Pulled over while roadgeeking

[corco]

Why the fuck would you make a bomb out of a sign? An effective bomb will contain shrapnel, in order to cause maximum damage.

You would have to be absolutely fucking mental, but people make bombs out of all sorts of things these days. Lots of times, they aren't necessarily looking for complete utter destruction, just a little here and there. Just enough to kill some people and panic the rest.

I hope the FBI doesn't watch this page.

Sup FBI, my name is corco and I'm lurking this forum to find sign gantries to blow up. I've driven five states worth of state highway systems and inventoried all the shields in preparation for the greatest terrorist attack of all time.

[bugo]

Why the fuck would you make a bomb out of a sign? An effective bomb will contain shrapnel, in order to cause maximum damage.

You would have to be absolutely fucking mental, but people make bombs out of all sorts of things these days. Lots of times, they aren't necessarily looking for complete utter destruction, just a little here and there. Just enough to kill some people and panic the rest.

Nobody is going to make a bomb out of a fucking sign. It wouldn't do much except to put a dent in the sign. Quit being so juvenile.

[noelbotevera]

Why the fuck would you make a bomb out of a sign? An effective bomb will contain shrapnel, in order to cause maximum damage.

You would have to be absolutely fucking mental, but people make bombs out of all sorts of things these days. Lots of times, they aren't necessarily looking for complete utter destruction, just a little here and there. Just enough to kill some people and panic the rest.

I hope the FBI doesn't watch this page.

Sup FBI, my name is corco and I'm lurking this forum to find sign gantries to blow up. I've driven five states worth of state highway systems and inventoried all the shields in preparation for the greatest terrorist attack of all time.

I'm pretty sure the FBI respects privacy. Also, do NOT knock on the bathroom door. I'm still in there and I'm out of toilet paper.

On topic, I was only browsing (tilting my head for) old signs on Industrial Drive in Chambersburg (no pictures), but then a cop just pulled us over for minor things (well, vehicle insurance was something).

[kurumi]

Why the fuck would you make a bomb out of a sign?

That's as ludicrous as making a bomb out of a shoe, or a bottle of water you brought in from Costco and didn't pay $3 for.

People do shoot at signs (usually bullets; I haven't seen a sign with an arrow sticking out of it); it's not inconceivable that someone would blow up a "Speed Limit 55" sign because yeehaw freedom.

[Truvelo]

Why the fuck would you make a bomb out of a sign?

That's as ludicrous as making a bomb out of a shoe

But that's exactly what someone did.

[iBallasticwolf2]

Why the fuck would you make a bomb out of a sign?

That's as ludicrous as making a bomb out of a shoe

But that's exactly what someone did.

If you can easily carry something you can make it a bomb.

[jakeroot]

Nobody is going to make a bomb out of a fucking sign. It wouldn't do much except to put a dent in the sign. Quit being so juvenile.

I'm not saying it's likely. I'm just saying it's possible.

[SignGeek101]

People make bombs to get past airport security using the most odd things (the back part of a shoe etc). I think people could make a bomb out of a sign, but it doesn't make sense to. What am I going to do, bomb a gantry on a major highway and tie up traffic for an hour? Wow... pretty damaging.

[dfwmapper]

Except road signs. What we, as roadgeeks do, is strange and odd. Things that are strange and odd are indicative of suspicious activity.

Acting strangely or oddly is not necessarily indicative of someone participating in illegal activity.  Taking a picture of a sign may be strange or odd, but it's not indicative of anything illegal and is therefore, not something to warrant serious suspicion of nefarious behavior.

No one is saying it should warrant serious suspicion of nefarious behavior. But that also isn't the standard that needs to be met for a police officer to ask you a simple question. Cop is driving by at 55mph, sees someone pulled over on the side of the highway with some unidentified object in their hand, pointing it at the sign. Maybe it's a camera, maybe it's a pistol, maybe it's a can of spray paint, who knows. Worth taking 30 seconds to pull over and ask what they're doing. Not enough to hassle them or tell them to leave or even ask them for their ID, but enough to ask a question. Or are cops not allowed to talk to anyone who they haven't seen commit a crime?

[jeffandnicole]

Except road signs. What we, as roadgeeks do, is strange and odd. Things that are strange and odd are indicative of suspicious activity.

Acting strangely or oddly is not necessarily indicative of someone participating in illegal activity.  Taking a picture of a sign may be strange or odd, but it's not indicative of anything illegal and is therefore, not something to warrant serious suspicion of nefarious behavior.

No one is saying it should warrant serious suspicion of nefarious behavior. But that also isn't the standard that needs to be met for a police officer to ask you a simple question. Cop is driving by at 55mph, sees someone pulled over on the side of the highway with some unidentified object in their hand, pointing it at the sign. Maybe it's a camera, maybe it's a pistol, maybe it's a can of spray paint, who knows. Worth taking 30 seconds to pull over and ask what they're doing. Not enough to hassle them or tell them to leave or even ask them for their ID, but enough to ask a question. Or are cops not allowed to talk to anyone who they haven't seen commit a crime?

The object in the hand could be someone taking a picture...or it could be someone trying to look at a text and is holding the phone in such a manner where it appears they are taking a picture of a sign.  But in reality, the motorist is broken down, and would welcome a cop to pull up and offer assistance. 

[jakeroot]

What am I going to do, bomb a gantry on a major highway and tie up traffic for an hour? Wow... pretty damaging.

A coordinated attack could damage cars below the sign as well. And as we've learned from Boston, any bombing resulting in the death of even only a few civilians is not taken lightly.

[iBallasticwolf2]

What am I going to do, bomb a gantry on a major highway and tie up traffic for an hour? Wow... pretty damaging.

A coordinated attack could damage cars below the sign as well. And as we've learned from Boston, any bombing resulting in the death of even only a few civilians is not taken lightly.

Or it could destroy pavement. And if the US is trying to move Military Vehicles down it then they are stuck and then it might give terroists the oppurtunity to bomb something much larger.

Much detail. How deep. Very concerning. Such unsure. Wow

[Mergingtraffic]

This happened to me yesterday, taking a pic of a sign on the shoulder of a road and a cop was in an adjacent parking lot and said what are you doing?
I responded taking a pic of a sign and said crazy right?
He responded no weird.
He then told me to be careful and that was that.

[corco]

What am I going to do, bomb a gantry on a major highway and tie up traffic for an hour? Wow... pretty damaging.

A coordinated attack could damage cars below the sign as well. And as we've learned from Boston, any bombing resulting in the death of even only a few civilians is not taken lightly.

At some point though, as a country we need to know where to draw the line between being completely paranoid and perserving some semblance of freedom to exist. I feel like assuming that people standing with an object in their hand near a sign are mounting bombs to sign gantries, when that's a really stupid place to put a bomb, is on the tin-foil hat side of that line. Even if not a bomb, there is no realistic reason to believe that somebody standing by a sign with ANYTHING in their hands represents a risk to life, which is why I say that if a cop is suspicious, they should note the license plate and move on.

We can come up with absurd hypotheticals for anything. A person walking down the street at a suspicious pace with something in their hand might have a vial of anthrax in their hand. If I drive down the street in my car and stop abruptly, it might have a Back to the Future 2 style hover conversion on it so that I can fly it into a building 9/11 style. If I like to watch airplanes, I might be radioing somebody down the street who has a bazooka so that they can shoot down the plane. A black guy walking through a rich white neighborhood admiring the houses is probably casing the homes so that he can rape all the women in them later.  If I'm standing by a road sign with something in my hand, I might be strapping a bomb to it.

We're never going to live in a world without evil. People will die at the hands of others. No matter how many police there are, this will continue to happen. Is the pursuit of an evil-free world worth the annoyance of assuming that everybody doing anything even slightly unusual (but with no semblance of evidence they could be doing something illegal) is a terrorist?

[hbelkins]

Bombs are only allowed on Clearview signs, right? 

[DeaconG]

What am I going to do, bomb a gantry on a major highway and tie up traffic for an hour? Wow... pretty damaging.

A coordinated attack could damage cars below the sign as well. And as we've learned from Boston, any bombing resulting in the death of even only a few civilians is not taken lightly.

At some point though, as a country we need to know where to draw the line between being completely paranoid and perserving some semblance of freedom to exist. I feel like assuming that people standing with an object in their hand near a sign are mounting bombs to sign gantries, when that's a really stupid place to put a bomb, is on the tin-foil hat side of that line. Even if not a bomb, there is no realistic reason to believe that somebody standing by a sign with ANYTHING in their hands represents a risk to life, which is why I say that if a cop is suspicious, they should note the license plate and move on.

We can come up with absurd hypotheticals for anything. A person walking down the street at a suspicious pace with something in their hand might have a vial of anthrax in their hand. If I drive down the street in my car and stop abruptly, it might have a Back to the Future 2 style hover conversion on it so that I can fly it into a building 9/11 style. If I like to watch airplanes, I might be radioing somebody down the street who has a bazooka so that they can shoot down the plane. A black guy walking through a rich white neighborhood admiring the houses is probably casing the homes so that he can rape all the women in them later.  If I'm standing by a road sign with something in my hand, I might be strapping a bomb to it.

We're never going to live in a world without evil. People will die at the hands of others. No matter how many police there are, this will continue to happen. Is the pursuit of an evil-free world worth the annoyance of assuming that everybody doing anything even slightly unusual (but with no semblance of evidence they could be doing something illegal) is a terrorist?

Gawd, someone with common sense.  There's gotta be a law against that somewhere! 

[jeffandnicole]

At some point though, as a country we need to know where to draw the line between being completely paranoid and perserving some semblance of freedom to exist.

You're using a public website to voice your opinion without retribution. You're walking out your front door, driving, and no one is stopping you.  You probably take thousands of pictures, and no one bats an eye.

I think you have just about an unlimited amount of freedom.  The paranoia comes from people wanting to believe their lives are being disrupted, even though they have never been disrupted, or out of fear that they will be disrupted.

A few decades ago, people's lives were disrupted all the time for little things.  Today, people have way more freedoms than they ever have, and almost every minor wrong is ignored.  People don't want big brother watching them, yet, they are more than willing to pull out their cell phone and record everyone else's actions. People complain more today about their lack of freedom than ever before, even though you'll be hard pressed to find anything that prohibits their freedom. 

[Pete from Boston]

This is the Castor Bean plant, grown wild and in gardens worldwide (mine included) for its showy foliage and attractive fruits.



It is also is the producer of the deadly poison ricin, of which less than 2mg will kill you.  Ricin is used periodically by assassins, nutjobs, and terrorists.  Someone mailed the president some a few years ago. 

Somehow we're able to live comfortably as a society without harassing people who grow deadly poison because it looks nice.  Why can't we achieve the same with people taking pictures?

[roadman65]

At some point though, as a country we need to know where to draw the line between being completely paranoid and perserving some semblance of freedom to exist.

You're using a public website to voice your opinion without retribution. You're walking out your front door, driving, and no one is stopping you.  You probably take thousands of pictures, and no one bats an eye.

I think you have just about an unlimited amount of freedom.  The paranoia comes from people wanting to believe their lives are being disrupted, even though they have never been disrupted, or out of fear that they will be disrupted.

A few decades ago, people's lives were disrupted all the time for little things.  Today, people have way more freedoms than they ever have, and almost every minor wrong is ignored.  People don't want big brother watching them, yet, they are more than willing to pull out their cell phone and record everyone else's actions. People complain more today about their lack of freedom than ever before, even though you'll be hard pressed to find anything that prohibits their freedom. 

We Americans, I have to admit, do take our freedoms for granted.  Why else do other countries want to cross our borders and come live here?  We can go to these other countries where might makes right and see how your moves are even more policed.  We still have it good for now!

[kkt]

Why else do other countries want to cross our borders and come live here?

It's pretty easy to get a job that will support yourself and allow you to send money home, if you're willing to do dirty work.

[SignGeek101]

Bombs are only allowed on Clearview signs, right? 

Nope. Helvetica.

This is the Castor Bean plant, grown wild and in gardens worldwide (mine included) for its showy foliage and attractive fruits.



It is also is the producer of the deadly poison ricin, of which less than 2mg will kill you.  Ricin is used periodically by assassins, nutjobs, and terrorists.  Someone mailed the president some a few years ago. 

Somehow we're able to live comfortably as a society without harassing people who grow deadly poison because it looks nice.  Why can't we achieve the same with people taking pictures?

Excellent example. But I doubt this plant is as common for murders etc, as other types of poison, so it isn't looked at by authorities. I don't know much about it though.