Commuting - Watch out for the police.

I was going to post this after the second time it happened within 2 weeks, but last night made the third occurance with the same scenario. Luckily I was expecting it.

I had noticed a pattern that when police are on scene of an accident/traffic stop/harassment of local youths etc.. the other motorists are so busy rubbernecking that they oblivious to anything or anyone else around them. I have had a car pull out of a parking lot almost on top of me and now 2 people coming from the other direction turn into me at a gas station and side road.

Last night when I saw the police car, my first thought was some dingus is gonna pull out on me, and sure effin' enough, they did! I have lights blinkies and a reflective vest but they are no match for the hypnotic powers of the blue light. Consider yourselves warned.:)

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like cops do more harm than good in our society. I don't see them doing anything to address real crime, and instead they just harass motorists, write tickets to fill their quotas and justify their salaries, employ their heavy-handed sadistic methods against marginalized citizens. When it comes to any real crime, they operate like the Boulder Colorado PD.

I read an article in the paper the other day that said that 1 in 31 adults in this country are either incarcerated or are presently under parole. How do we tolerate laws and a justice system that makes criminals out of that large a segment of our population.

A good percentage of the time an accident on one side of the freeway results in an accident on the other side due to the gawkers.
Heck, I was riding the bus home last year and it dropped off a passenger at a stop. There was a police officer making a traffic stop on a side street. A SUV plowed into the rear of our very large bus pushing it forward a few feet. Idiots everywhere.

I had noticed a pattern that when police are on scene of an accident/traffic stop/harassment of local youths etc.. the other motorists are so busy rubbernecking that they oblivious to anything or anyone else around them.

ah-men. Same experiences here.

Actually I was almost run over by a cop the other night. Not sure what he was doing, but was coming my way in the other direction, then suddenly hung a left right in front of me. I had to slam on the brakes & swerve around. He stopped in the entrance he was pulling into, and I rode around his side of the vehicle & gave him a "what's up" shrug.... he seemed surprised I was there! Weird...

Usually when I hear something like "Get off the road ^%&$ *(&^ &*^(*" I let the yeller know that they are number one ;)

The other day this occurred and when I looked to see who I was, umm, complimenting, I saw that it was a Parker (Texas) officer in his cop SUV. I Let him know he was number 11.

How do we tolerate laws and a justice system that makes criminals out of that large a segment of our population.

The solution to people breaking the law is to stop finding them guilty?

..
I read an article in the paper the other day that said that 1 in 31 adults in this country are either incarcerated or are presently under parole.

It wasn't a paper, it was a High Times magazine. And it wasn't an article, it was an NORML advertisement.

I was in no way condemning the police actions (I am all for harassing youths who are up to no good anyway:p- crotchety old man rant over) but the behavior of the motorists around them.

I once had a car pull out in front of my car because he was rubbernecking at a fire engine going by the opposite direction at the far side of a 5 lane road. The road was empty so I just pulled to the far lane away from the fire truck. This guy just pulled out in front of me. I took the entire front 2 feet off his car (it was an old 80's cheapo car with a plastic front end). But still, empty road, night time, me with my car with headlights on etc, just pulled on out.

Good tip, thanks.

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like cops do more harm than good in our society. I don't see them doing anything to address real crime, and instead they just harass motorists, write tickets to fill their quotas and justify their salaries, employ their heavy-handed sadistic methods against marginalized citizens. When it comes to any real crime, they operate like the Boulder Colorado PD.

I read an article in the paper the other day that said that 1 in 31 adults in this country are either incarcerated or are presently under parole. How do we tolerate laws and a justice system that makes criminals out of that large a segment of our population.

It's just you.

Think about it, as a cyclist would you really want cops to not crack down on speeding, reckless driving or worse, street racing on public roads?

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like cops do more harm than good in our society. I don't see them doing anything to address real crime, and instead they just harass motorists, write tickets to fill their quotas and justify their salaries, employ their heavy-handed sadistic methods against marginalized citizens. When it comes to any real crime, they operate like the Boulder Colorado PD.

:rolleyes:



I read an article in the paper the other day that said that 1 in 31 adults in this country are either incarcerated or are presently under parole. How do we tolerate laws and a justice system that makes criminals out of that large a segment of our population.

That's what keeps the crime rate down.

I just ride like I'm invisible... which is why I'm usually amazed when someone in their armoured personnel carrier deigns to acknowledge my existence.

Must add to watch for firetrucks as well. One of the few times I have been close to getting hit. A car just had to pass me while I was going 24 in a 25, just as he is beside me a firetruck in the opposite lane flips on it's lights and sirens and as soon as it did, the car started over into me. A good fist whack on the pass side window put a stop to that though.

I was going to post this after the second time it happened within 2 weeks, but last night made the third occurance with the same scenario. Luckily I was expecting it.

I had noticed a pattern that when police are on scene of an accident/traffic stop/harassment of local youths etc.. the other motorists are so busy rubbernecking that they oblivious to anything or anyone else around them. I have had a car pull out of a parking lot almost on top of me and now 2 people coming from the other direction turn into me at a gas station and side road.

Last night when I saw the police car, my first thought was some dingus is gonna pull out on me, and sure effin' enough, they did! I have lights blinkies and a reflective vest but they are no match for the hypnotic powers of the blue light. Consider yourselves warned.:)

That's crazy. The same thing happened to me last night just up the road in Durham outside the Veterans Affairs medical center.

Two years ago, a cop was directing traffic through an intersection controlled only by stop signs on a minor cross street following an accident. My son and I arrived on our bikes and needed to cross to get home, about 10 houses up the street. The cop refused to assist us across the busy street, but stopped through vehicles for crossing cars, advising us to go back the other way and use the crosswalk at the intersection a half block back. I reminded the officer politely that we were operating legal vehicles and that it is unnecessary and inconvenient to use cross-walks. When he continued to ignore us, we made our own way across, but not before I suggested to the cop that the reason he was middle aged and directing traffic instead of investigating the accident like the 'real cops' behind him was because of both his attitude and his ignorance of the law. I'm not usually abusive or combative, but he was one stupid and bitter moron.

Pretty graphic example here that some of you may not have seen yet. From an episode of Cops. Looks like cyclist was going around a traffic stop taking place in the parking portion of a WOL, and rear ended by a car.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHNPNQltG2U

Interesting interview with passenger of vehicle that hit cyclist at about 3:45 in. "He was looking at us, then he was looking at you guys, then my aunt hit him."

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like cops do more harm than good in our society. I don't see them doing anything to address real crime, and instead they just harass motorists, write tickets to fill their quotas and justify their salaries, employ their heavy-handed sadistic methods against marginalized citizens. When it comes to any real crime, they operate like the Boulder Colorado PD.

I read an article in the paper the other day that said that 1 in 31 adults in this country are either incarcerated or are presently under parole. How do we tolerate laws and a justice system that makes criminals out of that large a segment of our population.

You really haven't given the alternative much thought, have you?

There's plenty of places in the world you can go if you want to experience a society free of police, I'm sure you'll have an enlightening time (if you survive).

I had noticed a pattern that when police are on scene of an accident/traffic stop/harassment of local youths etc.. the other motorists are so busy rubbernecking that they oblivious to anything or anyone else around them.

I saw something similar a month ago.

A cop has a car pulled over at the side of the street. The cop and the driver and a passenger are on the sidewalk talking. As I passed the scene and went to the central turn lane to make my left another car coming the opposite direction and making a right turn into the same street I'm turning into plows into another car that is already halfway through its 3 point turn. I wasn't surprised too because I saw the driver of the right turning car looking at the police scene behind me as he was making his right turn. People can be complete idiots most of the time.

The female driver of the other car screamed "Oh my God! My car! I can't believe you hit my car!" at least 3 or 4 times as I passed them. I thought that was pretty funny. I don't know why.

OK, I'll watch out for the police for they watch out for me. I was going down a narrow shoulder section of the 101 freeway near Novato when a CHP pulled a speeding motorcyclist over. The cop knew I was coming so he ordered the Putt-putt another 1/4 mile down the road to an off-ramp so I could pass safely and not have to go out into the 70+MPH traffic. He waved as I went by.

You definitely have to be extra careful anytime motorists have an extra distraction. Driving just turns the most normal and rational people into raving idiots, myself included.

As far as cops go, talk about a thankless job, especially in a city like this. With one exception all of the LAPD I've encountered have been great. I'd hate to see what kind of apocalyptic nightmare this city would descend into in one day without police.

Here's what I like about being a cyclist. When you pass an accident or some other interesting occurrence, you can stop and look all you want because you're not a rubbernecker, you're a bystander.

On topic, one of the big traffic problems in NYC is NYPD parking in bus lanes or other undesireable places that disrupts traffic flow. For instance, when they're doing bag inspections on the subway, the cops will usually just roll up and park wherever requires fewest footsteps into the station, which is more often than not a bus stop - which pushes buses into regular lanes, which holds up regular lanes... This is true when they're on and off duty, AAMOF.

Another annoying tendency is for them to park on the side of the road or roll around town at normal speed with their lights on when they're doing nothing out of the ordinary. People can't work out whether to pull over, slow down or not.

The solution to people breaking the law is to stop finding them guilty?
Off the topic, I think the point being made is that incarceration is not a strong deterrent. If that's not the point, it ought to be.

Another advantage of being on a bicycle is that if an accident is blocking the entire road for traffic in both directions (usually a 2 lane road), they'll usually let you through. :) I've encountered one such occasion in a canyon road and smiled on the inside as i passed all the cars that had to wait for the accident to be cleared up.

Here's what I like about being a cyclist. When you pass an accident or some other interesting occurrence, you can stop and look all you want because you're not a rubbernecker, you're a bystander.

Just don't be innocent. Whenever a bystander gets hurt, it's always an innocent one. So do something bad while you're there. You know, just to be safe.

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like cops do more harm than good in our society. I don't see them doing anything to address real crime, and instead they just harass motorists, write tickets to fill their quotas and justify their salaries, employ their heavy-handed sadistic methods against marginalized citizens. When it comes to any real crime, they operate like the Boulder Colorado PD.

I read an article in the paper the other day that said that 1 in 31 adults in this country are either incarcerated or are presently under parole. How do we tolerate laws and a justice system that makes criminals out of that large a segment of our population.

"Real crimes?" Are you serious?
I guarantee if you ever end up in a situation where you're life is in danger, you'll be damn happy to see the police "justify their salary." Their job, in many cases is to lay their lives on the line to protect the general public. Sure, there are some a-holes in any police department, but show me a profession without a-holes.

Do you have a special dark place in your heart for cops and judges or do you also think that fire fighters, teachers and just about any public servants simply spend their time trying to justify their salaries?

When it comes to writing someone a ticket for not wearing a seat belt or busting some asshat selling drugs... which seems like the bigger crime?

The speeding tickets are in between the big stuff. It is also quite important; New York reduced it's rate of serious crime dramatically simply by taking a hard line against GRAFFITI. Serious crimes are gone after when it's felt to be possible; there are a lot of safeguards to make sure innocents are accidentally caught as little as possible, and those have to be followed.

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like cops do more harm than good in our society. I don't see them doing anything to address real crime, and instead they just harass motorists, write tickets to fill their quotas and justify their salaries, employ their heavy-handed sadistic methods against marginalized citizens. When it comes to any real crime, they operate like the Boulder Colorado PD.

I read an article in the paper the other day that said that 1 in 31 adults in this country are either incarcerated or are presently under parole. How do we tolerate laws and a justice system that makes criminals out of that large a segment of our population.

Cops enforce the laws, they don't make them. My guess is that most cops would prefer to address "real crime" as opposed to writing traffic tickets. I'm not saying that cops are perfect, but they're only the first rung on the justice system. If you want sweeping changes, that's not the level you want to focus on.

Overall I think they provide a necessary service.

They enforce the laws...? When did this start happening?

"NYPD Slaps Hit And Run Victim With A Ticket For Not Having Bell On His Bike (http://www.onnyturf.com/blogs/view_post.php?content_id=12639)"

When it comes to writing someone a ticket for not wearing a seat belt or busting some asshat selling drugs... which seems like the bigger crime?


That's why one involves lengthy incarceration, while the other is a $100.00 fine.

That's why one involves lengthy incarceration, while the other is a $100.00 fine.

So is that why they bypass areas with known drug dealers to get to the roadblock they use to check seatbelts?

You're right, every cop should be using every waking minute to bust whoever is doing the most wrong thing, and not pay any attention to anything else.

Just don't be innocent. Whenever a bystander gets hurt, it's always an innocent one. So do something bad while you're there. You know, just to be safe.

Once a big rig full of expensive wine jacknifed on the freeway. While cars backed up to get a look, I had a front row spot standing along the MUP that paralleled the freeway. I just stood there and watched the show and ate a power bar. They wouldn't let anyone near the wine, however.

I dont live in the US so I have a "slightly" different breed of Cop
BUt it seems to me that Nine times out of ten they do a bloody good job
you might get one ***** but then again its better than
8 *****hole drivers and 2 good ones

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like cops do more harm than good in our society. I don't see them doing anything to address real crime, and instead they just harass motorists, write tickets to fill their quotas and justify their salaries, employ their heavy-handed sadistic methods against marginalized citizens. When it comes to any real crime, they operate like the Boulder Colorado PD.

I read an article in the paper the other day that said that 1 in 31 adults in this country are either incarcerated or are presently under parole. How do we tolerate laws and a justice system that makes criminals out of that large a segment of our population.

:roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao:

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like cops do more harm than good in our society. I don't see them doing anything to address real crime, and instead they just harass motorists, write tickets to fill their quotas and justify their salaries, employ their heavy-handed sadistic methods against marginalized citizens. When it comes to any real crime, they operate like the Boulder Colorado PD.

I read an article in the paper the other day that said that 1 in 31 adults in this country are either incarcerated or are presently under parole. How do we tolerate laws and a justice system that makes criminals out of that large a segment of our population.

Law enforcement doesn't pass laws, they enforce them. If they didn't protect the selfish and anti-social criminals by incarceration, the rest of society would have to shoot them in self-defense. Which do you think is better, for criminals to be incarcerated, or dead?

Bullets are cheap.

Bullets are cheap.

Yeah, but the lawyer for the Civil suit won't be.

So is that why they bypass areas with known drug dealers to get to the roadblock they use to check seatbelts?

Sounds like you live in the wrong town. Here in Fort Worth they really don't put up with stuff with that.

Cops writing tickets is a great use of their time. I wish they would do more of it. Traffic violations are the most common violation of the law and the category of crime most likely to do serious harm to me. I wish I could pull people over and write tickets. I would do it all the time.

It's just you.

Think about it, as a cyclist would you really want cops to not crack down on speeding, reckless driving or worse, street racing on public roads?

What utopian place does this stuff happen in ?

The cops around here have started paying more attention when I call them for street racing in progress (I see alot of it when I'm at work, in an area on the edge of town with very low traffic in the middle of the night). It may help that a street racer recently hit a pedestrian and fled the scene right next to where I work (only minor injuries to the pedestrian, but still a felony hit & run). They've even started patrolling the area on their own (without even being called), since they've received so many calls for service in that area for street racers :)

BTW here's a report from the NHTSA that seems to paint a bad picture of what this city was like in the 90s...I didn't live here then, not sure how it compares to today, but I guess even in non-utopian places law enforcement tries to help out on the small stuff.

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/outreach/safedige/Summer1999/su9937.htm

I agree. Though it would probably have been better to title the thread "Watch out for the rubberneckers". But yeah, anything not part of normal traffic flow (police, firemen, ambulance, a burning VW, etc) that will distract drivers attention and put us in greater risk. Just think of the danger of chicks doing hand stands on the side of the road would create. That's a warning flag right there.

Another advantage of being on a bicycle is that if an accident is blocking the entire road for traffic in both directions (usually a 2 lane road), they'll usually let you through. :) I've encountered one such occasion in a canyon road and smiled on the inside as i passed all the cars that had to wait for the accident to be cleared up.

I had a similar thing happen in a construction area. One lane was closed and they were using a flagger. I came up and the flagger was in "stop" mode, but she told me to go on through anyway. I didn't really feel comfortable with it, to tell you the truth. I was willing to wait my turn without special treatment.

I also had a situation like this on my commute on Friday night at about midnight. As I was pulling up to the intersection I could see a police car in the left thru lane with its flashing lights on, and a fire truck in the intersection blocking both of the thru lanes, also with all lights flashing. The left turn lane looked clear, so I started merging left. As I was in the left thru lane I saw 2 non-reflectorized, very short cones in the left turn only lane, and a police officer by the police car started waving with his flashlight directing me to go into the parking lot to the right. I pulled up next to him to ask about my alternatives; he said I couldn't go through the intersection because there was "evidence in the roadway" and I had to go through the parking lot and head south (I wanted to head north)...I guess it was a pretty major traffic accident.

I asked if I could make an illegal U-turn and ride illegally on the sidewalk; he said that would be fine. I pulled my U-turn, drove the wrong way in the left hand turn lane until the center median ended, made a right turn to get to the sidewalk on the other side of the street, took my left turn on the sidewalk (next to another police officer that kind of looked at me funny then looked over towards the other officer...I gave this new officer a friendly "hello" as I rode by) got on the road heading north going the wrong way, and merged back across to the bike lane and continued on my way...good times :) I agree though...definitely felt weird. I just didn't feel like going out of my way in the 35 degree weather (really cold for a native Californian).

When it comes to writing someone a ticket for not wearing a seat belt or busting some asshat selling drugs... which seems like the bigger crime?
Arguably neither event should be illegal in a country in which most people are responsible for their own healthcare. If you smoke marijuana or don't wear your seatbelt - is that any of my business?

....but they are no match for the hypnotic powers of the blue light. Consider yourselves warned.:)

Back when I took driver's ed, the standard instruction if you had a break-down was to pull to the side and engage the hazard lights. Talking to a teenage relative a few years ago, I learned that now driver's ed instructors are telling students NOT to use hazards if pulling off to the shoulder. It seems research shows many drivers become fascinated by the blinking lights (possibly because they're not "typical" on the road) and will steer into them.

The research says the same is true for the blinking lights on police/emergncy cruisers. You've seen those dashboard cam videos of police cars getting wiped out on the shoulder? In most cases the drivers hitting the cop cars aren't DUI; they're fascinated by the blinking lights.

New York reduced it's rate of serious crime dramatically simply by taking a hard line against GRAFFITI.
Well, not exactly - you're referring to Broken Window Theory http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixing_Broken_Windows and its implementation in NYC as "Zero Tolerance" under Giuliani. The idea is that if you ignore small antisocial crimes like grafitti and farejumping to concentrate on the big ones like murder, then the message that's sent is that there's no need certain streets/neighborhoods/cities are just not policed or worried about. When the cops arrest people on small crimes e.g. farejumping, they pick up guys carrying weapons or drugs, and identify people who have outstanding warrants, which improves the crime rate etc etc.

Having said all that, although the crime rate in NYC undoubtedly plummeted, there's a big question about how much Zero Tolerance/Broken Window Theory had to do with it compared to e.g. the drop off in crack nationally, the improving economy, use of COPStat, or (if you're a Freakonomist) easier access to birth control and abortion twenty years previous. What the answer is, I don't know...

Law enforcement doesn't pass laws, they enforce them. To be completely fair, a lot of the time they make up "laws" and then try to enforce them (e.g., we have many reports on BF of the police trying to enforce the "law" which prohibits cyclists from riding on the road :rolleyes:). (Not that I fail to appreciate the importance of police in society. I'm very happy they exist.)

New York reduced it's rate of serious crime dramatically simply by taking a hard line against GRAFFITI. Serious crimes are gone after when it's felt to be possible; there are a lot of safeguards to make sure innocents are accidentally caught as little as possible, and those have to be followed.

They also reduced their crime rate by changing the definition of what they consider a crime.