Explain This One...

The standards for speeding back east must be different from mine. I never, ever wrote a ticket for 10mph or less over the speed limit except in a school zone. I'd give 'em 11, seriously consider a ticket at 12 and definitely give 'em one at 13 over.

Now, when I'm driving I try to set the cruise at 7-8 over. Still gets me there but doesn't lead to those roadside chats with the troopers.

Golfman25 said:

Cops make mistakes. Be nice. This being on tape (and with the red light camera's these days) you can basically show the error in court. And if your nice to the police and the judge, the good karma will follow you.

I got stopped recently for "speeding" trying to beat a light. Being asked for insurance, I was fumbling around with my app and password trying to get it to come up. I was nice, pleasant, and new to the area. He gave me a warning. But then he made his snide comment as he handed me the printout. I bit my tongue but let him "have it" while I drove to my destination.

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You'd like to think so, unfortunately there are no guarantees.

The only issue I see with the drivers was the comment about the weapon. Him saying yes i have it but that's his problem was definitely uncalled for but it was in their privacy so can slide but shows he didn't have the best attitude. That being said, I see no reason for that stop in that video. Maybe there was something not on the video but from what I saw no reason for a stop there. Now my background...I used to work in law enforcement, step-son is a corporal detective at a local PD, brother-in-law has been an officer for about 30 years, my grandfather was a police officer. So I usually side with the police but in this case based on only the video, the driver was in the right. If he shows that video in court he will get out of it unless there was something else we don't know.

I just happened to get a ticket yesterday by a jerk of a cop.
I was polite, and still got one.
$139.00 for not having a front license plate mounted. I haven't had the car very long, and there didint appear to be a way to mount one.
He didn't care, moving violation also.
I have the upmost respect for law enforcement, but this one sheriff has tarnished that now.
It just takes one bad apple.

Gofirstclass said:

+1 to Shay's comments. Been there, done that for many years but that was before the YouTube generation. These youtubers should all be members of the Screen Actor's Guild.

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Question: Do you have your gun?
Answer: Yeah, but that’s his problem.

Another traffic light 200 feet before the green one in the video?
Really?

Hmmmm.......
I might be a bit cynical because of my many years in policing but I would love to see the video footage from their dash cam for the traffic light before the green one where the Jeep cut in from the right side.
Did they blow that prior red light and not show it on the video?
After listening to the conversation and comments that were recorded and posted by the fine upstanding motorist and his female passenger I don’t think it’s totally outside the realm of possibility that the light they got pulled over for was not the green one where the video they posted started.
Quite frankly, from what I heard, they sounded like big enough a$$holes (and just stupid enough) to post a video that was edited in a way that changes the narrative to suit their needs.
I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in a traffic court where they brought that video in as evidence.
Especially if the cop had a dash cam too, produced it in traffic court, and his video started a minute or two before this one.
My experience after many years of being a cop, supervising cops and ultimately commanding cops makes me qualified enough to say that the majority of the literally thousands of cops I worked with tended to let more people go with warnings than they wrote tickets to.
I know I did. I usually let what seemed to be sincerely honest mistakes go because there was always a knucklehead like these two coming my way.
Besides, writing tickets is such a minuscule part of what a cop does throughout his or her day.
As far as which car to pull over after you see more than one commit a violation? That’s a judgement call. It’s really difficult to safely pull over more than one car at the same time and borderline suicidal for a cop working alone to try it.
Choice between a car pulling a trailer that went through a light, followed by a Jeep making an unsafe lane change.
I might tend to go with the first one. Not for any other reason than odds are it’s probably the easiest one to safely catch.
Ask most cops which guy to go after if you are chasing multiple people on foot, they split up and you can only grab one. Their answer will be the fat guy because odds are he’s most likely to be the slowest.
In this situation the fat guy was the guy pulling the trailer.

wyrman said:

I just happened to get a ticket yesterday by a jerk of a cop.
I was polite, and still got one.
$139.00 for not having a front license plate mounted. I haven't had the car very long, and there didint appear to be a way to mount one.
He didn't care, moving violation also.
I have the upmost respect for law enforcement, but this one sheriff has tarnished that now.
It just takes one bad apple.

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So you didn’t have a required front plate on your car and the cop is a jerk cop because he didn’t give you a break?
Okay. Sounds reasonable to me..........

Ididntdoit said:

Guys - I have nothing but respect for law enforcement - my only intent of this post was to point out the light was CLEARLY and entirely green, as well as the dangerous maneuver of the red jeep.......just didn't seem to be an explanation for the stop - yes, Tony seemed upset, but as Woody said, he didn't seem to be confrontational with the officer - If any members of law enforcement would like me to take the post down, just PM me - as I said, I'm not looking to come off as disrespectful of those that protect and serve......

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You don’t seem disrespectful at all. Quite the opposite.
Your buddy on the other hand (although he may be a great guy caught at a bad moment) comes off in the video and the title he posted it under as a real tool.

This is a thread that can't win...

b_arrington said:

Wish I got the “warning stop”. The few times I’ve been stopped I was as polite as could be. Still got a ticket. From the interactions I believe there was no opportunity for a “warning”.

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You’re doing the right thing!
There is never a guarantee that politeness will result in a warning. After all, the reason you get pulled over is usually because you committed a traffic infraction and the cop gets paid to pull people over who commit traffic infractions.
But being polite can’t hurt.
I can pretty much guarantee that being impolite will probably rule out any chance you have at all of getting off with a warning.
That’s the advice I give my own family.
The other thing that I add is that even if they think they’re right they should still be polite.
A summons is an accusatory instrument and the place to argue it is in traffic court, not on the street.

My step-son started his police career about 2009 about a week after his 21st birthday. When he started he pulled every car over he could. That lasted a very short time. Luckily (or unluckily) the city he works in has some pretty serious crime and they just don't have time to waste writing traffic tickets for little things. I know he made the comment a couple of years ago that unless you hit his car he isn't writing a ticket...lol. His town probably averages 1 or 2 shootings a week and probably 2 homicides a month (population is only about 35,000). My brother-in-law works in the same department and if I had to guess I'd say he might write 5 traffic tickets a year not counting ones involved in traffic accidents or other crimes. Heck I was in the car with him one night when he stopped a guy with no lights. Turns out the guy was toasted. His wife was in the car and appeared sober so he asked if she had a valid license and told her to drive home and let him go.

But yeah, see my post above where I commented on his weapons comment. That alone tells this guys demeanor but again, based on the dashcam footage alone there was no reason to pull him over. That isn't to say that there was something before it started that we don't see.

JVM225 said:

So you didn’t have a required front plate on your car and the cop is a jerk cop because he didn’t give you a break?
Okay. Sounds reasonable to me..........

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No, it was his attitude towards me.
I am a yes sir, no sir guy to cops.

Gofirstclass said:

The standards for speeding back east must be different from mine. I never, ever wrote a ticket for 10mph or less over the speed limit except in a school zone. I'd give 'em 11, seriously consider a ticket at 12 and definitely give 'em one at 13 over.

Now, when I'm driving I try to set the cruise at 7-8 over. Still gets me there but doesn't lead to those roadside chats with the troopers.

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The Ohio ticket was 68 in a 55... Two lane going into one lane...I was doing 55 and came up on a slower car... Passed him just before the merge and of course a cop is sitting right there... I am out of state so I think that's an automatic.
Michigan was in a known speed trap ... He gave me a moving violation in stead of a speeding ticket for $200 instead of $150 speeding ticket... It's just my luck I can't win
I always do the 8 over on cruise... I just get caught when ever I screwup

I looked at Google maps, the previous intersection is 550' from crosswalk to where the officer was parked. It appears his view would have been obstructed. When I watched the video the squad started moving toward the street at .06 when the truck/trailer was still about 70' from entering the intersection and the light was green. As you see in the video when the truck goes by the squad is at the street waiting to get in behind.

Just before 4.00 in the video the couple talk about their camera/recording, then there's a jump in the recording. I couldn't understand it all but it sounds like she said 'did you play it', and after that he sounded angry saying he would take the camera to court.

Dumb question from me...the squad was on the back side of the traffic lights, one way street. What told him the light was red before the truck trailer got there?

+1 on Blueone - thread cannot win. Downside to getting a citation out of state is if you are a distance from home and you decide to dispute the citation, that dispute takes place in their court, in their county and at their courts discretion in regards to when. It can be extremely inconvenient to return to court on their schedule 3, 4 or 7 states away, even if you can prove without a doubt you were in the right. Therefore - most pay the fine and take the points and move on. The best solution . . . . . obey the speed limit (yes I do the 8-9 mph over cruise thing too), stop for the red and yellow lights, yield to others (even if you do have the right away), and be kind to our men and women law enforcement officers. It is easy to pass judgement on them without walking a few days in their shoes.

I set my cruise to +4 over. By law they have to give you 5 MPH so I try to be safe.

Only ever had 1 ticket and that was about 1990 when I was about 21. I had a 1970 Olds W31. Pulled out of the local hangout and lit 'em up. Saw cop go past the other way and knew he couldn't see me. He pulled me over up the road and wrote me a ticket for reckless driving. I told him my tires were wet from a puddle and my foot slipped off the clutch. He still wrote me up. Went to court and won. Not because of that story but because the cop gave a story that wasn't believable and the judge called him out on it. Heard the cop lost his job a few weeks later for losing too many of his cases. In my case I know 100% that he couldn't see me from where he was. He also told the judge I was endangering people at the business next door. This happened at 1:00 AM and the business closed at 10:00 PM. The judge asked if anybody was at that business at that time and he said no. He also told the judge I never crossed the center line which I definitely did and the tire marks showed it. Was I guilty? Yep. Was the cop right in citing me? Nope. Not from his vantage point. Only other time I was ever pulled over was in my '57 Chevy. Had a 552 HP small block and the exhaust stopped under the back seat so it was loud. I was going up a big hill with a cop behind me. He pulled me over thinking I had open headers but let me go when he saw my exhaust. That was about 1997ish

boatman37 said:

I set my cruise to +4 over. By law they have to give you 5 MPH so I try to be safe.

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boatman, that's an old wives tail. Nowhere in the law books does it say anything like that.

If you can find it and prove me wrong, I'll eat my hat. No, wait, not my SeaRay hat

JVM225 said:

You’re doing the right thing!
There is never a guarantee that politeness will result in a warning. After all, the reason you get pulled over is usually because you committed a traffic infraction and the cop gets paid to pull people over who commit traffic infractions.
But being polite can’t hurt.
I can pretty much guarantee that being impolite will probably rule out any chance you have at all of getting off with a warning.
That’s the advice I give my own family.
The other thing that I add is that even if they think they’re right they should still be polite.
A summons is an accusatory instrument and the place to argue it is in traffic court, not on the street.

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Being a Long Island guy, I'll share my biggest beef with police and traffic. It's the way both Nassau and Suffolk police do traffic enforcement during peak rush hours. Especially in Suffolk (where I live), the SCPD has MULTIPLE highway patrol cars stationed in the median of the Long Island Expressway during rush hour. Traffic is always heavy and rarely approaches the speed limit of 55. The patrol vehicles only serve to further slow traffic to a crawl where every they sit and causes huge delays During non-rush hour times - when traffic is lighter and speeds can be and are higher - I rarely see highway patrol.

Contrast this to NJ where I grew up. Cops leave you alone during rush hour, and patrol during off hours. This lets rush hour traffic actually flow. The way Suffolk County does it just contributes to longer commutes and crappy quality of life. A couple years ago the Sheriff's department took over highway patrol duties; they seemed to have a different approach that let traffic flow much more freely.

The last thing is what seems like arrogance and inconsideration of SOME officers (note - I have 2 friends that are SCPD officers, one a detective and one in Highway Patrol). Last week an unmarked Suffolk Police car was stopped in the Car Pool (HOV) travel lane talking through his window to a marked SCPD highway patrol car in the. The HOV traffic had to detour around him and into the regular lanes - it caused a 10 mile backup. There was no other car stopped, etc. To me, thinking you can fuck up traffic for thousands of drivers so you can chat with your buddy is the height of disrespect and hubris. It presents a bad image to the public for every other officer.

Brad, I'm not even going to try to explain or defend the two cops talking car to car and blocking traffic. On its face that just sounds unreasonable.

I will offer a probable explanation of the SCPD cars stationed in the median along a busy highway. If there was a fender bender or serious accident and the cops were miles away and had to negotiate heavy traffic to get there, that would be irresponsible. It also would create a traffic nightmare that could block traffic for miles.

Having cars stationed every few miles along a very busy highway means they can get to an accident much more quickly. This allows them to clear the accident scene more quickly and that, in turn, frees up the traffic flow more quickly before it becomes a HUGE mess.

It's also not uncommon to have wreckers stationed at onramps a few miles apart to speed their response to an accident scene and get traffic moving more quickly.

Two sides to this story, and possibly one you hadn't thought of.

Gofirstclass said:

boatman, that's an old wives tail. Nowhere in the law books does it say anything like that.

If you can find it and prove me wrong, I'll eat my hat. No, wait, not my SeaRay hat

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New one on me too. Lots of urban legend out there.

b_arrington said:

Being a Long Island guy, I'll share my biggest beef with police and traffic. It's the way both Nassau and Suffolk police do traffic enforcement during peak rush hours. Especially in Suffolk (where I live), the SCPD has MULTIPLE highway patrol cars stationed in the median of the Long Island Expressway during rush hour. Traffic is always heavy and rarely approaches the speed limit of 55. The patrol vehicles only serve to further slow traffic to a crawl where every they sit and causes huge delays During non-rush hour times - when traffic is lighter and speeds can be and are higher - I rarely see highway patrol.

Contrast this to NJ where I grew up. Cops leave you alone during rush hour, and patrol during off hours. This lets rush hour traffic actually flow. The way Suffolk County does it just contributes to longer commutes and crappy quality of life. A couple years ago the Sheriff's department took over highway patrol duties; they seemed to have a different approach that let traffic flow much more freely.

The last thing is what seems like arrogance and inconsideration of SOME officers (note - I have 2 friends that are SCPD officers, one a detective and one in Highway Patrol). Last week an unmarked Suffolk Police car was stopped in the Car Pool (HOV) travel lane talking through his window to a marked SCPD highway patrol car in the. The HOV traffic had to detour around him and into the regular lanes - it caused a 10 mile backup. There was no other car stopped, etc. To me, thinking you can fuck up traffic for thousands of drivers so you can chat with your buddy is the height of disrespect and hubris. It presents a bad image to the public for every other officer.

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I don’t know anything about how Nassau/Suffolk/NYSP come up with deployment plans on local Highways and Parkways.
I can only imagine they have a heavy presence in rush hour to deter aggressive driving which leads to fender benders and road rage, and to enforce the HOV Lane.
But that’s just a guess.
Could also be that their numbers are the same in rush hour as they are during the rest of the day and night but you just notice them more when you’re in the typical traffic jams.
Then again, in the nearly 25 years since I moved out to Long Island I was fortunate enough to have worked off hours for most of it or worked around it. Now I’m just a bum and I’m usually at the gym in the morning when people are pulling their hair out in traffic. For most of the evening rush hours (about 8 months a year) I’m still puttering around down on my dock which is typically a 20 minute ride if I don’t catch the lights.
If I had to commute back and forth by car to a regular 9-5 I probably would have never moved out of the City.