be safer for police to use the sirens and/or lights anytime they need to break the traffic rules?
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Believe me, when they're headed somewhere that they've GOT to get to... you'll see and hear them. The idea of the police moving faster than the flow of traffic is for them to observe a large group of vehicles as they are driving as opposed to ones just around them if they are travelling the same speed.

also another thing is why so many lights these days, I see police cars with more and more strobes and flashers than ever before, and the sirens/pattern of siren is different each time I hear them. the excessive noise and light is distracting for drivers.
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You just answered your own question. They are supposed to alert you to their presence.

what happened to the consistent high/low siren and only the one or row lights on the roof of the car. are much more needed to get peoples attention?
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Ever look at the way alot of people drive or what they are doing while they're driving. Yeah, their minds are definitely preoccupied with other things.

also when seeing a police car ahead of me are in the mirror it would be nice to be able to see which way he is turning so I can react to stay out of his way. I can't do that if all the bulbs on his car a flashing at the same time and I can not see a blinker.
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Driver's Education 101... see an emergency vehicle approaching with it's lights and siren going... move over to the right and slow down/stop as safely as possible.
 
SoonerLS said:
I'm not a big fan of the strobes. I don't think they're as visible as the old rollers, even though they flash brighter. The constant light source of the rollers was much more noticeable at a longer distance.

The annoying sirens, however, are attention-getting, and that's their purpose.
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The new LED lights are wicked. Not only are they brighter than strobes, but they take less power to operate and last longer. They are also much brighter in the daytime which is a great benefit.

As for the sirens... I personally love the on hi-lo that sounds like a cruiser from the UK. Most police only use "welp" "wail" "phaser" "hyper" which are all commonly heard. Approach an intersection with the UK Hi-Lo siren and people have to stop because they don't know what the hell it is :D
 
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