Agreed on all fronts . I generally consider myself as " on the same team " as LEO. I treat them with respect and offer professional courtesy . I answer all questions, , and have all my papers ready , both hands on the wheel . The key is to show them that you are basically a law biding citizen and will not be giving them any trouble .
I do however stop at consent to search and will not participate in any roadside sobriety evaluation tests. They will need probable cause, and or a warrant, and will just have to breathalyze me .
Even though I could feel myself being pulled into the revenue generator as they went on their fishing expedition, I never once gave attitude . I told him my inspection was expired before he even looked. I even thanked them for their professionalism when the stop was over . This is all key to going home in one piece , and helps at getting charges dropped in court .
Its pretty rare for me to have one of my personal vehicles not 100% road legal and I have a small fleet of cars/trucks.
I think where I get complacent sometimes, is that I drive cars not inspected on a daily basis for the purpose of testing/inspecting. My RT plates, and my inspection license clearly allow this . After hours is a different story , although with the correct paperwork I could easily plea this case . Im just going to be honest and take my licks though
There were two officers on scene on my little incident . The younger guy , I could tell believed my schpeel, and was somewhat understanding of the situation . The second officer who arrived on the scene, even though I answered all his questions and was polite , was sort of a condescending dick .
I still have not received my papers in the mail . I've been watching my mail box dilligently . Ill get my truck all back up to snuff this coming weekend and am pretty confident this will go away in court .
Since this incident, I have been taking photos of other tow truck operators running their plates in the same position I was . Its common practice . Reading the vehicle code, its seems gray area .
Next morning Downtown Pittsburgh
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1741018003.jpg

I saw a video a while back that was made as a joke.

In the video someone shows a 75mph sign on the interstate and says "how fast should you go". Native replies "90"
Then they filter through 65, 60, 55, and every time the answer is "90"

Then they show a small town along a state highway with a sign that says "35" and the native responds "35"

Yes, when you approach a small town on a small highway in Texas, assume the speed will drop from whatever 75, 70, 65 speed limit down, probably to 35 in the middle of town, and assume that there are cops waiting to give folks a ticket for speeding through said town.

its pretty easy to be both a better driver, and a better judge of safety than your average officer. most cops can't drive for ****, i know, ive taught them. they also have ~wildly~ higher accident rates than most professions/general public.

but the law is the law, it applies to everyone. well, it used to in america anyway.

you arnt on the same team as a LEO. you might feel that way, but thats "the stripper actually likes me energy" you arnt on the same team as the LEO to the LEO.

take your lickings and stop doing dumb **** on the street. i have not had a ticket in nearly a decade since i stopped doing dumb **** on the street and kept it all to the track.

Being a cop is a thankless, dangerous job. That and the fact that they get lied to 90% of the time wears on a person. A few years of the job it's easy to understand why some become jaded and develope an us vs them attitude, it's human nature. I wouldn't last long, I don't have the patience

its trained into them from day 0.

there are millions of thin blue line stickers, its not a thankless job. a cult of police worship cropped up overnight because people said "maybe you should stop shooting unarmed people" and millions of people were like "um no, we want you to keep doing it"

note, this did not happen when police were involved in the 9/11 response. instead the exact same people with the stickers tried to cut their healthcare funding.

so, it literally is, "um no we want you to keep going" not, "oh you guys help us out and we should support that"

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I was watching the COPS show - the new one - can't remember the name - and one of the commenting officers admitted to the camera that the amount of incriminating evidence that is acquired during such tests is usually what does the driver in.

He inferred that refusal to do such testing is something law enforcement, in general, totally understands.....just for this reason.

Now if you haven't been drinking - at all - I guess all bets are off and you'd be OK. Especially the breathalyzer test. You blow a "000" and you're going to be driving home that day.

Yup, I wasn’t paying attention and the slowdown happened well outside of the actual town. Should have known better, I spent 2.5 years working in TX and drove the route many times. Karma catching up with me I guess.

I follow the laws fairly well; keeping up with traffic and not being the fastest guy on the road.

I also am super diligent when out of state as it would be a huge hassle to deal with a ticket or court date in another state.

The worse speed trap I ever saw and I didn’t get caught because I slowed down to the posted speed, because I was out of state was the sign that said “construction zone ahead, fines double in construction zone” posted went down to around 30mph and when I got to the construction zone (on a Sunday) there were a bunch of cones, no construction equipment, no workers, no visible construction and a state patrol car pulling people over.

Now, that’s the trap to do as you get double the fine and high starting speed to low posted.

I've been in a similar road construction situation.

Going snow skiing and on Highway 64 between Clayton and Raton, NM. About 10 pm. Road construction for damn near the entire way. Very little other traffic. The guy I was with was on me to speed up from the 45 mph construction speed limit. I finally pulled over and had him drive. Off he went at 70. For about 10 miles until he got pulled over. About 150 bucks.

Needless to say the fine was easier on him than my ribbing over the next 50 miles.

Uh, no. I have a customer who was a designated driver because she does not drink at all. Her friends were all drunk, but they were passengers. She got pulled over and, while stone cold sober, tussled with the cop, got popped for A&B on an LEO. She blew a 0.00, but they offered to drop the A&B on an LEO in exchange for a guilty plea on DUI. Honestly, she'd have been better off fighting the more serious charge.

Very strange.

GF and I were driving home from a night out. She was the completely sober driver. Two female cops on a checkpoint asked her if he had been drinking. Me drunk as a skunk in the passenger seat said on her behalf "No, but I've been drinking for two." female cops laughed and said "On your way, have a great evening." Couldn't be easier.

Arizona is very corrupt

"She got pulled over and, while stone cold sober, tussled with the cop, got popped for A&B on an LEO."

Where in my post did I say it was OK to get into a "tussle" with a cop?

Good grief......people who do that deserve what they get for being clueless......:rolleyes:

I'm not saying it was ok to tussle with the cop at all. But she was stone cold sober. Maybe she was uppity, thinking she couldn't possibly get a DUI and there could be no PC for the stop. I wasn't there. But charging with DUI when a 0.0 was blown is just ridiculous, plea bargain or not.

And when I was driving for Uber and Lyft, I drove lots of folks who were suspended. Ironically, the problem drinkers drink even more then, since they know they won't be driving. And plenty of them told me Phoenix no longer allows plea deals in DUI cases because Uber and Lyft have taken too many drunks off the road and cut into the revenue stream.

"But charging with DUI when a 0.0 was blown is just ridiculous, plea bargain or not."

Rick - I don't mean to get argumentative here but......your analogy of someone getting busted for blowing a 0.0 is not the same as the situation I am describing.

Your involves getting into a fight with the cop!!!

Mine does not.

Surely you must see the difference......

Fulton, Georgia and Coburg, Oregon...both the same. Interstate bordering a town? A goldmine!

There’s a lot of places in S Georgia that make good $ from tickets.
Waycross springs immediately to mind.

I saw two unmarked units today sitting off the side of the road...laying in wait....lol.....

Just because someone blows a 000 does not mean they are not "impaired"; just saying. As for the woman who had not been drinking (apparently) and "got into a tussle" with the officer, she got what she deserved. Some people do not need alcohol or drugs to be asshats.