You can on Fords. They don't have the all the time on day time running lamps like GM.

If the switch is off, your lights are off.

 

I love it when you're on the freeway and the cop is doing 5 mph under the speedlimit and nobody has the ***** to pass. I usually do and give him a peace sign and almost always get a smile in return.

To those who hate cops......... you wouldn't if you didn't break the law and have to confront them. I'm sure when you do you don't take an attitude, and it's always the cops fault. Sure there are some real bad apples on the force, just as there are in any profession.

 

I really like these threads. Lots of good info and some bad info with some funny stories in between. For the record, there is no quota here and all those cops GhostTX sees sitting on the other side of the overpass belong to the traffic unit. That's what they get paid to do(as well as work accidents)all day long. I've written 2 speeding tickets in 10yrs so you really gotta mess up to get one from me(like the 18yr old knucklehead that passed me at about 130mph while i was going about 65 ) but, there are usually plenty of other tickets to write if I want.

 

yeah luckily I don't have any good stories to tell about this subject yet

 

That ticket should have been dismissed. You have a Constitutional right to confront witnesses against you (the officer). Without him, and without that opportunity, convicting you is a violation of your Due Process Rights.

Of course, no lawyer worth a pocket full of beans would go to court for $93.00. I'd think more like $500-1000. You probably made out better paying the idiots and moving on.

 

Yeah, but you have to have daytime running lights in Canada.

 

Regarding the illegal use of the horn, I've written a few of those in the past year or so. These would be in instances where someone is being a total jerk and when given the opportunity to add a charge to the citation I just smile and add it on.

I pulled a guy over for a speed/passing violation. He has all his "boys" in the car with him so he has to be Mr. Cool when dealing with Five O. I get his license and am back in my car writing up the initial violation. Next thing I know his stereo is so loud it's vibrating the heck out of my car. I walk up, kindly tell him I'll be adding that to his ticket and if it goes up like that again during this stop he's heading to jail. I'm back in my car writing when I hear his horn honking again and again and again. The guy is just laying on the horn. I'm looking at him through my windshield and he has his head hanging out the window looking at me, laying on the horn. It appears I was a disruption to his very busy schedule. I smile as I add the horn use to the ticket. So yea, I'm one of those guys that is very easy to get along with. Act like a jerk or other things that the profanity filter would edit and I'll happily add it on.

There are cops that would write anyone at any stop. Most aren't like that. I don't have a quota and if you are civil to me chances are you won't get a ticket or if it is a violation that is rather excessive I may reduce it to something a bit more forgiving. When I stop someone, for the most part, I don't know them and have never met them before. I approach with a clean slate knowing my contact with them may dictate their view of law enforcement in general. I set the tone for the contact and allow them to respond in kind. That can make for a pleasent encounter for those involved. When I meet someone who has the types of views some express here, I hate the police etc, that view is easy to pick up. Even when it's not verbally expressed. The decision to cite or not is often made while I'm standing at your window. Your reaction to being stopped is often what puts ink on paper.

So, for anyone who has met a cop or two, had a bad experience or acted like a jerk thinking you were being slick just remember this. We have met you before. Multiple times. Daily. When you start to act like a jerk and I roll my eyes you think I'm being an A hole. Maybe it's because I'm thinking "today is one of those days". Maybe because before I stopped you I had a drunk whizzing in the street tell me he pays my salary. Before that, soccor mom doing 20 over the limit tells my I should be out catching real criminals. Just before that I'm taking a guy to jail who, after fighting with him after he beat the crap out of his girlfriend, I learn has aids and hepatitis.

I'm not making excuses for how some cops act. Some handle the stress of the day better than others. But you are not the only person we'll have contact with in a day and sometimes you happen to be the guy at the end of a very, very long day.

 

Well said Ratchet. If I had a nickel for every time I was told "I pay your salary" I'd be rich. They don't like it when I tell them I pay my salary too(I pay taxes too). I have approached people many times with no intention whatsoever of writing a ticket and end up with 2 or 3. I work with the same rule I live by, Be nice to me and I'll be nice to you. Ditto the aids thing too. I had to wrestle a suicidal man(slit wrists)to the ground once and got blood all over my uniform just to find out he has aids. Luckily it didn't get past my vest but scary none the less.