Just a little rant

[Heraclid]

Today I had a cop next to me, we got a red light, I checked and turned right onto my street. Got pulled over for running a red light. He said I didn't come to a complete stop. Now granted, a lot of times, I don't, but there's practically no difference with me, and I am careful and aware of my surroundings, and I don't even think he was right this time. I think he heard the PV as I went up the slope and thought I was taunting him or something (?). No officer, it always does that, especially when I am just getting up speed.

So he asked for my license, asked if the VX was mine, if I'd had a ticket in the past year (nope), went to his car and ran a check I guess. Never asked for proof of insurance or registration, but I already had the insurance card out and was about to whip out the registration so I guess he figured I had my ducks in a row on that. He let me go, no ticket. But it kinda peeved me all the same.

Okay, amazingly I still do have the utmost respect for most cops, and talk about putting it all on the line. If there's anyone who needs a pay raise, they're it. But I swear this is the same guy that pulled me over a few years back when he was next to me and the light went green so I went. Told me I ran that too, so I guess he was too busy looking at his computer screen or something. He was clearly the one not devoting enough attention to the traffic signals. No ticket then either, though. Does this guy think people normally decide it's a good idea to screw around when they know full well a cop is right next to them?

I guess I was lucky this time. First, I was polite but I suppose I was sort of argumentative with him. He had an attitude and tone that just rubs you wrong right away. I still had two rallycross number cards on the floorboard, a shirt that reads "4-wheelin' stud", and a helmet in the back, so it probably didn't look good for me. But I am not hell on wheels and I know there's a time and a place for that on a rallycross course.

Technically, maybe he was right. But here's the thing. As this was happening, this was running through my head - I drive more than most people, mostly for work, and I can't tell you how much the cops miss or simply don't bother to deal with. I see people who truly and recklessly run lights with a cop sitting right there and they don't do a thing. Just yesterday a guy was on my tail, cut off someone dangerously close to go around me, then didn't like who he ended up behind so he passed them in the center turn lane probably doing 60 in a 45 zone. So I'm thinking, "where's a cop when you need one?" and glanced back in my mirror, hoping there'd be a police car around. Well, sure enough, three cars back, there was. Did he do a damn thing? No. But I execute a perfectly safe right turn and wham! And whether he's right or not, of all the nitpicky things, ya know? When I consider what I see them not pull people over for and what I did get pulled over for... geez! There's not even a street on the other side of where I did it. They have a lot of discretionary power and every cop is different so a lot of them apparently don't feel like stopping the dangerous people and others will stop you for anything or nothing at all.

My mom has a red 3000GT and that thing draws cops like moths to a flame, to the point that it's practically harassment. And she pretty much drives like an old granny (well safer than that, but you get the idea). I've been pulled over twice for silly stuff (well three, counting the neons I had on the Avenger). Actually, this was the first time I've been pulled over in the VX. I was given a hefty ticket several years ago right after a lowered black pickup SCREAMED by me, but apparently the officer decided I was the one going that fast or something. I mean, what did he do, take a guess? It must be the red sports coupe I just clocked, right? And we had a cop over when our neighbor shot our cat and he told us he didn't like cats either and he'd probably do it too if he wouldn't get in trouble for it! What an utter *bleep*! So sorry, but the cops around here have a real bad track record in my book.

No offense to the good guys wearing the badge. You guys rock.

Rant over.

[Jolly Roger VX'er]

At least he let ya off.

I just got nailed 2 days ago in my "red" Fiero....I saw him beside the roadway a good 1/2 mile before going by and made sure my speed was a few miles under. Four other cars go by and then he pulls out....hits his lights....first car in front moves over...than next...than next one....than next one....finally he is behind me...so I put right blinker on and move over to let him by...he stays on my *****...so I pull over....

"What can I do for you Officer?"
"I need your license, registration, and proof of insurance!"
(removing cards & handing them to officer) "May I ask what seems to be the problem Officer?"

"You'll know soon enough!"(goes to cruiser..checks me out...)
(15 min. later...hands me my cards back)

"You probably want to know why I pulled you over....Your window tint is too dark...I don't have a meter to check it but I can clearly see it is in violation of vehicle code (blah blah blah) and I could remove your state inspection sticker right here...right now!"

"But Officer...I've had the car for about 5 years and have had as many inspections done at different locales...no one has made mention of this to me before."

"I'm not gonna fine you this time...I'm giving you a warning that the window tint must be removed within 5 days and you must report to the barracks and have this confirmed."

"Thanks Officer and have a nice day."

I am actually happy about how this turned out...my previous luck was always a fine! Maybe things are looking up for me! I removed the tint (some was easily removed...some was a ball-buster!) and had them confirm it. I guess no harm done as I bought the car that way. C'est La Vie!

[Heraclid]

I was on my way from Gainesville to Jacksonville and got pulled over in Starke, FL for having red neons on my car. He said it was illegal to have solid red or solid blue lighting because those colors were reserved for emergency vehicles. It is in the FL statutes, but I think it is pretty silly. I certainly had no siren, it looked nothing like any emergency vehicle, the light was a soft glow underneath, not flashing on top. I will give the Jacksonville police that - they never pulled me over for it. It was the guys in a small town who were probably bored to death. Now the shop that installed them had warned me that it might happen and I signed a waiver to get them, but I was in one of those "you gotta be kidding, that's stupid, screw that" moods. I later found out it was actually in the statutes. But I had them for a long time and was never bothered locally. And I left them on there after that until I broke one again, too.

Oh, by the way, several years back I also had a woman not look left when she turned and t-bone my Ford Taurus in a parking lot and she nonchalantly went on in and had dinner in the place it happened in front of while I waited for an officer. No doubt hoping I'd just leave. The responding officer guessed that the damage was under $500 (it ended up being $3000) and that a police report was not necessary. He also said he could not determine who was at fault, but had no interest in getting witnesses (there had to be plenty and I would have gladly found some), and it was quite obvious when you looked at where it happened, the damage on the cars, and each person's account of what happened. You had to be pretty dense or pretty disinterested to not figure it out. Plus, I think the fact that we had to go in and get her from her table in the restaurant should have clued him in to what kind of person she was.

[jimbo]

I got a speeding ticket in Tampa driving a rental car a couple of months ago. My first in 28 years of driving. Please forgive ... but the trooper was a rude a-hole.

I was on my way from my Mom's house in Brandon, up 75 to 4, to the airport to drop my wife off for a business trip. Speed limit was 65 and I was doing around 70, until the end of the entrance ramp.

Traffic down there has gotten ridiculous. I was trying to merge onto 4 and the two right lanes were packed with trucks. I had a choice of slamming on the brakes, with dozens of cars right on my tail, or speeding up momentarily. I sped up to about 85 for 15 0r 20 seconds to cut across into the left lanes beyond the heavy truck traffic. Behind the ramp and tall concrete barrier was a statey witha laser and I got a $160 fine.

When he was done being a pr#ck to me he simply backed up to his previous position. Almost everybody has to speed up to merge at that point. On my way back from the airport he had another car pulled over at the same place. I figure they do that day in day out.

I'm not an unsafe driver and consider Florida (which I love and is my second home) to be kind of a joke when it comes to any kind of serious safety concerns.

This is a state where you kind buy beer along an interstate at a gas station quickmart (just blows mw away the insanity of it). They have so much alcohol at these convenience stores that you cannot find a decent flavored bottle of ice tea down there. Most places almost the entire cooler is taken up with beer, only a couple doors worth of ice tea and soda.

As far as I know most of florida does not even have state auto safety inspections once a year. Seems like every pawn shop (which there are probably thousands) has a big sign that says "guns for sale!" And it is rare to see a motorcyclist wearing a helmit.

I love Florida though. But I don't have a warm fuzzy feeling about the cops down there.

[Heraclid]

Well, I have to say that's all true. I hadn't noticed that the beer thing was any different elsewhere, but then again I don't look for it.

We used to have emissions inspections but they did away with it a few years back when they found out that they weren't finding enough problems to warrant the effort.

In FL, there is no motorcycle helmet law, but there is a law saying that kids (under 16 I think) must wear a bicycle helmet. But there's goofy stuff everywhere. In Alabama oral sex is technically illegal. Now how many people do you think have broken that law? LOL!

[Simon Templar]

Originally posted by Jolly Roger VX'er
"You probably want to know why I pulled you over....Your window tint is too dark...I don't have a meter to check it but I can clearly see it is in violation of vehicle code (blah blah blah) and I could remove your state inspection sticker right here...right now!"

"But Officer...I've had the car for about 5 years and have had as many inspections done at different locales...no one has made mention of this to me before."

"I'm not gonna fine you this time...I'm giving you a warning that the window tint must be removed within 5 days and you must report to the barracks and have this confirmed."

It would seem you have two choices on how to proceed....

1) If you know that your tint is indeed beyond limits and you've just gotten away with it all of this time, then kow tow and remove the tinting. Show up and prove it is gone. Getting on bended knee and tearfully begging for forgiveness usually helps as well.

2) Get in touch with your attorney and contest that warning. I HIGHLY suspect that, given the fact that you've had the tint on board for as long as you have without mention from anyone, that it is indeed NOT illegal. I would caution you against letting a disgraceful (but disgustingly all too common) example of modern law enforcement bully you into passive submission (especially as it sounds as though he had no other reason than he is just generally mad at the world.)

Don't go along with it just because you don't want to spend the time and money fooling with it. This can come back to bite you down the road.



....sT

[kpaske]

You bring up a valid point. All too often the enforcers (er, cops) are ignorant of the laws they are enforcing. In Maryland there is a law that states that your tires can't stick out beyond your fenders. I recieved an inspection ticket for that infraction, while at the same time, the trooper gave me a ticket for having tinted my rear window (on a pickup truck). No other windows were tinted, but apparently the trooper didn't know that it's not illegal to tint any glass, no matter how dark, anywhere behind the driver's field of view (i.e. anywhere behind the driver/passenger windows). It was easily solved when I got inspected for my fender covers, but had that been the only thing I was ticketed for, I would have been pissed if I had to waste my time getting inspected because of the trooper's ignorance.

Another time I came out to my vehicle, which I had started with an autostart remote, to find a trooper looking over the vehicle, preparing to write another ticket. She told me she would let me go with a warning this time, but if she found my car running again without my being inside, with my foot on the brake pedal, she would ticket me. Little did she know, but the law states that a car cannot be left running WITH THE KEY IN THE IGNITION unless the driver is present, with his/her foot on the brake. Because the autostart doesn't require the key to be in the ignition, and cannot be driven without the key, there was no violation. Another case of ignorance on her part.

[transio]

If you realize the role cops play in day-to-day traffic, you look at things like this from a different point of view. Cops don't give a crap about "rules". They just want to control you. They want to raise your fear of the unknown and instill a sense of submissive respect for them. This allows them to keep the sheep in line. Because they are, after all, shepherds. If the sheep all stay in line, then they can perform their real job of warding off the wolves a lot more effectively. Imagine how hard it would be to deal with the wolves if the sheep didn't obey them, or behaved chaotically and eratically!

[Maugan_VX]

I can't believe people still think that way about police officers.

Sure there are a few bad apples in the bunch, but we're not in soviet russia here.

I know several cops, and all of them do their jobs to the best of their abilities. Its a thankless job, that alone deserves a certain respect.

[WormGod]

Originally posted by kpaske
[B]In Maryland there is a law that states that your tires can't stick out beyond your fenders.

Dunno when you were here last, but that has changed. State inspection calls that they can't stick out more than 1/2". I found out the hard way when I had my Rodeo inspected. My Mickeys stuck out 1". Failed till I put the stocks back on for inspection.

There are some other possibilities around this. Having farm tags (think you must own 4acres of land to aquire this tag). Plus, just from what a police buddy told me, having mudflaps behind your tires if they stick out more than 1/2". It's not a binded backdoor around the law, but most officers figure you are showing a respect to other drivers by killing the roostertail that the tires would create in rain.

Another time I came out to my vehicle, which I had started with an autostart remote, to find a trooper looking over the vehicle, preparing to write another ticket. She told me she would let me go with a warning this time, but if she found my car running again without my being inside, with my foot on the brake pedal, she would ticket me. Little did she know, but the law states that a car cannot be left running WITH THE KEY IN THE IGNITION unless the driver is present, with his/her foot on the brake. Because the autostart doesn't require the key to be in the ignition, and cannot be driven without the key, there was no violation. Another case of ignorance on her part.

This has been a touchy subject here for years. Since the introduction of the law, and the introduction and popularity of auto-starters, the stink has only grown. I know a guy who faught his violation of this in court and LOST. Apparently, the judge sees a car cannot be left running WITH THE KEY IN THE IGNITION unless the driver is present to be an underlying case for an autostarter. The way he put it to my buddy is, "the car was running and you were not in it. that is the gist of the law and you disobeyed it". Go figure. Laws are made, changed, and broken daily.... by those you are supposed to enforce them. *shrug*

Your best weapon in these situations.... hope the officers are having a good day and be as cooperative as possible with them since their days are typically stressful.

[transio]

Originally posted by Maugan_VX
I can't believe people still think that way about police officers.... I know several cops, and all of them do their jobs to the best of their abilities. Its a thankless job, that alone deserves a certain respect.

I have friends who are officers, too. I don't think you understand my point. I'm not saying that cops are all control-freaks. I'm saying that civil traffic violations are a way of instilling fear / respect in the institution of law. The common citizen requires the shepherd / authority figure to be established in order to maintain order in society.

[jimbo]

Originally posted by Heraclid
Well, I have to say that's all true. I hadn't noticed that the beer thing was any different elsewhere, but then again I don't look for it.

We used to have emissions inspections but they did away with it a few years back when they found out that they weren't finding enough problems to warrant the effort .....

Weird how things are so different, and usually we don't even know they are different until they see how others live.

I spend a lot of time in Florida and it blows me away that I can't get a good iced tea or whatever. In Pa we have literally dozens and dozens of choices soda, ice teas, sport drinks, juices. You get kind of used to it. Lately I've had a hard time just finding a damn snapple down there. (you guys seem real big on gatorade though)

Regarding beer: you can pull off the interstate in Florida (60 seconds off the highway, miles from home or anywhere) and pick up a six pack, then be right back on the highway. Up here that would be considered too much of a risk, to trust every last bozo not to drink it when it's so easy. Up here that would be simply insanity.

We have to go to a state store, bar or beer distributer to buy alcohol. It's very inconvenient on purpose, and usually not located anywhere near an interstate.

I don't mean emissions, we have that too and it's silly. I mean safety inspection. Once a year (used to be twice) you take your car to a garage and pay them $100 to inspect everything (brakes, tires, lights, exhaust, suspension, body and frame rot etc.) If it fails then usually the very same garage fixes your car. Now in regards to this we may be the insane ones.

However, it is kind of scary some of the cars you see driving around down in Florida. Up here it's nice to know that no matter what, someone is checking out those brakes, tires etc on the other cars on the road.

[BaM*BaM]

I think this is the sign for the local bubba jesus church on the interstate between florida and alabama.

[BaM*BaM]

....... WEEEEEEEE!

[Heraclid]

Iced tea and sweetened tea are actually big down here, and it seems to me like there is a decent amount of tea products at the convenience stores

As for selection, I have to plead ignorance on this one, because it's not a problem, not around here anyway, or anywhere I've been. I don't stop in convenience stores too much, but when I do I usually get some sort of juice and always have tons of options. As for the bottled tea drinks, I always see plenty of them, and in my own opinion most of them are pretty gross, so I wouldn't miss 'em.

The beer thing you mention is true. But if it weren't that way, it's still not going to take the opportunity to drink and drive away. I hate drunk drivers (and my wife's mother was killed by one), but I wonder how much of a difference changing that would really make. I guess if it made any whatsoever it would be worth it. However, I do not put the blame on the retailer - I put it squarely on the consumer.

I know you didn't mean emissions per se, but that's the only remotely similar thing we've had since I can remember, and it didn't last long. And I do think that safety inspections like that are probably overkill. Here that is left up to law enforcement and any questionable vehicle should be pulled over. The way it is done up there sounds a bit like a government cash cow to me. And I'm not saying you're wrong, but I just haven't noticed more jalopies running around here than anywhere else I've been (NY, NJ, OH, GA, AL, SC, NC, VA, WV, TN, ND, MN, HI). But granted I've never been to PA yet, either. I personally think it would be more of a concern in northern states because of climate (salting the roads). My wife's previous van was rusting underneath and wouldn't have held up so well had she not moved down here from OH.

And BaM*BaM, you're a trip. I have done the FL-AL thing plenty and I've never seen that, but not saying it isn't so either. I've had enough contact with some of your fellow Idahoans via other interests of mine to know the grass isn't so green right where you're at. Beautiful state, though. When you boil it all down, there are kooks everywhere, and all the kooks think everyone else is kooky and not them. You probably think I'm a dumb-as-dirt southerner and I think you're something out of the Twilight Zone, but it's all good.