American police - what do you think.

CiniO

Found it on another motors forum.
What do you think of the behaviour of the policeman?
Did you ever been pulled over by anyone like that?

I know that the guy was speeding, but on the other hand - where's the limit what policeman can say to someone?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=R2TXdLuqpSg

Alanstrainor

The policeman was a dick. Plain and simple. He should have just given him the ticket and let that be that, but instead he goes on a bit of a rant.

Hogzy

lol... Looks like he will be suspended!!!

What a cnut

Tragedy

Eh? I didn't see anything particularly wrong with what he said except the assrape/violated bit(which was way OTT in fairness)

He had a point with the "we don't really know the speed limit" and "we were just following the pack" ****.

I would hate to drive in America, especially on surface streets where there are 4-way stops every block.

You have to come to a COMPLETE stop every time, even if you can see the road is clear.

Hogzy

Tragedy wrote: »

Eh? I didn't see anything particularly wrong with what he said except the assrape/violated bit(which was way OTT in fairness)

He had a point with the "we don't really know the speed limit" and "we were just following the pack" ****.

Are you for real? He was an asshole from the getgo.

Calling him Germany-Boy is disrespectful and was intended to insult.
Asking "Why are you driving in my country" is extremely disrespectful and he said it primarily to intimidate the German fella.
And yes, threatening him with an ass raping probably went too far.

Anyone know what state it was in?

Tragedy

He said "Do you know what the speed limit is here germanyboy?" "Uh no" "Then why are you driving in my country?"

Nowhere near what you/others are portraying(and he has a bloody point, if you don't know what the speedlimit what the hell are you doing driving in a foreign country?)

How is germanyboy disrespectful? He's not going to ask for his name, it's not like he called him a nazi. My god but some people are seriously soft/PC.

Next you'll be giving out to nurses who call mothers "mother" saying it's disrespectful and intended to insult.

Pdfile

CiniO wrote: »

Found it on another motors forum.
What do you think of the behaviour of the policeman?
Did you ever been pulled over by anyone like that?

I know that the guy was speeding, but on the other hand - where's the limit what policeman can say to someone?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=R2TXdLuqpSg

god i love eh when they talk naughty :pac:

stealthyspeeder

Remind anyone else of Rod Farva?

stoneill

I was stopped by the cops in the US for speeding one time - before I had my US licence and when I produced my Irish licence he unfolded it looked at it and then said to me "did you make this yourself?"

keithclancy

stoneill wrote: »

I was stopped by the cops in the US for speeding one time - before I had my US licence and when I produced my Irish licence he unfolded it looked at it and then said to me "did you make this yourself?"

I got that with my Irish Passport in a Dutch Notary ..

"Did you shtick this pictchure and signatchure in here yourshelf?" :pac:

Berty

stoneill wrote: »

I was stopped by the cops in the US for speeding one time - before I had my US licence and when I produced my Irish licence he unfolded it looked at it and then said to me "did you make this yourself?"

When I handed it over in Orlando Interntational at the rental desk she said

"Is this real"
"Yep, as hard as that is to believe"
"Sir, there is no way this is a real document for your driving license"

bmw535d

he said you wern't following no body, i was right in front of you, you where leading the pack.. WTF?

Berty

bmw535d wrote: »

he said you wern't following no body, i was right in front of you, you where leading the pack.. WTF?

I raised an eyebrow as well when I heard that but I think he probably meant he saw him coming in the rear view mirror or side mirror or somefink.

Bodhan

US police all go to the "I'm right, you're wrong" school, they aren't very friendly but the guy was doing near 100mph, if I did that in Ireland I would expect a rippin by our boys in blue.

Anan1

Tragedy wrote: »

How is germanyboy disrespectful?

Berty

LIGHTNING wrote: »

I have driven quite a bit in the states and I have found all the cops that I dealt with across the various states very friendly. Although they have a very puzzled look on their face when they see our driver license!

Its because the first part of each section in your license is in Irish which knocks them sideways.

Happened to me in Australia. He couldnt find the License number because the word uimhir.

Berty

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Some of the people i.e bouncers that ask for id are like "this isnt a drivers license". I usually respond with "I see your an expert on world drivers licenses, how many times have you been outside your state?"

You normally get in after that?

Off Topic: A Bouncer in Limerick said to me

"No tonight"
"Why"
"Management have the right to refuse admission"
"Get me a fvcking manager so because all you are is a stack of sh*t"

Did I get in? No.

Did I get into the pub 25 mtrs across the street after that? No.

coylemj

The guy was almost 30 mph over the limit, considering he seems to have gotten away with it I think it was nasty of him to pt that video up on the web, would he have preferred a night in the local nick?

Stephen

I find the cops over here very professional and polite, including when they busted me for speeding in Texas I also got the confused looks when I handed over the good ol' pink fold out disaster. The guy in Texas took it back to his car and spent about 10 minutes on the radio trying to figure out what to do with it before letting me go with a warning.

Sadly those days are over as I now have a local licence. The driving test was a laugh though. If you thought the Irish test was rubbish, think again!

robtri

didnt see anything wrong witht he cop...

he doing his job, hopefully scaring the driver into following the limit...

nothing particularly nasty there imho

limklad

stoneill wrote: »

I was stopped by the cops in the US for speeding one time - before I had my US licence and when I produced my Irish licence he unfolded it looked at it and then said to me "did you make this yourself?"

I had the same issue with a idiot cop similar intelligence to Tackelberry in Police academy. Just stop me for no reason I did not do anything wrong. He asked for Driving licence and Registration. When he open the Licence accompanied with an international driving licence he said "This is not real",he went to tear it. I shouted at him "STOP, that is an Irish Government Document, a valid document under International Treaties!!!" and then continues after a brief pause "How would you feel if you were in Canada and they tore up your driving licence because they did not like the look of it!" I then said "Look, I will go to the police station to verify it authenticity by ringing the Gardai back home". His response was "Who are the Gaarrdaiii?" I responded "Irish Police Gestapo". He would not have known better. Gestapo made him think twice probably about why would I ring the Gestapo to verify my driving Licence. :pac: He let me go with a mix of worried and puzzled look on his face.

irishgrover

salonfire wrote: »

I would hate to drive in America, especially on surface streets where there are 4-way stops every block.

You have to come to a COMPLETE stop every time, even if you can see the road is clear.

Actually, driving in the states is great - especially the 4 way stops, far more efficient than fu(king roundabouts or traffic lights, or the irish solution of lights on roundabouts...
Also due to enforcement, people tend to actually obey the rules of the road.

My wife was stopped by a state trooper for speeding in a school zone and it went as follows...

State Trooper: "Ms, do you know what speed you were doing?"
Wifey: "Sorry, I'm late for work, guess I was closed to 35 than 25?"
State Trooper: "License and registration please"
Wifey: "You can't give me a ticket today officer, it's my birthday!"
State Trooper: "Ms, you know your date of birth is on your license?....."
Wifey, gives license and registration
State Trooper, laughing "Happy birthday Ms,...don't ever let me catch you speeding here again...."

ThisRegard

Was stopped by a very polite and professional CHiP officer years ago for speeding. Got the same quizzical look on the Irish licence and he advised me to get a local one if staying for any length if time, he remained sound throughout even after I accidentally tore his note book in half when I leaned on his bonnet and burned my hand !
Never had a problem with it in car hire firms in different states over there either.

dr.fuzzenstein

Tragedy wrote: »

How is germanyboy disrespectful? He's not going to ask for his name, it's not like he called him a nazi. My god but some people are seriously soft/PC.

Next you'll be giving out to nurses who call mothers "mother" saying it's disrespectful and intended to insult.

I am German, is it ok if I call you paddyboy or Mick?

slimjimmc

irishgrover wrote: »

Actually, driving in the states is great - especially the 4 way stops, far more efficient than fu(king roundabouts or traffic lights, or the irish solution of lights on roundabouts...
Also due to enforcement, people tend to actually obey the rules of the road.

My wife was stopped by a state trooper for speeding in a school zone and it went as follows...

State Trooper: "Ms, do you know what speed you were doing?"
Wifey: "Sorry, I'm late for work, guess I was closed to 35 than 25?"
State Trooper: "License and registration please"
Wifey: "You can't give me a ticket today officer, it's my birthday!"
State Trooper: "Ms, you know your date of birth is on your license?....."
Wifey, gives license and registration
State Trooper, laughing "Happy birthday Ms,...don't ever let me catch you speeding here again...."

There's your reason there why you prefer 4-way stops, US drivers actually obey them. Roundabouts would be even more efficient if Irish drivers actually obeyed them too but if we used a 4-ways here can you imagine the carnage when everyone rushes to get through first.

Tragedy

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

I am German, is it ok if I call you paddyboy or Mick?

You can call me Irishboy if you come across me speeding in a foreign country?

How is "Germanyboy" the same as "Paddy" or "Mick"? He called him <country of origin>boy, not nazi/jewkiller/scheisseloving/whatever else.

Big Nasty

Have to say I didn't see a whole lot wrong with that myself. Yeah, he could have been more polite, but not at that speed.

Driver was lucky IMO.

-Corkie-

The yankie cops can be like that allrite. Youtube is full of those videos. I met an equally agressive member of the traffic corps last week. He was on a bike and started shouting abuse at me with his helmet on. I couldnt hear a word he was saying...

L1011

keithclancy wrote: »

I got that with my Irish Passport in a Dutch Notary ..

"Did you shtick this pictchure and signatchure in here yourshelf?" :pac:

...most countries in Europe and indeed the world had "assembled" passports until fairly recently. We were in no way late in moving to the all-printed ones in what, 2004? 5? Know my 2006 passport is all-printed.

ye-olde handwritten driving licences were the worst though. Even in countries that HAD the '93 model paper licence few of them ever had handwritten details. I've seen a worryingly recent Cork County Council issued handwritten one!

Stephen

One of my friends has a Cork one that's only about 2 years old and is hand-written. American bouncers loved that one.

casm23

Watched the video. I've been in the 'States since 1998 (10 of those years in California, mainly Los Angeles) and here's what I can say about it:

Judging from the cop's uniform (colour, badge, shoulder patch, and short sleeves), he's with the California Highway Patrol. If you remember the TV series 'CHiPS', he's one of those guys. They're also some of the biggest pricks out there, despite what they may have tried to portray with Ponch & Jon.

Something that's relevant here: the way law enforcement works in most parts of America is that there's three levels of policing. City cops, Sheriffs (countywide) and the State/Highway Patrol (Statewide). Sheriffs are usually the most reasonable, at least in my experience, with city cops coming in second and their Statewide counterparts being the biggest ticket-writing c***s.

While I'm not a fan of political correctness by any means, the CHP officer was completely out of line in speaking to the German guy the way that he did. There just wasn't any call for it. Having said that: he may actually have done him a favour by saying that he clocked him at 98mph (California's open-road speed limit is 70mph): 100mph in California on open roads is automatic felony speeding territory, which means that you do not pass go and go straight to jail.

On the plus side, American cops typically have no idea what to do with a foreign ID that isn't Mexican or Canadian, and I'm not aware of anywhere here that has on-the-spot fines for speeding - it all has to go to court to the best of my knowledge unless you waive your right to do so. Our German likely walked off with a stern warning and set the cruise control at 70 for the rest of his drive, and even if the department did try to collect on the ticket, it was probably rejected by the Germans as there's likely no reciprocity between Germany and California as regards traffic offences.

FWIW, how cops act is largely department-by-department and cop-by-cop, but it also depends on the attitude that they receive. I've got off of 90mph speeding tickets out in the desert with a warning because I was a nice guy and honest with the cop, but there're no guarantees either way - I've also been screwed for 3mph over the limit in a 70.

Vertakill

Tragedy wrote: »

He said "Do you know what the speed limit is here germanyboy?" "Uh no" "Then why are you driving in my country?"

Nowhere near what you/others are portraying(and he has a bloody point, if you don't know what the speedlimit what the hell are you doing driving in a foreign country?)

How is germanyboy disrespectful? He's not going to ask for his name, it's not like he called him a nazi. My god but some people are seriously soft/PC.

Next you'll be giving out to nurses who call mothers "mother" saying it's disrespectful and intended to insult.

Tragedy wrote: »

You can call me Irishboy if you come across me speeding in a foreign country?

How is "Germanyboy" the same as "Paddy" or "Mick"? He called him <country of origin>boy, not nazi/jewkiller/scheisseloving/whatever else.

If a member of the AGS addressed an American as a 'yank' or something similarily derogative, you would be guaranteed to hear that in the news. And if I was American and an member of AGS called me a yank, I'd be livid. Just because there is no direct term for someone who's Irish, doesn't make it any less racist.

No matter where the person is from, you do not try to belittle or disrespect them by addressing them by the country of their origin, no matter what line of work you are in (and that's exactly what it looks like this cop tried to do in order to make the German guy feel small).
If you don't know this, you are probably someone who does, or should be, working in a position that doesn't involve the public.

The same way if I was a tourist in any other country, I would not expect to be disrespected like this. At the end of the day, he's an ambassador for his country more than most are because he is the law there, so this kind of thing does make a differerence.

To be fair to the cop, the German guy was going too fast, but if the cop was professional about it, the German guy would've thought twice about speeding again and be done with it... instead, he just realised how racist Americans can be, and also shown the world the same thing by uploading it.

casm23

Vertakill wrote: »

If a member of the AGS addressed an American as a 'yank' or something similarily derogative, you would be guaranteed to hear that in the news. And if I was American and an member of AGS called me a yank, I'd be livid. Just because there is no direct term for someone who's Irish, doesn't make it any less racist.

No matter where the person is from, you do not try to belittle them by addressing them by the country of their origin, no matter what line of work you are in. That's a fact. If you don't know this, you are probably someone who does, or should be, working in a position that doesn't involve the public.

The same way if I was a tourist in any other country, I would not expect to be disrespected like this. At the end of the day, he's an ambassador for his country more than most are because he is the law there, so this kind of thing makes a big differerence.

To be fair to the cop, the German guy was going too fast, but if the cop was professional about it, the German guy would've thought twice about speeding again and be done with it...

I'm with you right up to this point, but this is where it all goes wrong.

instead, he just realised how racist Americans can be, and also shown the world the same thing by uploading it.

And by saying, "just how racist Americans can be" (emphasis mine), you've lost the point.

Americans as a people are not racist. Are there racist Americans? Certainly, but by no means - in my experience - does that extend to anywhere near a majority of Americans. And racism is most certainly not confined to the United States.

Further to that: the last time I checked, 'German' is not a race; it's a nationality. One that happens to be very fundamental to the building of America, for what it's worth.

The cop's a prick. No doubt about that. But - and I say this as someone who, in his tenure in this country, has been on the receiving end of racism from people who are not of my own caucasian persuasion - judging the country as racist on the basis of this ****head's behaviour is disingenuous at best.

Vertakill

casm23 wrote: »

Americans as a people are not racist. Are there racist Americans? Certainly, but by no means - in my experience - does that extend to anywhere near a majority of Americans.

Further to that: the last time I checked, 'German' is not a race; it's a nationality. One that happens to have prevalently built America, for what it's worth.

Ugh, not THIS debate again. Whatever you want to call it... racist or prejudice toward race, colour, nationality (including citizenship) or ethnic or national origin. Take your pick. Stop being pedantic - I think we all know what water we're threading here.

casm23 wrote: »

The cop's a prick. No doubt about that. But - and I say this as someone who, in his tenure in this country, has been on the receiving end of racism from people who are not of my own caucasian persuasion - judging the country as racist on the basis of this ****head's behaviour is disingenuous at best.

How many times do you think that white cop has been racially abused compared to the amount of times he may have racially abused others?
Yes that may be speculation, but considering the German guy did absolutely nothing to deserve the discrimination he got, I don't think it's too far fetched.

If the cop had been provoked in some way or another, I could somewhat tolerate it - however, he just went straight for the racist remarks from the beginning so what other kinds of conclusions can you come up with?

casm23 wrote: »

Americans as a people are not racist. Are there racist Americans? Certainly, but by no means - in my experience - does that extend to anywhere near a majority of Americans. And racism is most certainly not confined to the United States.

Btw, we're not talking about some clerk at a shop here... we're talking about people who are allegedly representing their country as Police. So hiring someone to represent your countries laws, who clearly has problems with other nationalities/races is, to me, a bit of an issue... but I don't know about you.

casm23

Vertakill wrote: »

Ugh, not THIS debate again. Whatever you want to call it... racist or prejudice toward race, colour, nationality (including citizenship) or ethnic or national origin. Take your pick. Stop being pedantic - I think we all know what water we're threading here.

No, I don't think you do. Note the distinction.

You are saying that Americans are racist based on what you saw in one YouTube video. Note that I'm not debating the fact that the cop's a prick and out of line towards the German; that's without question. But the cop's white, and (presumably, given that we're talking about Germany here), so is the driver. Please tell me how a white cop giving a white driver crap is racist - again, not arguing that it's out of line in this case, but on a purely racial level, explain that to me.

How many times do you think that white cop has been racially abused compared to the amount of times he may have racially abused others?

Here's the problem with your supposition: it's based on the presumption that the cop is racist. Again, please tell me where 'German' is a race as opposed to a nationality.

However, if you really insist on pulling race into this, I'd recommend that you research the percentage of live births in the state of California for the year 2000; this was the point where Hispanic live births outweighed every other demographic in the state. And yes, I've taken **** for being white. Hate to tell you, but racism isn't a blanket caucasian condition.

Yes that may be speculation, but considering the German guy did absolutely nothing to deserve the discrimination he got, I don't think it's too far fetched.

Jesus Christ almighty - are you completely oblivious here? At least three times now I've said that the cop was a prick, and won't argue that. But the German guy can read a 70mph speed limit sign as well as anyone else, and should know what this means (and don't bring up any unfamiliarity with non-metric measurements here as a defence; the speedo is clearly primarily-marked in miles per hour). He got called on it, and while this doesn't excuse the cop's actions, it doesn't mean that he's racist, either.

It's very simple: he broke the law, and had to deal with a ****head as a result. Should I (as someone who now has an American passport) be able to call a white German cop a racist if I did the same thing in a speed-limited zone in Germany?

If the cop had been provoked in some way or another, I could somewhat tolerate it - however, he just went straight for the racist remarks from the beginning so what other kinds of conclusions can you come up with?

All right, playing devil's advocate here for a moment: if the cop who stopped him had been black, hispanic, Asian, red (meaning American Indian) or Green with Purple polka-dots and made the exact same comments, would you be making the same argument? My near-enough-to-transparent-white self has been stopped by cops of a variety of tints, shades, hues, and colours here - and while some stops have been more ultimately-rewarding than others, I've taken my hits as they come and dealt with them.

In fact, let me put this in far more direct terms: if this was a black cop stopping a black motorist and referred to the driver as a n*****, would this be any different?

Btw, we're not talking about some clerk at a shop here...

That's blatantly obvious. It's hard to understand why you would draw such an analogy given how entirely disparate the two circumstances are.

we're talking about people who are allegedly representing their country as Police. So hiring someone to represent your countries laws, who clearly has problems with other nationalities/races is, to me, a bit of an issue...

What you are failing to do here is separate someone who happens to be an American and is a prick out from all other Americans. Sounds fairly prejudicial against Americans, really.

but I don't know about you.

No, it just seems like I have considerably more experience to the contrary than you. Can I ask if you've ever been pulled over by a cop in the US, or had experience with law enforcement there beyond asking them for the time of day or directions?

opinion guy

To be honest I think you are all missing the fact that he let the guy away with it. Not even a ticket. Yeah he gave some smack talk. When does a cop not smack talk ? I got pulled over up Norn Irn way for doing 45 in a 40 zone and got threatened with jail !!

Bottom line - guy got some verbal abuse and no ticket. Which would you choose ?

Tragedy

Vertakill wrote: »

If a member of the AGS addressed an American as a 'yank' or something similarily derogative, you would be guaranteed to hear that in the news. And if I was American and an member of AGS called me a yank, I'd be livid. Just because there is no direct term for someone who's Irish, doesn't make it any less racist.

Oh wow, you just completely ignored about 5 posts saying he called him Germanyboy and not some slang derogative term for Germans.
Congrats, that's some ability to ignore things.

No matter where the person is from, you do not try to belittle or disrespect them by addressing them by the country of their origin, no matter what line of work you are in (and that's exactly what it looks like this cop tried to do in order to make the German guy feel small).

If you think a cops job is to be polite and nice all the time, you have an incredibly, INCREDIBLY naive view as to what their jobs entails.

If you don't know this, you are probably someone who does, or should be, working in a position that doesn't involve the public.

Worked in a childrens hospital with sick children and their parents day in day out for 4 years, way to jump to conclusions and prove yourself a fool.

I suppose someone who works with the public in a centra is skilled and experienced enough to work as a Garda in Sheriff Street, after all, it's just dealing with the public and according to you, everyone who deals with the public in any job should act the same way no matter what the circumstances.
Did I mention naivety?

The same way if I was a tourist in any other country, I would not expect to be disrespected like this. At the end of the day, he's an ambassador for his country more than most are because he is the law there, so this kind of thing does make a differerence.

He's not an ambassador, he's law enforcement and someone was deliberately and flagrantly breaking the law and making terrible excuses for it.

To be fair to the cop, the German guy was going too fast, but if the cop was professional about it, the German guy would've thought twice about speeding again and be done with it... instead, he just realised how racist Americans can be, and also shown the world the same thing by uploading it.

Oh my god, you just called him "the german guy"

You unprofessional racist!

PS: How naive are you to think a nice traffic corps guard letting people off speeding would have any effect on someone speeding again?

dr.fuzzenstein

Tragedy wrote: »

You can call me Irishboy if you come across me speeding in a foreign country?

How is "Germanyboy" the same as "Paddy" or "Mick"? He called him <country of origin>boy, not nazi/jewkiller/scheisseloving/whatever else.

Fine, Irishboy it is.:p
The cop looks like he's giving him a bit of a rehearsed speech anyway, tough act and so on.

galwaytt

-Corkie- wrote: »

The yankie cops can be like that allrite. Youtube is full of those videos. I met an equally agressive member of the traffic corps last week. He was on a bike and started shouting abuse at me with his helmet on. I couldnt hear a word he was saying...

...that's a very 'if a bear in the woods......' comment - if you couldn't hear him, how do you know ?

Run_to_da_hills

I had good and bad experiences with American cops, between being let off on "moving violations" because of my Irish Accent and pleading stupid and another time being chased pulled over and arrested for leaving a check point when I thought it was ok to leave.

Ush1

Some police go on power trips, no matter what country they are from. Ireland included.

thirtythirty

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

pleading stupid

Haha, that's an official criminal plead in a court of law is it!?

TwoShedsJackson

Never pulled by the cops driving in the US but we did stop at a Border Patrol checkpoint in Arizona and the guy we dealt with was utterly mystified by the Irish driving licence.

Stephen

Haha, had the same experience at a border patrol checkpoint in Texas.

Even though we didn't cross the border we were advised to keep our passports on us when driving anywhere near it, otherwise we would have been held at the checkpoint for hours while they verified if we were there legally or not. (We were stopped about 20 miles north of the border, btw)

Kramer

Had both good & not so good experiences with US cops. To be fair, mostly good.
I was once stopped in California for speeding. The trooper said I was clocked by aircraft @ 81mph. He said he then clocked me @ 83 while following me for the stop.
Given we were Irish & all, he said he'd cut me some slack & only write me up for the 81mph.
Several weeks after getting home, I get a court summons to appear in Santa Barbara County court. If unable to appear, the bail forfeiture figure (i.e. fine) was $217 plus some extra processing fees. I contacted the court clerk who asked for a letter of appeal to have the fine reduced. I duly supplied that & had the fine reduced to $110 a few weeks later. Given I travel to the US regularly & wanting to avoid any problems in the future, I paid it.

At the time I did ask the cop what the fine would be, he said $80/90. He knew well what he was doing though as I subsequently discovered that if he had written me a ticket for 80mph, the max fine would have been $110. The extra 1 mph doubled the fine. The posted speed limit was 65.
So much for cutting me some slack :rolleyes:.
Most other encounters with US police have been better though - no tickets .

furtzy

Got arrested by a Michigan State trooper for stealing a bus....long story, mistaken identity etc. He was a prick and very very heavy handed. Luckily for me I was only cuffed for a few minutes when it came through on his radio they'd found the real culprits with the bus

Best guy was the Boston sheriffs cop...myself and a few mates drunkenly flagged down a Boston cop car on Paddys Day thinking he was a taxi. The closer he got the more we realised he wasn't a taxi but luckily for us didn't decide to leg it. He pulled up and when we explained he called us a cab on his radio referring to us as a group of "Irish knuckle heads needing a ride"!

Cool guy and he was wearing sunglasses at night

ThisRegard

Kramer wrote: »

Had both good & not so good experiences with US cops. To be fair, mostly good.
I was once stopped in California for speeding. The trooper said I was clocked by aircraft @ 81mph. He said he then clocked me @ 83 while following me for the stop.
Given we were Irish & all, he said he'd cut me some slack & only write me up for the 81mph.
Several weeks after getting home, I get a court summons to appear in Santa Barbara County court. If unable to appear, the bail forfeiture figure (i.e. fine) was $217 plus some extra processing fees. I contacted the court clerk who asked for a letter of appeal to have the fine reduced. I duly supplied that & had the fine reduced to $110 a few weeks later. Given I travel to the US regularly & wanting to avoid any problems in the future, I paid it.

At the time I did ask the cop what the fine would be, he said $80/90. He knew well what he was doing though as I subsequently discovered that if he had written me a ticket for 80mph, the max fine would have been $110. The extra 1 mph doubled the fine. The posted speed limit was 65.
So much for cutting me some slack :rolleyes:.
Most other encounters with US police have been better though - no tickets .

Ha Ha, that's almost identical to my story, clocked by the aircraft, the guy said he cannot let me go as his captain in the plane tells them which cars to pull in so he has a record which means if there's no corresponding ticket he'll be in trouble. I give him my address but hear nothing for a long time, get worried so ring the number on the ticket and they tell me there's a warrant issued on this as the time limit for regular payment has been exceed. I crap myself and pay the fine over the fine along with a ridiculously high credit car processing fee.