Crooked Cops
 

I'm not exactly sure if this goes here but whatever, anyways my friend drives a modified car and was at a red light and when the light turned green, he had a lead foot and stomped on the gas. by the time he got to the other side of the intersection, a police officer (pig) pulled him over for speeding and told my friend that he caught him doing 160km/h on the radar meanwhile my friend was only in 2nd gear and that gear cannot hit 160, he was actually doing 80km/h and gave him a $960 ticket with 6 points and 1 year suppession.
I told my friend that he should've asked to see the radar but he said that he was scared and forgot to. The cop was also giving him problems with his car saying that some parts were illegal meanwhile infact they are completely legal parts.
I also drive a modified car and in 1 week i got pulled over twice, once was because my friend and i were driving around (not breaking any laws or speeding), i was infront of him and all of a sudden some idiot in a car flew by us but the 2 cruisers that saw this let him go and came up behind US and pulled us over. The Sergant mister big shot came up to me and said that he thought we were "racing" and asked me if we were, i told him no and said how come the person not too far up ahead wasn't pulled over. He just looked at me and walked away. Then he searched my car for illegal parts which i don't have on my car. Clearly he was just trying to bust our balls because we had nice rides. The second time i got pulled over was legitimate and my mistake, when i got my car i didn't notice that the signal lights were actually blue and so i got a $110 ticket for having illegal blue flashing lights which are suppose to be for snow vehicles only which the charge was taken down and i gave the dealership some shit for it which they apologized and changed the lights for free... that had nothing to do with this thread....
If any of you guys have any pig stories like this spill it....

Well, your friend gunned it infront of a cop. It's his own fault he got that ticket, there's no need for reckless driving on public streets, it's dangerous, there are other people are driving too.

I hope you were well aware when you bought your riced out car that you were a flashing light for cops...

i would assume his problem with you is not that you have a "nice ride", more the fact that the police regularly have to clean up the result of fast and furious wannabes wrapping their "nice rides" around property or innocent bystanders.

and may i add, you use of the word "pig" only stands to reinforce and justify your well reasoned and mature argument.

Oh please, the traffic laws in this country (US) are not designed to promote safety but rather to raise revenue and control people. Speeding is not an inherently dangerous activity! Driving drunk or stupid is, but speeding is not.

The best way to stick it to the man in these situations is to fight the ticket as hard as you can in court. Yes it will cost you money, and you'll probably lose, but as long as the man can make money off tickets he will continue to issue them. Only when enough people jam up the court system fighting these bullshit charges will the man stop to reconsider. I know it's a tough call to make sometimes, that's why cops often lower the speeding charge to a lesser charge (failure to obey traffic control device anyone?), because they know you are less likely to fight the lower charge. That equals money in their pocket. Traffic citations justify a whole ridculous judicial system that only exists to perpetuate itself. Traffic safety is not an issue! If the government gave a shit about safety (and really believed that speeding was dangerous) they would require governors to be installed on all cars. That they don't means either:

a. They recognize that there is no causitive link between speeding and harm, and want the revenue such citations bring in, or

b. They actually want you to die.

Before this gets too hateful please understand that I am sure there are some great cops out there who hold high ideals and uphold the law, doing their very best to protect and serve.

But there are also some real scumbags out there. We've all seen COPS! on TV where the cops are shown in a positive light, but there are other videos out there, that will never appear on television. I remember seeing one during a poli-sci course in college. Internal Affairs had hidden a camera in an interrogation room to watch the cops question people. The shit these cops pulled, not just physical abuse (although there was plenty of that) but serious intimidation.

"Confess, or we'll arrest your mother." I remember seeing that and just thinking, what a fucking scumbag to threaten this schmuck's mother. I admit I don't know if the suspect was in on kiddie porn or drug smuggling or whatever, but that is still an incredibly uncool way to treat people.

There are just as many fucking assholes in the police department as there are anywhere else, wearing a badge doesn't make them moral and right.

Anyway, sorry about the rant. And before you ask, yes, I got a speeding citation once in the past that suspended my license for a month and I am still bitter about it.

Play with fire...and you get burned.
Conversely, flout the law and thumb your nose at the world...you're gonna get all the respect that you deserve.
Yeah...that must have been it. :rolleyes:

While I agree with other psoters that you kinda played with fire there, I also wonder where's the sense of justice.
If your friend was recklessly driving in a public street, he should have been charged for that, NOT for a speed he didn't do or illegal parts that were legal (IF indeed those parts were legal.. you weren't very detailed there).

Playing with fire doesn't justify ANY punishment, I don't think it's justified to say "Well you played dumb, so you derved it"

If there is one thing I have learned from dealing with cops, is to always defend yourself (if you're in the right), and always, always, ALWAYS get their badge number. Many times cops only scribble on the tickets so that you can't read anything, so always ask to see their badge and write the numbers down. And when you do that, let LEO know that you plan to complain to their superior.

And always be courteous. How is it going to look when they watch the tape from the police cruiser and you're acting like a prick? If you are courteous and polite, you will have a much better case in court.

And if you get physically harrassed, sue the pants off of them.

And if you go to court, ALWAYS DRESS NICELY.

EDIT: oh yeah, and recognize that if you're in a neon colored car that sounds like a weed eater, you're a huge bulls eye. So always go the speed limit. Your friend is a dumbass for driving like that when he is driving a car that screams, "PULL ME OVER!"

yes i was well aware of everything and my friend doesn't drive like that all of the time as i also don't drive like a idiot how someone said "whiping around bystandards" i was just driving like a normal person when the other person should've gotten pulled over because he was doing at least 30km over the speed limit and yet i was the one who got pulled over for nothing because the stupid cop thought that i was "racing" meanwhile doing the speed limit....hhhhhmmmm....let me think about that one....

I remember reading a book a while back written by a highway patrolman. He said that the highway patrolmen are like predators and we are the prey. And just like predators they will go after the easiest targets. That explains why when a group of cars are speeding they don't necessarily go after the worse offender but the easiest target.

Among some of the tips he gave was to find out when the shift change was in your area since most of them tried to meet their quota during the first part of their shift so they could take it easy for the remainder. He also said that no matter what they say there is a quota, if you don't give enough tickets you will hear about it from your superiors.

Needless to say, spinning out in front of one of these guys is almost surely going to get their attention.

So your friend got up to almost 50 mph (80km/h) in the time it took him to cross an intersection? If nothing else that's reckless endangerment. You should know better than to do stupid shit in front of cops.

On the other hand, I firmly believe that the vast majority of speeding tickets are useless for anything other than revenue enhancement, and would like to offer a suggestion. The K40 radar detector and laser jammers can save you from a lot of highway tickets. http://www.k40.com/Products/Radar/Un...ualRemote.html If it's legal in your local area, the site lists local shops that can install it for you. Expect to spend $300-400 for the front/rear laser jammer and radar detector setup.

i know that he was being reckless and an idiot and yes i agree with u in that part but i'm looking at the moral of how the cop was trying to make him lose his license and charge him unfairly....oh by the way the speed limit in that zone was 70km/h so my friend was only going over by 10km which is what everyone does in that area anyways....but i just thought that it was really unfair how the cop was trying to charge him for doing 160km.

My recent cop fun, was a cop who saw me doing doughnuts in an empty icy parking lot. I saw him, and immediately stopped, and rolled down my window. He stormed up to my window and said "Do you want to lose your license today?"

I said "How?"

"That's an exhibition of speed I can give you a 12 point ticket?"

While handing my information to the officer, "Exhibition of speed for doing 10mph in an abandoned parking lot?"

He didn't say anything, stormed back to his patrol car. After 15 minutes he slowly walked back to my door, and handed me the ticket, "I'm being nice on you and just giving you a 4 point Careless Driving ticket". I'll accept that, I'll still fight it in court, but not as adamently as a 12 point Exhibition of Speed.

I wished the cop well in saving the world that day and went my way.

Sadly, I've delt with enough cops to know that having your information easily accessible and ready before they even get to your door, and politely questioning them when they say something ridiculous to start the accusations (POLITE, not SNIDE!). Know your rights!! If they ask to search your vehicle, know if you have the right to deny them or not, and demand they show a warrant if they persist. Save the snide remarks for after they have given you your "punishment", or keep them to yourself completely.

And lastly, become friends with a middle-aged single lawyer who considers taking him to Hooters for some pitchers and hotwings every so often good enough as payment to represent you for these silly traffic violations.

Oh, one last thing, tell your friend if he wants to have a lead foot at a light make it one on a drag strip. In my town it's getting to the point where it seems there's a cop at every intersection, and I'm amazed at the amount of younger drivers I hear while eating out on a Saturday night who say "Oh, it's time to go race on (Main Strip of town)!"

I slammed my first car into a retaining wall and sent my best friend to the hospital for nine days with a supposed eight-inch hole ripped into his diaphragm. Speeding on the highway at midnight with no one around, and I took a soft curve too fast.

I've never gotten a speeding ticket in my life, nor have I driven drunk or high, but I learned. And I hope you never have to learn it like I did.

"Speeding is not an inherently dangerous activity!"
Does anyone want proof of this? Go to Germany. Enjoy the Autobahn. After paying out of my nose for a license, I was able to rent a BMW and drive it. I still to this day never pass on the right. Ever. I did see a few Porsches and Mercs pass me at brake-neck speeds. BTW, Germany has the safest highway system in the world.

-Journeyman: First off, that sucks. Auto accedents can be the most frightening experience of your life. I'm sorry you have to go through that. Speed isn't to blame in your instance, though. It shouds like you were just a little inexperienced to me (certianally not your fault).

People actually practice their driving skills while on the autobahn. No cell phones, coffee cups, hamburgers etc... It is serious driving for serious people. When there is an accident, it is pretty henious.

Driving a modified car can lead to high insurance rates, license suspension due to vehicle profiling. Police officers get briefed on items to focus on while on watch. If you give them a reason to stop you, they will, and warnings are not likely to happen. It is like wearing a sign that says "Hit Me" and complaining when you get punched.

There is a huge difference between speeding on a freeway and speeding in a downtown area (somewhere with traffic lights). I was nearly hit last night by someone speeding through a traffic light. If that light changes faster than you can brake, or if someone pulls out of a blind interesection or driveway, you can have a really shitty day from that point on.

Thats not to say speeding on the freeway is safe either. If you are going much faster than the flow of traffic and for some reason someone pulls into your lane, it's going to be that much harder to stop in time and not cause an accident or multiple accidents.

Imagine if you were a police officer. Your job is to "protect and serve" and your life is always in jeapardy every day of your job. Now, while on duty, you have a riced out car gun it in front of you. You pull him over. What is wrong about that?

We have a guy who thought a cop was an asshole simply because he is reinforcing the rules about spinning your car around in an ICY parking lot. Would if he lost control and went onto the street?

All you gotta do is FOLLOW THE RULES. If you do not like getting speeding tickets, do not speed, or move to Germany and drive the autobahn. The "man" will not change and you will always get speeding tickets. Cops are not assholes. You are probably the asshole to the cop as you fall into the category of the ricer who thinks cops are against him and all cops are pigs.
Just chill out and obey the laws.

There's a lot of issues that have been brought up in this thread, but something to think about:

1) Speed Limits are posted for a reason. Sure, you friend was ONLY going 10 over, and I can understand how you feel the officer was not justified for quoting a largely different speed than what your friend says he was going, but the point is, he was still speeding . The speed limits are *supposed* to help keep driving safer by making the speeds match the driving conditions.

2) When you drive a car that draws attention, both good and bad, you bring a lot more scrutiny, even if you're not doing anything wrong. If you can't handle the responsibility and attention, then change the paint of your car, take the wing off, take the stickers off. Blend in.

3) I'm friends with several police officers, and the reason they took their job in the first place is because they care about people and want to make a difference. From what they've told me, In their mind, this is how the equation looks: a) He can give you a ticket, which you're not happy about, but will maybe make you think twice about doing the activity that caused the ticket or b) he can not give you the ticket, but then may have to deal with something much more tragic and costly if there's an accident, and people get hurt. $100 vs somone losing a life, car getting totaled. So while the tickets may be bringing in revenue, see that revenue as the price to pay for staying alive as you drive on the roads. At least that's how I see it.

As Arroe said, there are other people on the road. Throwing televisions out of a forty storey building is not dangerous either, as long as no one is standing underneath, but why would you take the risk of someone suddenly appearing "from nowehere" on the sidewalk. There is no way on earth that a speeding driver can anticipate every move every other driver is going to make. And don't rule out pedestrians either. No one can be sure that there won't be someone crossing the road ahead. Children don't know how to aniticipate lunacy.

And it doesn't matter how competent you think you are, speed limits are set to allow for any possiblity, to give you time to stop and to avoid hazards and to stop you causing danger to others, even if they have put themselves unwittingly in your path.

Even though i said that our cars are modified, it doesn't mean that we are all flashy with decals, wings, body kits, wtc.... we only have engine work, lowering kits and rims and tires..... sorry i probably should've said that in the beginning....

This does not matter. A cop can spot a ricer from far away and they know what they like to do...speed. The cops do not make the laws, they do not interpret the laws, they enforce them. If you are unsatisfied with the current judicial system, either move, or talk to your legislator.

In the words of Jay and Silent Bob; fuck the police, fuck fuck fuck the police, yeah yeah fuck the police, fuck fuck fuck the police, yeah fuck em.

I live in a town with such a low crime rate and such a big police force. A cops job is basically handing out tickets and fucking with people in the town I live in, it sucks. Then I go into providence or a town with more crime and cops are actually going after criminals, its a wierd change.

There are many towns where people would love to have your "problem". Having too many police officers is a rare "problem" indeed.

If you give a police officer a reason to give you a ticket and they do, where does the fault lie? Traffic laws are in place to promote safety. Giving a person a ticket enables the law enforcement (and insurance companies) people a method of tracking a person that commits unsafe acts. When you lose too many points, then you will get the option of riding a bike or walking. Yes, it is true, "The Man" is out to get you.

Nonsense, speed limits are supposed to raise revenues. I noticed you put supposed in quotation marks. There's a reason you felt compelled to do that, you know it's bullshit.

I'm sure such people exist. But can you really deny that there are also cops who look to bust chops and require people to respect their authority? I don't know what the ratio of good cops to scumbags is, but to deny that either group exists is naive.

Dude, that was NWA as quoted by Jay and Silent Bob.

Tickets get handed out when a law is broken. Criminals are people who break the law. The police officers in your town who are handing out tickets are, in fact, going after criminals. Personally I'd rather live in a town with lots of police officers and low crime rates than high crime rates and not enough police officers. Besides...if you're not doing anything wrong, there really should not be any reason for concern.

I'd take an overzealous police force over the lazy one we've got here. Recently an underage girl drove through the window at a convenience store my brother was working at. She had open beer cans and pot in her truck. The police arrived, looked over the scene and told my brother and his manager that since the store and parking lot were private property they couldn't do anything about it and left. The girl got off with a "Drive more carefully"

Lol yeah people who go 35 in a 25 are criminals, give me a break poeple. Cops are douche bags in my town, they absolutely nothing to do so they give poeple tickets. Have any of you guys every tried going 25 mph down a perfectly straight road about a mile long down a hill. I should also note they go around harassing kids in our town. One time some of my friends and myself were playing hacky sack in a parking lot outside a laundry mat at around 10 or 11 at night when a cop stops and searches us for hand guns. We don't have a god damn hand gun problem in our town so why should we get fucked around with for doing nothing. His excuse was they had heard guns going off the nights before, this was a day or 2 after the 4th of july.

Edit: I should note that not all the cops are assholes, some of them don't care about kids smoking a joint at the park or a house party with a bunch of college kids, but most do. I find the older a cop gets the cooler he is.

I've noticed an attitude a lot of people have about cops: Never close by when you need them, always too close when you don't want to see them.

Put your car in the right gear so you don't have to ride your breaks too much and you're set. It's not too hard to keep to the speed limit, is it?

The car you drive is probably just as big a factor in your getting or not getting pulled over as your road behavior.

Drive something inconspicuous. Low-class, but safe. Well-maintained, but without any obvious major alteration. Maybe a ding or two on the hood, trunk or along the side, but no windows or doors that have been smashed into inoperation. Nothing that obviously just rolled off the production line, but nothing that's clearly 40 years old either. Clean it up as much as you want, but a washing every 2 or 3 months is plenty.

It won't save you if you race through a major road, but it'll help get you looked over when the cop glances to his radar indicator and you're the 40th car to pass him by. It's more time efficient for them to pick off people who they can stick with an illegal part or a road-unsafe car in addition to the speeding ticket they can put on anyone they want to.

I don't think anyone is disputing this, what I and others are disputing is the justification for those laws. Certainly you admit there are unjust laws, yes? In some states, having oral sex is illegal, and such people are criminals. But that doesn't mean there's something morally wrong with breaking that law. Most laws, like traffic laws, are not crimes of morality, they are laws of order and control. It's all a question of how much you want to be controlled by the man.

If it meant cops busting in doors and violating civil rights under the pretense of enforcing the law, then I would rather live in the high crime area.

Wow, that sounds exactly like the justification every authoritarian asshole uses for his behaviour. The problem is that in such a state, you are always doing something wrong. Driving to work there is almost certainly something you did wrong that would justify a ticket from a cop. Did you drive a few mph over the speed limit at any time? Did you fail to use a blinker when you changed lanes? Is there something wrong with your car like a broken taillight, license plate light, etc? Did you cross the fog line or ever stray out of your lane during your trip? If you did any of these things, you are a criminal. Personally, I don't think it's important to police such activities. We spend far too much on such ineffectual law enforcement anyway and miss the bigger pictures. Put those monies and resources to better use.

Of course, I'm not advocating anarchy on the streets. If someone drives like an obnoxious goon, knocking people off the road, and causing a big mess, then yes, he should be stopped and cited. But simple speeding should not be sufficient justification.

Yeah, overzealous police forces, that's just what we need. Do you know how many rapes, assaults and the like aren't reported because of overzealous cops? Many people are afraid to come forward if they've got something to hide from the police.

I don't know what the cops deal was here. Most likely the girl was the daughter of somebody important (i.e. mayor or fellow cop), which only goes to prove how biased and ridiculous cops really are.

Um my car is automatic, so I don't know how to manually change the gear, but I'm calling bullshit on you if you really expect me to believe you obide by speed limits.

Note that on your shifter you have P, R, N D, 2 and 1. If you can shift from P to R, and from R to D, then you can shift into 2 or 1. Also, why would you call bullshit on driving the speed limit? I drive the posted speed limit. I've been driving since before many of you were born, so my skills are a little more honed. Those limits are in place for a reason. They allow for reaction time. The posted speed limit in my neighborhood is 25. With the kids that play in my neighborhood, you bet your sweet ass we take that limit very seriously.

amonkie put the word supposed surrounded by asterisks, not quotation marks. Thus giving the word emphasis. much as supposed, or even supposed. Regardless, posted speed limits, contrary to what you may believe, are not, as you say, bullshit. They are there to protect others from lead footed NASCAR, and Fast and Furious, wannabes. So, unless you have the reaction time of Jeff Gordon, and drive only in a small, confined oval area, then I suggest that you obey the posted speed limit. Otherwise, the cops are gonna do what I pay them to do. Keep buttwipes, that think they're indestructible and above the law, off the roads.

Ohh a bitch about cops doing their job thread let me try!

I once was going 65 in a 25 (just came off a highway into a small town and missed the sign) the cop gave me a ticket for 4 over! That bastard!

Once I was going 80 in a 65 and the cop wrote me a ticket for 15 over! That bastard!

Once when I was a kid I stole some candy from a store and the cops arrested me. Those bastards!

Ok i guess that's all I got.

Now I don't speed, I've leared to obey the law. Those cops did nothing wrong. Those of you who bitch about getting tickets for doing illegal things are just be obtuse. Don't speed and you won't get the tickets.

Bill O'Rights you're old so I expect you to drive the speed limit or lower and I also suspect you shouldn't be driving :) j/k of coarse

But seriously I don't know anyone who drives the speed limit on most roads. I mean of coarse when driving in a neighborhood with lots of kids and houses everywhere I'll go slow (but oh how tempted I get to run the little shits over, man I hate those kinds of neighborhoods) But I'm talking about a speed limit of 25mph on roads where its absolutely rediculous. Hell I see cops driving 35 or faster on these roads, no joke. Surely cops aren't above the law.

I'm sorry... but you all are missing an important piece to the puzzle of law enforcement.

Sometimes its the small laws that get the BIGGER busts. Many drug mules, murders, robbers, have been caught but simple things like no current registration stickers.

Heck, Joel Rifkin one of the worst mass murderers was caught because he had a broken tail light.

My mistake about the quotations/asterisks, I must have read it wrong.

If speed limits are really there to protect people, why doesn't the government require manufacturers to install governors on automobiles, preventing them from exceeding 65 mph?
The reason is that the cops, and the judicial system by extension, want you to speed. They intentionally create zones with low speed limits to raise revenue.

I submit that the reason he lowered the speed was to prevent you from fighting the ticket. If you fought it, the ticket would have cost more to him and the podunk town to convict you than if you just paid the fine.
And surely you don't think you're experiences are typical of everyone's? You must recognize that sometimes cops act like scumbags. I'm not saying they all do, I'm sure there are some decent ones; but there are also scumbag cops who enjoy punishing others, hurting them, and acting like scumbags. Whether it's sticking a plunger in a man's anus in NYC or firebombing a neighborhood in Philly, cops have done uncool shit, and they will continue to do so. Why create laws that enable them to harass you and investigate you?

Great, so the man has pounded you down and controls one more part of your life. Hey, don't get me wrong, I now obey the law too. I learned a long time ago that it's very difficult to beat the man at his own game. But that doesn't mean I applaud the man for doing his bullshit job and hurting other people.

And the fact that the cops were just following orders is no excuse. If cops enforce bullshit laws then they are bullshit cops. I have no respect for unthinking automatons who do just what they are told.

Unless you're a minority and the cops are assholes who don't like the look on your face. Then you might get a plunger in your anus, or they'll firebomb your neighborhood.

After that last post i'm beginning to think this thread should be moved to tilted paranioa

Master Shake...

You take the cake.

Remember the Officers of Law are there to enforce the laws... the Judges are there to interpret them, NOT the other way around.

Because the interstate speed limit in Nebraska is 75mph. ;)

True. So do accountants, fast food cashiers, truck drivers, along with any other group, or sub-group imaginable. Some people are asses. it matters little what they do for a living.

I guess because I present no reason to be harassed, or investigated. I want laws that protect me, my family, my neighbors and my friends from the lowest common denominators of society.

A.) "The Man" (who is that anyway?) has not pounded anyone down. Believe it or not, there are people that just want to get along in life, as friction free as possible.
B.)What game are you trying to beat "The Man" (who is this "man"?) at?
C.) Police work is not a bullshit job. We pay these men a pittance to put thier lives on the line everyday, to do a job that I was no longer willing to do (yes, I was a cop...a long time ago)

The cops are enforcing the law. That is what I pay them to do. Period. If a law is "bullshit", then lobby to have that law changed. Thumbing your nose at the world is likely to get you little more than just a bloodied nose.

You seem to have a chip on your shoulder, as it regards the police. I'm not going to pretend to know why, nor even to try to understand it. One thing that does concern me though, is that you take relatively obscure examples of the worst actions that a sworn police officer can take, and attempt to coat an entire profession with isolated incidents.

i witnessed a pretty cool thing not too long ago.


so we're taking a bit road trip, there's a bunch of us, 2 in the front, 4 piled in the back (i think there might have only been 2 rear seatbelts too)

and we're burning a few (a lot...) and whatnot, and we come to a RIDE patrol. mind you, this is a monday night (i think it was a monday) out in nowhere, not near a holiday. fairly busy street though, as it connects two main-ish country highways.


so, we roll down the windows, crank the air and we pull up to the cop. smoke still pouring out the windows...


older guy, bearded.

typical RIDE questions, but he had a very serious tone. and then he brings up the pot. we're all "shit... busted"

but, he waves us through (he noted that we were lucky we didnt get a younger cop, as they might just tear the car apart, and find something unfortunate) and told us to have a nice night.


he lowered his voice too, which i though was cool and kinda leaned into the car. i guess we didnt want to let anyone else see him let a bunch of stoned and driving while smoking teens get off so easy.

plus he said "marijuana", and pronounce the "j", and as soon as he said that, we all sort of breathed a sigh of relief in our heads. saying that, he sounded much cooler.


but here's the cool part. well, sort of.

there were still lots of cars being stopped (well every car) and the full RIDE thing going through.

so it was a case of: he could stop us, search us, charge us etc. etc. which would take a long time, and back up traffic for a long long way, or let us through and worry about the drunk drivers.

anyway.... carry on

Like Bill said, you've got more than 'Stop' and 'Go' on your automatic car, you've got the option to change gears to suit the conditions. When you put it in Drive it's best suited for average conditions, where there's a range of ups and downs, so the car goes through the motions by itself. And I don't want to sound like an asshole here, but I don't think you can call bullshit on me obeying the speed limits when you don't actually know what your own car is capable of. I've only been driving for three years, I'm only 21, but I've never been arrested, ticketed, pulled over, warned, and I've never put a single scratch on my car. I know that three years without any problems isn't a world record but nevertheless I'm still proud of it and I attribute it to paying attention, expecting other drivers to be insane and being prepared for it, and watching my speed. I'll go with the flow of traffic if they're all under the limit, but if they're all over then I'll stay at the limit.

As for why the manufacturers don't install speed limiters on their cars, I'd respond with 'Why does someone else have to keep you in check?' My oven can go up to a trillion degrees and my stereo can go up to volume 30, but I don't push it that hard because it's dangerous and unecessary. The option is there but it's my responsibility to use them responsibly, and when it comes to driving that is according to what the law says is resonsible, not what my little rebellious streak says is appropriate. So if I think I can go 80kph and the sign says 60kph, then I practice a little self control and go 60kph. Easy.

Edit: and rune, if you've never seen Super Troopers, do yourself a favor and rent it :thumbsup: 'Littering and... littering and... littering and...'

Wow we have the only 2 people in the world who go by speed limits who aren't drunk or stoned out of their mind. Ok so maybe you go the speed limit, but I'd bet 95% of drivers don't, you can't say 95% of people who drive are criminals, including cops who enforce the laws. Hell I see cops break more traffic laws then I see citizens breaking them.

Edit: oh btw I've been driving for close to 3 years myself, and I've gotten 0 tickets and got into 1 minor accident which wasn't my fault at all, and it happend to be a friend who reared into me so no insurance or cops were even involved. You don't need to go the speed limit to react quickly enough to avoid accidents, you need to pay attention to the road is all.

"Remember the Officers of Law are there to enforce the laws... the Judges are there to interpret them, NOT the other way around."

ding. you nailed it.

I don't understand how people can hate cops so much. I really don't.

I rarely, rarely speed. I always use my signals. I have never been pulled over and, therefore, never have had a ticket.

Follow traffic laws and you won't have a problem.

And speed limits are for safety. Think about school zones, residential areas, and downtown areas. And it's been proven many times that the faster someone drives the more likely it is they will get in an accident.

Driving is one of the activities where everyone thinks they are above average.

that is y u dun understand...

i'm still on my 2 year probationary license, and because of that alot of cops c the "P" plate and pull u ova. so i know alot of them can b asses, thinkin they r top shit.


neway, continue with the discussion... i just felt i had to comment on that.

Actually in Australia, particularly in the state where Rlyss and I are from, 90-95% go at or below the speed limit even though they are generally set too low. You can get a ticket for going 3kph (yes thats <2mph) over the limit and there are mobile speed cameras all over the place that will take your photo and send you a fine a month later ($128 for <10kph (6mph)) over the speed limit and alot worse for anything higher. I have a radar detector turned on most of the time, but I still go the speed limit because that's what the flow of traffic is doing.

Police have a tough job. Seeing as they spend the majority of their time dealing with people that are doing something wrong, any tolerance they may have started out with has probably long worn off. They would hear so much crap that I find it hard to believe that they can start every confrontation(which is what it often is) with an open and fair mind.

Having said that, you would have to be blind to not see how much speed enforcement is really just one big cash cow.

I also live in Australia and am astounded by how many speed cameras, radar traps etc. are used here. There are more of these than there are drink driving tests performed each year. Doesn't that say something? And the speed cameras here are mounted in vehicles that have to be monitored by an officer. So we have one cop, wasting hours on end sitting in a vehicle on the side of the road. Couldn't these people be better utilised? Solving crimes, doing neighborhood patrols etc!

It must frustrate them as well. Governments dictate what is required and they have to enforce it.

And for those of you that are pointing the finger and saying it's the original poster's own fault for driving a "riced" car. Does he not have the right to drive a legal, modified vehicle? Does he not have the right to be treated fairly, honestly and equally?

Just because someone drives a nice car doesn't mean they are automatically law breakers. Kind of like how just because someone is a cop doesn't mean they are automatically a wanker.

Think of the situation as if you were a police officer.
You pull people over everyday and get to hear people's bullshit excuses as to why they had the right to enfanger other people's lives and speed. The laws are put their for a purpose. You know the laws, so why blatantly violate them? Use your turn signals always, and drive under 7mph over the speed limit (which is almost always the threshold for speeding). Speed limit is 60mph, and you are going 67mph, 98% of cops will not pull you over. Cops ARE NOT assholes, they just deal with assholes every day.

Cheers slimshaydee, I didn't even think to mention that in my opinion people don't generally drive over the limit. Like fluster also said, we've got an astounding number of speed cameras here and while many get fined for speeding, if the limit is 60kph the flow of traffic is generally just that. Maybe in some parts of the US it is different but here you're likely going to stand out like a sore thumb if you're going over.

As for driving a rice car, I sit on the fence. On the one hand if the car has no illegal modifications then it shouldn't be treated any different to a regular family station wagon. But on the other hand, as shitty as it may be, if you dress like a millionaire and stand alone in alley on the wrong side of the tracks, or if you dress in more makeup than clothes and stand on a street corner at the end of that alleyway, don't be surprised at the type of attention you get. Both ways of dressing are perfectly legal but if you stand out, you stand out, and you attract certain people or attention because of how you appear. Good or bad, it's the way it is.

I think its sad there are people out there driving cars who dont know how to change the gears on an automatic....jesus christ.

Lump me in the with BOR...I drive the speed limit....I dont drive if I've had more than one glass of wine and havent driven stoned since I was a teenager. Guess what....I have no cop stories and nothing to bitch about either.

well thats not true....I did get a ticket many years ago for getting in a turn lane to early, and I did, there was a broken down travel trailer in my lane and I was going to be turning anyway, so I went around it in the turn lane...my fault...thats illegal and I knew it. Politely accepted the ticket, went to court, explained the situation and was exonerated.

None of you have responded to the fact that I see cops breaking these retarded traffic laws you guys love so much. I'll see a cop speed down a slow road with his or her lights on and pass everyone in traffic, then when they get to the front they turn the lights off and just go back to a normal speed, I've seen cops run red lights, run stop signs and pull some straight up retarded moves on the road. If I'm gonna get these stupid tickets (luckily I havn't yet) then I hope I can be a civilian police and ticket the pigs in my town.

Until cops stop giving people bullshit for speeding, or partying or doing drugs or whatever else none crimes they give people shit for and actually concentrate there effort on the real criminals, I won't have much respect for the cops, in fact I disrespect cops.

Again not all cops are bad, but too many of them are for me to like the cops at all.

the nation have laws, the police enforce those laws. so to a police officer, a crime is a crime, whether it be speeding or shooting. in both cases they have to enforce the law against this activity which by the laws of the society are deemed illegal.

are you too fucking doped up and stupid to see that if a police officer starts to define what is and is not illegal, we will all be a lot worse off?

What if a guy raped your mother, but, oh guess what, the guy is the investigating officers friend... so, oh, well, its just bending the rules isnt it, not a "real" crime....

People generally have one bad experience with a police officer and then forever label them as pigs. If you see a cop run a red light with his lights on, report his license plate number, or car number to the local police station and tell his superior.

How do you know the cops who did this didn't have a legitimate reason to do this?

What would be a ligitimate reason to get to the head of traffic and then slow down to about the speed of traffic? The legitimate reason would be to catch the big bad criminal who was going 40 in a 25, on a road in which everyone goes at least 30, many go as fast as 45 on it.

And Nowthen I'm not sure who you're comments were dirrected at but personal insults aren't tolerated on this board.

I don't want cops not enforcing good laws, and in fact speed laws aren't really a bad thing, they are just too low and it gives cops an easy excuse to pull someone over and dick around with them, and these people are usually not bad people, and imo shouldn't have to pay a fine of which is a whole one of my paychecks and could hurt more then you guys might know.

One time I was driving home at 2 or 3am and I see a cop, so I slow down to about 30 in a 25, there was no point in trying to go 25 because it would be obvious I slammed my breaks to avoid being pulled over, so the cop follows me and pulls me over. He says he pulled me over because the light on my back lisence plate was out. He checks my lisence, comes back and tells me I'm free to go, doesn't even tell me to fix the light. It's little things like that which piss me off. Sure I didn't get in any trouble, but I don't want to have to deal with police who see a teenaged kid and assume he's probably drunk, so he just comes up with some bullshit reason to pull me over and check up on me.

Well a legitimate reason could be a need to get closer to a crime scene fast but not loud so they don't alert the criminals.

But weren't you still speeding? 30 in a 25 zone is speeding, right? And isn't it a requirement that you have working lights on your car, including the licence plate light? Now I admit that if he pulled you over for speeding then he should have told you that, so perhaps he didn't even notice, but I"d have thought that the busted light was enough? And once he's told you that it's out I wouldn't think he'd have to say 'Fix it', perhaps that's more courtesy.

The cops assigned to investigate murders and rapists do their jobs and the cops assigned to traffic duty do theirs.

It was quite obvious to me he didn't really pull me over because my light was out, he pulled me over to check up on me. I'm done with this thread, the topic is getting old, you'll always defend the cops, I'll always hate cops that enforce imo stupid laws.

As many of you know, I am a cop... or a pig, "the man", corrupt... whatever else you want to call me. I have resisted posting in this thread because I take all this shit personally, but I feel the need to respond.

First, The_wall, in reference to your question: Many times when there is a "hot call", a call that requires lights and sirens, dispatch will send several cars to the scene. Once the first car gets there and determines that whatever is going on does not need an emergency response, he or she will advise the other cars to slow their response, or to disregard responding completely. In those times, I'll be running with lights and sirens to a call, and when I'm told to disregard, I'll shut off my emergency equipment and return to regular patrol.

Now, in reference to those who say that I write tickets for revenue reasons, I say "Kiss my ass." I have no quotas, no expectations, and nothing happens to me if I write one ticket or if I write one hundred tickets. I don't see any extra cash in the paycheck if I write you a ticket, if I write you a warning, or if I cut you lose with a verbal warning. So now the question is: why do you write tickets. I write tickets because I honestly believe that speed limits are there for a reason. An accident at 25mph and an accident at 40mph are entirely different. I've studied the physics behind vehicle accidents and the speeds at which they occur. Whether or not you agree is trivial. The government has set the speed limit, and they've told me that part of my duty is to enforce it.

For every person that complains that we have better things to do than to set up "speed traps", there is a person who is complaining about the cars that are racing up and down their streets. For every person that complains that we speed as we drive down the street, there are people who complain that it took us 20 minutes to respond when they called us. For every person who complains about us doing whatever, there are people who complain that we aren't doing enough of it. There would be no way to do my job effectively and please everyone who thinks they know how to do my job better than I do. Everyone has their view of how law enforcement should behave, and quite often it is the people who get caught doing what they shouldn't be doing that have the loudest voice of all.

To those who support us, I thank you.

fhqwhgads thanks for the insight. Every group of people no matter how you divide them will always have their assholes and cops would be no exception from this. However just because you may get a few asshole cops doesn't mean all cops are, that's just like saying you had one boss who abused his power and is an asshole and therefore all bosses are going to abuse their power and be assholes. I was at a pub a few weeks ago talking to a few cops who had just rocked up to break up a fight and they weren't assholes out to get me and throw me in jail. They were nice people.

fhqwhgads I can honestly say that even if I dont agree with a cop I always show him as much respect as I can if I am in a situation where I have to deal with one, you guys put your life on the line every single day for the community and if nothing else THAT in and of itself DESERVES my respect.

There are cops that get killed helping stranded motorists by stupid drivers who thought nothing of some laws, because in their opinion they were stupid, there are cops that get killed going after the so called "real criminals, such as Officer Christopher Ruse, who was killed December 29th after a high speed chase led to a shootout, this was a man that had retired from one department and was talked into joining another smaller one
http://www.11alive.com/news/news_art...?storyid=56952

Cops do and see things that most of the "public" doesnt know about

I will never understand why people get aggravated with cops for enforcing a law, it doesnt matter if THEY think its stupid or not

/end rambling cause Im pissed off about some comments

!!! So you mean it's possible that people can disagree about what the maximum speed one drives should be! I think this proves my point exactly, and only goes to show how ridiculous and arbitrary most speed limits are.

I have tried to continually point out that I'm sure there are some good cops out there. But there are also some scumbags. And when you give a group of people power over you I think it's best to a) limit the number of scumbags who have the power, and b) limit the power the scumbags have. Those laws you treasure that are so well-enforced by Joe Friday are peverted by others.

I guess I should have been more clear, writing parking or speeding tickets is a bullshit job. Sure, enforcing laws against terrorism and murder are important jobs and I'm glad someone does them.

And again, please don't misunderstand me, I am not going to start a revolution. I recognize my limitations and see that I don't control the world. I'm not trying to encourage people to break the law by speeding. I'm just writing out my thoughts and feelings. We should all obey the law and do as we are told, there's no real alternative anyway. But it doesn't mean I have to like it.

I don't think that it's all that arbitrary. Let's face it...there's a huge difference in driving Nebraska's long, straight stretch of I-80, with the next set of tail light literaly miles ahead, than say...oh, Pennsylvania's twisty windy assed stretch of the same I-80. Different conditions call for different speed limits.

See...I don't see it as a "bullshit" job. We, as a society, need men and women who are thick skinned enough (thanks, fhqwhgads) to do this thankless, abuse generating, job. Without them, people are going to drive 45 in a 25, which is the speed limit in a residential area, by the way. People are going to park in the fire lane at your local grocery store. If some cops are assholes, and there most certainly are some, then I submit that it's because they themselves are surrounded by nothing but the bottom of societys barrell, day in, and day out. You do that for a few years and see if you don't get a little jaded and disgusted with the world.

::claps::

thanks. another example is Parking enforcement people you'll say that's for revenue genrating also, sure but when 3 cars double park after 2 others are standing or parked when there's no parking during rush hour, it can cause needless time delays and accidents.

Me going 10 MPH over the speed limit is safer than 80% of the people in my area driving at or under the speed limit. People mistake driving for a right, which it isn't. If drivers licenses were more difficult and time consuming to get then the roads wouldn't need policing for simple things like speeding, its that simple.

I've noticed that in the real rural areas you get speed limits that make no sense. For instance at school there is a street that is "two" (three actually with the third hatched off) lanes wide that is really the same width as a two lane highway. It is perfectly straight for two miles with no residential areas on either side except for the last tenth of a mile. These residential areas are college apartment complexes, no one lives or goes near the street except when on the sidewalk, and even that is rare. The speed limit is set at a staggering 30mph! At home in MA the speed limit on Rt. 44 through residential areas while being only two lanes wide is 50mph. This makes a lot more sense than the 30mph speed limit.

I've read a bunch of articles on roadway construction and generally engineers say the speed limit should be set to the 85 percentile. They measure the speeds of people driving the road without a speed limit and set the limit to the speed that 85 percent of the people go slower than. These speed limits are almost never actually seen on roadways because the town sets them arbitrarily low. Now, in a neighborhood or a college campus I will not go over the limit because I can't stop fast enough.

Consider this, in New York and Boston the speed limit on busy downtown roads is 30mph. Yet in the downtown of little midwestern cities it's 20mph. Are the pedestrians stupid here or are the drivers worse? Also consider the speed limits on highways and the speed people actually drive on the highways in urban areas. On my way into Boston yesterday I was going 80mph and getting passed. If I went the speed limit (55mph) I would have been rear ended. No officer would dare pull someone over on that road unless they were driving recklessly, in which case I fully agree with them.

In any case, every time I've gotten a ticket I deserved it and haven't had a problem with any police. My problem is mostly with towns that treat tickets and speed limits as a way to make money and not as a way to make the roads safer. Case in point: New Rome. There are dozens of towns like this all around the US and generally situated in a rural area.

This is apparently where you and I disagree. As long as the guy driving 45 in a 25 isn't hitting anybody, what's the problem? Once he does hit someone, I agree, the police should be called, but until the point that people are harming each other, just let them be.

Fair enough, but if I get jaded and disgusted with the world, the worst I can do is vent on the internet. Cops carry guns, and they have the authority to do a lot worse.

The point is if something happens you are less likely to be able to avoid the situation at that speed. If a kid runs out and you are going 45 in a 25 zone you have alot less chance to stop/avoid the kid. The police don't want everyone going at 30mph over the speed limit because it means more accidents...and who has to do all the cleaning up after carnage...the police are deffinately involved in that. The police are there to protect and serve...they want to protect your life, so they set and enforce speed limits (sometimes a little too low though) to reduce the chances of you killing yourself on the roads.

As a parent, Im of the mindset that I want anyone who drives thru a residential neighborhood faster than 25 (which is most of the the posted limit) to fry long and slow. Its a good thing Im not a cop cause I wouldnt be able to not choke the life out of someone who hit a person, child or adult, going over the speed limit because they thought what was posted was "stupid"

Ever notice how everyone always thinks they are the best driver in the world and everyone else sucks?

How about you remove the plank from your own eye before you point out the spec in your neighboors eye?

Let me be the first to say thank you

Remember that 25 is only the posted limit. With any posted limit you have to remember to drive according to road conditions. If there are children in the area, you may want to slow to a crawl. If you are in such a hurry that you feel a need to speed, learn to plan ahead.

Endangering or killing someones child because you believe a law to be stupid makes absolutely no sense.

There is a time and place for everything. I hope people learn to calculate the risks involved while driving and make an informed decision. Truthfully, I see no benefit in addressing all the immature statements in this thread. Many fellow TFPers have diligently tried.

Can't you see how this argument simply doesn't hold water? The speed limits, road rules, all sorts of restrictions are there to prevent bad things from happening in the first place. The point is that we don't want people to get hit, we don't want people to get harmed in the first place. I'm amazed that you can think that nothing should happen until people get hurt. Isn't that too late?

maybe master shake was joking or something, but you do have a good point

OK, and if I kill a kid through my own negligence I should be punished for it, I'm not arguing that point.

Just stop that propaganda nonsense now. The police are there to protect property and enforce policy.

Again, I disagree as to why the speed limits are there in the first place. The goal of these laws is not to protect people, but rather to control people.

Certainly the government could do a better job of protecting people if everyone were put in airtight cages and monitored constantly by video cameras, yet we don't do that because we all (I hope) recognize that as being too intrusive. What you're really talking about is what level of control you are willing to be under in exchange for what level of protection.

I don't want people to be harmed, usually, but I also don't want someone telling me what to do; especially when that someone imposes arbitrary, ridiculous rules on my behaviours. The process of establishing speed limits should go like this: can you tell me how many people would die if the speed limits were removed? Once we determine that number we can compare it to other levels of risk we deem acceptable and see if the restrictions on our actions justify the control. You seem to think that the government has the right to restrict any behaviour that poses any risk to anybody else. I disagree with that contention, only when a substantial risk of harm to others is shown should the government take action.

Instead, the speed limits, and other arbitrary laws, in the US are usually established as attempts to generate revenue and/or protect corporate assets. While you may be happy to take direction from faceless authority based on suspicious reasoning, I am not.

Too late for what? Perhaps if we had psychics who could predict the future then we might be able to prevent anybody from ever harming other people. Until that point, we have to rely on statistics and risk assessment. At this point in time, I do not think the risk of harm in speeding or double parking outweighs the enormous societal cost of staffing and maintaining police officers, meter maids, support personell, and all the other parts of the judicial system that deal with these low level crimes.

As a society we perform this cost benefit analysis all the time (see the cost of installing seat belts on school buses versus the risk of harm to students on school buses). I suppose my view is just skewed away from the allowing the man more access to my business.

yeah dude, speed limits are ALL about control, the "man" loves it when he gets you to crawl along at 30 mph instead of 100 mph, all part of the "man" breaking YOU down.

I see I haven't done a very good job of making my ideas clear at all.

The man doesn't love it when you crawl along at 30 instead of 100.

Rather, the man loves it when you go 100 in a 30, because then
1) the cops have an excuse to exercise their authority over you, justifying the law enforcement industry,
2) you are put in your place, subservient to others' control, and
3) a) you pay a hefty fine which helps support the entire judicial industry or b) you go to prison and serve as slave labour or c) you go to prison and serve as an example to others that it's best to do what you are told and d) your incarceration helps justify the correctional industry.

If you disagree, perhaps you would care to explain what you think speed limits are ALL about.

I see that I haven't done a very good job of making my ideas clear at all either.
Speed limits are just a part of what protects poor dumb ignorant people, like me, from people that feel that they should be able to do whatever, whenever, and wherever they want. They help to keep chaos from reigning supreme. They help keep society just a tad bit more...civilized.

But that's just not true.

What makes you think that people who feel that they should be able to do whatever they want will suddenly have respect for others because you post a sign telling them they can't speed? Those people are going to speed whether you have laws against it or not. You're just inconveniencing the rest of us on our way to the store and costing everybody more money.

Now, I agree that when these people start killing and hurting others, we should put a stop to it, then the costs of not doing something begin to outweigh the costs of doing something.

*takes deep breath*..... erm, i am wasting my time here, arent i? my tongue in cheek response was actually trying to bait you a little, but now i see you really are 100% serious in what you are saying. but i guess everybody is entitled to there view.

I don't. That's why I pay the cops. To ensure that those that have no respect for others, have at least some motivation to show some.

Can you tell me why you find it necessary to speed to the grocerry store. How is that inconveniencing you?

Have you ever scraped what was left of a 7 year old up from off of the pavement? Picking up pieces that you don't even know what the hell are anymore? Have you ever found a little girls shoe three houses down from where it was literaly blown off of her foot...never mind the foot? Have you watched on as the Fire Dept. hoses down the street to obliterate the red streak that stretches for over 75 feet? Have you listened to a mother wail in anguish, as she rock herself back and forth, kneeling over a pile of twisted scrap metal that used to be a little girls bicycle?
I have. In fact, that's why I'm not a cop anymore. That one did me in. 20 year old kid screaming how it was all her fault. How he couldn't see her pedal out of her driveway and onto the street. How he couldn't possibly have stopped. Well...I agree with him there. He was doing at least 50 in a residential 25 zone.
So...yeah...I agree. A stop does have to be put to it. Before some other poor dumb sonofabitch has to clean another Meredith off the asphalt. That was her name, by the way. 12 years later...I still know her name.

http://www.wcpo.com/news/2005/local/...eedercams.html
The city of Cinncinati will bring in $12 million from traffic cameras. If people obeyed the traffic laws the city would lose all this revenue. How can you possibly believe that this city wants people to obey the traffic laws?

I don't think I have to justify my actions, I think you should have to justify prohibiting them, but to answer your question: I am inconvenienced by your laws because I am charged fines if I go too fast.

And no, I've never had to do those things. However,

1. Are you telling me that speeding was the cause of that accident?

2. Considering that this person sped even though the law prohibited it, what justification is there for a law that nobody obeys?

3. Even assuming that speeding is responsible for the deaths of some people, that doesn't mean it should be prohibited. We tolerate a great many activities that kill people or carry with them the risk of death, it's only when that risk becomes too great do we prohibit it.

Master your inability to reason astounds me.

Here is a test for you get 2 similar cars, run one into a telephone pole at 25 mph. Then take the other one and run it into one at 45 mph. If you are still alive then imagine now at 90 mph (the speed of 2 cars going 45 running into eachother).

I'm sorry, what is that supposed to prove?

That going at fast speeds on certian roads is very dangerous. Residential roads with cars going 45 mph is a disaster waiting to happen. Ever notice the roads that are rated higher 65/75 are typically multiple lanes with a partion in the middle?

I think driving into a tree is always dangerous, I don't know what speed you are going at has to do with it.

If your contention is that speed poses an unbearable risk or that speed limits save lives, well that's simply not true. I have found the following articles to support my position.

http://www.clickmagazine.net/cm/Arti...sp?Article=176

http://www.motorists.org/pressreleases/montana.html

http://www.hwysafety.com/hwy_montana_2001.htm

http://www.fleetplan.co.uk/news_04_07_22_speeding.html

http://www.ibiblio.org/rdu/sl-irrel.html

According to those Montana articles, when the speed limits were reintroduced, the highway fatality figures went up. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but speed limits might actually kill more people than they save.

so we should all fang it as fast as we can everywhere we go?
You know what when I first got my license I did that...until one time I almost hit a pole at 100kph. That woulda been my death. Thank god I never hit and killed a kid the times I'd hit 130kph in the street near my house.
Should we all do that?

There are laws and rules everywhere. There's laws (as I understand it) for the audubon (sp?) in Germany. I believe there are minimum speed limits. Not everyone is allowed to drive on those roads. So if you don't come up to par you have to get off. You want those same kind of rules here?? We can't have those same laws on ALL our streets. For every law there are benefits and drawbacks. Here we have maximum speed limit laws. Follow those laws and you shouldn't get nailed. If you slip or purposely speed and get in trouble then deal with it. IF you find that you've been penalized or ticketed for more than what is your due, THEN there is a process for you to resolve that. Hubby was ticketed once for going much more than he actually was speeding. It was in a county several hours from where we lived but he followed the approved process to get the punishment changed. It worked out that he was able to speak on the phone to the right person and they didn't removed the ticket completely or the fine. But the DID reduce the number of points put on his liscense. They are usually willing to work with you if you are respectful and follow the correct paths to appeal it.

I was stopped once for going 10 over. It was an honest mistake and accidental. I wasn't paying attention which is just as dangerous (perhaps more so in some cases) as purposely speeding. I believe the officer could tell it was an honest mistake. I apologized and got off with a written warning.

I think a lot of it matters on your attitude and respect. Any dummy can tell if you don't respect him. Of course they'll not go easy on you if you don't show respect. I'm not saying that you didn't show respect but you're complaint sounds as though you didn't truely respect him and it may have seeped through your manner. Good luck.

I have no idea what we should all do, I'm not a lifestyle coach or anything. Do what you want; until your activity harms me or others I have no problem with it.

Now as I cant drive yet I , and that seems where the majority of the debate is, I thought I wouldn't say anything, but since that was said I decided I will.

Of COURSE it DOESN"T mean they are wankers. But the police might be going with the statistics; now for all I know the majority of 'nice car' drives might be clean, but lets just say they aren't...

Cops protect people, and when they see those 'nice cars' they go with the majority. Of course not all 'nice car' drivers are druggies, speeders or generally abusers; but more people who drive sup'd up cars are younger, and generally younger people are experimenting.

Cops are TRYING to save lives.

Imagine if a crazed drug addict has a gun to your head, hates your guts, and is probalby going to shoot you. Cop walks in. He (or she , equal gender rights) and the first thing they notice is the gun to your head. Of course he MAY not shoot, the gun MAY be a bubble gun, the drugs could be PROZAC making him mentally stable, but should the cop take that chance?

Now that is an extreme, but for every cop its judgement; look at the chances, and then act. Who is hurt if they pull you over for 5 minutes? Unless you have a quick acting poison, it probably won't.

Oh yeah, and not all cops are trafficers. Think of Detectives who investigate who murdered your wife. Would you rather not have them doing that? Think of cops who stop mass tele marketing, think of the ones who stop mass murderers. Sure some may be well dickheads, but not all.

So when you next get pulled over, think that one cop may be a retard, but the majority is saving yo' ass everyday.

FWIW, I drove on the autobahn last year from Munchen to Salzburg Austria. There were times where we had to slow down when we got into towns and villages, and of course construction.

I will say they take driving very serious out there when on the highway.

I don't know why one of you paid thru the nose for your license. I just rented a benz and I just showed them my NYC liscence.

Master Shake, where do you live and what kind of car do you drive? I just want to know where to stay away from. The police are protecting us from people like you, the typical driver who thinks he can speed all he wants because he has "superior driving skills."

The fact that YOU cannot understand why driving 50mph in a residential neighborhood is not safe simply ASTOUNDS me. I never knew someone could be that hard-headed with his opinions that logic flies over his head.

Your argument saying that the risk of hitting someone is not a reason to slow down is asinine. It is almost as saying one can go around shooting a gun off in various directions is legal, but once you hit someone, then you have to pay. Why not make shooting guns off at random illegal??? That is why they have speed limits, to reduce the chance of injuring pedestrians or other innocent drivers. Maybe you should read up on the stopping distance of driving at 25mph and 50mph and the reaction time included. Then get back to us.

Alot of the cops around here are robocops, yet alot are also pretty chill. The times arent what they used to be as the older people would say, and the majority of the time my friends and I do get busted at parties and get sent off. Regarding traffic violations, speeding is a major cash flow for em I believe. If theres somebody driving recklessly in a downtown area, i would fully support the officer for giving the person a citation. Although, if it is something as stupid as not having both their rear wheels fully over the line whent he light turns red, but their wheels are 3/4 over and theres no real risk of hitting other cars because there arent any, or its a big intersection, or hell even if it was somebody elses fault like the moron in front of you wasn't paying attention and began moving too late, then thats when you can tell if the cop is a scumbag or not, and unfortunately chances are i think your going to get a scumbag in that situation just wanting to get his quota filled =/

I was going to participate further in this discussion, but has gone downhill and is no longer an active sharing of opinions and exeperiences, with complete respect for all members opinions. If I can find the data I'm looking for from my three years of driving study(my field of study), I'll post them for a stastical reference.

So you DID have illegal parts on your car. You didn't check to see if all of your signals worked before you pulled out of the lot?

Speed limits are the MAXIMUM speeds you can legally drive in a given area. It's not a suggestion, it's a law. If you drive 10 kmh over the LIMIT 1000 times and don't get caught doing it until the 1001st time, it's not the first time you've broken the law. It's just the first time you've gotten caught.

When you applied for and accepted your driver's license, you agreed to obey the traffic laws of whatever country, state, county, city, or podunk area in which you drive. If you break the law, you're a criminal.

You've admitted to breaking the law at least twice in your post, yet it's the cops who are the bad guys. Best advice? Don't give them ANY reason to pull you over. And if you do get stopped for something accept the responsibility for doing it. GROW UP! :rolleyes:

People always assume speeding means speeding everywhere, if anyone had a concept of a safe speed and there were more qualified drivers on the road then we wouldn't need speed limits at all. Anyone that hits a child in a residential area needs to be arrested and prosecuted assuming they are actually the ones at fault. There are some places where people shouldn't go above the posted speed limit, construction zones, school areas(not just 50 feet before the crosswalks), and residential areas, the rest IMO are fair game for going a safe speed be it above the speed limit or not. In my area you are more likely to be stopped for going 10 MPH over the speed limit than for running a stop light with a police car sitting there watching you do it. To me thats rediculous that someone could actually argue that speeding will cause an accident faster than someone running a red light. Speeding doesn't cause accidents, excessive speeding(read reckless driving) can though.

I don't believe that speed limits are imposed on us as a method of control but I do believe that they are imposed upon us because the government won't stop handing out licenses to people who have no business driving a golf cart let alone something as massive as an automobile(or SUV's for soccer moms).

I also don't agree with the use of the word pigs, its childish, grow up. Police officers do a job I, or anyone bitching about how much they suck, wouldn't touch with a 100 foot pole, yet people are dicks to them and wonder why most of their experiences with the police suck.

Lastly, I appologise if this seems confusing but I don't put my thoughts into typed form well. Speed if you will, but at least be safe about it.