Ask A Cop!!! Post Your Questions Here!

[cowjazz]

Why in the world would anyone need to brake suddenly to 45 or even less from highway speeds (avg. 75?), just to observe a trooper writing a ticket?!

Texas law requires drivers to or move over one lane, or slow to 20 mph below the posted speed limit if a lane change is not possible when passing a police/emergency vehicle on the road/shoulder.

Too many officers have been killed when drivers don't slow down or move over. I doubt you'll find many officers complaining of traffic being too slow when they intitate a traffic stop.

 

[WaterWayne]

Yeah, you're right, CowJazz -- forgot about that fairly new legislation mandating the lane change, and didn't know about the "slow to 20 mph" clause at all. I always tried to pull away from folks just fixing flats on the shoulder, too.

Now that we know they're trying to obey the law, maybe we can tackle inability to merge smoothly and maintain lane discipline, as admonished in those "Left Lane for Passing Only" signs. Nah, I guess that sort of miracle would take more than a chat forum...

 

[TJcop]

As an officer, you want to know what bugs me the most that I see off duty?? It's the friggin' a-holes that only have a driver (no passengers) and use the diamond (carpool) lane. That chaps my rear to no end!!!!

 

[Jorbar1551]

I know this forum is on its last breaths but I've got a good one...

Today, i got pulled over doing 30 in a 35. A cop pulls behind me and puts on his sirens. I do a little check, and see i'm below the speed limit with my seat belt on. His reason for pulling me over..."your license plate is hard to see with that ball traler hitch"

***, you think they have better things to do in their spare time!

 

[TJcop]

I know this forum is on its last breaths but I've got a good one...

We're far from dead!

Today, i got pulled over doing 30 in a 35. A cop pulls behind me and puts on his sirens. I do a little check, and see i'm below the speed limit with my seat belt on. His reason for pulling me over..."your license plate is hard to see with that ball traler hitch"

***, you think they have better things to do in their spare time!

While it may be trival, I'd hardly say that the officer was just wasting "spare time". Traffic enforcement is part of our duties, and we never have "spare time". Yes, an obstructed view of the license plate (hitches, dirt, tinted covers) is illegal. When I worked the night shift, there is an officer that would stop people for having their license plate lamp burned out. He mades tons of arrests (warrants, drugs, etc) off of those types of stops.

 

[Randy43068]

Timothy McVey was caught on a simple traffic stop. Speeding, if I recall correctly. TJ is correct, many-a criminal is caught on a "simple" time wasting traffic stop.

 

[PhillyDiver86]

Cool idea T.J., I have one for you and I'll try to keep it as short as I can...

A couple friends and I were drinking (underage) a few weekends ago. It was really casual, I only had 2 and it was over the span of about 2 hours. Then we decided to head to my friend's house, literally a tenth of a mile from where we were, and I drove only because of how cold it was. The bonehead thing we did was stop real quick at a parking lot dumpster to dispose of the bottles... bad idea, a cop saw us pull out of there and pulled us over right in front of my friend's driveway. So the main details are this: I was completely sober but didn't know what would show up on a breathalyzer so I refused to take it, more out of being scared stiff than thinking logically. We denied drinking. The cop smelled alcohol and said my eyes looked glassy, not to mention having backup check the dumpster to see the bottles we just put in there, so he took me out of the car and handcuffed me (I wasn't read my rights, if that is significant). At this point I did my best to be buddy-buddy with the cop so he would go as easy on me as he could, and in doing so apologized and admitted I had a couple drinks but that it really had been hours since that. He appreciated my attitude throughout, and when he took me to a clinic to get a breathalyzer I blew a 0.00. He had the option to still give me a DUI because of the zero-tolerance policy for underage, but just gave me an underage citation.

So in PA the standard penalty for an underage includes losing your license for 90 days. A family friend who is a lawyer is helping me out -- we already pleaded not guilty. I have no inention of perjuring myself in court obviously, I'm just hoping the license penalty gets dropped. Under the circumstances I really don't think that punishment is warranted, I rely a lot on my car and losing its use for 90 days would not be a good situation. Based on what experience you have do you think the judge would be kind enough to agree with me? Thanks a lot for your help.

 

[TJcop]

Cool idea T.J., I have one for you and I'll try to keep it as short as I can...

A couple friends and I were drinking (underage) ...

This should've been a big enough clue for you. You knowingly decided to break the law.

(I wasn't read my rights, if that is significant).

It's not.

Under the circumstances I really don't think that punishment is warranted, I rely a lot on my car and losing its use for 90 days would not be a good situation.

Why not? Why should you be treated differently? Because you REALLY need your car? That should have been your reason not to drink underage (and drive) in the first place!!!

Based on what experience you have do you think the judge would be kind enough to agree with me? Thanks a lot for your help.

I'm not a lawyer, but my grandfather told me this once: If you can't pay, don't play! Meaning, if you don't want to face the potential consequences of your actions, don't do it! I'm sorry, but most judges (at least around here) have very low tolerances for underage drinking. I have to agree with them...bad habits like these need to be squashed before they become fatal.
Best of luck.

 

[lamont]

speaking not as a cop, but as a former underaged drinker, next time just bury the empties in the bottom of the trash bag at the house or walk to the nearest dumpster to ditch 'em. open containers, even empty ones, in a car, are just asking for the cops to arrest you. no matter what dumb excuse you've got for why they're open, no matter how much you swear that you weren't drinking in the car, its just a bad idea. create your own zero-tolerance rule to eliminate them, with no exceptions. its better if your parents find them than if you get arrested because of an open container.

in any night of drinking you should be prepared ahead of time for how you're going to dispose of the empties -- plan your drinking and drink your plan...

 

[PhillyDiver86]

This should've been a big enough clue for you. You knowingly decided to break the law.

I'm not saying what I did was right by any means, but let's be real... 99% of people in the world have knowingly broken the law in some form or the other. Just consider the speed limit...

Why not? Why should you be treated differently? Because you REALLY need your car? That should have been your reason not to drink underage (and drive) in the first place!!!

Ok, let's go back to the speed limit example. If someone gets pulled over for going 10 mph over the speed limit, they get a comparably smaller penalty than someone caught going 25 over. Yes, I drank. But the fact that I blew a 0.00, clearly showing I was perfectly sober by the time I was in the car (the highest my BAL could've been at the time I stepped into the car, going by the rule that it drops by .015 for every hour after drinking, is .015 since I was tested an hour after -- still under the legal limit of .02 for underage DUI). So my only point is that what I did seems by all accounts to be far less severe than someone underage who is caught piss drunk and possibly causing trouble and/or being uncooperative. THAT'S why I would argue that my behavior warrants different treatment.

I'm not a lawyer, but my grandfather told me this once: If you can't pay, don't play! Meaning, if you don't want to face the potential consequences of your actions, don't do it! I'm sorry, but most judges (at least around here) have very low tolerances for underage drinking. I have to agree with them...bad habits like these need to be squashed before they become fatal.
Best of luck.

Well your point is valid, but again I must defer to the fact that what I did could have been much worse, and in my opinion that should be reflected in the punishment. You don't deal out the same punishment to someone who steals a car vs. someone who steals a pack of tic-tacs. I can rest assured that drinking two beers at 20 years old will not lead to any fatal habits. I would hope a judge would feel the same way. That's my point, so take it for what it's worth.

Thanks for the good luck wish, the trial is April 24th so if you are curious I'll let you know how it turns out.

speaking not as a cop, but as a former underaged drinker, next time just bury the empties in the bottom of the trash bag at the house or walk to the nearest dumpster to ditch 'em. open containers, even empty ones, in a car, are just asking for the cops to arrest you. no matter what dumb excuse you've got for why they're open, no matter how much you swear that you weren't drinking in the car, its just a bad idea. create your own zero-tolerance rule to eliminate them, with no exceptions. its better if your parents find them than if you get arrested because of an open container.

in any night of drinking you should be prepared ahead of time for how you're going to dispose of the empties -- plan your drinking and drink your plan...

Advice well taken, but in this case we actually didn't have any bottles in the car because the cop got us after we dropped them off in the dumpster. Same thing would've happened had we walked to the dumpster, just without the possibility of me landing a DUI. And there won't be a next time for me back home, that's for sure... I'm keeping it confined to college from now on, lol.