Cop story

[Stephen072774]

Ok, I'm gonna post the story of what happened to me two weeks ago.  Although I'm not sure what lesson I learned form this, if any.  Here goes its gonna be long...

I'm on a quite ride on a sunny Sunday afternoon, on a backroad that I purposely took to avoid traffic.  I'm by myself, on a deserted road, traveling about 50-55 in a posted 45 zone.  (I admit 55 is speeding, but its not excessive for the road at all)  I travel about 15 miles at this pace when I glance in my mirror to see the bumper of a gold Maxima right off my back tire.  I'm talking 10-15 feet.  Hes right on my ass.  I slow alittle, take my left hand off the bar and do a head check and see what is up.  I give him the WTF look and turn back around.  He has room to pass on the 2-lane road but does not.

A couple hundred yards later, he is still right on my ass.  So I speed up to 60, he is still there.  65 then 70, I'm starting to think this driver is messing with me and I don't like it.  As we enter a curvy section of road (I know this road well) I decide I'd better put this fool safely behind me.  So I speed up to about 80.  I distance myself from him by 100 yards or so.  but as the road comes to a stop sign, here he comes flying up on my tire again.  At the stop sign I turn around and give him the look again and he is talking on a cell and acting like he is writing down my tag.  I think ya whatever, and take off.

We pull out and he is still following aboslutely too close.  I make a left turn into the first gas station I find (rural area) and I give him not only a turn signal but also a hand signal so he won't run me over.  As I turn in, he keeps straight and blows past me.  Thank God thats over I think, I'm getting pretty nervious about this by this time.  I take off my helmet and gloves and fill up my tank.

After filling and paying, I am putting my helmet back on all of a sudden a State Trooper comes flying up into the gas station blocking me in.  He jumps out of the car looking pissed.  He asks me for licence, which I promptly hand him, and then he says 'what business do you have going 80 mph back there.'  I say 80 mph??  No sir I was not going 80 but I might have been speeding you see there was this car... He cut me off right there.  He said 'that car was me in my personal car.'  (he's trooper car must have been near by and he got it while I was getting gas)

So he gives me a 15 minute safety lecture, and all I'm thinking is that I would have never gone that fast if you didn't ride my ass.  I felt endangered.  I kept my mouth shut, in fear of a ticket and just said 'yes sir, no sir' to everything this guy said.  Then I saw his name badge, and it rang a bell in my head.  I asked him if he knew a friend of mine and he said yes.  (this trooper is about my age)  After I figured out who this guy was and that we new the same people, he quickly handed my back my licence and told me to be careful and left.

I was so glad I didn't get a ticket I didn't think much more about it.  But the next week the trooper send word thru a buddy to tell me that he WAS ON DUTY IN HIS PERSONAL CAR, BUT THAT HE WAS RUNNING LATE TO WORK.  I was like what???  So this guy was late for work, speeding down a country road, tailgated and scared a biker into speeding and decided to come back and give him a hard time about it???

I admit to speeding but I was provoked into speeding.  What do you guys think about this?  Do you think this guy was out of line?

[Woz]

If you were doing 55 and he was right on top of you that means... err.... um... he was speeding too.

I don't know about the US but over here the police can't break speed limits unless they have their lights and sirens on.

Sounds like a prick to me.

[cummuterguy]

you should forward this to his patrol seargent.... I'd bet he would like to hear about it

[Ed_in_Az]

 

[Stephen072774]

you should forward this to his patrol seargent.... I'd bet he would like to hear about it

Thats why I wanted you guys' imput first.  I was thinking I should do that.

[oppy00]

That guy was a total d1ck!!  You should have kicked him in the nuts!!  :x  Of course this probably would've landed you in jail.   You should definately ask your friend, who is a trooper, what you could do to report this jerk-off.  I'm live in a college town, and the local smokies here are terrible, but I try to give law enforcement the respect they deserve.  This dumb*ss is fueling distrust and disrespect for the law.  He deserves to have is bits and pieces slammed in a car door.

[Rema1000]

Tailgaiting is one tactic used by troopers to get you to speed even more.  I was speeding in a cage.  A car came up behind me with highbeams on, and tailgated.  I sped-up.  This repeated a few times until I was just not going to speed up any more.  Then he hit his cherries and pulled me over.  This struck me as a form of entrapment.  I cannot contest the ticket (I *was* speeding), but I would not have exceeded the posted limit by nearly so much without prompting.

If you contact the police, I would not specify that you were speeding initially (as that could earn you a ticket).  Just say that you were riding; you got tailgated in a dangerous manner; per MSF instruction, you _decellerated_, then used hand signals and and even made eye-contact to alert the driver that this situation was unsafe for both of you.  When the driver became more-aggressive, you could only conclude that the driver had malicious intent, and given your extreme vulnerability as a motorcycle rider, you took maneuvers to (a) get away from the vehicle, (b) get off the road, and (c) call the police.  You successfully exited the roadway; however, before you could call the police, you met an officer claiming to be the driver of the aggressive car, who cautioned you against speeding.  

This leaves you quite baffled, since, in hindsight, the officer obviously did not intend you harm, yet his lack of following distance behind a motorcycle earlier was definitely not safe.  Suggest that officers discuss safe following distance of motorcycles, with any members of the force who ride.  Please bear in-mind that motorcyclists are, quite frankly, scared of cars which are driving erratically or following closely, including unmarked police vehicles.  A rider who feels threatened may try to get away from the dangerous situation in a riskier manner than is appropriate; for example, they may exit the roadway at too high a speed, or exit onto a gravel cross-street, fearing that if they decellerate properly, they might be at risk of a collission.



I would not mention that the officer was speeding in an unmarked car; nor that he was late for work.  You can put time and date and badge# in your letter, and leave it to his superior to figure that out.  Coming from you, it would only sound accusatory.   I think that the best outcome you can hope for is an increased sensitivity to rider vulnerability.  The last thing we need are riders ditching their bikes, believing that they are being run off the road, when in fact it's just a LEO trying to goose the rider to get the maiximum speeding ticket.

[Ed_in_Az]

 

[The Buddha]

That makes sense... That whole push him into speeding... cos many many years ago I talked to this guy who owned 2 ferrari's, a white and a red testarossa... and he was telling me that he got rear ended by a cop when driving the white one ... who was following him, when he hit the brakes to avoid a truck that was straying over the line. The police department paid him over 40 grand to fix his ferrari.... Yup it might surprise them, but a testarossa can stop in 1/2 the distance of a caprice...  
Cool.
Srinath.

[cay]

Then I saw his name badge, and it rang a bell in my head. I asked him if he knew a friend of mine and he said yes. (this trooper is about my age) After I figured out who this guy was and that we new the same people, he quickly handed my back my licence and told me to be careful and left.

This is a bit off-topic, but personally I find the idea of we-share-aquaintences-so-you-get-off-with-a-warning pretty damn sleazy. Same deal for the whole Professional Courtesy concept, where cops don't ticket cops (or sometimes firemen, or paramedics).  It's obviously a practice which would be very difficult to prevent, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

Here in NY at least there's an organization, the NYS Troopers Police Benevolent Association which exists (as far as I can tell) solely to hand out windshield stickers to friends and family of State Troopers to simplify the we-don't-give-tickets-to-friends-and-family process.

I'm glad to hear you got out of your ticket, though.  I guess the whole concept of favourtism isn't so nasty when it works in our favour.  

C

[crash]

If you were doing 55 and he was right on top of you that means... err.... um... he was speeding too.

I don't know about the US but over here the police can't break speed limits unless they have their lights and sirens on.

yeah, but who is the judge going to believe?

i was on a cop ridealong a few years back (voluntarily ).  we were sitting at a big traffic light, waiting for it to turn green (to go straight).  the left-turn light goes green, and the cop, who was probably a bit zoned out, hits the gas and flies out into the middle of the intersection.  what does he do? he says "woops" and hits the sirens.

as far as tailgaiting... if some dork comes too close for comfort, i usually flash the brakes (not actually braking, just blinking).  it might take a little while for it to sink in, but most cars back off a bit.  of course, i've never had one react by closing (or doing anything else that could be construed as agressive/malicious), so i don't know how i'd deal with it... probably roll on the throttle as you did until i found a place to turn off the road.

[Stephen072774]

Then I saw his name badge, and it rang a bell in my head. I asked him if he knew a friend of mine and he said yes. (this trooper is about my age) After I figured out who this guy was and that we new the same people, he quickly handed my back my licence and told me to be careful and left.

This is a bit off-topic, but personally I find the idea of we-share-aquaintences-so-you-get-off-with-a-warning pretty damn sleazy. Same deal for the whole Professional Courtesy concept, where cops don't ticket cops (or sometimes firemen, or paramedics).  It's obviously a practice which would be very difficult to prevent, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

Here in NY at least there's an organization, the NYS Troopers Police Benevolent Association which exists (as far as I can tell) solely to hand out windshield stickers to friends and family of State Troopers to simplify the we-don't-give-tickets-to-friends-and-family process.

I'm glad to hear you got out of your ticket, though.  I guess the whole concept of favourtism isn't so nasty when it works in our favour.  

C

See the thing is, after I knew who he was he quickly left, as if he knew he had done something wrong.  I don't think the name dropping got me out of the ticket, but more of a 'this isn't right and I know who you are' type thing.  Thats why he send word for me that he was already on duty in his personal car.  He knew he was wrong, and I know who he is.

[Ed_in_Az]

Sic 'em!

[ghettorigged]

This is gonna sound weird, but in the defensive driving class I teach (and YES, most people who take my class HATE bikers   ) the first line of defense for a tailgator is to "increase your following distance" - er, slow down more. This is to encourage the tailgater to either back off or to pass. The next step in the defense is to find a safe place and pull off the roadway.

Hey, I'm just stating what I have to teach in class!!  :mrgreen:  

btw, NEVER wave anyone, car or pedestrian, around you or through an intersection... unless you LIKE the idea of being liable for them.

[cay]

btw, NEVER wave anyone, car or pedestrian, around you or through an intersection... unless you LIKE the idea of being liable for them.

Huh?

I didn't know that a simple gesture could transfer responsibility.  If I give someone the finger and they get pregnant, does that mean I'm liable too?

[Sportbilly]

LMAO, but it's true.

I was always told as a trucker, that if you think someone has t move before you can turn, don't gesture, don't wave, they could misinterpret that as saying "I've lookd, and it's clear for you to come around"

So, I just sit there and look dumb till they move  :mrgreen:

[BustemUpBob]

[Alias]

I like it when people tail gate me. Especially when they can't pass me. I slow down to 3MPH for a 1/4 mile. Then speed back up to the limit. That usually fixes them. If it doesn't I just fly down the road. When cops tail gate me I just stop and pull over, which happens often.

[Blueknyt]

but I was provoked into speeding

An explosion behind you and flames catching up,  your on a bridge, and the end behind you is colapsing,  a train de railed and is gaining, a plane overshot the runway and is going down aiming for you, Gun shots aimed at you..........


these are examples of being provoked to speed.   the cops (nor judge) care about anything else. while i agree, a car out weighs me by a ton or so, you cant let them "Drive For You" you speed up, you have given control to them.  Officialy, no cops must obey traffic safty laws too, but may break ANY traffic law in the line of duty. the sec they get into an accedent, they are screwed.    


the leagel side for you would be to stop, make a turn, change lanes, pull over off the road, pull way over and wave them by. those would be your only LEAGEL choices in that moment.

[tt_four]

yeah, i get followed home from my girlfriends all the time, but the ony back road from her little town to the main road is about 7 miles long, and i hit a deer on it 2 years ago, so no matter if there's cars behind me or not, i'm going 25mph, if cars get on my ass, i just turn my mirrors down so i can't see behind me and keep cruising a long, i woulnd't be pissed off if they passed me, so i don't feel bad for going slow, cause hwen i think someone's too slow, i pass them, and that's the end of the problem,

but the only difference, is while a gs is faster than a car, a car could still keep up half decently if the road isn't too twisty, but on my speed four, i twist the throttle and the car is gone, so all i can do is keep my plate bent just enough that it's too hard to read at a glance, and if anyone's coming too close, i leave, the only time it gets annoying is when i'm on a road that's 2-3 lanes each way, and it's dark, like 11 or 12  at night, when half he people on the road are cops, so when someone gets on my ass, all i can do is pull into the right lane slow to the speed limit, and usually when they get right up to my blind spot where cops like to sit, i'll either just let off the throttle, or if i'm in the mood, jam on the brakes, so they're infront of me real fast,

and i know it's probably a bad way of thinking, but i think if a cop was riding my ass, and i knew it, and had the chance(and was wearing all my gear as i always do) i'd slam on my brakes, just because i'd love to see a cop getting fired on the front page on the city news paper for running my ass over, um.......FTP?? :dunno: