Arrogant Cop

Silver, I believe you have misunderstood my points.

The point is that the limit is 70 and you were knowingly exceeding it, and weaving would be a very good indication of impairment as well as reckless driving. The fault lies in your willful breaking of an established speed law, not in the officer's decision to cite you. Perhaps his attitude could have been better, but the fact remains that he was well within the scope of his duties and the law to take enforcement action. Surely this will not evolve into a 1st ammendment debate about what an officer is allowed to say on a stop.

This works both ways

I hope that when you inevitably get stopped and ticketed for this, that you will consider your spite and not think the officer is an asshat for doing his job.

Sorry about my mistake in reference to who establishes speed laws.

I wish I had more time right now, but I have to get on the streets(maybe harrass a few bikersarty2

I appreciate all of your views and respect them, however I do tend to disagree with some and believe I have made some valid points.

You guys ride safe.

 

I knew not a single LEO would man up & admit that "revenue generation" via traffic stops is crap. I 100000% knew it. Thanks to all who have affirmed my views of traffic officers. Like I said previously, I have no issue with real cops that do real work & contribute something to society.

The belief that all autobahns in Deutschland are unlimited or no speed limits is quite simply not true. Less than 10% of the total autobahn is unlimited. Trust me when I tell you, you DO NOT want to get caught speeding in Germany. The fines are just about triple what they are in the USofA. There is ZERO leniency. You get pulled over, you ARE paying a fine, period.

The process to obtain a license in Germany is very difficult. Last time I checked, it was about $2500 & 6 months of training to get a license. It is quite common for an applicant to fail the test first time around. This process works since, trust me when I tell you, Germans KNOW how to drive & are very good at it. I would say maybe 10%, tops 15% of Americans actually know how to drive correctly.

KC-10 FE out...
lane: :usa2:

 

Remember that making a kafuffle on bikersoracle last year, apparently there were large protest rides and the family of the deceased placed official complaints against the Welsh Police for the photos unauthorised usage and publicly refused the subsequent pathetic apologies from the Police Chief as being woefully inadequate.


Link to Protest ride:
BBC NEWS | Wales | Protest over dead biker's photo

 

No LEO has "manned up" because obviously not one LEO on this board agrees with you. You seem to believe that because we don't agree with you, that it makes you right. I just can't follow that logic. It's like me saying that if you don't man up and admit that all people who ride motorcyles are stupid and ride like absolute morons, if you don't agree and admit it, then I am right.

Like I have said numerous times, don't break the law and you don't have anything to worry about. It would be hard to "generate revenue" i.e. write citations, if people didn't speed.

 

Cops over here in Ohio are ignorant!!!

I was riding my CB400f (slow as wizz but fun has He??) and after my birthday, I knew right away I needed to renew my tags for this summer.
So I head to my garage and low and behold, I've been riding this 08' season on 07' tags!!!

And I've precisely counted 7 cops on my tail in less than 2 months while riding on these 07' tags.

Not to mention the cops in my town like to really tailgate bikers who are just cruising the main streets.

And I even get more action from cops now that I drive a Viffer!

But the truth is, young, sportbiking kids have given all motorcyclists a bad reputation.

Period!!

LL

 

Thanks for making my contempt of traffic officers that much stronger.

Just admit it. Quit being all self righteous & admit that extorting money from the public with a ticket book is wrong.

Cops are a VERY necessary part of public life. That is as long as they are serving and protecting the society that pays their salaries. Sitting behind a bill board & fining people is crap. If ANYONE did the speed limit, fine. Problem is, NO ONE does the speed limit, including hypocritical off duty cops.

Since I will almost assuredly type something that is completely over the top rude, I wash my hands of this thread.

KC-10 FE out...
lane: :usa2:

 

I have seen it on both sides, some are for revenue only and some are here to enforce the law only. I know of towns that you don't speed in at all or at anytime (they are revenue hounds to me), so I don't speed in the revenue hound towns. I have noticed around here that the sheriff's and hwy patrol seem not to be out for revenue as the local town police are. Rush hour around Little Rock Ar the police are there more for safety concerns and not tickets, giving a speeding ticket during rush hour could be more of a safety hazard than anything. If you get a ticket here during rush hour, you would have to be hauling some a$$. It's kinda like George Bush getting a DUI in the 70s, he would have to be one very drunk person and mouthy too.

 

I seem to recall my Mother once asking me"if everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you do it too?"

I find it hard to believe that my comments could possibly escallate your obvious contempt.

Serving and protecting also includes protecting other motorists who do obey the laws.(believe it or not, they do exist)

I am far from self righteous and anything but hypocritical. But once again it seems that I am being judged based solely on my profession.I appreciate you not being rude to me as it does not seem to be a consideration to many of the people I meet on traffic stops or arrests.

How exactly does one identify a hypocritical off duty cop? Our little stickers don't work anymore because some of the drug dealers have started putting them on their cars.(notice I'm not dealing in absolutes by saying ALL drug dealers)

I didn't join this thread to piss people off, but to attempt to intelligently answer some of the complaints about law officers on their behalf. I have tried to answer these points intelligently and without allowing emotion into my posts. I have also tried to avoid personal attacks and name calling.This has not been the case with some of the replies. If you simply hate cops, then don't give them any reason to interact with you.

 

:soapbox:

I have been following this thread with a great deal of interest and have been amused to find the opinions that are posted here. It appears to me that the majority of people that hate traffic enforcement officers have done something to cause that problem themselves.
1-Acting like an asshat and getting ticketed while BREAKING the law. If you don't like the law, stop beaking it and change it. Become a congressman and make a change.
2-You seem to think that you have some divine right to drive in a manner that is in itself dangerous. How about weaving down a road at 80 mph. I understand the need for you to Darwin your way out of the gene pool, just don't do it on the roads that my friends and I safely ride our bikes on. It makes us look bad to be associated with people like you.
3-When you get pulled over, your attitude comes out. If you are constantly getting pulled over and harassed by the police or ticketed, that means you are constantly a criminal. If you give the cop attitude because it's the 3rd time you've been pulled this week, then maybe you need to do figure out the common denominator.
4-Cops are people too. People work jobs to pay bills. We have good days and bad days just like you. While the chance that you have a cop on a bad day is slim, it will happen. If you work in ANY customer service based business, you will have a bad day and that attitude will come out to the customer. BUT, remember that it is not against the law, or your civil rights, to be pissy with somebody that is an asshat. If you want to complain, go ahead and do it if it makes you feel better. Want to change the outcome, be nice, be overly nice. Then if it changes that attitude of all people involved, you have done your good deed for the day.
5-Traffic enforcement has netted some of the best arrests in the history of the U.S. Criminals have to move around, and they never maintain their vehicles. Brake lights, tail lights, head lights, registration, and speedin etc are all VALID and LEGAL reasons to stop. If you don't want to fall in the criminal category, fix the above issues.
6-As best put be Drew Carey, "STOP BREAKING THE LAW, ASSHOLE!"

 

And just a quick follow up. I would never once state that I speak for all cops or that I know all the people you deal with. I will give you my opinions based on the thousand or so traffic stops, citations, warning tickets and arrests that I have made in the last 7 years. Please give other people the same common respect to not presume that ALL cops that write traffic tickets are asshats because the one time you did something stupid and got caught. Also remember that the fines you pay for speeding go mostly to education. Thanks for helping out my kids.

 

You think of it as the cops are ignorant because they did not pull you over and write you a ticket for expired tags. Is it possible that they recognized that you rode with common sense and responsibility and decided that giving you a warning was not warranted for somebody that was a reasonable rider? It is such an uncommon thing to see people ride dutifully, they were giving you respect and letting you go on your way.

 

1. The act or an instance of extorting.
2. Illegal use of one's official position or powers to obtain property, funds, or patronage.
3. An excessive or exorbitant charge.
4. Something extorted.

extortionary ex·tor'tion·ar'y (-shə-nĕr'ē) adj.
extortionist ex·tor'tion·ist or ex·tor'tion·er n.

So what part of writing a LEGAL traffic citation for your ILLEGAL speeding fits under extortion? Maybe you are under the same rules as Marion Barry and believe that speeding is entrapment? But just in case you DO believe that, here is the definition of entrapment.


1. To lure into danger, difficulty, or a compromising situation. See synonyms at catch.
2. To lure into performing a previously or otherwise uncontemplated illegal act.

I guess the officer sitting on the side of the road minding his own business looking for criminals has lured you into speeding past where he is too?

 

KLRrider,

Regarding the issue of breaking the law, the big issue here is the SPIRIT of the law not the LETTER of the law. Speed limits are there for safety. Let's say you see a guy weaving lanes on an empty road, who is being endangered by that? I have done that several times just practicing changing lines and scrubbing dirt/gravel off my tires. Guess who got hurt? No one!

I respect a majority of police officers and understand that they truly want to preserve a safe environment for us all. However, in my opinion, it goes too far when they literally enforce the letter of the law.

I have been living in the state of Georgia since 2002 and I have received 4 speeding tickets and got all of them dismissed in court. 3 of them were on empty roads and 1 was with the flow of traffic. Almost every time I got pulled over the cop started giving me crap for speeding and I never argued. I just said yes/no/sir and just went to court to get the ticket dismissed. What I find interesting is that the cop got really mad and sometimes the judge got mad at me too when I got off. And I got the ticket dismissed by using the LETTER of the law. I didn't make up stories like he got the trucker behind me or I wasn't going that fast. All I did was ask for certain documents that the officer is REQUIRED by LAW to have and they did not have it. One of them did not even know what I was talking about.

I go to court not just for the points but to reverse the tables on the police officer and show them how it feels following the letter of the law and cursing at the absurdity of it.

When you talk about the letter of the law remember that not too long ago it was illegal for colored people to sit in front of the bus. Even though it was against the law does it make it right? Does that mean colored people should have just bent over and took it? No! And would it have been realistic for a colored person to run for congress to allow equal rights? They could not even VOTE!

How feasible do you think it is for me to run for congress with "Equal rights for speeders" campaign?

When I speed I make sure I'm not endangering anyone. You'll never see me speeding in a construction zone, residential neighborhood, school zone, and any other area where people are walking/jogging right next to the road. But if I'm on an empty country road, yeah I'm gonna speed because I like it.

And when you talk about entrapment, why does the government even allow us to buy high performance motorcycles? Why not enforce a speed limiter or only allow us to ride scooters?

And near work there has been some construction going on and there is a police officer close by with his lights going off as a friendly warning to slow down. He just sits there and the drivers slow down when they see him and I see that he is providing a safe environment for the construction workers on the road. I don't see him hiding behind bushes or a billboard. Why is that? Why doesn't he just do that since it "should" make for safer roads?

 

I do believe there is a difference in the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. That is set in the ability of an officer to use his discretion in writing a ticket. I let motorcyclists and cars go on a daily basis after a verbal warning based on just HOW bad they were breaking the law and their attitude towards me during the stop. I believe that a lot of times pointing out poor driving or riding habits goes a lot farther then a citation. But there are times when no amount of talking to a person is going to let them know that what they were doing is wrong, dangerous or illegal.
Now if the officer goes to court and does not do what he is required to do, that is his own fault. I have sat in trials and watched officers look like idiots because they failed to do keep up with legal updates or general orders. At certain times I applaud when it happens as the officers need a reality check that they can't just go to school for 6 months and learn everything you need for a 30 year career. But again, they are a very small few.

Also you say that you were hurting no one and putting nobody in serious risk of injury. Did you forget about yourself? The law is there to protect people from harming you, and you from harming yourself. Not to mention the countless man hours lost for medical, fire and police personnel that have to come out to an accident.

I also fail to see how the oppression of a class of people can compare to the regulation of speed on highways. The civil rights movement in general was because the law was used to oppress a race unjustly and needed to be changed for equality. Now, if motorcyclists had an unfairly low speed limit to reduce traffic fatalities, or there were tons of "Special" regulations for bikers, then I would be on the front lines of change. But a law that was written and posted, like speed limits, that are designed based on the general populations response time, general vehicle stopping time, crash survivability, weather conditions, etc, is not oppression, it's regulation.

As to C111, not sure where he is located in NC, but I agree with most of what he has to say. I believe that you have to get passionate about something you believe, it's a driving force in getting things accomplished. I would love to see a large push to education for motorcyclists to be safer and for cagers to pay attention to that biker on the road.

And yes I want a VFR, that is why I am poking around the viffer forums. I have 4 or 5 friends that have them, they all love them and I am a lemming that likes to do what the "In-Crowd" is doing. That, and have you ever taken a KLR on the highway?

 

Speeding drivers cause only 3% of car accidents, figures reveal | Mail Online

there own study on speeding....3% caused by speeding...
yet so many speed camera's.

Not about cash at all.

cops should focus on bad driving and checking suspicous cars, not mom, dad and the kids going to the lake and happen to go 5 over the limit in keeping with traffic.

 

Here is a link to a study done in Australia about traffic accidents and fatalities. The information is now outdated (11 years old), but still holds true.

Speed and Crash Risk

Also, that figure is based on speeding as being the primary cause of the accident. Look at how many accidents occur with speed being a contributing factor. Just because somebody is going fast does not mean they are going to wreck, it just means the implications are worse. If you have people slow down to a manageable speed, when they do all the other contributing factors (talking on the phone, eating, watching tv, playing with their phone......) then the chances of everybody walking away are greatly improved.

Also, drunk driving and speeding involved accidents are drastically down across the nation based on a massive enforcement campaign nationwide over the last few years. Police, district attorneys, and even defense liars have been involved in increased prosecution and penalties and jail time for drunk drivers and speeders. Looks like all those traffic tickets is working.

 

No, no, no, NO. The law is there to protect us from ourselves? Did you honestly just say that? The law is there to protect us from others, when I need protection from myself I'll move to Great Britain. That's the worst sort of nanny state-ism. When did we get all pansified? What happened to rugged individualism and personal responsibility?

When you say (and C111) "Don't break the law" all I do is laugh. With the number of rules, regulations, artificially low speed limits, red light cameras with artificially short yellow lights attached, every time we pull out of a driveway we're doing something wrong. See above, where I said I don't speed. I rarely do, and when I do if I get caught I'd man up and take it. What about the ticket I got on a road and later the speed limit goes up 10mph? Do I get my money back for that ticket? What about the road where nothing has changed, no new intersections or businesses, yet the speed limit went down when it was annexed by the city?

On a personal note, I've never ever needed the cops or fire or ambulance service. NEVER. The one time I've called them when my first bike was stolen, the officer didn't want to be there, dispatch lied to me, and they were generally unhelpful.