It would have been comical and probably by tomorrow will be. After having just recieved a 300.00 ticket for turning right on a red, I am hard pressed to smile right this minute though. I commute about 20 minutes from one town to another and so far have been "busted" twice on my way to work. If I didn't have a logistics issue with getting kids to school, making work meetings outside my building etc, I would just ride a bike. I'm having a hard time comprehending what would modivate a cop to pull me over. I drive like a grandma. I'm in a prius. I was doin 24 in a 25. He really made a show of things too. TWO cops got out of the car, one going to the left of me and the other to the right. ( You can visualize it right? Me in my "bad boy" prius, surrounded by the coppers) The second cop even had his hand resting lightly on his gun. Then he informed me that our conversation was being recorded. Mind you, at this point I had no clue why he pulled me over. Running through my mind were thoughts about escaped convicts in stolen prii. I swallowed hard and agreed to the recording then he launched into it. The reason he had pulled me over. Apparently, it is illegal to pull into the far lane on a one way street when you turn left. AND... If you happen to turn left, and turn into the correct closer lane BUT change lanes to soon, you are still in violation and are considered a bon-a-fide law breaker. So that's my crime. By the time I understood what he was telling me my infraction was, I could tell he was losing his conviction. He did howerver take all my information and go back to his car. Nice little adrenaline rush for me there, wondering if another bullchit $300 ticket was in my future. Thankfully, he returned within a minute or two with the "this is your warning" speech. I drove away wondering what on earth could have motivated 2 policemen to spend 20 minutes pulling me over in my Andy Griffith car. All I can come up with is he wanted a closer look at the interior. They are fabulous cars you know!
If they are not pulling people over, they are not doing their job, right? I believe in many places they still have quotas (tickets) but if offender puts up a good fight, they often use the "this is a warning" thing. My sister is an officer but where she works, there is little time for minor infractions and rarely does she have the time to pull over people for those... bigger fish to fry! Sorry to hear about the harassment... You didn't still have your costume on did you?
I've never understood peace officers. One time in California, I was driving down a road in Hollywood at 5AM in the morning when an LAPD officer saw me drift over the center line (I was unfamiliar with the location and looking around while driving). He pulled me over, had me get out of the car, do the 'up against the wall and spread 'em' thing, checked my breath, did the eye test and even had me walk a line. I left with a $50 ticket for crossing the center line (I actually only crossed it by about a foot or two... not like I drove in the wrong lane). Gads!
If they're not out nailing the genuine and highly visible idiots on the road, they're not doing their jobs. There's an unbelievable lack of enforcement in the areas that really matter these days. . I'm waiting to get pulled for "weaving" when it's the product of a carefully calculated trajectory around the, uh, "features" of poorly maintained roads. . _H*
yeesh. In that case, there'll be plenty of $300 tickets to go around. I rarely see people turn into the closest lane. They almost always turn into the adjacent lane.
I have that exact problem. I have all the pot holes memorized. They have not been fixed in years and are getting really bad. If you were to follow me you would think I'm drunk. Some pot holes are so bad you have to ride in the center of the road on the divider line just to miss the potholes.
If everyone thinks about this and watches things closely I am sure that many of you have noticed increased police patrols lately, parking enforcements as well. It is part of the plan for local governments to increase income through out most communities. You need to figure out when their coffee breaks are cause they never miss those! I got mine for speeding in the Gen II, I was not paying attention and paid for it.
That's one of my pet peeves (I have many ). There is a tee intersection in the nearest city where 99.9% of the drivers turn left into the far lane. The turn is sharper than 90°, so it's a bit easier to go all the way across on the turn. I always turn into the near lane, signal for a lane change, and switch to the far lane. If I don't step on it around the corner, the rest of the traffic will slingshot around me to the right, making it hard to change lanes. If people would play by the rules, driving would be a lot easier. Tom
I'm a little confused.... Did he give you a ticket or just a warning?? $300 seems just a tad excessive for turnng into the wrong lane (was that your offense?) ... Sheesh.
You guys are lucky. I live in an area where there are tons of red light cameras. The time the lights deliberately NOT in your favor so it entices you to try and make the yellow to get the next light that JUST turned green. I now have a plastic plate cover that obscures the camera flash from catching my plate number.
And I thought I was an Andy Griffith driver. Sorry for the confusion. He did not give me a ticket today. I need to get myself one of those! That's how I got the 300 ticket.
Looks like this is continuing where you live: 6 Cities That Were Caught Shortening Yellow Light Times For Profit Bad government at its greediest!:angry:
Enjoy this: Two men were driving through New Jersey when they got pulled over by a State Trooper. The cop walked up and tapped on the window with his nightstick. The driver rolled down the window and "WHACK," the cop smacked him in the head with his nightstick "What the hell was that for?" the driver asked. "You're in New Jersey, son," the trooper answered. "When we pull you over in New Jersey, you better have your license ready by the time we get to your car." "I'm sorry, officer, " the driver said, "I'm from New York and didn't know your laws here." The trooper runs a check on the guy's license--he's clean and gives the guy his license back. The trooper then walks around to the passenger side and taps on the window. The passenger rolls down the window and "WHACK," the trooper smacks him on the head with the nightstick. "What'd you do that for?" the passenger demands. "Just making your wish come true," replied the trooper. "Making WHAT wish come true?" the passenger asked. "Because I know you New Yorkers," the trooper says, "two miles down the road you're gonna turn to your buddy and say..... "I wish that donkey would've tried that shit with me!"
Sounds like it was a pleasant experience compared to most stops. Two guys getting out on one stop isn't uncommon. (It's often policy or he could have been training the second officer.) Cops rest their hands on their guns because they never know when they might have to pull it out, and I don't blame them (gangstas drive prii too). Also, in most areas, you're required to tell someone when their conversation is being recorded, and it is most likely department policy. Sounds like he knew you meant no harm, simply explained the law to you so you wouldn't possibly get a ticket from a less forgiving cop in the future, and then let you go. I'd consider that a very good stop if I were in your position.
Police will often stop a car for a minor offense as an excuse to look for bigger offenses. The tribal police here in the reservation do it all of the time. They don't have much to do, so if you drive through with a burned out light you will get pulled over every time. They use the same "cop on either side" technique as described by the OP. Given the area, there is a fair chance they will nab someone for drunk driving, no licensee, no insurance, or something like that. If you are clean and don't give them a hard time, they will let you go with no hassles. If you give them a hard time, you get written up for everything they can find. I know of several people that were ticketed for not having signed the registration form. Never mind that the form only needs to be signed for commercial vehicles, they were ticketed anyway. The new State of Michigan form finally says this under the signature line just to avoid this sort of nonsense. Tom
