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No, it has never happened to me. But, then again, I haven't gotten a ticket for anything--even including illegal parking--for about 17 years, and I haven't had an accident of any kind since 1970.
As to, "not knowing the skill level of the driver in snow nor the capabilities of the vehicle or the type of tires being used", I can just about guarantee you that this is the same attitude as the owners of the Jeeps, Explorers, Blazers, and other SUVs sitting--upside down--in ditches that I pass while motoring safely past them during snow storms. These are the same guys who passed me a couple of miles back--because they knew that they could drive faster than everyone else, due to their superior driving abilities and/or their superior tires.
Personally, I wish that there was better enforcement of MV regulations (driving too fast for conditions, tailgating, failure to use headlights, etc.) during periods of inclement weather.
It's nice to be confident about your driving abilities, but overconfidence can be a killer.
Last edited by Retriever; 11-19-2011 at 03:59 PM..
They've been known to do things like that just to lull people into a sense of complacency, then drop the hammer one day.
Years ago, when the 55 mph speed limit first went into effect, the Massachusetts cops would get out on the turnpike and drive exactly 55 for several miles. Naturally, that built up a string of cars afraid to pass them. Then, they'd exit off, the traffic would take off to make up time and run into an ambush of several cops just a mile or so ahead.
That's f'ed up. I hope some cops got into trouble for pulling that crap.
The fastest I've gotten away with in front of a cop was 95ish on an empty freeway, pacing behind a Prius of all things. Luckily, the cop flew right past me to go after the Prius, but I was still a little paranoid for the rest of the trip because I was thinking he might have radioed in one of his buddies up ahead to pull me over later. I kept it to 75 for the rest of the trip, but didn't see any cops.
There were a few worse ones. One day in my younger years, I had a pissing contest against a BMW 540 wagon, and we both gunned it at the light. We were neck-and-neck at about 80 (50 mph limit) when I spotted a motorcycle cop on the side of the road. The BMW actually hit his brakes first, putting him behind me, and the cop pulled him over. I decided to make a run for it, because my work was about 2 minutes away up the next street. Totally lost him.
Another day, on a major road that gets backed up from parents dropping off kids at school, some drivers use the bike lane well before they're supposed to, to make a right turn onto another street to pass the school traffic. One day, the traffic was especially bad, so I decided that it would be my day to drive in the bike lane. Up ahead, I was able to spot another motorcycle cop with a car pulled over. I immediately sneak back into the traffic, but it turns out that the cop did catch me, because from the side of my eye, I saw him signaling me to pull over as I was driving past, with his original victim still sitting there. Luckily, I was facing a green light, so I just pretended not to see him and kept going. I did hear him yelling at me as I moved along, though
And this wasn't as bad, but it involved higher speeds. On the way home from one of my old second-shift jobs, there were ZERO cars on the 405 freeway, so I celebrated this occasion by taking advantage of it and dropping the hammer to 100 mph. I kept it at that speed until I finally came up on some cars, and eased off until I was doing about 75-80. A few moments later, a pair of headlights comes closing in on my rearview FAST. Sure enough, they're Crown Vic headlights, and sure enough it's a cop. I ease off again to do 70, and the cop stays on my tail; no police lights. He stays on my ass until I finally get off at my exit. Guess I wasn't going to help him meet his quota that night.
Last edited by Vinsanity; 11-19-2011 at 04:34 PM..
That's f'ed up. I hope some cops got into trouble for pulling that crap.
The fastest I've gotten away with in front of a cop was 95ish on an empty freeway, pacing behind a Prius of all things. Luckily, the cop flew right past me to go after the Prius, but I was still a little paranoid for the rest of the trip because I was thinking he might have radioed in one of his buddies up ahead to pull me over later. I kept it to 75 for the rest of the trip, but didn't see any cops.
There were a few worse ones. One day in my younger years, I had a pissing contest against a BMW 540 wagon, and we both gunned it at the light. We were neck-and-neck at about 80 (50 mph limit) when I spotted a motorcycle cop on the side of the road. The BMW actually hit his brakes first, putting him behind me, and the cop pulled him over. I decided to make a run for it, because my work was about 2 minutes away up the next street. Totally lost him.
Another day, on a major road that gets backed up from parents dropping off kids at school, some drivers use the bike lane well before they're supposed to, to make a right turn onto another street to pass the school traffic. One day, the traffic was especially bad, so I decided that it would be my day to drive in the bike lane. Up ahead, I was able to spot another motorcycle cop with a car pulled over. I immediately sneak back into the traffic, but it turns out that the cop did catch me, because from the side of my eye, I saw him signaling me to pull over as I was driving past, with his original victim still sitting there. Luckily, I was facing a green light, so I just pretended not to see him and kept going. I did hear him yelling at me as I moved along, though
LOL Good stories!
I once ran upon a motorcycle cop in Dallas who was parked behind an exit sign right were the I-30/US-80 freeways split. I was tooling along pretty well when I saw him. He leaned down to shoot me with a hand-held unit, underneath the sign. He had me dead to rights.
But, he leaned over too far and lost his balance. He and that big Harley hit the ground. I figured he couldn't pick it up by himself, so I just hammered right on by. I was right.
Ohhhh, man, I love stories like these showing the revenue generators what's what.
The officer on the bike falling over? Classic. They need to make a movie out of that. A stoner movie with kids speeding with weed in the van & then show the sheer terror on their faces right before the cop's bike tips over. LOLzerskates.
And I never understood what's up with cops just signaling to pull over. What are they expecting, people to just bend to their wishes? Really? This is standard procedure in the former Soviet Union: militsiya standing on the side of the road with a stick and they just point it at someone and expect them to pull over and give fines or receive bribes. Some do, some don't & get away with it. This happened to my friend & I in Almaty, Kazakhstan when he was driving me to the airport to fly back to Texas. The cop just pointed the stick at us in the Lexus (we were going slightly fast to make it to the airport, but nothing major) and my bro just negotiated with him & we were off, no bribes, no fines.
But when this happens in America, what on earth do they expect? That just doesn't happen very often, you know; so of course a lot of drivers are just going to drive through since they don't see flashing lights in the mirror.
Wonder what the revenue generator was yelling at Vinsanity. Another thing that stuck out in Vinsanity's post: why on earth is the bike lane wide enough for cars to drive on? Seems like you're just asking for bike lane abuse there. Bike lanes should be more narrow than that! Just enough room for a couple bikes, NO car. Ridiculous.
Another day, on a major road that gets backed up from parents dropping off kids at school, some drivers use the bike lane well before they're supposed to, to make a right turn onto another street to pass the school traffic. One day, the traffic was especially bad, so I decided that it would be my day to drive in the bike lane. Up ahead, I was able to spot another motorcycle cop with a car pulled over. I immediately sneak back into the traffic, but it turns out that the cop did catch me, because from the side of my eye, I saw him signaling me to pull over as I was driving past, with his original victim still sitting there. Luckily, I was facing a green light, so I just pretended not to see him and kept going. I did hear him yelling at me as I moved along, though
I saw tons of people in Colorado get tickets for excessive speed for conditions, many, many, many times, especially if they crashed in a storm. A very good friend of mine, got two actually I can recall. On one he was doing 65 mph on snowpack in a storm, the vehicle started to oversteer and he started drifting sideways off the road, caught a snow bank and began to roll. It was fortunate for him, lots of fluffy snow to cushion the impact. He and his passengers lucky not to buy the farm. He richly deserved that ticket and admitted it to be so. Too fast for conditions.
I know one guy that almost certainly got one. Back in the winter of 1999-2000, I was coming back over Vail Pass in a heavy snowstorm, so much so there was no tracks in the snow and no other traffic. Suddenly this red whoosh went past going at least 80-90 mph, possibly a 100mph and I identified the car quickly as an Audi A4 before it disappeared into the murk. The guy went past us so fast it took peoples breath away in the vehicle, they were so stunned. Anyways, drove another 2 miles westbound and as I crested the summit I could see headlights pointed at me, except they were a bit high up. The guy failed to negotiate a 90 degree turn, launched himself up and over a snow bank and actually put the car backwards into the trees and the car was in fact hung in the trees at least 20 feet off the ground. He even put his hazards on up there in the trees.
I saw idiots like that either kill themselves or other people in my years on Colorado roads, doing 3000 miles plus a week. At least in Colorado, I found the State Patrol to be very fair and if you got a ticket it was for good reason.
That's f'ed up. I hope some cops got into trouble for pulling that crap.
The fastest I've gotten away with in front of a cop was 95ish on an empty freeway, pacing behind a Prius of all things. Luckily, the cop flew right past me to go after the Prius, but I was still a little paranoid for the rest of the trip because I was thinking he might have radioed in one of his buddies up ahead to pull me over later. I kept it to 75 for the rest of the trip, but didn't see any cops.
There were a few worse ones. One day in my younger years, I had a pissing contest against a BMW 540 wagon, and we both gunned it at the light. We were neck-and-neck at about 80 (50 mph limit) when I spotted a motorcycle cop on the side of the road. The BMW actually hit his brakes first, putting him behind me, and the cop pulled him over. I decided to make a run for it, because my work was about 2 minutes away up the next street. Totally lost him.
Another day, on a major road that gets backed up from parents dropping off kids at school, some drivers use the bike lane well before they're supposed to, to make a right turn onto another street to pass the school traffic. One day, the traffic was especially bad, so I decided that it would be my day to drive in the bike lane. Up ahead, I was able to spot another motorcycle cop with a car pulled over. I immediately sneak back into the traffic, but it turns out that the cop did catch me, because from the side of my eye, I saw him signaling me to pull over as I was driving past, with his original victim still sitting there. Luckily, I was facing a green light, so I just pretended not to see him and kept going. I did hear him yelling at me as I moved along, though
And this wasn't as bad, but it involved higher speeds. On the way home from one of my old second-shift jobs, there were ZERO cars on the 405 freeway, so I celebrated this occasion by taking advantage of it and dropping the hammer to 100 mph. I kept it at that speed until I finally came up on some cars, and eased off until I was doing about 75-80. A few moments later, a pair of headlights comes closing in on my rearview FAST. Sure enough, they're Crown Vic headlights, and sure enough it's a cop. I ease off again to do 70, and the cop stays on my tail; no police lights. He stays on my ass until I finally get off at my exit. Guess I wasn't going to help him meet his quota that night.
why on earth is the bike lane wide enough for cars to drive on? Seems like you're just asking for bike lane abuse there. Bike lanes should be more narrow than that! Just enough room for a couple bikes, NO car. Ridiculous.
Maybe they are concerned with all the drivers that think it is ok to drive above the posted speed limit. I mean if people are thinking it is ok to brake the law then maybe they are concerned that the same people will think it is ok to brake other laws. Better to give someone on a bike plenty of room to get out of the way of those that would not follow the law.
Haha, I just realized that they sound a lot worse when told all together. I can't say that I miss my young and stupid years, but those were some of my better memories from those days, lol.
Maybe they are concerned with all the drivers that think it is ok to drive above the posted speed limit. I mean if people are thinking it is ok to brake the law then maybe they are concerned that the same people will think it is ok to brake other laws. Better to give someone on a bike plenty of room to get out of the way of those that would not follow the law.
When tons of people aren't following the speed limit, perhaps the speed limit is too low?
Most people are not going to do anything that puts them in danger, knowingly. Ever hear of the 85th percentile rule? That the safest speed limit is the 85th percentile of average velocity on it? No more....no less.
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