CHP and DOT busting truckers at Loves....

[gumpy]

Whats your point...the cop does not need his lights to exceed he speed limit.

Actually most state laws indicate otherwise.

[CrabbyMilton]

If I need a cop, I won't care if he shows up with lights or not. As long as the cop is not driving in a dangerous fashion and is in the line of duty, then what's the problem? Again, I save my contempt for the criminal pukes rather than the people who are combating it.

[gumpy]

I think the point here is that common citizens are sick and tired of the "officials" who have sworn an oath to uphold the law feeling that they are above it because of their
occupation. This video is simply one example of that. One corrupt cop who thinks he's above the law but won't hesitate to use it against us peons. I'm actually amazed
the guy filming him didn't get pulled over and issued a citation.

But I take it from the comments that some individuals think that cops should not be held to the same laws and standards as the rest of the public. And therein is one of the
reasons many of us feel the way we do about them. When cops stop respecting the laws they are supposed to be upholding, they have no business being in law enforcement.
And eventually, every cop stops respecting the laws, and then justify it by saying something like  "they put their life on the line". HOGWASH!

And a cop who will look the other way because a law breaker happens to be another cop is even more corrupt than the first!

[MightyThor]

It is just as easy for a law abiding person to violate the speed limit as to follow it.  No one can drive at exactly the speed limit all the time, at some point you will end up a little over.  The issues folks here were mostly complaining of is are where the speed limit or the signage seems to be set to cause the violation rather than to serve a legitimate safety concern.  For example, in my county there is one sign that drops the 70 mph highway speed to 35mph.  Cannot be done.  By the time you see the sign you can't hit the brakes hard enough to slow to the legal speed.  Locals know it is there so they slow down early.  Tourists get stopped and either warned or if there are other issues they get to deal with them.  

[CrabbyMilton]

I was wondering when the "They all do it" talking point would come up. There are some people in LE that have no business being in that position. Whether they are incompetent are of bad moral character, those are far and few between. Perhaps self examination is in order if you continue to have such problems.

[gumpy]

I was wondering when the "They all do it" talking point would come up. There are some people in LE that have no business being in that position. Whether they are incompetent are of bad moral character, those are far and few between. Perhaps self examination is in order if you continue to have such problems.

Are (were) you a cop?

[eagle19952]

I was surprised the LEO didn't radio ahead for an intercept....lucky camera guy IMO etc.

[luvrbus]

I love Texas the 80 mph speed limit on I 10 is hard to break the 55 mph in OR sucked with my gearing 55 was to high for 3rd and to low for 4th and you knew they would get you for 60 mph  

So I solved that little problem for a 100 bucks a year it's called the 100 Club some may approve some may not it went for a good cause and I never had a speeding ticket since 1978 belonging to the 100 Club  

To me there is no reason to issue a ticket for 1 or 2 mph over the limit the radar could be off more than that, now days tickets are big bucks not like when one cost 15 bucks and the insurance co's didn't come into play with the dumb point system  FWIW I don't see any cop haters here just some don't like the power abuse and attitude some law enforcement officers have

Hell I don't like the chief cop in Washington DC but that doesn't make me a cop hater even if I don't like all the Federal,City,County and State laws, not a one on this board that doesn't break the law every day and don't even know it IMO

[CrabbyMilton]

No Gumpy I'm not nor have I ever been a cop but Thank You for asking.

[MightyThor]

Yeah, that Oregon stuff made no sense to me.  And my equipment didn't help.  Driving a V8 mustang across the vast flat land when I got stopped the officer pointed to my GPS and said Don't you know how fast you were going?  I told him my cruise control was broken and that just a tiny amount of pressure on the mustang's gas peddle would result in 5 to 10 mph variance.  His response was 'yeah, but your GPS tells you how fast you are going."  He had apparently heard the old "my speedo is broken" excuse too many times and was not listening to me.  I figured why talk if no one is listening.  In Montana the fine would have been $20.  In Oregon $260.  Must be a higher standard of living there cause frankly a flat 4 lane across no where would seem to be the same.  So I am complaining about the following:

The speed limit seems arbitrary and not related to any particular road hazard or conditions.
The fine seems to be arbitrary and not consistent with fines for the same conduct committed elsewhere.
The Officer had a preconceived opinion of the circumstances and did not care about the actual circumstances

lesson learned, if you drive in Oregon have a working cruise control and a broken GPS

[Jeremy]

To me there is no reason to issue a ticket for 1 or 2 mph over the limit the radar could be off more than that,

Just to mention that here the rules are explicit regarding that - it's 10% + 2mph (ie, in a 30mph limit you can legally do 35mph, in a 50mph limit you can legally do 57mph etc). The leeway is there to accommodate inaccuracies in the car's speedometer rather than the radar used to catch you (in fact the Police have to prove correct calibration of their equipment if the motorist demands it).

Without wanting to make comparisons regarding Police corruption or public attitudes towards authority or anything like that, one big thing which completely changes this whole area between the UK and the US is that basically no routine enforcement of anything on the roads is handled by live Police officers any more. Everything is done by cameras - not just speed cameras (and increasingly they're average speed cameras) but also cameras that detect cars jumping stop lights, cameras that automatically check your car is taxed, insured and MOT'd (ie. roadworthy-tested) - and it's pretty hard to argue that a camera is corrupt.

Not that I'm necessarily saying that it's a good thing - we have the "it's all about raising money" arguement in spades here, and you wonder about other stuff too. I used to sail with an ex-Police pursuit driver who told me quite seriously that, if he got to the point of having 9 points on his driving licence (meaning that another speeding ticket would mean he's be banned from driving for a year), he would simply fit false licence plates to his car to ensure that he never got caught by a camera again. Having false licence plates is a serious offence, but he assured me (as an ex-Policeman) that there was almost no chance of being caught. Which cannot be a good state of affairs

Jeremy

[luvrbus]

If Oregon taxed all the wacky weed grown there a ticket would cost 2 bucks that stuff looks like the cotton fields here if you get off the main hiways I always liked they way Wyoming handled it back in the 80's with the 55mph speed limit imposed on the freeway. 
With the distance between towns there they knew no one was going to drive 55 mph in the middle of nowhere so if you got pulled over for speeding the trooper would explain your options,the best was to post the 20 dollar bond he wrote out and pay him on the spot with cash,check or credit card.Then don't show up for court then the bond was forfeited that way it never showed up on your driving records plus if you were pulled over again in the state just show the trooper your bond and all that was said is have nice day   

[MightyThor]

Ok, I am gonna call shenanigans on that cop video.  If they are both doing 90 then the folks around them are also traveling at 85 or better because they don't actually pass anyone and the folks in the mirror are not losing ground.  And there isn't a cop in the world that would not pull someone over at that speed for doing what this guy is doing.  notice the driver shows us the officer but not his own speedo showing the actual speed. 

[Lin]

The idea of treating speed limits as meaningful law is ridiculous, and people should not be sanctimonious about it. Laws that deal with murder, robbery, fraud, and even running a red light can be justified as having an obvious value.  Speed limits could also be if they were matched to road conditions and population density.  Unfortunately, it seems that many speed limits are set by those that can't drive for those that can't drive.  Naturally, others that have more than minimal driving skills will feel that these limits are sometimes oppressive-- especially when there is the suspicion that they are merely enforced as an arbitrary, punitive revenue source.

Set speed limits according to the speed criteria the road was designed for, and it would make some sense.  Obviously, the cop in the video did not think he was traveling at an unsafe speed at 90 mph, but that would seem to me to be excessive in a non-emergency situation (just my opinion).  However, I would guess that interstates were designed with at least 80 mph in mind.  States that set the limit at 55 are just diddling with you.

P.S.- I am retired LE, but that doesn't mean anything either way.

[luvrbus]

Good one Lin 56 mph in a 55 mph speed limit on a OK hiway or Interstate will get you a $180.00 ticket in a hurry