bad police driving

[zachary_amaryllis]

<rant>
so, driving behind a police car last night. i watched as this guy did not maintain his lane, and was generally erratic.

my thoughts? they are worried about people texting and driving (which i don't do, my phone has a 'driving' mode which will send a canned reply if it's moving faster than 5mph). police cars have all sorts of distraction, like a full-fledged laptop facing the driver, and i'm sure countless buttons, switches, radios, and associated doo-dads. they are far more distracted drivers than i could ever be.

if there's any police on the forum, please chime in.

</rant>

[kphoger]

I see many more police officers driving well than I see driving poorly.  But the few I see driving poorly do so VERY poorly.

[Max Rockatansky]

I feel like going on a rant about a lack of capitalization and sentence structure. 

[SectorZ]

I would say the only poor driving I have some from police is abuse of police lights to get past something that is only holding up their time.

You may say most of those are legitimate uses of lights (and you may be right), but a Mass state trooper pulling into Dunkin Donuts with his family in the car does not need to force oncoming traffic to stop so he can make an "emergency" left into said parking lot.

[jeffandnicole]

So you rant about police officers after seeing the actions of one, then want them to come out from behind their cloak of anonymity here just so you can harass them more?

[zachary_amaryllis]

I see many more police officers driving well than I see driving poorly.  But the few I see driving poorly do so VERY poorly.

and to be fair, yeah, there's many that drive just fine. i just feel like they should be setting an example. no one's perfect, i get that.

[SP Cook]

Do most police violate the SL?  Of course, and this makes them among the world's biggest hypocrites, because they know that one can drive safe and fast, and they do so, knowing they are exempt from the random tax; and then, often using the Nuremberg defense, go and collect the random tax from others. 

Other than that, do police often blow through stop lights, drive aggressively, abuse blue lights in non emergency situations, text, use their laptops, and otherwise endanger lives?  Every day.

[Max Rockatansky]

^^^

For the most part there has been a big shift away from aggressive enforcement of speed limits among state highway patrols.  City based departments tend to be far more strict on enforcing speed limit and setting up the stereotypical "speed trap."

I see many more police officers driving well than I see driving poorly.  But the few I see driving poorly do so VERY poorly.

and to be fair, yeah, there's many that drive just fine. i just feel like they should be setting an example. no one's perfect, i get that.

My god, at least try to capitalize sometimes.  It just makes this lazy thread seem even more so. 

[hotdogPi]

I see many more police officers driving well than I see driving poorly.  But the few I see driving poorly do so VERY poorly.

and to be fair, yeah, there's many that drive just fine. i just feel like they should be setting an example. no one's perfect, i get that.

My god, at least try to capitalize sometimes.  It just makes this lazy thread seem even more so.

agentsteel53 never capitalized beginnings of sentences. However, this goes one step further: "i" is lowercase, which even he wouldn't do.

[Max Rockatansky]

I see many more police officers driving well than I see driving poorly.  But the few I see driving poorly do so VERY poorly.

and to be fair, yeah, there's many that drive just fine. i just feel like they should be setting an example. no one's perfect, i get that.

My god, at least try to capitalize sometimes.  It just makes this lazy thread seem even more so.

agentsteel53 never capitalized beginnings of sentences. However, this goes one step further: "i" is lowercase, which even he wouldn't do.

Yes, this.  Even on a phone it is almost impossible not to capitalize an "I"  with auto correct unless it was done purposely.  That suggests to me that this is being typed on a computer.

[7/8]

I see many more police officers driving well than I see driving poorly.  But the few I see driving poorly do so VERY poorly.

and to be fair, yeah, there's many that drive just fine. i just feel like they should be setting an example. no one's perfect, i get that.

My god, at least try to capitalize sometimes.  It just makes this lazy thread seem even more so.

agentsteel53 never capitalized beginnings of sentences. However, this goes one step further: "i" is lowercase, which even he wouldn't do.

Yes, this.  Even on a phone it is almost impossible not to capitalize an "I"  with auto correct unless it was done purposely.  That suggests to me that this is being typed on a computer.

Maybe their Caps Lock key and both Shift keys are broken.

[hotdogPi]

I see many more police officers driving well than I see driving poorly.  But the few I see driving poorly do so VERY poorly.

and to be fair, yeah, there's many that drive just fine. i just feel like they should be setting an example. no one's perfect, i get that.

My god, at least try to capitalize sometimes.  It just makes this lazy thread seem even more so.

agentsteel53 never capitalized beginnings of sentences. However, this goes one step further: "i" is lowercase, which even he wouldn't do.

Yes, this.  Even on a phone it is almost impossible not to capitalize an "I"  with auto correct unless it was done purposely.  That suggests to me that this is being typed on a computer.

Maybe their Caps Lock key and both Shift keys are broken.

The OP contains punctuation that requires pressing shift.

[kennyshark64]

I once actually honked at a Detroit officer who cut me off and zoomed across three lanes.  This was about the time that ex-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's legal troubles were beginning.  When my wife objected to my honking, I told her I was prepared for a rant on my part about Detroit's corruption and how everybody thought they (mainly politicians and cops) were above the law.  I would have told the traffic court judge the same thing if I had been ticketed for honking.

[Max Rockatansky]

I once actually honked at a Detroit officer who cut me off and zoomed across three lanes.  This was about the time that ex-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's legal troubles were beginning.  When my wife objected to my honking, I told her I was prepared for a rant on my part about Detroit's corruption and how everybody thought they (mainly politicians and cops) were above the law.  I would have told the traffic court judge the same thing if I had been ticketed for honking.

So you would have literally risked a fine and would've purposely gone out of your way to rant a traffic court judge?  Wouldn't it not been more simple just to have let the perceived slight go and moved on with life? 

[Rothman]

I once actually honked at a Detroit officer who cut me off and zoomed across three lanes.  This was about the time that ex-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's legal troubles were beginning.  When my wife objected to my honking, I told her I was prepared for a rant on my part about Detroit's corruption and how everybody thought they (mainly politicians and cops) were above the law.  I would have told the traffic court judge the same thing if I had been ticketed for honking.

So you would have literally risked a fine and would've purposely gone out of your way to rant a traffic court judge?  Wouldn't it not been more simple just to have let the perceived slight go and moved on with life?

...or write a letter to the editor...or contact the Mayor's office itself and rant to an aide...

[NE2]

[kphoger]

...or write a letter to the editor...or contact the Mayor's office itself and rant to an aide...

Probably the best course of action would have been to note the cruiser's vehicle number, location, and time of day.  Then later, at your leisure, write an e-mail to the officer's chief about the incident, with all details needed for him to determine the officer's identity.

[Mike2357]

One time on the Southern State Parkway (already a deadly dangerous road) an impatient, pompous state trooper didn't think me going 60 in the 55 in the far right lane was fast enough, so he decides to race on the sandy shoulder, on the right, to get around me, causing a wave of sand and dust to fly across my windshield and through my.open windows, without lights, sirens, or going on the loudspeaker. He should get a reckless driving ticket.

[Scott5114]

By posting in our forum, you automatically agree to the following:

When replying to other posters, messages should focus on the content of the post being replied to, and not its presentation (spelling, grammar, usage, etc.) If clarification is necessary, it should be requested politely and explicitly, instead of with rude or demeaning comments, or with one-word comments such as "What?" or "Huh?"

A half-dozen posts about someone else's capitalization is way more disruptive than the lack of capitalization itself.

[frankenroad]

In Ohio, the law requires use of headlights when wipers are in use.   I routinely see police cars (and many other vehicles) disobey this rule.

To be fair, it has not been publicized at all since it went into effect 5 or 6 years ago.

However, in my mind, this is Defensive Driving 101, and it bugs me when people don't do it, law or no law.

[MCRoads]

In Ohio, the law requires use of headlights when wipers are in use.   I routinely see police cars (and many other vehicles) disobey this rule.

To be fair, it has not been publicized at all since it went into effect 5 or 6 years ago.

However, in my mind, this is Defensive Driving 101, and it bugs me when people don't do it, law or no law.

I told my dad that it was the law in some (most?) states. He had no idea. He thought I had made it up just to brag that I knew more about driving laws than he does. Of course, we then saw a sign that said something to the effect of (headlights must be used when wipers are on" .

[kphoger]

I appreciate the intent behind such laws, but they're dumb anyway.  I don't even use my wipers unless the rain is really heavy, but that shouldn't mean I don't have to have my lights on.

[frankenroad]

In Ohio, the law requires use of headlights when wipers are in use.   I routinely see police cars (and many other vehicles) disobey this rule.

To be fair, it has not been publicized at all since it went into effect 5 or 6 years ago.

However, in my mind, this is Defensive Driving 101, and it bugs me when people don't do it, law or no law.

I told my dad that it was the law in some (most?) states. He had no idea. He thought I had made it up just to brag that I knew more about driving laws than he does. Of course, we then saw a sign that said something to the effect of (headlights must be used when wipers are on" .

I remember going to Atlanta on a business trip in the late 1980s, and being warned by one of my co-workers about this law in Georgia......I think it was fairly new at the time, and it's the first place I had heard about such a law. 

A little research shows that 18 states have this law - AL, AR, CA, DE, IL, KS, LA, ME, MA, MO, NJ, NY, NC, OH, PA, RI, SC, VA; while an additional 14 states require headlights during "adverse weather" - CT, FL, GA, IA, MN, MT, NH, ND, OK, TN, UT, VT, WV, WY

[Max Rockatansky]

I appreciate the intent behind such laws, but they're dumb anyway.  I don't even use my wipers unless the rain is really heavy, but that shouldn't mean I don't have to have my lights on.

Intent or not most traffic laws of the kind could easily be scrapped and nobody would even notice a difference in enforcement.  They certainly don't offer any tangible value or a way to encourage poor drivers to operate their vehicles more safely.  In the past (a practice that seemingly is waning in modern times) certain agencies would use infractions like that to pull people over in the interest of a pretext to find a potential larger crime.

[MCRoads]

I appreciate the intent behind such laws, but they're dumb anyway.  I don't even use my wipers unless the rain is really heavy, but that shouldn't mean I don't have to have my lights on.

Intent or not most traffic laws of the kind could easily be scrapped and nobody would even notice a difference in enforcement.  They certainly don't offer any tangible value or a way to encourage poor drivers to operate their vehicles more safely.  In the past (a practice that seemingly is waning in modern times) certain agencies would use infractions like that to pull people over in the interest of a pretext to find a potential larger crime.

That is actually the reason this came up with my dad!