Ask A Cop!!! Post Your Questions Here!

[papps953]

There is no “police/insurance system”. The public elects legislators to draft laws. Mayors and governors are charged with enforcing those laws. Police are hired to work under the jurisdiction of the executive branch and enforce those laws.

The insurance company has spent a lot of money and found an interesting correlation. Generally speaking, people who violate the traffic laws are involved in more collisions than those who do not. Additionally, those who violate the traffic laws tend to get caught on occasion. Being smart people, the insurance agency has decided that people who break the laws, get tickets and have collisions are a higher risk than those who do not. Additional premiums are charged. The insurance company has even gone to the extent of looking at the type and color of car different people by and found a correlation between certain cars, colors, and driving behavior.

Braking ability is mainly determined by the road surface. While it is true certain tires and vehicles are able to "grip" the road better, the difference in stopping ability is not that great. And, while it is true some drivers are highly experienced and are capable of driving 20 or 30 miles over the speed limit, the problem is still the fact the streets are an uncontrolled environment. No matter the skill reaction time is still the same. When a car pulls out from an alley, or a child jumps off the sidewalk all the training in the world could be a mute point.

 

[adurso]

That is one of the funniest police stories I have heard... a close second was when I was watching people get their annual OC spray training and this female office was finally getting to the point of where she could function again. Well she decided to get a drink out of a drinking fountain, turned the little valve and watched the spray of water hit her directly in the face, reactivating the OC. Kinda felt bad for her, but it was still funny to watch.

When I came on the job there was no such thing as OC, but a watered down version of CS/CN gas was used. The range sergeant decided he was going to expose the recruits to CS gas in the form of a grenade rolled under the bleachers the class was ordered to sit on, wellll I was not long out of the service and I know what a spoon sounds like...so when the spoon flew so did I. As I ran behind a concrete wall the rest of the class looked at me in amazement as the cloud of gas began to rise the range people started putting on masks and shouting for me to return to the cloud of gas, YEA RIGHT! They soon lost track of me in the crowd of choking puking recruits....Afterwards everyone was gathered inside to explain the use of gas and I stood around with everyone else saying:"Yep horrible, boy my eyes watered" and so on....

 

[RonDawg]

I don't find this fair to be penalized because of the number of horsepower of my vehicules.

I would even add that compared to average driver, I have additionnal training to handle special situations and am more likely to avoid an accident.

I would even argue that high performance cars can brake MUCH harder than regular cars. So if you're reasonable (maintains following distance etc..), driving a sport car is much safer...

I actually saved me once when a guy ran a red light and was coming right at my left side.

Sorry, but those arguments won't fly.

I drive a car that can accelerate to 60 MPH in under six seconds, and that can hit the CA state maximum speed of 70 MPH in SECOND gear. I also have driver training that's far superior to that of the average driver out there. How many times have I been pulled over in this car in the three years I've owned it? ZERO.

Even the fastest sports car in the world (I believe it's a Koenigsegg) shares a few components in common with the cheapest Korean-made car: an accelerator pedal, a brake, and a speedometer. Used properly, they can keep you from getting a ticket.

Use your superior driver training to avoid accidents, rather than as an excuse to break the law. The way the average driver out there operates a motor vehicle, you'll need every bit of that training.

 

[RonDawg]

I hope someone hasn't answered this already. If so my apologies for asking again. My question is this; If an officer states he is letting you off with a warning, and doesn't write a paper warning, does he log that in the computer? Meaning, should another officer pull me over will this officer know of my previous warning? :martian:

Depends on the department. Some departments have sophisticated computer systems that let the dispatcher or officer know if a car has been pulled over, or a contact made with a person, sometime in the past.

If the officer who made the previous contact is on duty, he/she can be contacted to see what occurred.

Whether or not this information is shared outside of the department also depends on the region. In San Diego County for example, all the departments share this information with each other, and have easy access to it. I wonder what would happen if they entered Shaka Zulu's name into their system...

 

[RonDawg]

I wish I had a job that would suspend me with pay!

Law enforcement is one of the few professions where you off-duty conduct can get you in just as much trouble as what you do on duty.

How many of you would get in trouble merely for being arrested, even if you are later not charged (due to lack of evidence) or are acquitted by a jury? In this line of work, just merely being arrested will set off an Internal Affairs investigation. Questioning during such an investigation is NOT covered under the Miranda vs. Arizona ruling (aka "You have the right to remain silent") and lack of cooperation, or a perceived same, could cause you to lose your job.

Just because he's a cop doesn't mean he's not entitled to his Constitutional rights as well. Remember, as of the publishing of that article he had yet to be convicted of the crime. The suspension with pay means he's off the streets pending a further investigation into his conduct.

 

[caribou]

No matter the skill reaction time is still the same. When a car pulls out from an alley, or a child jumps off the sidewalk all the training in the world could be a mute point.

That's exactly the opposite. A good driver has a fast reaction, you know that time where you're not doing anything between the moment you see the problem and the moment you act on it. Even at 20 mph a average driver (on his cell phone for example) will still kill the kid...the speed isn't the cause, it just aggravates.

skilled driver : 0.2 secondes
average driver : 0.7-0.8 secondes
driver with a legal content of alcohol in blood : 1 sec
and then with added alcohol it sky rockets.

It is considered OK to drive a car with alcohol in your system, as long as you're not over the limit. Because you're impaired in terms of reaction time, but you still can operate the vehicule.

When you go through a motorcyle safety course (to take an easy one) they tell you, not one drop of alcohol, because you need every tenth of second to react to danger.

driving is not just operating a vehicule, according to the DMV book for motorcycle, it is the never ending loop described as the following :

Scan (the environment for potential threats like kids, potholes, other driver)
Predict (potential unfriendly behavior)
Interpret (how this behavior will affect ME ?)
Decide (if it happens, what am I doing ?)
Execute (it happens, I do it).

This reduces greatly the reaction time, because you already know what to do, and avoids panic since you were "kind of expecting".

Doing so while driving or riding reduce greatly the chance of having an accident. Are we rewarded for driving like that (besides being healthy) ?

NO !

Instead, the insurance will pick on me on the small mistakes I do (because I know that I'm not perfect, I don't know about you). and I will end up paying tons of money even if I avoids accidents all the time and never got one.

Indexing the insurance rate on accidents ? yes. on speeding ? no. (not that I defend speeding but nobody is perfect).

 

[TJcop]

I hope someone hasn't answered this already. If so my apologies for asking again. My question is this; If an officer states he is letting you off with a warning, and doesn't write a paper warning, does he log that in the computer? Meaning, should another officer pull me over will this officer know of my previous warning? :martian:

At my department, our squads/dispatchers are able to see whether a person/vehicle has been given tickets/verbal warnings/written warnings...so, yes, it's logged no matter what.

 

[TJcop]

...the speed isn't the cause, it just aggravates.

Yeah, saying it aggrivates the situation is like saying it wasn't the accident that killed him, but the sudden stop at the end

It is considered OK to drive a car with alcohol in your system, as long as you're not over the limit. Because you're impaired in terms of reaction time, but you still can operate the vehicule.

Wrong! You can still be arrested, even if you're under the limit. Remember there are 2 different charges you are talking about...first there is the OWI, then there is the prohibited BAC. So, if you are under the limit, but still found to be impaird...BANG..your still busted!

...driving is not just operating a vehicule...

I'll give you this one...since you can get busted for either driving or operating. What's the difference you ask? Driving is moving down the road, operating is being able to have physical control over the vehicle (ie: keys in ignition, but in park).

Doing so while driving or riding reduce greatly the chance of having an accident. Are we rewarded for driving like that (besides being healthy) ?

NO !

So, we should be rewarded for being responsible? Should everyone be rewarded for not committing crimes? Remember that being able to drive is a PRIVELEGE, not a right! It can be taken away at any moment.

 

[lord1234]

caribou...while I am not a LEO, (though my name is Leo), my biggest guess is that you tried talking your way out of the ticket in just the same manner as your posting...and pissed off the cop.

 

[murphdivers286]

I'm new to this thread, but I will try to fit in.... I am a LEO.

As for the speeding debate... If you speed, you take a chance of getting a ticket, an accident, or being seriously injured or killed.... All the training in the world didn't help Dale on the race track.... Would he have died if he was going the legal speed limit on an average highway.....I don't know... But I can tell you his chances would have been greater....

You can have the best training in the world, but the laws of the road have been established to best protect the public. The speeding limits have been determined to be the safest for the particular road.....

Like mentioned above, it is not just your skill you have to worry about, it is the other driver's skill...

Example:
Let's suppose you were driving on a 35 mph road with the average amount of residental housing... Not to much... You are driving at 45 mph and a child runs in the road giving you about a 1-2 second responds time.... According to you, you should be able to avoid the child... and you just might, but don't you think you would have a better response time if you were going 35 mph.... Now imagine if you were changing the radio station, looking at the girl in the string bikini, thinking of something else but driving. I know you stated you are a professionally trained driver, but you can not tell me you have not been distracted....

Remember, on a race track, you have no radio to distract you, or some girl in a bikini (okay, there may be girls in bikini, but you are usually driving too fast to notice)... My point is the laws have been established to protect not only you, but the rest of the citizens.... We can't pick and choose who we enforce the laws to.. We are law "enforcement" officer or deputies, not law makers or law beakers.... I hope people can respect that.... Please understand, I'm not bashing you. I'm just trying to let you understand our side... I hope this helps.