Speeding is definatly not always “reckless” in my book. At 2am when i’m driving home from work (that is, the occasional time when i haven’t ridden my bike) I speed quite a bit. Why? because there’s nobody else on the road and im not endangering them… and really myself neither. And i just want to get home.
So when i have the police pull up in front of my house the next day because somebody has called and reported me FROM THEIR HOUSE when i’ve stopped at a stoplight and they take down my plate, that really, really gets to me. I’m not hurting anyone, esspecially not them. Do they (possibly you) get some jollies out of making me lose my paycheck to the cops?
If it was rush hour and i was weaving through traffic, then yes i could see it. (i commend you on your actions in your given situation Siler Fire) That would be reckless. I consider myself a good driver, as im sure most do. I know the limitations of my vehicle and therefore do not push those limits.
But quite frankly at the end of a 10 hour shift in the kitchen with dumbass customers ordering steaks at 2 minutes to close, I just want to get home crawl into bed, listen to something relaxing and forget my day, the faster the better.
I think i’ve probably written far more than necessary here, but i just want you to understand my point. There are reasons people drive fast. Their life is their buisness, so unless it is affecting you very adversly, BUTT OUT!! There are police for a reason, to stop crime. There are traffic cops out there for a reason, to raise funds, and save civilian lives from idiots drunks. There are people out there who just mind there own buisness for a reason, live is hard enough as it is, why make it harder for someone else?
Wump, I used to agree with your opinion. I then saw the results of a speeding car broadside another that had ran a red light. It was before 5am, nobody on the road. I just missed BEING the guy in the speeding car. I would always speed on my way to work and 30 seconds sooner and I would have hit the idiot who ran the red light. The point is, no matter how much I am in control of my vehicle, someone else can do something stupid and really mess things up.
I’d just like to pipe in and wonder how you called the cops while working at a grocery store? Do you just call and say, “hey man, there’s a drunk here.” Or do you follow them outside and take down license plates and stuff? I very frequently go into my local grocery store drunk on Friday and Saturday nights. But I don’t drive there. Losing my license to a DUI is something I don’t ever want. If I am in a car on the way there, I have someone else drive me. Who is sober of course.
Many years ago I was working graveyard in a convenience store when two drunks walked in. Or should I say reeled in-they could hardly walk. They wanted to buy more beer, but it was after midnight on a weekend, so they didn’t get any. The second they drove off, I called the cops with their license number. The fun part was, about 30 seconds after I hung up the phone, headlights came on at the closed drive in fast food place across the street. The cops were watching over me the whole time! Made me feel good.
Makes me feel paranoid. They were probably just waiting to bust you as well, had you sold the beer.
In a case of blatant reckless driving, I can understand calling someone in. I probably wouldn’t make the call, but I can understand it. It would have to be immediate danger to me before I’d call the cops on someone.
My good friend marsuipialicious was apparently “called in” for one of the most reckless and dangerous acts you can commit while behind the wheel…
Drumming on the steering wheel!!! :eek:
“Edna! get yer Cell phone, that guy stopped at that stop light is drumming on the wheel! He’s gonna kill someone!”
marsuipialicious got 2, count em, 2, letters from two different counties, both from the chief, stating that his recklessness was unsafe and he was issued a warning.
(He has them framed on the wall of his studio!)
All my SDMB friends, you are doing a great service by calling in Drunks and Reckless drivers, but call in a musician for “keepin’ the beat!”, now THERE’S a nark!
People run red lights at night, that’s unfortunatly a fact of life. I still slow down (to a speed closer to the limit) at green lights if im not on a road where i can see cars coming up to the intersection beside me.
You can’t live in fear of people breaking the law. Simply be cautious of idiots…