September 29, 2007
Cops Writing Cops
They say it the best:
This is a site for officers getting traffic tickets that ANY normal civilian could get a warning on, verbal or written. This is a site for cops, about cops, and designed by cops. Needless to say, we are fed up with hearing about this and think something should be done. There's always another ticket down the street. We are all family and maybe someday you may need one of us to get out of our car and save your sorry ass. But odds are you're the cop that doesn't do anything to begin with.
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I believe N.W.A. said it best, back in 1988. FIGHT THE POWER!
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Wasn't that Public Enemy?
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No it was Grandmaster Flash.
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Run DMC
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T.L.C.
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Man, I wish I hadn't read that.
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Cop shoot cop I believe I believe that I have been reborn Cop shoot cop I haven't got the time no more ?
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I've seen that site before. Damn sense of entitlement. Does that mean that as a teacher, I can expect other teachers to let me away with smacking the naughty kids because I'd do the same for them?
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It makes sense if you presume that traffic tickets are more about levying fines and generating probable cause (to question you and search your vehicle) than they are about public safety. Which they are.
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So, you don't think that someone who receives a punishment for recless driving is less likely to drive recklessly in the future?
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Of the stories I read there just now, several of the writers admit to driving significantly over the speed limit in residential areas, with no reason to do so other than "I was running late" or "I was tired and really wanted to get home". Their justification is bullshit, and their expectation of leniency is bullshit. Not only that, but many seem to expect their family members (sister in one case I read, son in another) also to get away with breaking the law. And I only read about half a dozen stories before I was too irritated to continue.
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Ditto tracicle. These assholes are a textbook definition of sociopath.
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Imagine if the US Attorney General looked the other way when the President broke.. oh wait. Wow. I started out by reading What Cops Want You to Know, which is actually kinda funny. ("If you drive a piece of crap, that is why you’re getting pulled over.") But yeah, the "I'm a cop so I shouldn't get tickets wah" is BS. Does that mean judges shouldn't sentence other judges to prison if they break the law?
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TUM: (Assuming your question was directed towards me...) I reject that what the law defines as "reckless driving" is necessarily reckless or even dangerous. Paying attention is the most important thing you can do on the road. Unfortunately, nobody's invented an attention-o-meter, but they HAVE invented radar guns for measuring speed. The law reflects this.
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I reject that what the law defines as "reckless driving" is necessarily reckless or even dangerous. Then you're disregarding the effect you might be having on those on the road around you. It's not just about "paying attention." And you're not considering the higher cost you'll impose on society, statistically. It's not just that you're going 150 mph, it's that when you do so you're more likely to have to be scraped off the pavement using tax dollars.
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WHAT?!?!?! Of course you should obey the speed limit! And those damn people with their cell phones need to shut up and keep their eyes on the road. But I have an important call, have a yen to eat a Big Mac right now, and am late for something important. Get the hell outta my way!
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Okay, let's assume we can all go as fast as we like and behave relatively aggressively on the road, provided we pay attention. Let's pretend I'm cruising down the I-5 at 115mph minding my own business, when some other driver, also doing 115, careens into me. The damage done at that speed is exponentially higher than what will be done at the speed limit. The speed limit and reckless driving laws are there to protect your roadmates, not just to slow you down, and to protect you from your roadmates. Embrace them. Abide by them. Stop complaining about tickets when you are blatantly disobeying the law because "the law is stupid". NB: the "you" above is a generalised one.
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I generally can't drive.
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Imagine if the US Attorney General looked the other way when the President broke.. oh wait. @#%!!
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Here in Ontario, the statistsics say that during the icy, snowy winters, there are far more injuries from auto collisions than in the hot, dry summers. But there are far more fatalities in the summers. How can that be? Simple. people drive faster in the summer and speed kills. Double your speed and you quadruple the energy of the collision.
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Yep, K = mv2/2 And driving 90mph on an empty 4 lane interstate is safer than going the speed limit in a residential neighborhood while talking on the phone, drinkin a coke, adjusting the stereo (which also blocks out any external sound), and fighting with the kids in the back seat. Carrying kinetic energy is fine if you don't hit anything. There's a time and a place. Another example I noticed while driving in Denmark a while back: there are very few stop signs. At 4-way intersections, they rarely have stop signs, they have YIELD signs. Because it's stupid to come to a complete stop if there's nobody else around. In the 'States, of course, it's "unsafe" to roll through an empty intersection, and you get a ticket. Stupid. Personally, I haven't gotten a traffic ticket for... 7 years? But the laws are commonly used by municipalities to raise revenue. Virginia isn't shy about this: According to legislative information associated with the new fees, the purpose of civil remedial fees is to "generate revenue from drivers whose proven dangerous driving behavior places significant financial burdens on the state." (more) PAY ATTENTION! Maintain situational awareness. If you're using your reflexes, you've already screwed up. Don't get surprised; don't surprise other drivers. I would much, much rather you pay attention and drive 10mph too fast on the interstate than go the speed limit, oblivious to everything around you.
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You've created a false dichotomy. Slowing down *and* paying attention is the safest choice. And while being distracted at low speeds is more likely to cause a crash, it's less likely to kill than speeding is, even when paying full attention.
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True, but I think people underestimate the importance of paying attention -- witness all manner of distracting gadgets, drive-thru fast food, etc. -- while speed is given all the blame. Physics dictates that speed makes the consequences of losing attention more severe, but it's generally not what causes the accident in and of itself. I'd say safety is 70-80% attention, 20-30% speed. But, again, "attention" is impossible to enforce. Of course, staying home is the "safest choice", but that's no fun.
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But, again, "attention" is impossible to enforce. You nailed it. Speed is enforced because it's easy to do so. A cop can sit in his car behind a tree muching on donuts and catch the menaces to society daring to drive 100km/hr on a straight, lonely, country road. I'd like nothing better than to have the cops driving around in unmarked cars catching the red-light runners, the agressive passers, people who don't know how 4-way stops work, and the idiots who drive slow in the passing lane. But it's just not going to happen.
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And I say that all those other things are intensified by speeding. And it's a hell of a lot harder to avoid the guy running the red light eating his Egg McMuffin if you're doing 70.
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Didn't New York ban cellphone use in cars? Has anyone else followed up on that? I doubt anyone will be able to stop people eating in their car, and what sort of idiot applies makeup while driving anyway (oh my god, seriously). But yes, speed is easy to monitor and record, and at least if you're too dumb to pay attention hopefully you're going at a speed at which you'll cause less damage. TUM actually said that more briefly than I did. Besides, it's summer now and I'm walkin'. It's funny; I doubt I'd be this irritated by that link if I wasn't driving around with two small children that belong to me and to whom I'm quite attached.