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Dang Mike! I'm glad you and your wife got out of that one in one piece! I would definitely file a complaint while the incident is still fresh in your mind...if for nothing else than having a record on file.
Performance Award on 4 wheels last night
- Thread starter Patriot
- Start date
Help Support Yamaha FJR Motorcycle Forum:
Yeah, wow. You could have avoided this. You made the decision to speed and endangered a lot of motorists, your wife and yourself. Explain to me why you're trying to garner sympathy? Oh, because you caused a problem, created a situation with the officer and have a motorcycle forum to "vent"
How about this instead...stop it.
Thanks for 'name-dropping' too. That's awesome. Not only will the officer probably not remember you from any other jack or sally but obviously that ALWAYS helps.
How about this instead...stop it.
Thanks for 'name-dropping' too. That's awesome. Not only will the officer probably not remember you from any other jack or sally but obviously that ALWAYS helps.
chivvalry
Well-known member
So... you never speed, huh? Good for you.
HotRodZilla
GOD BLESS AMERICA
I don't think that's what he's saying. He's saying that the way to have avoided any of that was to not speed. Like others, I have been cited for driving (riding) too fast. Didn't gripe about it either time, cuz it was my fault. I knew the posted limit and chose to violate that.
IF...the story is as Mike says, there are concerns, but if there is a video, and it shows something different, then what??
TC makes a good point though, and I didn't see it the first time I read Mike's post. Don't ever name drop...even if I was thinking of letting a person go, if they name drop, they get a citation every time.
Do you expect to get a discount from your doctor because you go to church with Dr. Soandso...Or a discount at WalMart because you know a teller?
chivvalry
Well-known member
Well... I won't further comment on TC's post. <_<
I think Patriot was pretty up front about deserving his performance award... and if video (if it exists) shows something different than his description IF anyone even bothers to follow up that far on the complaint then the officer's actions will be reviewed and either upheld or not. Regardless of that... he should file a complaint as he certainly seems to feel he was put in undue danger.
I'll take your word on "name dropping"... never done it anyway. My next door neighbor is a statie but isn't real neighborly so I couldn't name drop him anyway. We're polite and use each other's muscle for the occasional "help me move this damn thing, will you?" events but that's about it. The only occasional visitors I see over there are obviously (I mean REALLY obviously) troopers and sometimes their families. Also, my dog doesn't like his dog so maybe that's it... :huh:
Geezer
Parsimonious Curmudgeon
What do you do when someone hands you a PBA card? Sort of like name dropping but more personal.
HotRodZilla
GOD BLESS AMERICA
No worries Chivvalry. I understand where you're coming from. Like I said in my first post...What Mike describes is not good. If that's the case, gotta wonder what drove that...If it were one of my guys, I'd definitely look into it. Ain't worth getting killed for an $80 speeding ticket.
What the heck is a PBA card??
chivvalry
Well-known member
Patrolman's Benevolent Association... bribe card. "Look! I donated money to some police organization so you should be nice to me and not give me a ticket..."
HotRodZilla
GOD BLESS AMERICA
Ah ha...The organization that does that here does not give out cards. They give out window decals so people can put them on their back wondow and hope the cops will see them and not stop them. Doesn't really work.
FJRGuy
FJR Rally Addict! :D
Sorry, I wasn't gonna bother to comment after page 1, but...
Holy crap guys, he was just venting to his friends!
He could have avoided the whole situation by taking a bus instead of driving!
And if I read it correctly, the so called "name dropping" was post citation. If so, obviously not an attempt at getting a "discount".
Mike, sorry you had a bad experience and glad you vented with us.
Holy crap guys, he was just venting to his friends!
He could have avoided the whole situation by taking a bus instead of driving!
And if I read it correctly, the so called "name dropping" was post citation. If so, obviously not an attempt at getting a "discount".
Mike, sorry you had a bad experience and glad you vented with us.
Patriot
Isabella is Lazarus
I'll finish up with all the comments I can remember to the officer and my personal conclusions...as well as letting the incident it go with no reporting to anyone giving him the benefit of the doubt on how he files it away for future wisdom
1) at the second stop, I'm out of control screaming out of anxiety and fright and then realizing it's not over as he has my license as he leaves the 2nd time.
the name drop comment was part of that out of control diatribe -> "I'm going to talk to "Captain..." about this...my point was trying to find out who's wrong and how much...
(I'm not going to)
my mind flashed to the supervisor trooper giving me detailed instructions about safety when I lead a military funeral and he and his motorcycle troopers are doing traffic control on the fly and my appreciation of their conservative professionalism and attitude that safety is top priority and Semper Gumby (always flexible) is the plan of the day
2) He was responsive for me to express myself. After admitting I was speeding and wrong, and expressing my safety concerns for all three of us (me, him, other driver) and why. I then calmly said if he had stopped me, did his thing, protected us with his car behind lights on until I drove away, then I would have sheepishly admitted my offense, apologized, and quietly taken whatever penalty he decided. Yes, if not and he stopped the red focus instead, I would have felt I dodged a bullet.
(I also would have thanked him for his service to me, my family, and the public in a difficult, thankless job. I do this every time with sincerity, & love to see the reaction when I say, "I know you don't always have a good day on the job...so thank you, etc")
3) I mentioned I don't know the department's policy on double stops, but it IS NOT safe at night. It is NOT safe to neglect to wear a reflective vest. During the day, but I still disagree with such, but at least I would have been able to see you and have a chance to understand what you want me to do when you were no longer behind me. Not using the PA if you have one is a great obstacle. Traffic stops are by nature very dangerous with unknown defendants...I personally would only want to have to keep an eye on one carload of potential perps.
4) If my scatterbrained and emotional wife or daughter or a grandma were in my position as drivers, there were 10 times more chance of disaster. I'm a Cold War Vet and I was extremely rattled more than once. My wife was a passenger and emotionally broke down.
5) I mentioned, IMHO, I was not driving unsafely, but again admitted I was speeding and wrongly rationalized I could follow the other car at speed, but knew I would shortly be off the bridge only doing 4 over and not 14 over. I mentioned other troopers I work with tell me their threshold for traffic stops are greater than 9 over but yes I was doing 14 over. But I mentioned he shouldn't take such offenses personally...they should be an unemotional event and let go if the threshold of safety is in question.
As I made my 3 minute speach, I thought I saw him nodding and sheepishly responding with body language. He readily shook my hand and I felt both our relief it was over. He was young...I wouldn't be surprised if he recently finished training and mentoring. The other officer who came called him over and they were talking as I gathered up myself, returned my license into my wallet, & waited for the highway to clear and returned to my car. I believe he learned from the experience in a constructive manner.
Now, it's a fact traffic engineers know there are "kinetic laws" about humans and their driving. 85% of drivers intuatively drive a safe speed for the conditions presented. My driving that night put no one's safety in jeopardy and I was running 5 over and not 10 over with the wifey in the car and being nightime. I am, but nature, an aggressive driver, but that night I was not.
And, yes, I have "thin blue line" stickers all over my bike and next to my license plate and inspection sticker on the cars...in fact, I purchased reflective stickers...
1) at the second stop, I'm out of control screaming out of anxiety and fright and then realizing it's not over as he has my license as he leaves the 2nd time.
the name drop comment was part of that out of control diatribe -> "I'm going to talk to "Captain..." about this...my point was trying to find out who's wrong and how much...
(I'm not going to)
my mind flashed to the supervisor trooper giving me detailed instructions about safety when I lead a military funeral and he and his motorcycle troopers are doing traffic control on the fly and my appreciation of their conservative professionalism and attitude that safety is top priority and Semper Gumby (always flexible) is the plan of the day
2) He was responsive for me to express myself. After admitting I was speeding and wrong, and expressing my safety concerns for all three of us (me, him, other driver) and why. I then calmly said if he had stopped me, did his thing, protected us with his car behind lights on until I drove away, then I would have sheepishly admitted my offense, apologized, and quietly taken whatever penalty he decided. Yes, if not and he stopped the red focus instead, I would have felt I dodged a bullet.
(I also would have thanked him for his service to me, my family, and the public in a difficult, thankless job. I do this every time with sincerity, & love to see the reaction when I say, "I know you don't always have a good day on the job...so thank you, etc")
3) I mentioned I don't know the department's policy on double stops, but it IS NOT safe at night. It is NOT safe to neglect to wear a reflective vest. During the day, but I still disagree with such, but at least I would have been able to see you and have a chance to understand what you want me to do when you were no longer behind me. Not using the PA if you have one is a great obstacle. Traffic stops are by nature very dangerous with unknown defendants...I personally would only want to have to keep an eye on one carload of potential perps.
4) If my scatterbrained and emotional wife or daughter or a grandma were in my position as drivers, there were 10 times more chance of disaster. I'm a Cold War Vet and I was extremely rattled more than once. My wife was a passenger and emotionally broke down.
5) I mentioned, IMHO, I was not driving unsafely, but again admitted I was speeding and wrongly rationalized I could follow the other car at speed, but knew I would shortly be off the bridge only doing 4 over and not 14 over. I mentioned other troopers I work with tell me their threshold for traffic stops are greater than 9 over but yes I was doing 14 over. But I mentioned he shouldn't take such offenses personally...they should be an unemotional event and let go if the threshold of safety is in question.
As I made my 3 minute speach, I thought I saw him nodding and sheepishly responding with body language. He readily shook my hand and I felt both our relief it was over. He was young...I wouldn't be surprised if he recently finished training and mentoring. The other officer who came called him over and they were talking as I gathered up myself, returned my license into my wallet, & waited for the highway to clear and returned to my car. I believe he learned from the experience in a constructive manner.
Now, it's a fact traffic engineers know there are "kinetic laws" about humans and their driving. 85% of drivers intuatively drive a safe speed for the conditions presented. My driving that night put no one's safety in jeopardy and I was running 5 over and not 10 over with the wifey in the car and being nightime. I am, but nature, an aggressive driver, but that night I was not.
And, yes, I have "thin blue line" stickers all over my bike and next to my license plate and inspection sticker on the cars...in fact, I purchased reflective stickers...
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airboss
Well-known member
Awww, how cute...
Thank you HRZ.
I know law enforcement officers at various levels. Do I drop names? Fluck no. HRZ mentioned someone doing that would get the citation and 99.9% of my friends would do the same. Yeah, get the citation, if you really know someone I'm suuuure they'll help you get out of it. Or just laugh at you and that's the likely outcome.
Everyone speeds. It's a choice. You chose to either ignore the posted signs or follow them but you really can't claim ignorance. If I make that choice and I'm pulled over, yep, my bad, where do I send the check? I got pulled over for 60 in a 45 last December. The officer was sitting in a driveway to a business and watching the clouds go by for all I know. I pulled over and was directed to pull ahead to another place to stop. Didn't get out of my car with my wallet in hand. The officer was courteous, professional and was nice enough to help me understand there was a class I could take to make it go away. I had to suffer through 8hrs of classroom time, but that's a consequence.
Could this office have done better? Sure. This is Patriot's emotional outlet.
FJRGuy
FJR Rally Addict! :D
You are a role model for us all!
Oh, and had that officer not been courteous and professional and had put your safety at risk, that would have been your fault for speeding?
It appears you got the point of this thread!
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Patriot
Isabella is Lazarus
glad I wasn't on my bike...I wonder if then I would have been the only one cited
I also wonder why my radar detector (a really good passport) set to "highway" didn't go off at any time...
If he was shooting lazer which the Troopers do have, I've only seen them out of the car with a hand held aimed down the road at individual vehicles.
I've been lazer shot on the bike, and the lazer warning went off, course too late...was never cited, but "shot" at before coming up on the trooper
I've also had Ka go off from a moving Trooper Car.
I couldn't see his person, only car at the first visual. If he shot lazer at the focus, I wonder how legitimate was his "judgement" of me doing the same speed, but not clocked with an instrument.
maybe Zilla or others in the know can comment...
this thread is another indication to me how much I appreciate this forum
I also wonder why my radar detector (a really good passport) set to "highway" didn't go off at any time...
If he was shooting lazer which the Troopers do have, I've only seen them out of the car with a hand held aimed down the road at individual vehicles.
I've been lazer shot on the bike, and the lazer warning went off, course too late...was never cited, but "shot" at before coming up on the trooper
I've also had Ka go off from a moving Trooper Car.
I couldn't see his person, only car at the first visual. If he shot lazer at the focus, I wonder how legitimate was his "judgement" of me doing the same speed, but not clocked with an instrument.
maybe Zilla or others in the know can comment...
this thread is another indication to me how much I appreciate this forum
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TheZsdad
Mr. Bill goes for a ride!
Ego Vs. Logic. I'd say Ego beat Logic in this situation . Who knows why, tough night, indigestion, maybe just the challenge of it. (hate to think that)
Glad you are able to write about it.
Glad you are able to write about it.
ahchiu
FJR Commander
Sorry to hear of your bad experience, up here in the PNW there a little nicer when you get pulled over in a group, there was quite a few of us 11 and he said he did not want to get carpal tunnel writing us all up so he let us off with a warning
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beemerdons
Certifiable Old Fart
Hey Marcus, did the PNW Officer really ask 'Pops' how he got a day pass out of The Woodinville Old Folk's Home?Sorry to hear of your bad experience, up here in the PNW there a little nicer when you get pulled over in a group, there was quite a few of us 11 and he said he did not want to get carpal tunnel writing us all up so he let us off with a warning
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ahchiu
FJR Commander
Don, I think Pops forged a pass and the officer did not catch that it was a fake one.We could have told him we were on our way to see a MD... Dr.Rich.Hey Marcus, did the PNW Officer really ask 'Pops' how he got a day pass out of The Woodinville Old Folk's Home?Sorry to hear of your bad experience, up here in the PNW there a little nicer when you get pulled over in a group, there was quite a few of us 11 and he said he did not want to get carpal tunnel writing us all up so he let us off with a warning
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TwoWhldTerror
Well-known member
seriously...endagering motorists? we do not even know where he was speeding. As a former law enforcement officer I can say that many speed limits are absolutely arbitrary and the issuance of speeding tickets even more so. He'll depending on whether the cop had indigestion or an argument with his wife van determine if a citation is issued. *if* the story is even half-true the officer was an ass and has a serious attitude that needs adjusting.
Now the name dropping bit, yeah that was not kosher.
