Word up. I got a warning ticket on the way to work a few years ago and when one of my co-workers heard about it she just about hit the roof. "I NEVER get warning tickets! Every single I time I get pulled over, I get a ticket and blah blah blah . . . " Then she started describing the times she had been pulled over, and right near the beginning of the first story was the old classic, “I told him to just hurry up and write my ticket, because I was in a hurry.” No wonder you always get tickets you fucking airhead :rolleyes:.
Close. From the tone of his posts it’s pretty clear that he is full of shit and a moron…
Dexter.
Some people attract dick cops. I got a ticket when a car kept tailgating me and I sped up each time he did so to keep some distance between us until I got fed up and pulled away from him completely. At that point the cop driving his ghost car put on his lights and I pulled over. I explained this to the judge and his response was that I should have pulled over when I was being tailgated.:rolleyes: Okay, pal, I’m of the opinon that a nut should remain far behind me on the road, not beside or in front of me, but whatever. I paid the ticket.
Another time, it was early in the morning 4-5am, I was working the night shift and was stopping in at the doughnut shop. I had to turn left across an intersection to get to the shop on the opposite corner and was stuck at the ‘punishment light’ waiting to turn. A few minutes pass and I wonder what is taking the light so long to turn. I look in all directions for traffic that wasn’t there, nor had been there while I was driving on the road, or stopped at the light. I could see far enough that had I been an invalid grandmother with a walker I could have crossed before Michael Andretti could have reached the intersection with an F1 car at full throttle. So, I ran the light. Very stupid as I should have realized that ‘doughnut shop’ = ‘cop’. They were sitting in their unmarked car chowing down. As always, I’m polite when the officer approaches my vehicle, and was a little miffed when I didn’t get a warning. Yeah, I know he didn’t have to give me a warning, but come on, he was looking at the same intersection I was sitting in probably laughing at the guy stuck at the light with no other cars around and betting with his partner as to whether I’d run it. I never did see the light turn, btw.
Some cops are jerks. If you have never encountered one, consider yourself lucky. Police departments today have higher standards than in the old days, when being someone’s cousin was enough to get a badge and a gun in some departments.
Eggzactly! These tickets were spaced out over my entire driving career which officially began in 1977, although I have been driving since I was ten years old, operating everything from a VW beetle to a bulldozer on my grandfather’s farm. I guestimate that over that intervening time, I have driven WELL over 1/2 million miles, without an accident. I am pretty much a road warrior, and a better driver than you, unless you are Mario Andretti.
The tickets I mentioned are all that I have ever gotten, and all except for the last one, the seatbelt violation, were 100% “I am ticketing you for having long hair, ya dirty hippie” style bogus. Fuck the police. They tried to frame my best friend for his GF’s suicide. She was suffering from post-partum depression and laid down on a freeway on-ramp a few blocks from his house one night when she freaked out. I won’t go into all the details here, but may someday when I have the chance. They were trying to get him to confess AFTER they were in possession of EXONERATING EVIDENCE.
Cops suck, and I suspect they always have. The “War on Drugs” has just enabled them more so.
/used to know every cop on the South Side of Chicago
//Grandfather was a cop
As a person who does have a problem with authority, luckily most of my transactions with the police have been regarding traffic stops. But, it is somewhat unnerving to play nice nice with a guy who has a gun and the authority to use it, and whose word is more than likely to be taken over yours, when he is being a dick. I did notice that as I got older the police demonstrated less dickish behaviour towards me when I had the opportunity to talk with them.
This was a long time ago, around 1980, and I don’t think that the state of Washington had reciprocity with California at the time. It has never shown up as a warrant here, and I have been back to Washington many times since then. It has never been an issue, although I suppose it could be. BFD. If they pop me on a 30 year old warrant someday, well, I guess they have solved all the other crime problems up there, so let them have at it.
Wowsers, same thing happened to me. I was heading down a side street in Anaheim, CA, and at a place where there were two stop signs within about 40 feet of each other due to staggered cross streets. Vehicle behind me almost rear-ends me at the first sign, and tailgates me to the next one, so I roll it slightly. On come the lights. “Have you been drinking this evening?” “I should ask YOU that question, you almost hit me at the last stop sign.” Got off with a “warning” that time. :rolleyes:
I don’t get pulled over a lot. The times I have been pulled over were bogus. And yes, I do have “issues” with law enforcement. I think they should do their jobs in a proper manner and not shoot restrained people in the back. Or pull minorities or long haired “hippies” over on fishing expeditions, and failing to catch anything, write bogus tickets. Yeah, I have “issues” with that. Maybe I should cut my hair? Sorry, but my girlfriend likes my flowing viking locks, and she takes precedence.
Well, you got off easy. I don’t think you got fair treatment from the cops just because they let you off. A fair cop would have ticketed you for the offenses. I was pulled over, for, basically obeying the law. In the modern age, what with the war on drugs and all, OBEYING the law makes you a suspect. Refer to my OP. Also a certain novel by Joseph Heller.
Reminds me of the time me and my boss were driving in South Central LA. We were stopped at a red light, and a character at the bus stop was openly peddling crack cocaine out of vials. Made a sale while we were sitting there. Behind us was an LAPD cop car who must have seen the whole deal. Nothing happened. Me and my boss just looked at each other like WTF? Later on, it was revealed that LAPD was renting corners to dealers in exchange for protection and immunity. Making all this up am I? Google “rampart scandal”.
Getting old sucks green moldy donkey balls, but there ARE some perks. 
Yah, five tickets in 40 years of driving. I am a real scofflaw. Are you a LEO or related to one by any chance?
They were motorists that were passing me as I did the speed limit, (I wasn’t taking any more chances) so they had plenty of time to read it. I think I also posted a sign next to the ticket that said “bogus” in big letters with an arrow pointing to the ticket. Again, this was almost 30 years ago, so memory is not perfect.
I chewed out the officer south of Seattle after the ticket was written. Any action after that on his part would have opened up the department to a 1st amendment lawsuit. And of course you never ask “what did I do wrong”. No duh. Let him make his case. Any traffic officer will tell you that they have already made their mind about ticketing you before they approach your vehicle. Not being stupid or suicidal, I am always polite but firm with LEO’s, conveying respect but also subtlety dropping a hint that I am aware of my rights. And yes, I have been let off for stuff that they could have legitimately ticketed me for. I just find it interesting that the tickets that I HAVE received have been completely bogus.
I guess the message is: “Drive like a jerk and we will let you off, but obey the law and you attract our notice.”
And living in the Burbank/Glendale CA area, I wish they would ticket MORE people. We have some of the worst drivers on earth here. I won’t point any fingers, but some people have noticed that a certain ethnic group prevalent in this area are beyond psychotic when they are behind the wheel. Suffice it to say, I wouldn’t ride as a passenger in my Armenian EX GF’s car. She was also recently involved in a horrific accident that totaled her car and put her in intensive care.
Yeah, right.
Police departments want stupid thugs that will not question the morality of their actions under color of authority. QED.
So THATS how people can have such high post counts…
27 years of driving - 1 ticket
of times a cop told me he ought to “kick my ass” - 0
Of course, I’m blessed with a healthy dose of common sense. Case in point: When I go to the laundromat, I bring change. Lots of it.
Perhaps if the SDMB had a better interface, I could combine responses to multiple posts more easily into one. As it is, this is what you get. As if I care about my post count. :rolleyes:
Well, I average about 20k miles a year, and have been driving (at least on public roads) for 43 years, so I think our ticket rates may be similar. The quote, as far as I can remember it, was “It is people like you that run over old ladies and children and I ought to kick your ass right here and now.” Delivered in such a manner that I feared for my physical safety. I am glad you have had different experiences. One of these days I will relate the story of Anaheim cops that beat the crap out of an innocent man in front of my very eyes, and were really getting into it. Pummeling the dude with night sticks, a total Rodney King scene. When I went to the department to file a complaint, the desk officer handed me a form, I spent a good half an hour filling it out. When I was done, he ripped it apart in front of me, and told me “get the fuck out of here before you get the same.”
Yah, I am a big liar that just makes up stories on the dope for yucks. If that comforts your feeble mind, keep on keeping on with your delusions. I prefer reality.