[NA] driving and cops

saracelica

saracelica

Pattern Altitude
Joined
Oct 20, 2010
Messages
1,814
Display Name
Display name:
saracelica
Imagine it you're driving on the interstate with the flow of traffic. Speed limit is listed as 70. You're Crusing at 75 because you're a rebel and want to pass the slow people in the right lane. You look in the rear view mirror and see in the mirror a cop coming up fast with lights. Sure the first thought being crap they want me? Alas I have to get over. No one else notices the cop. Should I have pulled over to the bad left shoulder where it'd be a challenge to get back up to speed to merge back over or speed up to get ahead of the right lane traffic.
 
Do your best to go right. A lot of states have laws that actually say pull to the right. As a responder myself we always plan to go left as drivers go right. When that one person goes left, we have to be extra cautious because we don't know what their next move will be, or sometimes it still won't give us the room to pass.
 
I’ve blown by cops at 85+

Ours have real crime to fight.
 
nauga said:
Someone didn't read the question.

Nauga,
slightly to the right
Click to expand...

I have pulled over over our EMS and fire, only to have them not keep up with the flow of traffic.

I say help them best you can, but don’t risk yourself
 
saracelica said:
You look in the rear view mirror and see in the mirror a cop coming up fast with lights. Sure the first thought being crap they want me? Alas I have to get over. No one else notices the cop.
Click to expand...
With the Christmas lights flashing and your blinker on, nobody else notices? Unlikely. But if the cop wants to get by you, they'll probably ring the siren which should get others attention and maybe they'll get the hint to let you in.
 
I see a cop barreling up my six I get to the right as soon as I can do so safely. Rather have him in front of than behind me.
 
Pull over. Nothing more frustrating to an operator of emergency vehicles to those people oblivious to or paralyzed by sirens and lights. I found that laying on the air horns often gets some movement where the sirens don't.

Your "I don't want to stop because I'll have to get back up to speed" is stupid. It ****es me off that people have forgotten the basic rule that you 're supposed to pull over and stop when an emergency vehicle with lights and sirens approaches.
 
asicer said:
With the Christmas lights flashing and your blinker on, nobody else notices? Unlikely. But if the cop wants to get by you, they'll probably ring the siren which should get others attention and maybe they'll get the hint to let you in.
Click to expand...

Hah.

Driving north on M35 in "da UP, eh?" towards Marquette - stuck behind some geezer plodding along with nowhere to go and all day to get there. No place to pass because the road runs along halfway up a range of hills - right, left, right, left, swerve around a tree, dogleg at a rock, left, right...

I notice an ambulance a couple hills back, so I keep watch - he's getting closer - finally I find a spot to pull over and wait. Ambulance goes by, I pull out and after a couple miles catch up with the ambulance who is stuck behind the geezer. Lights, siren, horn, up on the geezers bumper, sliding right and left, nothing. Still plodding along. Head firmly up his butt. No place for the ambulance to pass. Must have taken 5 miles or so for the geezer to realize what was going on and finally pull over.
 
flyingron said:
Pull over. Nothing more frustrating to an operator of emergency vehicles to those people oblivious to or paralyzed by sirens and lights. I found that laying on the air horns often gets some movement where the sirens don't.

Your "I don't want to stop because I'll have to get back up to speed" is stupid. It ****es me off that people have forgotten the basic rule that you 're supposed to pull over and stop when an emergency vehicle with lights and sirens approaches.
Click to expand...
It’s the ultimate in selfish, overinflated ego displays. You’re so f*]%}ing important that you can’t be bothered to take 20 seconds to possibly help save someone, or multiple peoples, lives? It’s the logical conclusion of the “I got mine so why should I care about anyone else?” attitude that is rampant in our system. I absolutely abhor people who don’t immediately do all they can to get out of the way (although I have seen some poorer emergency vehicle drivers fail to do basic communication like signaling at intersections. Tell me where you are going to go so I can get the hell out of the way!!)
 
Kritchlow said:
That is a silly statement.
Click to expand...

Depends, I lived somewhere with too many police, they’d practically be behind every bush and pull people over for the silliest things, one of my friends even got a jay walking ticket, I didn’t know they actually gave those out lol
 
BladeSlap said:
Depends, I lived somewhere with too many police, they’d practically be behind every bush and pull people over for the silliest things, one of my friends even got a jay walking ticket, I didn’t know they actually gave those out lol
Click to expand...
I once observed two people getting jay walking tickets…the cop was just finishing writing up the first one when the second person crossed the same 4 lanes of traffic right to where the cop was standing. :rolleyes:
 
Depends on the state. Typically, you are expected to pull to the right if an emergency vehicle comes up behind you. It requires both lights and siren to be activated for any emergency rights to apply. Without the siren, it's just fancy christmas lights.

For the original scenario, the cop has his lights on because he is en-route to a call. If you speed up to 80 for a few seconds to get out of his way, he has zero interest or time to pull you over.
 
nauga said:
Someone didn't read the question.

Nauga,
slightly to the right
Click to expand...

I realize you are an Administrator.

But based on my experience, I don't believe there is any rule (or even suggestion) that anyone actually READ the OP before responding with their own "nuggets of wisdom." :)
 
I sped up once in this situation to get over to the right and the cop pulled me over and gave me a ticket for speeding. He was tailgating me in the left lane so I really couldn’t slow down safely. I had to suppress the urge to slug him when he said “I knew you were going to speed”. I was on a sport bike at the time.
 
Last edited:
saracelica said:
Imagine it you're driving on the interstate with the flow of traffic. Speed limit is listed as 70. You're Crusing at 75 because you're a rebel and want to pass the slow people in the right lane. You look in the rear view mirror and see in the mirror a cop coming up fast with lights. Sure the first thought being crap they want me? Alas I have to get over. No one else notices the cop. Should I have pulled over to the bad left shoulder where it'd be a challenge to get back up to speed to merge back over or speed up to get ahead of the right lane traffic.
Click to expand...
Slow down and merge to the right.
 
Jack Cabano said:
But based on my experience, I don't believe there is any rule (or even suggestion) that anyone actually READ the OP before responding with their own "nuggets of wisdom." :)
Click to expand...
Some very good advice I received from a college roommate: "Don't put beans up your nose."

Nauga,
with not so much nuggets as droppings
 
saracelica said:
Should I have pulled over to the bad left shoulder where it'd be a challenge to get back up to speed to merge back over or speed up to get ahead of the right lane traffic.
Click to expand...
Merge to the right in a quick but predictable fashion. Basically make a hole.
Next time consider doing 80-85mph. Slow enough to spot them up ahead but fast enough to consider options if they come after you. Also, 9 outta 10 times a cop doing 95+ is too busy to get you.
 
This is why your vehicle is equipped with a right turn signal. Use it. Merge into the right lane. If they just won't make a hole, either decide to force the issue or take the left shoulder. You're already speeding, it should be obvious fairly soon if the cop is after you or on his/her way somewhere else in a hurry. And if you have trouble getting back up to speed to merge in, get a car more suitable for Interstate travel...
 
Pi1otguy said:
Merge to the right in a quick but predictable fashion. Basically make a hole.
Next time consider doing 80-85mph. Slow enough to spot them up ahead but fast enough to consider options if they come after you. Also, 9 outta 10 times a cop doing 95+ is too busy to get you.
Click to expand...

Not really related to the thread, but years ago I was driving home in the wee hours of the morning from a ski trip in VT. I was on a 3 lane section of interstate, with essentially no one else on the road. A late model Corvette, taking advantage of this to see what the car could do, blew by me at the highest highway speed I've ever seen not on the actual Autobahn. No good way to estimate how fast, but my uneducated guess was something over 150 mph. A minute or two later, a police cruiser blows by me, two lanes over on the empty road, with all lights off. I doubt it was an approved procedure, but the cop probably figured his best chance of catching the Vette was to get as close as possible without being observed. And there was some light from nearby houses and the occasional street light spilling onto the road.

I made a note of where I was when he passed me. Twenty-two miles further down the road, I passed the cruiser again, pulled over behind the Vette. At this point, he had all the lights on.
 
Last edited:
Salty said:
I sped up once in this situation to get over to the right and the cop pulled me over and gave me a ticket for speeding. He was tailgating me in the left lane so I really couldn’t slow down safely. I had to suppress the urge to slug him when he said “I knew you were going to speed”. I was on a sport bike at the time.
Click to expand...
Wrong answer. Smoothly slowing down is the answer even to tailgaters (whether they are cops or not). It maximizes the opportunity for the other guy to get around you (if they are inclined) and if not, it generally decreases the issues (reaction time, impact severity) by being slower.
 
flyingron said:
Wrong answer. Smoothly slowing down is the answer even to tailgaters (whether they are cops or not). It maximizes the opportunity for the other guy to get around you (if they are inclined) and if not, it generally decreases the issues (reaction time, impact severity) by being slower.
Click to expand...
The proper solution to tailgaters is usually not being the slow guy in the left lane. Getting over is more likely to allow him to pass you than passive aggressively slowing down is.
 
Lindberg said:
The proper solution to tailgaters is usually not being the slow guy in the left lane. Getting over is more likely to allow him to pass you than passive aggressively slowing down is.
Click to expand...
Speeding/tailgating and blaming the other guy. Name two things that go better together.
 
Lindberg said:
The proper solution to tailgaters is usually not being the slow guy in the left lane. Getting over is more likely to allow him to pass you than passive aggressively slowing down is.
Click to expand...
Feel free to slow down when you’re riding a bike at 70 with someone chewing on your back tire. I’m not going to. My options were to keep blocking him while he tailgated me until I finished passing the half dozen cars still on the right of me, or speed up. I did the safe thing and sped up just enough to get over and slowed right back down again. I didn’t go 150 either, just enough to safely get out of the way. He came up on me at very high speed, there was no option to stay in the right lane, he wasn’t even in sight when I started passing.
 
Sorry, but your advice is counter to every automotive and motorcycle safety expert, in addition to being a violation of the law.
 
flyingron said:
Sorry, but your advice is counter to every automotive and motorcycle safety expert, in addition to being a violation of the law.
Click to expand...
Who’s advice? I didn’t give any advice.
 
Salty said:
Feel free to slow down when you’re riding a bike at 70 with someone chewing on your back tire. I’m not going to. My options were to keep blocking him while he tailgated me until I finished passing the half dozen cars still on the right of me, or speed up. I did the safe thing and sped up just enough to get over and slowed right back down again. I didn’t go 150 either, just enough to safely get out of the way. He came up on me at very high speed, there was no option to stay in the right lane, he wasn’t even in sight when I started passing.
Click to expand...
Did you mean to reply to ron? I didn't suggest you slow down.
 
flyingron said:
Sorry, but your advice is counter to every automotive and motorcycle safety expert, in addition to being a violation of the law.
Click to expand...
AAA says this:
If you’re on a multi-lane road and it’s safe to move to another lane, then put on your turn signal and get out of the way. This is the easiest way to end tailgating. The driver behind you is being unsafe and if you can solve the whole problem simply by switching lanes, then do so as soon as possible. If there’s not another lane, consider turning into a parking lot to let the tailgater pass.
Click to expand...
They even address why slowing down can be dangerous. https://magazine.northeast.aaa.com/daily/money/auto-insurance/dealing-with-a-tailgater/
I don't know if Firestone can be considered experts based on their history, but their suggestions are similar: Get out of the way, stay out of the way, maintain your speed, don't anoint yourself speed limit enforcer.
https://www.firestonecompleteautocare.com/blog/driving/what-to-do-someone-tailgating-you/
 
Lindberg said:
Are you the slow guy in the left lane?
Click to expand...
Nope. I'm the guy that tries to follow all of the traffic laws because I said I would when the government issued me my license.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top