# You're Now A Traffic Cop -- Who Do You Bust? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 30, 2005, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-now-a-traffic-cop-who-do-you-bust/324248 "2005-09-30T20:40:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-now-a-traffic-cop-who-do-you-bust/324248/81 "2005-10-03T14:42:11Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > Anybody who drives before sun-up without their lights on, but _especially_ those who speed whilst doing it. > > Common on Bell Road here in Nashvegas, before dawn. > [@Mycroft Holmes](#): > > Actually DRL (Daytime Running Lights) for cars (not just motorcycles) seem to prevent accidents (and are mandatory in Canada, Norway and Sweden). [Cite](http://www.jr2.ox.ac.uk/bandolier/band59/b59-3.html) and [cite](http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/transportation/59613_get25x.shtml). I have often thought that I was able to see other cars much better in bad weather or in twilight (which lasts a looooooong time at our Nothern latitudes). This is definitely one thing where a ticket isn’t warranted. > [@Mycroft Holmes](#): > > Actually, I just realized you might be whooshing us all. Before sun-up? Isn’t that **night** when it’s dark, and you’re **supposed** to have your lights on? 😃 Actually, I **meant**"with the lights **off**. So sorry. :o ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-now-a-traffic-cop-who-do-you-bust/324248/82 "2005-10-03T15:04:47Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Bicylists who ride in the street. Sooner or later, you’re going to get yourself killed. You exponentially increase the stress level of every driver who has to pass you. Use the freakin’ sidewalk. When I was a kid, we always rode our bikes on the sidewalk. Not once, ever, did the police yell at us for it, or even look at us twice In the town where I live, you cannot ride on the sidewalk unless it is a residential-only area. You can and will get a ticket for riding on the sidewalk in a business or mixed area. In Cambridge, you can’t ride on the sidewalk at all. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-now-a-traffic-cop-who-do-you-bust/324248/83 "2005-10-03T15:47:47Z")
So many offenses, I’d have to keep boxes of ticket pads in the trunk. I will need to achieve my goal of becoming Emperor of the World for some of these to be enforcable, but lookout when it happens. 1. Drunk drivers. Shot when caught - there is **never** an acceptable excuse. Hope you had life insurance for your family. 2. Tailgaters 3. People who drive with obstructed views or lights. Any fool who wants to drive a car on snowy roads without first clearing the car will be walking wherever said fool needs to go. 4. Non-signalers. 5. Excessive speeders, where excessive speed is dependent on road conditions. Doing 85 on a moderately populated highway on a clear day…I’ll likely leave you alone. Doing 85 where you must weave through traffic, or on a rainy day…you can walk. Doing 85 where pedestrians are present…shot. 6. Distracted drivers. If you want to watch porn on your LCD screen in your Road Hog, knock yourself out. Put don’t do it while rolling. And have some courtesy…at night, those things can be seen several car lengths back. Install the damn thing where others cannot see it, or if you must install it high, show some willpower and wait until you get home. (While I’m at it, enjoy porn privately in your own home or business establishments catering to the business. Playing it on your 60" TV so that anyone walking by can see and hear, and they will be given a commendation for taking an axe to the set. Keep it off of public transportation too.) 7. SUVs, vans, and other large vehicles cannot park within 3 spaces of a corner. I like to be able to see if there is oncoming traffic before I venture into an intersection. (This is most likely a big, old city problem, like NYC or Boston, where there are narrow streets lined with parked cars). ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-now-a-traffic-cop-who-do-you-bust/324248/84 "2005-10-03T16:16:01Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > And in all those miles, a two-hour stretch in Arkansas was the only place i ever saw American drivers stick to the right except to pass. It was so unusual that i actually commented on it to my road-trip companion at the time. > > People in the UK and Europe know how to drive on multi-lane freeways. Some Americans talk the talk, but i’ve virtually never seen it put into practice. > [@SusanStoHelit](#): > > You shouldn’t be _driving_ in the left lane at all. On a multi-lane interstate, stay right except to pass. That’s actully improper in California. Here, you’re expected and explicitly allowed to use any and all lanes of the road. There are simply too many cars on the road to arbitrarily reduce road capacity by 33 or 50%. > [@Diceman](#): > > Bicylists who ride in the street. Sooner or later, you’re going to get yourself killed. You exponentially increase the stress level of every driver who has to pass you. Use the freakin’ sidewalk. If you’ve over the age of 13, San Francisco bans bicycles from the sidewalks. And, in the absence of bicycle lanes, California law grants bicycles full use of the entire lane. Red light runners deserve summary execution. No appeals, no waiting period. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-now-a-traffic-cop-who-do-you-bust/324248/85 "2005-10-03T17:05:12Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > If I’m already going the speed limit in the left lane, then you have no right to expect me to exceed that speed limit. I’m not asking you to. If you are driving slower than most traffic on the road, which you most likely are if you are going the speed limit, I am asking you to do so in the proper place, namely the right lane. Not doing so is illegal in at least some states, as others have pointed out. Why do people who don’t go faster than the speed limit seem to think they have some holy obligation to make sure no one else does, either? > [@The New Guy](#): > > People who turn right on a red light without stopping first. Oh yeah. I’ll nominate the Bay Area as the first place where you should do that. And something worse should happen to the ones who, when another driver stops before making a right on red, honk at them. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-now-a-traffic-cop-who-do-you-bust/324248/86 "2005-10-03T17:31:57Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Bicylists who ride in the street. Sooner or later, you’re going to get yourself killed. You exponentially increase the stress level of every driver who has to pass you. Use the freakin’ sidewalk. When I was a kid, we always rode our bikes on the sidewalk. Not once, ever, did the police yell at us for it, or even look at us twice They should have told you to get off the sidewalk - bicyclists are supposed to ride on the road. In most countries and states it’s illegal to ride on the sidewalk. I might add that it’s extremely dangerous to ride a bicycle on the sidewalk because car drivers don’t notice anything on sidewalks, or anything coming out of a sidewalk and onto an intersection. And it’s dangerous for pedestrians. It’s the careless drivers who make the roads dangerous for cyclists. I’m getting sick of drivers who pass bicycles with inches to spare, or try to pass bicycles where visibility is poor and they can’t be sure it’s safe to pass. I’d definitely ticket them. ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-now-a-traffic-cop-who-do-you-bust/324248/87 "2005-10-03T19:28:02Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > Actually, I **meant**"with the lights **off**. So sorry. :o Yeah, but you had it right. You wrote “ **without** the lights **on** ” so that’s exactly what you meant to say. I was the idiot that got confused and thought you meant **with** the lights on. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-now-a-traffic-cop-who-do-you-bust/324248/88 "2005-10-03T23:33:02Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally Posted by Diogenes the Cynic_ > If I’m already going the speed limit in the left lane, then you have no right to expect me to exceed that speed limit. No, but I do have the right to expect you to move over. At least here in Virginia. Virginia traffic law states that if a car comes up behind you and flashes the lights, you must move over to let that car pass. You don’t have to speed up. You don’t have to cop a defensive or self-righteous attitude. But you _do_ have to move over. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-now-a-traffic-cop-who-do-you-bust/324248/89 "2005-10-04T00:00:28Z")
> [@divemaster](#): > > No, but I do have the right to expect you to move over. At least here in Virginia. Virginia traffic law states that if a car comes up behind you and flashes the lights, you must move over to let that car pass. You don’t have to speed up. You don’t have to cop a defensive or self-righteous attitude. But you _do_ have to move over. Actually, according to the Virginia statues that i was able to find online, the overtaking driver is meant to give an audible signal, not flash his or her lights. [Code of Virginia § 46.2-842](http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+46.2-842) > [@](#): > > § 46.2-842. Driver to give way to overtaking vehicle. > > Except when overtaking and passing on the right is permitted, the driver of an overtaken vehicle shall give way to the right in favor of the overtaking vehicle on audible signal and shall not increase the speed of his vehicle until completely passed by the overtaking vehicle. Any over-width, or slow-moving vehicle as defined by § 46.2-1081 shall be removed from the roadway at the nearest suitable location when necessary to allow traffic to pass. It is also true that Virginia Law requires drivers to stay in the right lane whenever possible. [Code of Virginia § 46.2-804](http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+46.2-804) > [@](#): > > Special regulations applicable on highways laned for traffic. > > Whenever any roadway has been divided into clearly marked lanes for traffic, drivers of vehicles shall obey the following: > > 1. Any vehicle proceeding at less than the normal speed of traffic at the time and place and under the conditions existing, shall be driven in the lane nearest the right edge or right curb of the highway when such lane is available for travel except when overtaking and passing another vehicle or in preparation for a left turn or where right lanes are reserved for slow-moving traffic as permitted in this section BUT… It seems to me that [Code of Virginia § 46.2-823](http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+46.2-823) is also relevant to this discussion: > [@](#): > > Unlawful speed forfeits right-of-way. > > The driver of any vehicle traveling at an unlawful speed shall forfeit any right-of-way which he might otherwise have under this article. Make of that what you will. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-now-a-traffic-cop-who-do-you-bust/324248/90 "2005-10-04T00:04:31Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > It’s the careless drivers who make the roads dangerous for cyclists. I’m getting sick of drivers who pass bicycles with inches to spare, or try to pass bicycles where visibility is poor and they can’t be sure it’s safe to pass. I’d definitely ticket them. Absolutely. But I’ll also ticket the bicyclists who: [ul] [li]Ride without lights at night[/li][li]Ignore stop signs or traffic lights[/li][li]Wear headphones while riding[/li][li]Ride with their hands off the handlebars. Do your stupid showing off on private property, not on the roads where it endangers others.[/li][/ul] I would, of course, ticket car drivers for the same or equivalent offenses. [Like this guy](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6646820&postcount=2). Oh, and I’d also ticket drivers (and bike riders) who don’t yield to pedestrians in crosswalks with “Walk” signs. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-now-a-traffic-cop-who-do-you-bust/324248/91 "2005-10-04T00:07:32Z")
> [@Anne Neville](#): > > Absolutely. But I’ll also ticket the bicyclists who: > [ul] > [li]Ride without lights at night[/li][li]Ignore stop signs or traffic lights[/li][li]Wear headphones while riding[/li][li]Ride with their hands off the handlebars. Do your stupid showing off on private property, not on the roads where it endangers others.[/li][/ul] I agree with three out of four. I don’t see why wearing headphones is such a problem. After all, we allow car drivers to turn up their stereos as loud as they want, and most states (to my knowledge) will also issue drivers’ licenses to the deaf. Sure, being able to hear what’s going on around you is preferable, but an attentive driver (or rider) can generally drive safely without the benefit of his or her hearing. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-now-a-traffic-cop-who-do-you-bust/324248/92 "2005-10-04T00:18:13Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > I agree with three out of four. > > I don’t see why wearing headphones is such a problem. After all, we allow car drivers to turn up their stereos as loud as they want, and most states (to my knowledge) will also issue drivers’ licenses to the deaf. At least some states don’t let drivers wear headphones. If we don’t let car drivers do it, we won’t let bicyclists do it, either. And I wouldn’t let car drivers turn up their stereos as loud as they want. If people in the buildings along the road can hear your stereo, it’s Too Damn Loud, and you’re getting a ticket. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-now-a-traffic-cop-who-do-you-bust/324248/93 "2005-10-04T00:23:08Z")
> [@Anne Neville](#): > > Absolutely. But I’ll also ticket the bicyclists who: > [ul] > [li]Ride without lights at night[/li][li]Ignore stop signs or traffic lights[/li][li]Wear headphones while riding[/li][li]Ride with their hands off the handlebars. Do your stupid showing off on private property, not on the roads where it endangers others.[/li][/ul] Don’t even get me started on bicyclists who ride at night. Those teeny tiny little reflectors do _NOT_ increase your visibility by any significant degree. They just provide a false sense of security. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-now-a-traffic-cop-who-do-you-bust/324248/94 "2005-10-04T00:43:29Z")
> [@Anne Neville](#): > > If people in the buildings along the road can hear your stereo, it’s Too Damn Loud, and you’re getting a ticket. But question of whether or not you’re annoying people is separate from the question of whether or not the loud stereo makes you an unsafe driver. And it was the latter point that you were making when talking about cyclists and their headphones. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-now-a-traffic-cop-who-do-you-bust/324248/95 "2005-10-04T20:06:00Z")
OK, my list of people I’d ticket/arrest: Bicyclists who ride in the oncoming bike lane: Actually, if I was driving in the right lane, I’d just pop the passenger door open as we passed eachoher. If I was on the sidewalk, I’d hold my night stick out at about the height of the bicyclist’s chest. If he evades either, he gets a ticket for being in the oncoming lane, and failure to cooperate with law enforcement. You think it’s bad when you’re in your car and someone is in the oncoming bike lane. You should try being on a BIKE when some joker comes at you headon. If I’m a bike cop, I just cheerfully say “Howdy!” as I kick him into the road. Bicyclists in the oncoming TRAFFIC lane: They get the aforementioned fines, plus another fine for being too stupid to live. Random point of interest for the people who hate people who flash the hi-beams at them: IIRC, quickly flashing your high beams at someone who is driving too slowly is a polite way of telling them there is someone behind them. I equate someone honking at me as an audible middle finger, as it’s far more startling for me than a moment of bright light. Oooh, I’d also give a ticket for people who drive in the BIKE lanes when there is heavy traffic. You get this a lot in College Station. If I’m in my cop car, I just pop the passenger door open as they are about to pass me (see how versatile this response is?) and if they hit the door, they get a ticket for hitting a police car and failing to yield the right of way. And of course, people on bikes who think that stop signs and red lights are a vague suggestion. I hit the gas for these guys, and see if they’re wearing a helmet. 😃 Oh, and finally, the two people on my street who think that, if the garbage truck didn’t pick up their garbage on Thursday because they got it out too late, the obvious solution is to pile more garbage next to their can (we live in a city where if the garbage isn’t in a can, they won’t pick it up. Interestingly enough, my parents live in a town where, if the garbage IS in a can at the curb, you get a ticket. And they won’t pick it up.) ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-now-a-traffic-cop-who-do-you-bust/324248/96 "2005-10-04T20:56:51Z")
I used to be a cop. I really didn’t like writing tickets, but I loved busting impaired drivers. If I could bag a DWI, it just made my day. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-now-a-traffic-cop-who-do-you-bust/324248/97 "2005-10-04T21:02:43Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > Oh, and finally, the two people on my street who think that, if the garbage truck didn’t pick up their garbage on Thursday because they got it out too late, the obvious solution is to pile more garbage next to their can (we live in a city where if the garbage isn’t in a can, they won’t pick it up. Interestingly enough, my parents live in a town where, if the garbage IS in a can at the curb, you get a ticket. And they won’t pick it up.) I thought you were about to complain about me! Yesterday morning the garbage collectors cleared my side of the street before I could get our bag of trash out there, so on my way to work I surreptitiously slipped our bag in with the neighbors across the street’s trash, because the collecters hadn’t done that side yet. I felt like I was doing something illegal. For all I know I was! :eek: ---
**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:** [October 4, 2005, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-now-a-traffic-cop-who-do-you-bust/324248/98 "2005-10-04T22:21:54Z")
> [@trublmakr](#): > > I’m guessing you’ve never been in a car accident and are, fortunately, ignorant of the destructive power of a ton of steel. You’ve also probably never lost a friend or family member to a car crash. You must not realize that a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed is like a bomb that you’re aiming at innocent people that don’t deserve to die just because you want to get somewhere relatively trivial faster, and that the faster your car is going the harder it is to control should something go wrong. The person you quoted is named after [a '60s race car](http://www.iris.dti.ne.jp/~telly/gallery04set/chaparral.jpg) so of course they’re pro-speeding. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-now-a-traffic-cop-who-do-you-bust/324248/99 "2005-10-05T00:58:45Z")
I would go after Soccer Moms on the Telephone. Perferably with maximum force. ---
**Author:** ![PooterMommy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/67e7ee/32.png) [@PooterMommy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PooterMommy)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-now-a-traffic-cop-who-do-you-bust/324248/100 "2005-10-05T02:47:48Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > I would go after Soccer Moms on the Telephone. > > Perferably with maximum force. Amen! And don’t you love the people on their cell phone PULLING OUT OF THEIR DRIVEWAY? Uh, weren’t you just in your home? Couldn’t you have made that call from your land line and not annoy everyone on the road by paying oh so much attention tn your conversation rather than DRIVING? I’m sorry, but people on cell phones have made life miserable for most drivers. Afte reading most of this post, the bottom line is there is a definite lack of courtesy in the driving world. If people were more courteous, traffic would be less of a problem. But, I find that a lot of people don’t care what is going on beyond the periphery of their car. Yes, you must get out of the left lane if someone is behind you. It’s not a matter of whether I want to speed and you don’t–it just makes life easier for everyone. Let me go on my way. I will definitely do the same for you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-now-a-traffic-cop-who-do-you-bust/324248.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-now-a-traffic-cop-who-do-you-bust/324248.md?page=6)