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don't honk at the cops

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by cwerdna, Feb 26, 2006.

  1. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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  2. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    I've seen it. Granted, only the officer in the car actually konws what's going on, but you have to admit that its a little strange when you see the lights come on, the officer move through the intersection and then cut the lights only 50 yards after the light.
     
  3. gschoen

    gschoen Member

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    Though if this officer had time to stop and issue a ticket, his claim about "helping fellow police track down a speeder" is awful fishy.
     
  4. koa

    koa Active Member

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    I once passed some police on motorcycles that were escorting a double tractor trailer rig that was carrying really long concrete columns for a freeway project. They were traveling in the far left hand lane doing the speed limit. Traffic was backing up and wouldn't pass for some reason. It appeared no one wanted to go a little over the speed limited to pass the cops. After making my way through the traffic I passed the rig on the right in the next lane over. This is a three lane highway. As I got passed, one of the motorcycle cops caught up to me and started yelling at me to slow down. I yelled back, asking why they aren't in the right hand lane. While he was yelling at me he didn't realize (since he was looking at me instead of doing what he was suppose to be doing) that the rig had caught up with him and he was starting to drift in front of the one of the wheels. As I pointed to the rig, his mirror hit it and kind of exploded, he jerked the bike and for several seconds was wobbling in front of that wheel trying to regain control. It was very close but he got the bike under control and went back to escorting the truck, with with a full load of adrenaline I'm sure. I was glad he was alright but I'm not sure why he wanted to say anything to me in the first place.
     
  5. V8Cobrakid

    V8Cobrakid Green Handyman

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    eh.. people abuse powers.. it happens.. unfortunetly not much you can do. I think the level of abuse has gone down, but it still exist. Back in "the day" my parents friends (ambulance, police, etc) used to turn on lights and sirens just to get somewhere fast... does this still happen? probably...
     
  6. gschoen

    gschoen Member

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    I give the benefit of the doubt to first responders. Plus, they see enough bad accidents I'd bet running hot loses its appeal for most.
     
  7. Schmika

    Schmika New Member

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    Just tonight, I got sent on a lights and siren call and less than 30 seconds later a closer car said he would get it so I shut down.....hmmmmm....happens more often than you think.
     
  8. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    Cops are people, just like anyone else. And there are few people who will not abuse power to some extent or another. I bet there are cases where there's a legitimate reason for the siren, and other cases where there is not. Of course, when there is not, the individual will always convince himself that there's a reason. Everybody can always justify his/her own small transgressions.

    But using sirens to go through an intersection always has some risk, so should not be done without good reason. A driver might not hear the siren due to liud music or failure of concentration.

    Yesterday I was stopped at a light. Just as my light turned green I heard a siren, and waited. A cop car went through on the cross street. I proceded, as did the other cars, but the fading siren of the cop car blended with another, rising siren, and it turned out to be a fire truck approaching from behind. I stopped again, as did the other cars, and the fire truck came up and turned right at the lights, opposite to the direction of the cop car.

    It's probably not common, but I bet there have been accidents when two emergency vehicles have collided because each was using sirens to go through an intersection. One siren can also mask another, confusing drivers and leading to an accident. If I was a judge I'd come down EXTRA hard on a cop who used his siren without a very good reason.
     
  9. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    Just today, near my work, I saw a cop make a right on red even though there's a sign saying no right turns on red. He didn't turn his lights on either.

    The way that intersection is setup, he could've been hit by coming off a highway parallel to the road (it's a weird intersection) or cross traffic.
     
  10. Schmika

    Schmika New Member

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    Daniel, you are correct, but it happens more often that a civilian is hit by an emergency vehicle. For some reason, people have never got it into their heads that if you see one ER vehicle, there are more around somewhere. Though, in honesty, this is more typical with Fire who will send multiple pieces of apparatus more often than the police send more than one car. Also, police are usually geographically dispersed while fire are all coming from central stations.
     
  11. Schmika

    Schmika New Member

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    I tell my officers they are in a big fishbowl and they should not do things that piss off the public. On the other hand, you do not know if they were on a "hot" call or not. Most citizens want the police to drive perfect, until they call them, then the public wants the officer there right now.
     
  12. V8Cobrakid

    V8Cobrakid Green Handyman

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    I remember.. i believe two occasions where cops in San Francisco collided when heading to calls.. with hills and buildings, it's all blind corner. I think the cops both saw the street as empy and them having the right way, but collided on a hill corner. I don't remember details, but i do remember seeing photos. I probably should have remembered street names :blink: o well ;)