Got pulled over last night....

[nostatic]

"*****" would be the meter maid that wrote me a $25 ticket for no front license plate. While my car was legally parked.

[azasadny]

How about:

"Officer, I was only trying to maintain a safe distance between me and the other cars behind me"!!!

Do you think the cop would laugh and give me a ticket or just laugh?

[anh911]

I guess they are just like the rest of us, some good some bad. Over Thanksgiving I was passing through Xenia Ohio and got stopped. The guy was cool and said cuz I was out of state visiting relatives and holiday etc he would let me off. Great.
I live in Yonkers and have one of New York's "finest" (more like scumbag) living above me. This guy is so messed up that the cops who know him told me to just move. Last year he fired his service weapon through the floor into my apartment...

[k9handler]

just to clear the record...I agree that some cops can be dicks, and others just perform the job they are asked to do. Would you believe my biggest pet peve is the officer who would write you a ticket, and then when he get's off duty goes and does the exact same offense! With all this said, I don't go out and write tickets for infractions that I commit myself...but when I get caught and cited I always remember that I am responsible for my own actions and take responsibility for it. I just know there are good and bad in all career fields...just had to voice my opinion and there are no hard feelings.

So how did the date go?

[Grady Clay]

OK, so you are cruising along and find some big iron coming toward you IN YOUR LANE. You end up upside down in the ditch, dazed, bleeding, and cursing your bad luck. The next person you are likely to see is that officer who gave you a ticket (that you probably deserved) last week. What are you going to say - “Get out of here, *****.”?

Yes, there are flamers everywhere. Some are cops, some might be Pelicans.

Be careful what you ask for and grateful for what you get. K9 is right on. When you are cited say "Thank you, Officer." and count your blessings that you get to live to tell about it.

Best,
Grady

[Axeman]

Originally posted by k9handler
I am a police officer and you would call him a dick if he wrote you a ticket! I wonder if everyone did their job was called a dick, what kind of world this would be.

You're not just a police officer..you're a GERMAN police officer, it's totally different from being an American "cop". You guys are awesome!!

[Zeke]

I think the rub here is that most of us see dozens of blatant illegal moves very day. I know I do. BUT, when you get pulled over, the first thing you think of is, "why me?" Where was the cop when the guy passed me on the right while he was in the bike lane? Where was the cop when the two ricers blew by at 90 weaving in and out? Where was the cop when the driver went thru the red (almost every light change in Long Beach, sometimes you wonder where they get the nerve to keep coming into the intersection 3 cars after the red).

So, here I am getting a ticket for something I seldom do and I've seen 2 dozen in-your-face transgressions in the last hour that you know the driver does regularly. At that point, you blame the cop. Human nature. And if cops didn't realize that's how it is, they need a career change.

Oh, and Grady, what's with that comment? That doesn't even make sense.

[911ctS]

Originally posted by djmcmath
Speed limits already _have_ caught up to reality. The only problem is that the reality isn't safety, it's revenue generation. Small towns are absolutely the worst -- speed limits are often set artificially low based on inaccurate engineering surveys. Worse, small town cops have been known to totally falsify tickets. I've heard stories of municipal officers locking in a signal from known interference (like a 41mph signal from the defrost fan, for example), then waiting in a 30mph zone to get somebody. Similar tactic, lock in one 41mph speeder's signal, then use the same reading for another half-dozen people. Of course, it's only a short step down on the integrity ladder from there to just totally making up a ticket.
Dan

Thats the best thing iv'e read so far! I do live in a fairly small town and drive a bright blue 911. I'm a huge target and can certainly vouch for what Dan is saying here. As pathetic as it is...its really all about money. Another thing that really kills me is that alot of cops are on a power trip. However every now and then you'll get one that is very down to earth and can put himself in your situation and give you a break (depending on what your doing wrong). Unfortionately these cops are seemingly rare and probably deserve more money than they make.
I've just found that if a cop is cool and uses some common sense (i.e. not giving you a ticket for doing 34 in a 25), then your ten times more likely to respect cops in general and become an even better defensive driver.

[cegerer]

Got to pretend I was on the Autobahn last weekend and passed a cop legally on the Interstate!! OK, so it was snowing and I was utilizing my Porsche Stability Management System in the unplowed left lane. I was maintaining 70 while the state trooper was at maybe 50 in his 2-wheel drive Crown Vic ......

[fintstone]

K9
I don't know, I wish that the police officers would spend a little more time ticketing folks driving unsafely and not just disobeying an arbitrary speed limit......Drining while wearing headphones, no headlights or brakelights, and running red lights and stop signs are all common here...and I see it happen right in front of police officers all the time and the miscreants are never stopped. I see people weaving all over the road or stopping in the middle of the road or at a green light because they are using a cell phone (apparently inhibits brain function). Turn signals seem nonexistant! I certainly understand low speed limits and strict enforcement in subdivisions or around schools, but not elsewhere. It sees that in many places, even on bases like Ramstein, there are long stretches of seeming well built, relatively untravelled road with set speed limits of between 25 and 35 which would certainly be safe at 55. That is where one will always see speed traps. Typically not where a slow speed would enhance safety a bit like near a school...only where a ticket can be written. I guess whether or not the cop is a "dick" depends on his/or discretion about writing tickets or where/when they set up speed traps. I imagine that some officers do not have latitude in this regard.

[Grady Clay]

No, K9 seems to be an American MP at Ramstein, Germany. It’s guys like this this, when they get out of the US military, go on to college under the GI bill and become an American “cop” are the ones we are proud of! Of course there are others that are *****s and will lie through teeth in court. Such is the real world.
I would be honored to get a speeding ticket from K9 (just not happy). Perhaps one for 215 MPH on the race track?

Milt, I’ve lost way too many friends to street/highway “accidents.” Somewhere in the mid-‘70s, I changed my ways. I quit pushing the limits on the street and intensified my racing. I drove my 40hp VW (TURBO license plate) on the street and raced 911, 914-6 and up thru 935s on the track.
Yes, I agree that the people on the street are mostly stupid or nuts. That is why I drive defensively like a “little old lady” and then go to the race track. My kid (now 18) has raced since he was 11 (karts, shifters, Spec Miata, and now Formula Mazda.) He is now in his 4th year of street driving with no accidents and no tickets. He has a SWB 911 and a SCCA GT2 914-6 but drives an ’85 Camery 4-door, 4-cylinder, 4-speed automatic carefully on the street.

We don’t intend to become highway statistics.

I’m just glad I lived to tell this story.

Best,
Grady

In memory of Hal Shaw and too many others.

[BigD9146gt]

I would have to assume that everyone on this site would do just fine if the national freeway speedlimit went up to 80 or even 90mph... The reason it will never change is because this country does not teach driving skills. The DMV gets all its instructions from beauracratic BS institutions. All one needs to do is read the book, take a test, and you pass! Heres your licence, now go buy yourself a 4000lb, ill handling mini van and charge down the road at 65mph. Plus add a nice stereo so you wont have to listen for anything but your favorite tune and sing along... The reality is that i would say over 80% of people don't pay attention to whats going on around them. The ONLY time i have EVER gotten a ticket or into any kind of accident is when i was not giving my full attention to the road. Period, end of story. Plus, despite the actions for elderly citizens to take regular checkups is only during optimal conditions, ie. middle of day with ample light (cause lord knows if the DMV was open before and after normal working hours the gates of hell would open and all would be lost). How many of you have been behind grampa or grandma at night? in a storm??? on a windy road?????????????????? There are so many veriables that the government has to take into consideration that the rest of us good drivers (I will clarify that in a second) could do just fine with higher speed limits.
Part II, The "Good Driver"
Most people call themselves this for several ill-logical reasons,
A) "I am a good driver because i don't have any tickets". This one i just start laughing in their face .
B) Because someone adds bling bling cr@p to there car, he or she is now fast because they can get around in a quick manor they are "Good" at what they are doing.
I road in a local kids 914 the other day b/c we where listening for some brake noises. He called himself a good driver, i was scared the whole time! i felt like i was staring in the Fast and the Furious 3...return of the retards. But i imagine i used to drive like that when i first got my licence.... it took years of experience, help from those who know what they are doing, and of caurse the Porsche Owners Club short track days.

I guess the only way to allow all of the capable drivers to go faster would be for the government to recognize racing institutions that one could go to and earn a licence. Then somehow put a badge on the automobile that one would be driving, saying that they are capable of sustaining a higher speed. Than others. That would be the only reasonable way... but it won't fly, nothing logical flies in government unless it costs the public 10 years and 50 billion dollars of bull***** attached. Soap box done.

[david c.]

there was a police officer in pittsburgh who was shot, with his service gun, in his leg in a crack house. (he was a patron, not visiting on "law enforcement" duties) He claimed that he was fired due to racism.

[Grady Clay]

BigD9146gt is correct.
There is virtually no instruction of driving skills. In most states “Driver’s Ed” is not required to get a license. Too many school districts have now dropped it. It’s “too expensive.” Well, EXCUSE ME. The expense is the carnage on the highway and we all pay for it in many different ways. Of course there is the insurance premium we all pay. Just in our local community there is the mother of small children, the PhD candidate, the teens, the guy who just works to support his family. What are these losses “worth”?

What if we, as the sports-car/racing community, lobby for safer roads through DE? What are the costs and what are the benefits? We in PCA, SCCA, POC, Vintage, and more seem to see the light in requiring driver’s education and meaningful penalties for indiscretions. Why can’t this be applied universally?

Yes, as bigD9146gt says, attention is everything. Soon after I bought my first new 911 (’68), I quit listening to the radio while I drive. Yes, I listen to tapes and now CDs while out on the highway (towing.) Never in town.

I’m working to almost never drive at night. My eyesight doesn’t work as well as when I drove the 2AM to 5AM shift at the Daytona 24-hour. I’m only in my 60s and I can tell the difference.

I disagree with bigD. I think driving record (no accidents, no tickets) is a good indication. Those are actual results, we all have good intentions.

No, there will probably never be any way to be safe on the street while there is no instruction. My “Modest Proposal” (ne Jonathon Swift) is that we school and test every driver every year. No pass, no drive. It can be paid for with driving fees. How would that go over in your state legislature?
I understand that we have an influential state legislator here in Colorado who blocks some drunk driving laws because he likes to “have a few beers on his way home from hunting” and sees nothing wrong with that. The only hope there is that Darwin will prevail. But who else will he take out?

Best,
Grady

In memory of Ballard Peabody and too many others.

[ZOA NOM]

Jgordon - A license plate presents an enormous reflecting surface to a radar signal, especially due to it's perpendicular placement. On a car like a Corvette, the absence of a front plate can make a significant difference in radar reflection because of the car's low profile and plastic body. Less reflected energy = shorter distance required for detection.

I'm not sure how much difference there would be on a 911, but why help the radar gun find you?

As for sprays or covers, I don't think anything short of the radar absorbant material found on stealth military aircraft would work. If you must leave the plate on the front, I would at least angle it down as far as possible to reflect the signals toward the ground rather than straight back to the source.

[nostatic]

the front plate on a 911 is anything but perpendicular...more like a 45 degree angle. One of the small perks of the stock valence.

[FisterD]

Just like with any other job, some people are nice and some people are *****s. The problem with Policemen *****s is that you can't do anything about it. Any other occupation, you could tell them how you really feel.
Just my HO.

[DavidI]

We are all big boys and big girls when it comes to driving. The rules are the rules. There are risks involved for breaking them. We have to keep it in perspective though. All of us (or the vast majority) speed on a daily basis. Most of the time we get away with it! Sometimes we get caught. We cannot blame the cop just doing his/ her job.

If we really want to change the laws (speed limit), why not exercise our rights as citizens?
Who on this board wants to grab the bull by the horns and get the petition started?
If nobody does, then how can we complain?

[masraum]

Speed limits need to catch up to reality.

Yes and no, the problem isn't the capabilities of the car as much as it is the capabilities of the loose nut behind the wheel.

[limble]

"If you can't do the time, dont do the crime"
Gee, where is the guy who coined that phrase?

I figure if I get a speeding ticket I broke the law and I deserve it.
It's all about accepting responsibility for your actions.
Isn't that what we teach our kids?
If I stole something from a store it would be the same thing.
Cops have tough jobs. They typically see people at their worst.