They could be responding to something with a Code 1 (no lights or siren), you know.
lightingtool, you’re welcome. I know I may have been a little harsh, but I’m confident neither of us want to see you going through the same experience ever again.
Have fun in prison.
Regards,
Shodan
Almost the same thing happened to the father of an ex-boyfriend of mine, about twenty years ago. It was a blind intersection, and the cop turned on lights but not siren. Subsequent investigation found that he was not on a call - he just didn’t feel like waiting for a red light. I don’t know exactly what happened to the cop, but I know he got in mondo trouble.
And here’s a link to an actual legal precedent (scroll down to Nichols v. Chacon).
Just don’t try this at home, kiddies.
I can not say that I know what a code 1 is, but the implication that I got here is that the cop that responded to the report switched the lights on to make it look as if the other driver was at fault. That would be classified as a big steaming pile of crap, according to my ethical code.
Mine too, if that was the intention. However, my comment concerned Avarie being furious at what was evidently percived to be cops behaving like the one ENugent mentioned. True, sometimes they don’t feel like waiting for the light to change but there are times in which it is necessary to not wait and I wanted to point that out. Other times they’re simply not paying attention; I have seen a Virginia state trooper nearly T-boned by a Metrobus because the trooper wasn’t paying attention to the traffic signal.
BTW: Responding to an incident Code 1 is no lights or siren, like I mentioned. Code 2 is lights only and Code 3 is both lights & siren.
Sorry to ressurect this thread, but I just had to mention the possibility that the cop switched on the lights so that other motorists would be more likely to see the wreck and the people standing around it. It sounds like a basic safety measure. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was procedure to turn on the lights of a wrecked police car.
Of course, if he later reported that the lights had been on during the accident, that’s reprehensible.
A post of mine cited in a bumped thread…I feel so dirty.
Coldie…as a lifelong So-Cal resident, I can tell you with absolute certainty that the CHiPs here use cloaking devices, a la that Klingon ship in Star Trek IV. Not even my car’s Anti-Cloaking Detection Device™ can prevent them all. I’m surprised your girlfriend didn’t tell you that…
**
Others have quoted the CA Vehicle Code about yes, your foreign license being valid, however I think there’s a limit of 30 days before you’re required to at least get a temporary CA license. (I’m not 100% positive on that, too lazy to check for cites right now…)
Oh no, my nicely resolved thread is back. I knew I shouldn’t have linked to it. Nuts.
And irrellevant, code 3 (lights and or siren) is not a guarentee of right of way, it is a way of asking for it. Accidents involving emergency vehicles going through red lights are generally the fault of the emergency vehicle. Despite lights and siren they are still required to come to a full stop before proceeding through a red light/stop sign
I’m sure glad we straighted all that out.
Need to fight ignorance, ya’ know.