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muhnay, didn't know you were a cop. Cool, you got my respect
I used to ride along with firetrucks and I witnessed all kinds of STUPID PEOPLE. The most common issue is with people having their music up way too loud and oblivious to their surroundings.
The other thing on the roads these days...that you don't see anymore....use to "back in the day".....when an ambulance or firetruck came up behind you or even coming from the opposite direction...you always did your darndest to get pulled over as fast as you could. Yesterday I was in Tyler and an ambulance had to sit at the intersection for 30 seconds...with it lights and sirens on...because people wouldn't give up there chance to cross the intersection!!! It makes me sick to think that there could be somebodies love one in the ambulance...on the brink of death...and it's more important for those people to make it through that intersection than it is to stop for the ambulance. What is wrong with people?
I have seen this! Absolutely unbelieveable! I think a lot of this to due to people coming in from foreign countries, manage to get drivers licenses (or maybe not, who knows) and really don't have a clue. It's depressing. I've seen this happen with ambulances and fire trucks. Don't people realize seconds count when an emergency vehicle has its lights and sirens going? Surely, they can't be that naive. I always fear they are en route to someone without any medical treatment at all until the paramedics do arrive, but yes, even if they are in the ambulance en route to a hospital with papamedics in attendance, sometimes it is vital in seconds if they make it there in time. Not nearly as important as human life, but important all the same is if your home is burning to the ground and the firetrucks are delayed over and over again trying to get there. I have seen both, people refusing to stop at the intersections and also refusing to pull over the the side of the road for them to pass. They should be locked up in jail for doing this and their licenses taken away from them for good.
Improper use of equipment (citation) is one of the many citations you can be given for such an act. Most cops don't mind, after all most of the time were not out to catch anyone, but rather to get you to slow down and drive safe.
Two things to consider when talking about people flashing their lights:
1) It's creates what's caused the "halo" effect. If the goal is to run radar, and lower the average speed of vehicles in the area, the person who's flashing their lights is helping the cause.
2) Conversely, perhaps the officer was on the lookout for a suspected drunk driver, or a kidnapper (amber alert). The person who flashes their lights, and thinks they are doing a service, actually just alerted the criminal to the presence of the cop... as a result the kidnapper turns down the next road and is never apprehended in time.
Food for thought.
Thanks for the food. Never thought of it that way.
muhnay, didn't know you were a cop. Cool, you got my respect
I used to ride along with firetrucks and I witnessed all kinds of STUPID PEOPLE. The most common issue is with people having their music up way too loud and oblivious to their surroundings.
Was..
I like Mississippi & Ohio Laws on that. Turn it Down or Pay Up.. they have the signs everywhere.
Quote:
In Lorain, Ohio (broken link), repeat offenders risk having their car impounded and their stereo equipment destroyed. In Gulfport, Mississippi (broken link), the police launched a public service campaign to raise awareness of the city's noise ordinance, which sets a penalty of up to $1,000 for disturbing the peace. Residents can report noise offenders through a website that the police can later follow up on.
I want a law passed like that in Ohio all across the USA.
thanks. never flashing my lights again.. people shouldn't be speeding anyway. i am 43 and have never had a speeding ticket or any kind of moving violation, cuz 1) i never speed and 2) i abide by all traffic laws.
so should everyone else.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Muhnay
You do know thats a crime, right?
Improper use of equipment (citation) is one of the many citations you can be given for such an act. Most cops don't mind, after all most of the time were not out to catch anyone, but rather to get you to slow down and drive safe.
Two things to consider when talking about people flashing their lights:
1) It's creates what's caused the "halo" effect. If the goal is to run radar, and lower the average speed of vehicles in the area, the person who's flashing their lights is helping the cause.
2) Conversely, perhaps the officer was on the lookout for a suspected drunk driver, or a kidnapper (amber alert). The person who flashes their lights, and thinks they are doing a service, actually just alerted the criminal to the presence of the cop... as a result the kidnapper turns down the next road and is never apprehended in time.
I'm a truck drivers daughter and have ALWAYS known about this "act of kindness". Like Bellestar, I only do it when I can tell it is someone just going a lil over and not acting a look an idiot that NEEDS to get stopped. Those flying low 90-to-nothing can get stopped as can those w/ the tricked out rides or teenagers acting like they can "live forever". Let them PLEASE get stopped. After the idiot here in the Dallas area last Sunday was speeding down a city street and passed cars stopped at the red light, barrelled thru the intersection and killed a family of 5 that had just left church......... some people NEED to get stopped - I won't signal the them ANYTHING but will instead CALL the police myself. They just released he was going 98 MPH!!! This was NOT on a highway either. He lived and is in the hospital w/ two armed guards standing by him. Of course ready to cuff him and haul him off the minute he gets discharged. I've called the state highway patrol many times when we have seen some drivers that NEED to get off the road. Most states have a number to call and have it posted along the highway. Texas does not though so I just call 911.
I ALWAYS pull over for emergency vehicles. I was taught to and it does **** me off when I see idiot drivers that won't get out of their way. You are even ALLOWED to run a red light to get out of their way if they are behind you but do it SAFELY and make sure no cross traffic is going thru. They should stop themselves.
Can not STAND the loud thumping music morons. Had one pull up by us one day last week. URGH!!! We could hear and feel it coming a block away. I so want to be packing and just step out of the car and do a quick draw and blow he engine away to stop the sound. I'm sure I'd get a standing ovation from every other driver around. This MORON had it sooooooo loud it was HORRID! Even the glass in OUR cars was rattling when he was 3 car lengths away. I thought my head was going to explode. Most cities DO have sound ordinances and they CAN get issued a citiation. Just never seems to be an officer around when they are doing it. I always wanted to ask them if they REALLY like the "music" they are listening to (using the word "music" IS stretching it a LOT). Of course they would say yes and my response would be, "well you better enjoy it now because in a few years you are going to be TOTALLY DEAF from it. They still would not get it.
thanks. never flashing my lights again.. people shouldn't be speeding anyway. i am 43 and have never had a speeding ticket or any kind of moving violation, cuz 1) i never speed and 2) i abide by all traffic laws.
so should everyone else.
I was going to say just that, but I didn't for fear of being argumentative but since you said it first, I'll chime in.
It irritates the heck out of me when people don't obey the speed signs. It's not cute that they're speeding and some other fool flashes lights to let the oncoming cars know a police officer is in the vicinity. How corny is that?
Another thing that drives me nuts is radar detectors. It's just so ridiculous that adults can't follow a few rules on the road and then gripe when a teen doesn't follow rules of whatever. Do people still use those radar things? I surely hope not.
Around my rural area, people don't pull over very often for emergency vehicles, but I surely do. I can assure you that the people I see not abiding by that law are not foreign, just rude and senseless, just like the flashers and speeders.
I grew up back east and we did that all the time. My husband grew up in CA and never heard of it and thought and still thinks I'm a little off for doing it.
I grew up in CA as well and never heard of such a thing until I moved here. If someone is speeding, why warn him or her; let the person get a ticket and be responsible for reckless actions.
Another thing that drives me nuts is radar detectors. It's just so ridiculous that adults can't follow a few rules on the road and then gripe when a teen doesn't follow rules of whatever. Do people still use those radar things? I surely hope not.
Muhnay probably knows more about this than me, but I think that the radar detectors were much more popular back in the days of the 55 MPH speed limit.
Speaking of which, although it might be slightly off topic, that speed was highly unrealistic for many western highways, and in Texas at least, my experience was that most law enforcement officers recognized it as such and issued citations accordingly.
That is, well, for instance, when I was going to college (the first go-around LOL), I worked as a dispatcher in a Sheriff's office. Anyway, the DPS in that county didn't give tickets unless the person was exceeding 65. I had a few relatives in law enforcement as well, and all said the general rule of thumb was, at that time, to give the said 10 MPH "allowance"
When were you a cop, Muhnay? I know you said you were during your time in the military, did you do it afterwards as well?
Aw shucks, I wasn't talking about idiots that are flying 90 mph down the road. I'm talking about your average Joe Blow driver who might just be going a few miles over the speed limit. I'm talking about a road where the speed limits change every 15 to 20 miles on it and there is no distinction there, the same little country winding road in the middle of nowhere, the same amount of houses scattered around, yet there's a cop hidden behind a tree with his radar gun catching the poor souls who are going the 5-10 mph over the limit which just so happens dropped from 40 mph to 30 mph and the cop in qustion is right behind the tree which is right behind the lowered speed limit sign. I know of one such road that during a 20 stretch changes from 40 to 30 back to 40, then to 30 three times and like I said, no difference in the locations, no schools, no churches, same amount of houses, etc.
I, for one, do not believe that someone has never went over the speed limit. You might not have realized it when you did, but at some time, I sincerely believe you have, not that it really matters, I don't guess. Some of us just aren't that perfect. I also know of a street, 4 lanes, little traffic, nothing to warrant a 30 mph speed limit, but it's there. There are also cops who love this street and for those who don't know about it, well, bless their hearts, they help fill up the cops quota at the end of every month. I will now and will always continue to flash my lights to help these people who are not the perfect saints and obey the law to the tee and just happen to be going a few miles over the limit. When you are on a 4 lane, practically deserted street, I daresay you are driving with one eye on the road and one eye on the odometer to keep it 30 mph or below.
As to that idiot in Dallas, he wouldn't have had the sense to know what anyone flashing lights at him was for anyway. Another thing, he was going too fast to see it anyway. What I'm talking about here has nothing to do with wild people, crazy people, lord, like I said, they don't know whats up to begin with. This guy was going almost 100 mph, ran a red light. When you see someone flying at you going a 100 mph, you are trying to get out of their way, not warn them to slow down. I was never talking about anything like this. I was talking about speed traps and the average driver who might be going a few mph over the limit. And don't kid yourselves, I think we have all at some time or another, done this. And as to this man in Dallas, I am totally shocked that they are charging him with 5 counts of manslaughter. They should charge him with 5 counts of first degree murder and he should receive the death sentence. It brought tears to my eyes every time this story aired.
My Daddy taught me to drive and I learned to drive in the right (slow) lane unless passing. When passing a truck or car at night, I was taught to blink my lights at them as I was pulling abreast of them to let them be aware I was there, and then put my blinker on to move back over in front of them. I was taught to move over to the shoulder to allow faster moving vehicles to pass and to wave at the person who did the same for me. I was taught to signal oncoming traffic that there was a radar cop waiting for them although they were probably within the speed limits, it was just a precaution. I was taught to get out of the way of any emergency vehicle to let them through. I can't list all the things my Daddy taught me here in regards to the safety and common decencies related to driving, but I will say, I value every lesson I did learn and I will continue to operate by them and pass them on.
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