# For all times we've complained "Where's a cop when you need one?" today he was there **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 26, 2005, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-times-weve-complained-wheres-a-cop-when-you-need-one-today-he-was-there/318666 "2005-08-26T02:10:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2005, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-times-weve-complained-wheres-a-cop-when-you-need-one-today-he-was-there/318666/21 "2005-08-26T16:18:04Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > In advance, I know some will bitch and say I should have pulled over, but the question is why? I wasn’t breaking the law by impeding traffic, nor was I creating an unsafe condition by traveling under the speed limit, so take that dog home, he won’t hunt here. On a multi lane highway, go ahead and do a hundred miles an hour-it’s your ass, and the ass of whomever you hit, but don’t bitch when you happen to get stuck behind someone who’s simply obeying the law. Simple you should have pulled over because it would have been safer. You weren’t being unsafe yourself, but you can’t control the asshat behind you. So unless you are an officer of the law you have no recourse other than to try and make life safer by pulling over for the idiot. Of course sometimes you can’t pull over and so have to keep on driving as safely as you can. It is everyones duty to make travelling as safe as possible, the fact that some morons don’t do their duty does not absolve you of the same duty to safety. You did well to not have allowed the moron to cause you to speed to an unsafe velocity due to their bullying, but if you avoided to pull over when you safely could that would have been foolish. ---
**Author:** ![xbuckeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9e8a1a/32.png) [@xbuckeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xbuckeye)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2005, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-times-weve-complained-wheres-a-cop-when-you-need-one-today-he-was-there/318666/22 "2005-08-26T18:12:47Z")
> [@vetbridge](#): > > The other driver was a cop. A tail-gating cop. That’s awesome! I hear this in that “i’m going to make a robot…a _girl_ robot” voice. My tailgating asshat was an 18 wheeler. I accelerated to get away from him and my sister called 911 on a cell. The cops stopped him and ‘discussed’ safe driving with him. They didn’t see any tailgating (turns out my car can accellerate faster and handle better on hilly winding roads than a loaded grain truck) so didn’t ticket him, but they made the tailgating not worth his time. ---
**Author:** ![SusanStoHelit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@SusanStoHelit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SusanStoHelit)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2005, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-times-weve-complained-wheres-a-cop-when-you-need-one-today-he-was-there/318666/23 "2005-08-26T18:31:49Z")
**danceswithcats** , aren’t you a truck driver? Your profile says different, but I remember you participating in some big rig threads. ---
**Author:** ![Anita\_Vacation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Anita\_Vacation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anita_Vacation)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2005, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-times-weve-complained-wheres-a-cop-when-you-need-one-today-he-was-there/318666/24 "2005-08-26T19:17:38Z")
> [@SusanStoHelit](#): > > **danceswithcats** , aren’t you a truck driver? Your profile says different, but I remember you participating in some big rig threads. He drives a big cargo van, like an Econoline, but it’s not a “big rig”. (This should suffice until DWC can clarify). Anybody who tailgates a vehicle that they can’t see around is an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2005, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-times-weve-complained-wheres-a-cop-when-you-need-one-today-he-was-there/318666/25 "2005-08-26T19:34:14Z")
I find that aggressive driving is getting worse and worse. I see people who rev up behind me to try and force me to speed up, and I don’t drive slowly! ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2005, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-times-weve-complained-wheres-a-cop-when-you-need-one-today-he-was-there/318666/26 "2005-08-26T21:11:23Z")
> [@Duck Duck Goose](#): > > he believes in actually _slowing down and stopping_ for yellow lights Eh? Who stops for yellow lights? That’s what the red light is for. The yellow just lets you know it’s a-coming. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2005, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-times-weve-complained-wheres-a-cop-when-you-need-one-today-he-was-there/318666/27 "2005-08-26T21:16:38Z")
If the light has been yellow long enough that it will be red by the time you begin to enter the intersection, YOU MISSED YOUR TURN.]([http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=330869](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=330869)) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2005, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-times-weve-complained-wheres-a-cop-when-you-need-one-today-he-was-there/318666/28 "2005-08-26T21:38:52Z")
DWC, fuckin’ aye. Props to you. I love seeing bad drivers have their day pissed on. Lord knows when I screw up there’s always an officer there to correct me. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2005, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-times-weve-complained-wheres-a-cop-when-you-need-one-today-he-was-there/318666/29 "2005-08-26T21:50:44Z")
Just to share another story, I was out doing some work by the pumps on the side closest to the intersection. Now, people often blow the light at this intersection. This time, however, a guy comes blowing through the light while a cop is waiting to make a left (he’s got a red left-turn arrow.) The cop hits his lights and sirens and pulls the guy over. I was laughing for at least 10 minutes. It was almost as funny as the time they pulled a guy over for not wearing his seatbelt and got him for possession, as well as having an open container and probably DWI. ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2005, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-times-weve-complained-wheres-a-cop-when-you-need-one-today-he-was-there/318666/30 "2005-08-26T22:09:52Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > Just to share another story, I was out doing some work by the pumps on the side closest to the intersection. Now, people often blow the light at this intersection. This time, however, a guy comes blowing through the light while a cop is waiting to make a left (he’s got a red left-turn arrow.) The cop hits his lights and sirens and pulls the guy over. I was laughing for at least 10 minutes. It was almost as funny as the time they pulled a guy over for not wearing his seatbelt and got him for possession, as well as having an open container and probably DWI. **asterion** damn, do you subscribe to _The Lee County, GA, Ledger_ the local weekly newspaper where I live? I swear, every week there’s somebody pulled over because of seatbelt violation or running a stop sign or something equally as stoopid, who gets busted for DUI (that’s what it’s called round here. Driving Under the Influence) or possession, or suspended license, or outstanding warrants or any combo you care for thereof. It always amazes me. I look forward to Wednesdays just so I can read about the recent local idjits. ---
**Author:** ![EarthStone777](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@EarthStone777](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EarthStone777)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2005, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-times-weve-complained-wheres-a-cop-when-you-need-one-today-he-was-there/318666/31 "2005-08-26T22:45:16Z")
I don’t recall if I’ve already shared this or not… There was a stop light just up the street from a store I used to work at. During evening rush hours, it was normal for drivers to run the yellow light, and keep running it when it turned red. One day, two motorcycle cops pulled up across the street from my store at around 4 PM. They parked their bikes and stood their watching the light. As the line of cars moved passed them (standing in the parking lane) they waited for the light to change. As usual, it turned yellow and then red and a couple cars kept coming through. They stepped foward and waved the last two cars over and started writing tickets. As soon as one would finish and his ‘victim’ would pull away, he would watch the light until it changed again and nab the last car in line that ran the red light. They kept that up for 2 hours straight until after rush hour ended. They came back the next day and did it again, and again, and again… For several months they came almost every day for 2-3 hours a day and wrote tickets as fast as they could. Finally summer was over and it started getting cold out and the motorcycle officers stopped coming. I can’t imagine how many tickets they wrote or how much money the city made from those two officers that summer, but it had to be a small fortune. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2005, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-times-weve-complained-wheres-a-cop-when-you-need-one-today-he-was-there/318666/32 "2005-08-26T22:56:08Z")
Why is this in the pit? ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2005, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-times-weve-complained-wheres-a-cop-when-you-need-one-today-he-was-there/318666/33 "2005-08-26T23:05:10Z")
I saw a motorcycle cop almost get broadside by a speeding car runnig a red. The light facing the cop turned green, he entered the intersection by a couple of feet, and a car came flying directly across his path from his left. The cop slammed on his brakes and was very lucky not to have been hit. Needless to say, there was an immediate, lights, siren, and traffic stop of the adverse driver. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2005, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-times-weve-complained-wheres-a-cop-when-you-need-one-today-he-was-there/318666/34 "2005-08-26T23:48:56Z")
OTOH, I once saw a speeding cop running without lights or siren nearly T-bone a city bus. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2005, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-times-weve-complained-wheres-a-cop-when-you-need-one-today-he-was-there/318666/35 "2005-08-26T23:54:53Z")
> [@aerodave](#): > > I applaud your work. That is pretty awesome. > > However, don’t be surprised if the ticket won’t stick, even with your witnessing. If the cop didn’t actually see the tailgating, it’ll be hard to justify the citation. And since you pulled over to talk to him, it would seem he wouldn’t have had the chance to see the close following. If I recall correctly, **danceswithcats** is a firefighter. His word would carry as much weight as the officer’s, at least it does here. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2005, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-times-weve-complained-wheres-a-cop-when-you-need-one-today-he-was-there/318666/36 "2005-08-27T00:02:27Z")
> [@SusanStoHelit](#): > > **danceswithcats** , aren’t you a truck driver? Your profile says different, but I remember you participating in some big rig threads. That was a former occupation. I’ve kept the CDL along with tanker and hazmat endorsements current, though. 🙂 To **Zebra** : I put this in the pit because experience has taught that driving threads can become heated, along with name-calling and other nastiness. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2005, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-times-weve-complained-wheres-a-cop-when-you-need-one-today-he-was-there/318666/37 "2005-08-27T00:04:50Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > If I recall correctly, **danceswithcats** is a firefighter. His word would carry as much weight as the officer’s, at least it does here. In PA the weight of my opinion for a matter like this is subject to the judgement of the presiding magistrate. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2005, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-times-weve-complained-wheres-a-cop-when-you-need-one-today-he-was-there/318666/38 "2005-08-27T00:09:18Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > (1) whether the cop actually witnessed the tailgating or was relying on the OP’s hearsay in writing the citation Small nitpick. **DWC** was, and in court would be, offering testimony. Hearsay would apply if the cop actually took the stand and said the driver was tailgaiting based on the testimony of **DWC**. At least as far as I understand the legal definition. **DWC** , nice job. ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2005, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-times-weve-complained-wheres-a-cop-when-you-need-one-today-he-was-there/318666/39 "2005-08-27T00:15:23Z")
> [@xbuckeye](#): > > That’s awesome! I hear this in that “i’m going to make a robot…a _girl_ robot” voice. Too funny- that’s exactly how I heard it, too! I get tailgated a lot because I don’t speed (I"ll do around 5mph above, but not more. Why? Because I leave on time and I’m not in a freaking hurry, that’s why!) and I want a bumper sticker I saw that says “If you can read this, I can slam on my brakes and sue you.” However, I’m worried about how that could legally impact me if I WERE to be rear ended, so I’ve held off. Just Monday morning I had someone get right on my ass at the very beginning of a 30mph area of town that goes on for quite some time- his SUV lights were about blinding me, and I pulled off in a restaurant lot to let him pass. I caught up with him about 10 miles down the road and waved at him as we got on the highway. He sped through the whole town, but got no further because he caught all of the lights. It warmed my black little heart. ---
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2005, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-times-weve-complained-wheres-a-cop-when-you-need-one-today-he-was-there/318666/40 "2005-08-27T00:21:50Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > In PA the weight of my opinion for a matter like this is subject to the judgement of the presiding magistrate. Exactly. And why not? I don’t understand why people think a cop needs to be an eyewitness to a traffic infraction or violation in order to write a ticket. A cop doesn’t have to witness a mugging in order to arrest the mugger. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-times-weve-complained-wheres-a-cop-when-you-need-one-today-he-was-there/318666.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-times-weve-complained-wheres-a-cop-when-you-need-one-today-he-was-there/318666.md?page=3)