Thread: Police
View Single Post
Old 07-14-02, 05:25 PM
  #19  
lin_kieu
Senior Member
 
lin_kieu's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Royal Oak, MI
Posts: 62
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
I agree that he was doing his job. But, common sense, which is sometimes lacking in the law, should have told him that I am/was hardly what could be described as a threat to public safety. If he pulls over a speeder or DUI, great. They are a threat to safety. Heck, if I was in a car speeding down that road that day instead of on a bike, I'd accept the responsibility for my negligence. If am speeding down a coutry road, chances are that I do it in the city as well. However, as a cyclist, I feel that I/we are generally more concious and attentive to our surroundings, both on our bikes, and in our cars, when we drive them .
Now this is a purely subjective point of view, but if I were a cop, sitting in my patrol car on a lonely stretch of road and saw someone speeding by in their car over 30 MPH over the speed limit, yeah I'd pull him over. He broke the law first and foremost, but also figure that a ticket may teach him a lesson so that he won't do this when in a crowded city street and put innocent people at risk.
Now if I were the same cop and saw me go by on bike going at most 25 MPH on a 45 MPH road and blow the STOP sign, I wouldn't bother, unless I was a fellow cyclist and wanted to politely warn him make some friendly bike banter. Obviously, I'm not encased in a ton of metal that potentially could kill someone, and obviously I'm not going to be blowing STOP signs in regular traffic unless I had a death wish. And the cop was not being polite. He looked like some muscle headed ex-marine who had a bug up his butt. The simple fact that he tried a scare tactic (lie) on me about carrying my drivers license on me at all times shows his mindset. BTW, I checked with a lawyer, and there is no such law in Michigan.
lin_kieu is offline