Helpful Information..

[Krissy Phaserman 0]

Okay, so last night I was talking with a local Police Officer, who came to visit my dad at work (Dad's a lawyer, he gets visits from the Cops alot.) and we were talking...I dunnow why, but I figured I'd post some helpful hints for new drivers to keep in mind.

 

Obey the speed limit, it's not there to annoy you and your car that can do 120. it's there to keep you from wrecking your car and putting you in the hospital.

 

If a cop pulls you over, be polite to the officer. Address them as sir, ma'am, or officer, and just do whatever they ask.

 

Now, why be polite to a police officer who has the gall to stop you? Because that rules of the road book you got in Drivers Ed was only 15 pages long, and covered the basics. the book the police have is something like 30 CHAPTERS. Believe it or not, there are a whole slew of secondary offenses cops can write you up for if they wanted to. <Bumber stickers, window clings, anything dangling from your rear-view mirror, just to name a few>

 

The cops also have a few rules that they have to follow, also. They HAVE to inform you of WHY they pulled you over as soon as they appear at your window. Cops can face punishment for pulling people over without a valid reason. Also, they cannot open your door without probable reason to do so. if your window is stuck, they can ask you to open the door, but they cannot do it themselves, unless searching your vehicle.

 

Here's a hint, if you get a ticket for going less than 10 MPH over the speed limit, don't pay the ticket, go to court. many judges will throw out tickets less than 12 MPH over the limit. they'll say the Cop is being nitpicky.

 

If for some reason, the cop decides to take you into custody, they are legally required to tell you why and recite the Miranda Warning. Example---

 

"You are under arrest for driving under the influence of Alcohol. You have the right to remain silent. anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. you have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you...Do you understand this?" There are noted cases when an officer does not recite the Miranda Warning, or inform the person why they are being arrested, and the case being thrown out.

 

But the best advice I can give you is this: Don't do anything to incite a cop to turn on his lights in the first place! Stay at the speed limit or within a reasonable speed near the speedlimit (Reasonable being 40 in a 35, not 90 in a 45.)Most drivers end up in trouble during routine traffic stops. By the way, here are some of the things an officer can pull you over for. (May vary by state)

 

-non-functional headlight/taillight/turnsignal.

-Speeding

-Tinted windows

-no license plate

-cerfew (if applicable, and it is a judgement call by the officer)

-no seat belt on driver or passengers. (Not neccisarily in all states)

-Improper turn/lane change

-Disrespecting a traffic control device (That's the wording, folks)

-improper lane usage (IE Driving down the middle of a street when there is no reason to)

-Reckless driving (That includes weaving in and out of lanes because the old people are out in force and driving at a blazing fast 10 under the limit.)

-Improper vehicle usage (May include having more people in the car than there are seatbelts, or improperly secured cargo, ETC.)

-Expired License plates

-Broken license plate light.

[Yillara Skye 1]

-improper lane usage (IE Driving down the middle of a street when there is no reason to)

I wish they would enforce this one more here. Regardless of the person being 17 or 70, people here often find it necessary to drive in the middle of the road if it is a two laned road(usually residential sections but nonetheless). I know of a woman in her mid 60's who after four attempts and one accident, finally got in trouble for driving in the middle of the road or swerving into oncoming traffic to cause an accident. How I know??? I was the person she hit. Coming around a blind corner in our neighborhood, she sweved into my lane and I ran off the road to avoid her... but she took out my side view mirror anyhow. Then when the police arrived... she said I was a child who stole a car and was out to get her(btw, other than seeing her car in the neighborhood on occasion, I had never ever met this woman in my life prior to her hitting my car)!!! She got busted on the grounds that all the evidence at the scene proved that she ran into my lane and my car was still almost in the ditch, and my paperwork all proved that I was NOT a child of about 12 but a woman who was 22 1/2 yrs old as well as the fact that the Tracer I was driving was not only my car, but had been owned by me for over 4 years.

 

The kids are as bad here as the seniors when it comes to this. There are some that are 18 to 60 that will do this, but not nearly as bad as the 16-18 and the 65+group.

Edited April 17, 2005 by Yillara_Soong