upflying Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Sorry, I had to post this one down in the other topics forums. Not really motorcycle related. After 32 years as a LEO, I thought I had heard just about every excuse possible for committing a traffic violation. That was until today. I thought I would share this very original and first ever response from the driver of a 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible equipped with an automatic transmission. This morning, I was sitting near a three way intersection that has stop signs posted in each direction. I am watching for the flagrant violators, not motorists doing the Hollywood "rolling" stop. Funny how that dovetails with another thread I started. Any failure to stop is technically a violation but I use "discretion". Oh well, that's another story. So here comes the Chrysler, rolls through the stop sign at about 20 mph. Good enough for a ticket in my book, ya think? The driver sees me and quickly pulls over on his own without having to use my red bulb or siren. As I am looking through the rear window, I can see the driver and sole occupant is quickly and furtively moving around in the driver's seat. Normally we cops see that as a danger sign as they could be concealing contraband or a gun. I quickly dismount and walk up to the driver's side, attempting to keep his potentially deadly hands in view. I can see the driver appears to be applying a "soft splint" on his right leg. I notice the Velcro fasteners are loose and open and the splint is not correctly applied. The driver makes spontaneous statements indicating he is apologetic for failing to stop at the stop sign. He points at his right leg and said he had trouble applying the brake pedal due to his injured leg. In otherwords, he blamed his injury on the reason for failing to stop at the stop sign. I am normally a right foot braker in a cage because I was taught to drive a stick shift. The driver had me thinking for a moment and then I asked: Q "Which foot do you normally brake with"? A "My left foot". I did everything I could to keep a straight face. The driver was completely unaware of the error he just told me. To top it off he actually got out of the car and walked around normally without his splint. I asked him where the splint was and he said he does not like to wear it because it hurts his leg. He wanted to show me a large binder of medical records as he attempted to prove that he was actually on disability from a job related injury. Thought this would brighten your day and yes he got a performance award. Ride Safe PS, I bet he wears the splint at the workman's comp office. Link to comment
russell_bynum Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 That was funny up to the point where I found out I'm paying this idiot to run stop signs. BTW...This week I decided to see how many cars I saw that actually stop at one of the several stop signs on my commute. So far the number is 0, but I'm hopeful that we'll see one before the week is up. Link to comment
Firefight911 Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 That was funny up to the point where I found out I'm paying this idiot to run stop signs. BTW...This week I decided to see how many cars I saw that actually stop at one of the several stop signs on my commute. So far the number is 0, but I'm hopeful that we'll see one before the week is up. Oh stop it Russell! They were on the phone to their psychiatrist at the time. This kinda reminds me of when I was the base motorcycle safety instructor while in the Marine Corps and I came across a guy with a full leg cast riding his Harley. Link to comment
Lawman Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 I stopped a truck driver today for doing 54 mph in a 40 mph zone..When I asked him if he knew how fast he was going he was adamant that he was going absolutely no faster than 45 mph. I told him I would be writing him a ticket for speeding without telling him how fast I had clocked him. His immediate response was to ask me if I could cut him a little slack and not write him for more than 14 mph over the limit...(truckers are much more heavily penalized here for more than 14 over)... Link to comment
Kathy R Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 It is amazing how deeply people are in their own world. A lady, coming the opposite direction and attempting a left hand turn in front of me, inches out into my lane and as I slow she inches her way out into the lane to my right, causing the guy on my right to hit his brakes. Once she had us, and all the traffic behind us, stopped she makes the turn across our path. Link to comment
4wheeldog Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 It is amazing how deeply people are in their own world. A lady, coming the opposite direction and attempting a left hand turn in front of me, inches out into my lane and as I slow she inches her way out into the lane to my right, causing the guy on my right to hit his brakes. Once she had us, and all the traffic behind us, stopped she makes the turn across our path. Yup, and she bluffs when she plays poker, too. Her immovable object trumped your irresistible force. Some people just see rules, (And morals/ethics) as something to work to their favor. Link to comment
Dennis Andress Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 PS, I bet he wears the splint at the workman's comp office. That made me laugh! Link to comment
Kathy R Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 Bob, I got stopped by a State Trooper on a lonely country road last night. I was going pretty fast. I just got my "new to me" bike and was heading home after hours of fabulous riding. Red lights came on, I pulled over immediately. He caught up and pulled over. He saw that I didn't yet have the inspection sticker on my bike, but he didn't say a word about it. I handed him the registration and insurance cards and briefly said, "I apologize for going so fast. I just got this bike yesterday, got the plates this morning and I was seeing how it handled". 5 minutes later he returns from his car, hands me my documentation and says, "Be carefull" and he let me go. He was extremely generous. I am very grateful and will keep him in mind when I get the urge to find the top end. Link to comment
Nice n Easy Rider Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 Kathy, Out of curiosity, were you ATGATT? I have a hunch (and it is only a hunch) that LEOs might be slightly more inclined to cut a rider who is wearing all their protective gear a little more slack since it suggests at least a certain amount of responsibility on the riders part. Link to comment
JohnnyJ Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 A good friend of mine made all of his sales calls by driving while sitting in the center of the bench seat of his truck. He had ruptured his achilles tendon and wore a cast/boot on his right leg. So, he had to operate all the foot controls with his left. When you gotta work to feed your family... you improvise. JohnnyJ Link to comment
ragtoplvr Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 Kathy, Out of curiosity, were you ATGATT? I have a hunch (and it is only a hunch) that LEOs might be slightly more inclined to cut a rider who is wearing all their protective gear a little more slack since it suggests at least a certain amount of responsibility on the riders part. I am very convinced that wearing ATGATT (wrinkles and bald/grey hair help too) as well as being polite and actually stopping even before they get there go a long way towards not getting performance awards. Wearing Knee Sliders partially undoes the effect. Rod Link to comment
upflying Posted July 2, 2009 Author Share Posted July 2, 2009 Kathy, Out of curiosity, were you ATGATT? I have a hunch (and it is only a hunch) that LEOs might be slightly more inclined to cut a rider who is wearing all their protective gear a little more slack since it suggests at least a certain amount of responsibility on the riders part. I am very convinced that wearing ATGATT (wrinkles and bald/grey hair help too) as well as being polite and actually stopping even before they get there go a long way towards not getting performance awards. Wearing Knee Sliders partially undoes the effect. Rod So is there a law enforcement stereotyping story here? Link to comment
upflying Posted July 2, 2009 Author Share Posted July 2, 2009 A good friend of mine made all of his sales calls by driving while sitting in the center of the bench seat of his truck. He had ruptured his achilles tendon and wore a cast/boot on his right leg. So, he had to operate all the foot controls with his left. When you gotta work to feed your family... you improvise. JohnnyJ I've seen this done with rural mail delivery routes. Postal person is driving a left hand steering wheel vehicle from the center right to facilitate reaching into the mail-boxes. The point of my story is how pathetically the driver attempted to explain he is disabled and that disability somehow prevented him from stopping at the stop sign. And then I caught him lying about it. Link to comment
Boone60 Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 I stopped a truck driver today for doing 54 mph in a 40 mph zone..When I asked him if he knew how fast he was going he was adamant that he was going absolutely no faster than 45 mph. I told him I would be writing him a ticket for speeding without telling him how fast I had clocked him. His immediate response was to ask me if I could cut him a little slack and not write him for more than 14 mph over the limit...(truckers are much more heavily penalized here for more than 14 over)... Had the dyslexia thing going there until he tripped up. Link to comment
Kathy R Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 Kathy, Out of curiosity, were you ATGATT? I have a hunch (and it is only a hunch) that LEOs might be slightly more inclined to cut a rider who is wearing all their protective gear a little more slack since it suggests at least a certain amount of responsibility on the riders part. Yes, always. Over the years I've been stopped about 5 times on the bike and received 1 award, in CO at the crack of dawn heading east to Chicago. Link to comment
Kathy R Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 Kathy, Out of curiosity, were you ATGATT? I have a hunch (and it is only a hunch) that LEOs might be slightly more inclined to cut a rider who is wearing all their protective gear a little more slack since it suggests at least a certain amount of responsibility on the riders part. I am very convinced that wearing ATGATT (wrinkles and bald/grey hair help too) as well as being polite and actually stopping even before they get there go a long way towards not getting performance awards. Wearing Knee Sliders partially undoes the effect. Rod So is there a law enforcement stereotyping story here? Bob, I'm not sure I'd call it stereotyping, but I think I know what you mean. However, my ratio of tickets vs warnings in a sports car vs on a motorcycle are opposite. Car = ticket is likely Bike = ticket is possible, but not likely In my experience, I have had a higher speed to limit ratio when on the bike. But you know what, I think I'm more apologetic when I'm on the bike. I don't know why, but when I get caught on the bike I feel worse for breaking the speed limit? Weird. Maybe it's the apology, but I can't help but think the officer respects the protective gear. I know that a few times they were not expecting me to be a female and that surprise made a difference. I was even less of a threat being female. It made the officer less worried about me being a whacko. But, I am just supposing based on my handful of experiences. Link to comment
Skywagon Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 To Bob and other Leo's. I enjoy your stories. Keep them coming, and thanks for all you do. Link to comment
Gregori Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 <> ... So is there a law enforcement stereotyping story here? Naw - that sounds more like motorcyclist stereotyping.... Link to comment
Bullett Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 To top it off he actually got out of the car and walked around normally without his splint. I asked him where the splint was and he said he does not like to wear it because it hurts his leg. He wanted to show me a large binder of medical records as he attempted to prove that he was actually on disability from a job related injury. Thought this would brighten your day and yes he got a performance award. Ride Safe PS, I bet he wears the splint at the workman's comp office. I hope I don't sound too cynical, but sounds like SOP for some claimants. He prolly tells his work comp adjuster and doctors that he is unable to drive. Question: If you LEO's pull over a real "disabled" person who appears to be physically unable to drive what are your options? I've met professional truck drivers with emphysema so bad they can barely breathe and walk around (I have no idea how they pass the DOT physical), but DMV sends me a form to be completed by my doctor several times a year (with threat of losing my driving privileges if I don't comply) because I have exercise induced asthma. Makes no sense to me. Link to comment
upflying Posted July 3, 2009 Author Share Posted July 3, 2009 Bullet asks, Question: If you LEO's pull over a real "disabled" person who appears to be physically unable to drive what are your options? Answer: I fill out a "Priority Driver Re-Examination" form and fax it to the nearest DMV driver safety office. The driver has five days to respond or their license is suspended. More info here: http://www.dmv.ca.gov/about/senior/driverlicense/reexam.htm Link to comment
JohnnyJ Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 To Bob and other Leo's. I enjoy your stories. Keep them coming, and thanks for all you do. +1 I would think some of these comical situations would be a perk of the job. Unfortunately, no doubt you too often see the bad side of humanity. JohnnyJ Link to comment
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