Abuse of authority, or "Good job, officer?"

[rambone]

Was the driver actually driving slow, or were they obeying the speed limit? Since all the other traffic appeared to be moving at the same speed, it looks to me like that's the case.

It looked like they were crawling along, so I'm going to assume that they were following the arbitrarily selected tax-collecting-threshold known as the speed limit.

We can't be mad at this driver for "Not speeding." God knows this board has no pity for speeders. And I don't recall any law that says the left lane must be clear in the presence of a cop.


Poll Question #2:

What should the citizen have done?

• Speed in the presence of cop.
• Tuck tail between legs and clear the road for the cop (who is also sworn to uphold and defend the Speed Limit).
• Wait for the cop to use emergency lights, which would show his intent to surpass the speed limit himself.

 

[phylodog]

Not something I would do. If I'm going to flip on the lights I'm going to explain to the driver why I chose to do so.

I also try very hard not to tailgate. I will admit that it gets to be a challenge when someone slows down to 45mph on the interstate but absolutely refuses, come hell or high water, to get out of the passing lane. I don't understand it, I've tried to put myself in their shoes and I can not, for the life of me , come up with any logical reason why someone would think that was the best option they had available to them. Maybe they think that slowing to 45mph will subtract from the 75mph I saw them going before getting behind them?

I don't enjoy enforcing traffic laws unless they border on criminal offenses. I understand that most of the people simply want to get where they are going and I agree with many (if not most) of the people on here that a 55mph speed limit is unnecessarily slow given the capabilities of modern vehicles.

Many will disagree with it but you will find me regularly rolling at 64mpg on the interstates around Indy while maintaining a safe following distance behind the vehicle in front of me. May not be the letter of the law but it doesn't take much common sense to see that this keeps things moving along reasonably.

 

[Kutnupe14]

Was the driver actually driving slow, or were they obeying the speed limit? Since all the other traffic appeared to be moving at the same speed, it looks to me like that's the case.

Looks like the cop wanted to speed and wanted the road cleared for him. Notice how he turns off the rollers as soon as the other driver has moved to the lane the officer wants him in. No different than the cops who run red lights because they can, not because they are on a run.

If the "slow driver" had been going 10 over when the officer wanted to go 20 over, what are the odds that a speeding ticket would have been issued?

Sorry if I'm rambling, it looks to me like a cop harassing someone for behaving in a legal manner. Not really much different than being harassed for carrying a gun.

Again, my opinion is just that, and only based on what I could see in the video.

Your point has no merit. If he only wanted the driver to get out of his way, then he would have pulled the car over one lane. Obviously this officer pulled the vehicle over 3 full lanes, which I see as indicating that the driver was driving too slow, not from the officer's perspective, but from the other driver's perspectives as well.

Further, it makes no difference how fast the traffic was going. People in general are reluctant to pass police. I've driven on the highway below the speed limit, and cars still line up behind me. No one will pass me until some brave soul apparently notices that the actual speed limit is slower than the rate I am happening to be traveling. Once the first cars pass by though, everybody else, cautiously, does the same.

 

[dross]

I don't understand it, I've tried to put myself in their shoes and I can not, for the life of me , come up with any logical reason why someone would think that was the best option they had available to them. .

I'm convinced these are the same people who think I love their dogs so much I'm enjoying hearing them bark incessantly day and night.

But maybe these are just two of my dark, evil, plotting against others' lives pet peeves.

I think I can explain the people who cruise slow in the left lane. I've studied them, you see, with murderous intent.

Two kinds of people cruise slow in the left lane:

1. Morons
2. Vigilantes

The morons truly don't realize that the 52 cars stacked up behind them are actually there. They're just cruising along, texting and talking to their friend, clueless that there are people who actually have to be somewhere.

The vigilantes are enforcing the speed limit in their own passive agressive way. Many of them drive a Prius. Others are just out to make a point.

"An ill death may th' dee."

 

[phylodog]

I'm convinced these are the same people who think I love their dogs so much I'm enjoying hearing them bark incessantly day and night.

But maybe these are just two of my dark, evil, plotting against others' lives pet peeves.

I think I can explain the people who cruise slow in the left lane. I've studied them, you see, with murderous intent.

Two kinds of people cruise slow in the left lane:

1. Morons
2. Vigilantes

The morons truly don't realize that the 52 cars stacked up behind them are actually there. They're just cruising along, texting and talking to their friend, clueless that there are people who actually have to be somewhere.

The vigilantes are enforcing the speed limit in their own passive agressive way. Many of them drive a Prius. Others are just out to make a point.

"An ill death may th' dee."

Just be thankful that you live a good long way from Illinois. It has become apparent to me through years of observation that people from Illinois cannot see any lane other than the left lane, are completely unaware of the purpose of other lanes or were told as small children that the other lanes lead to the edge of the earth.

 

[d1wil]

good job

 

[KDUBCR250]

The tailgating was total BS ! But I love what he/she did to get the car out of the passing lane !

 

[Lex Concord]

He could have just flipped his lights. Then she would have got the point and moved out of the way. Where was the need to ride her ass within inches of the bumper?

I definitely would have gotten a ticket for following too closely...

^^^
This.

While I get the sentiment and, if going under the limit in the passing lane, the LEO acting to get the driver moved over isn't necessarily a bad thing, the execution was overbearing and dangerous.

I actually saw an MCSDeputy do something similar about 15 years ago, though, when they wouldn't move to the right, he got in front of the 15-passenger van full of kids, got some distance and hit his brakes hard to make his point. He then hit his lights and raced to his important call. I saw him about 5 miles later (no longer on the highway) assisting several other LEOs at a minor PD accident.

 

[rich8483]

Not something I would do. If I'm going to flip on the lights I'm going to explain to the driver why I chose to do so.

I also try very hard not to tailgate. I will admit that it gets to be a challenge when someone slows down to 45mph on the interstate but absolutely refuses, come hell or high water, to get out of the passing lane. I don't understand it, I've tried to put myself in their shoes and I can not, for the life of me , come up with any logical reason why someone would think that was the best option they had available to them. Maybe they think that slowing to 45mph will subtract from the 75mph I saw them going before getting behind them?

I don't enjoy enforcing traffic laws unless they border on criminal offenses. I understand that most of the people simply want to get where they are going and I agree with many (if not most) of the people on here that a 55mph speed limit is unnecessarily slow given the capabilities of modern vehicles.

Many will disagree with it but you will find me regularly rolling at 64mpg on the interstates around Indy while maintaining a safe following distance behind the vehicle in front of me. May not be the letter of the law but it doesn't take much common sense to see that this keeps things moving along reasonably.

In a cruiser? holy ****! thats awesome! i need to talk to your fleet mechanic.

 

[level.eleven]

Not something I would do. If I'm going to flip on the lights I'm going to explain to the driver why I chose to do so.

I don't enjoy enforcing traffic laws unless they border on criminal offenses. I understand that most of the people simply want to get where they are going and I agree with many (if not most) of the people on here that a 55mph speed limit is unnecessarily slow given the capabilities of modern vehicles.

Many will disagree with it but you will find me regularly rolling at 64mpg on the interstates around Indy while maintaining a safe following distance behind the vehicle in front of me. May not be the letter of the law but it doesn't take much common sense to see that this keeps things moving along reasonably.

Well, I don't disagree with any of that. It all sounds reasonable.

 

[Hammerhead]

I was traveling on the north side on 465 several years ago during the tail end of rush hour. I was in the far left lane because I needed the 865 lane to hit 65N and was passing other cars while keeping up with traffic. I had a county mountie pull up on my six and flash his spot lights at me so I'd move over and get out of his way. I ended up having to push 85 to find a break in the line of traffic to the right just so Deputy DoRight could pass me.

I had mixed feelings about his need for speed until I saw him with a vehicle pulled over a couple of miles up the road.

 

[femurphy77]

If you're going to light 'em up, finish the job. Pull them over and write the ticket. If you're on a call I don't think you're going to follow them to the shoulder but take off once they clear the lane. I hate LLBs (Left Lane Bandits), but this accomplished nothing other than getting jbt junior to his soccer game on time.

 

[hornadylnl]

Nope. Speed limit has nothing to do with the left lane. Tailgaiting was dangerous and unecessary, agreed. But being over the limit has nothing to do with the left lane.

In my State of Colorado, there are two signs you'll see regulating the left lane.

1. Slower Traffic Keep Right
2. Keep Right Except to Pass

Neither one says anything about the speed limit.

I've driven 25 from Springs to Denver a few times. To speed limit is 75 and you'll see people doing 70 in the left lane with nobody in front of them for miles.

 

[samot]

Brake check.

damn skippy !! if he woulda tailgated me like that we woulda both been pulled over

 

[BigMatt]

He should have given a ticket.

 

[Ramen]

I usually drive 55-65 on the interstate, even when the speed limit is 70 mph, because I enjoy getting better gas mileage. I always stick to the right lane.

That said, I can understand the frustration with the person driving slowly in the left lane. I know that during the off chance I am in a hurry and need to go 70-75, I want to be able to pass.

I also think what the officer did was more dangerous than the oblivious person driving slow in the left lane. Tailgating is what causes most traffic jams. It only takes the front person to brake, causing the tailgater to have to overcompensate and then you start the dreaded accordion affect, which takes forever to end because people won't slow down way before the jam to "eat the wave." So many drivers seem to have a dire need to fill any and all space between them and the car ahead.

If people would leave more space between them and the car ahead, especially when going fast, we would have so many less traffic problems.

 

[dross]

I usually drive 55-65 on the interstate, even when the speed limit is 70 mph, because I enjoy getting better gas mileage. I always stick to the right lane.

That said, I can understand the frustration with the person driving slowly in the left lane. I know that during the off chance I am in a hurry and need to go 70-75, I want to be able to pass.

I also think what the officer did was more dangerous than the oblivious person driving slow in the left lane. Tailgating is what causes most traffic jams. It only takes the front person to brake, causing the tailgater to have to overcompensate and then you start the dreaded accordion affect, which takes forever to end because people won't slow down way before the jam to "eat the wave." So many drivers seem to have a dire need to fill any and all space between them and the car ahead.

If people would leave more space between them and the car ahead, especially when going fast, we would have so many less traffic problems.

I lived in Germany for several years. In Germany, even if you're not in the far left lane, if someone behind you is going faster than you, you are obligated to move to a lane farther right.

People stay completely out of the far left lane unless they are going very, very fast, or unless they are passing. You don't pass in the far left lane if you see someone coming up behind you in that lane that will have to slow down until you get around the car you're passing. The roads stay clear.

On U.S. highways, you can have a relatively clear road, yet you have to cruise for miles below the speed limit because some moron is crusing in the left lane..

It causes accidents as well, because people pass on the right which is a dangerous maneuver, and BTW, is a serious offense in Germany.

I wish the police would give tickets to anyone with cars stacked up behind them in the left lane, regardless of what speed they are traveling. If I'm going five miles over in the left lane, I'll still move to the side for someone going ten miles over. Why wouldn't I?

 

[Ramen]

I lived in Germany for several years. In Germany, even if you're not in the far left lane, if someone behind you is going faster than you, you are obligated to move to a lane farther right.

People stay completely out of the far left lane unless they are going very, very fast, or unless they are passing. You don't pass in the far left lane if you see someone coming up behind you in that lane that will have to slow down until you get around the car you're passing. The roads stay clear.

On U.S. highways, you can have a relatively clear road, yet you have to cruise for miles below the speed limit because some moron is crusing in the left lane..

It causes accidents as well, because people pass on the right which is a dangerous maneuver, and BTW, is a serious offense in Germany.

I wish the police would give tickets to anyone with cars stacked up behind them in the left lane, regardless of what speed they are traveling. If I'm going five miles over in the left lane, I'll still move to the side for someone going ten miles over. Why wouldn't I?

I agree with you. You should move over to the right lane if you are in a left lane and someone comes up behind you at a higher speed. It makes sense and is a good standard to have.

Still, I get tailgated when we are in bumper to bumper traffic at 20 mph because I choose to drive the average speed instead of speeding up, slamming on the brakes, speeding up, slamming on the brakes. People will race around me when they can, speed up to the car in front of me and slam on their brakes, because they can't stand that I am leaving two to four car lengths between me and the car ahead. Either way, we are going the same speed. I just get better mileage and a smoother ride. You get to wear down your brakes and save 3 seconds. Congratulations.

I also get tailgated in the rightmost lane because people in the middle or left lane won't let the person in. But that is because of the "I got mine, you ain't getting any" mindset that most drivers seem to have.


I think in the current case, the police officer could have flashed his brights, or turned on his pretty red and blue lights to make his point without tailgating.

 

[Pocketman]

Remember when ISP would run side by side in all lanes at 55 mph and back up traffic for miles?

More to the point, it appears as if the officer is on a run and wants the driver to move right and let him pass. Driver sees police directly on his (her?) six and thinks, I better keep it straight and level. Catch 22.

If officer was on a run, simply lighting up, flashing headlights or tapping the siren probably would have accomplished his objective. (Can't tell from the video, maybe he did flash headlights.) Following driver over to the right lane and then continuing on tells me he probably wasn't on a run and should have had a conversation with the driver.

I was on a non-emergency, yet time sensative run (probably had fresh doughnuts to deliver) and found myself in this same scenario. When the driver didn't move right after a reasonable distance, I turned on my emergency lights. Driver slammed on the brakes. I almost put a Dodge Diplomat (yes it was that long ago) into the trunk of a Buick deuce and a quarter.

I think the officer's actions were cute, but inappropriate.

 

[sidewinder27]

The speed limit includes all the lanes.


I have good insurance on my vheicles and as long as my family isnt with me I brake check very hard. Cop or not thats crap and asking for a problem. I would have laughed if the cop rearended him.

One of the great things about semi's is I cans slow down at a decent rate without my brake lights ever coming on. I used my engine brake on a cop who was doing that to me on 31 once. He pulled up beside me and told me I was number one.