Rookie cops piss me off
05-06-2003, 04:41 AM
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It's 1 a.m. and I'm headed home on the freeway from hanging out at a friend's place. I'm tired and driving 50-55mph and a squad car tails my butt for about a couple of miles. No problem since I'm in no rush but I was coming up on a minivan that seemed to sway a little left and to the right and is driving slower than me. There's a car next to me but a bit behind so I sped up just enough to get in front of it and changed lanes.
The driver of the minivan was talking on a cell phone but the cop decided to pull me over. I was wondering what for but I pulled over anyway and waited to see what was up. He told me in a rude tone that I was speeding as he was pacing me and I recklessly cut off the driver I just passed. I had my top down so I could clearly see that you could've fit a damn school bus between us so I had no clue what he was trying to pull. What the officer didn't know is that I had my cruise control set at 53mph and I told him that but he still insisted that I was speeding.
(gee, I guess I must be a menace to society at the speed I was driving at since there were so much traffic possibly endangering a lot of people) I swear there must have been 5 cars within visible sight to include myself, the officer, the minivan, the car I passed and another car way up ahead.
The officer eyeball'd my car inside and out with a maglite, asked me to step outside and open my trunk. He found nothing worth anything then he gets my information and states that he is letting me off with a warning. At this point I was at the limit of nearly losing my cool. I said to him as politely as I could that I have no idea where he got the idea that I was speeding. I told him no offense but I asked him if he truly believes that I would be stupid enough to not notice the bright blue light following me while my top was down and chose to drive recklessly and maintain a fast driving speed in his presence? I showed him that my cruise control was still in the "on" position, my wheels and tires are stock therefore I know my speedo can't be too far off and then asked about how he got the impression that I recklessly cut off the car I was passing. He said I increased my speed at a rapid rate then made a curiously fast lane change. There was enough room to pass the car if both my car and the officer's car changed lanes in tandem without cutting off the car. I explained to him that the minivan in front was drifting a bit side to side and I was worried that the driver may be intoxicated so I got out of the way. When I came close enough, I saw that the driver (female) was talking on a cell phone with a lot of those bright flashing LED's.
He said if I had a complaint about what he was saying to me that I should go write a letter to my congressman and gripe all I want. (okay, now I'm f--king pissed) Knowing better than to lose control of myself, I held it in, drove off and headed towards a large shoulder and stopped, flashing my hazards. I got out and yelled out a loud F word and decided to sit on the side of the road. Another officer pulls up and asked if I needed assistance. I told him that I was too pissed to drive so I pulled over to cool off. The officer kept me company for a while and we talked about what happened until I felt better. About 15 minutes later, I was in a better frame of mind and parted ways. I hope no one runs into this kind of situation... if I was 16, I may have broken some Hawaiian land speed records after that sort of drama.
The driver of the minivan was talking on a cell phone but the cop decided to pull me over. I was wondering what for but I pulled over anyway and waited to see what was up. He told me in a rude tone that I was speeding as he was pacing me and I recklessly cut off the driver I just passed. I had my top down so I could clearly see that you could've fit a damn school bus between us so I had no clue what he was trying to pull. What the officer didn't know is that I had my cruise control set at 53mph and I told him that but he still insisted that I was speeding.
(gee, I guess I must be a menace to society at the speed I was driving at since there were so much traffic possibly endangering a lot of people) I swear there must have been 5 cars within visible sight to include myself, the officer, the minivan, the car I passed and another car way up ahead.The officer eyeball'd my car inside and out with a maglite, asked me to step outside and open my trunk. He found nothing worth anything then he gets my information and states that he is letting me off with a warning. At this point I was at the limit of nearly losing my cool. I said to him as politely as I could that I have no idea where he got the idea that I was speeding. I told him no offense but I asked him if he truly believes that I would be stupid enough to not notice the bright blue light following me while my top was down and chose to drive recklessly and maintain a fast driving speed in his presence? I showed him that my cruise control was still in the "on" position, my wheels and tires are stock therefore I know my speedo can't be too far off and then asked about how he got the impression that I recklessly cut off the car I was passing. He said I increased my speed at a rapid rate then made a curiously fast lane change. There was enough room to pass the car if both my car and the officer's car changed lanes in tandem without cutting off the car. I explained to him that the minivan in front was drifting a bit side to side and I was worried that the driver may be intoxicated so I got out of the way. When I came close enough, I saw that the driver (female) was talking on a cell phone with a lot of those bright flashing LED's.
He said if I had a complaint about what he was saying to me that I should go write a letter to my congressman and gripe all I want. (okay, now I'm f--king pissed) Knowing better than to lose control of myself, I held it in, drove off and headed towards a large shoulder and stopped, flashing my hazards. I got out and yelled out a loud F word and decided to sit on the side of the road. Another officer pulls up and asked if I needed assistance. I told him that I was too pissed to drive so I pulled over to cool off. The officer kept me company for a while and we talked about what happened until I felt better. About 15 minutes later, I was in a better frame of mind and parted ways. I hope no one runs into this kind of situation... if I was 16, I may have broken some Hawaiian land speed records after that sort of drama.
05-06-2003, 04:58 AM
#2
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Sorry to hear about your negative experience. The S2000 (or any nice sports cars) will get all types of attention, good and bad. You know if you were the one swerving left to right talking on the cell phone, you would've gotten the ticket for sure.
05-06-2003, 11:55 AM
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Well that was one officer so I'm not upset at the entire force as the 2nd cop was really cool. I've had "police escorts" before and that's fine but this was the first time an officer actually decided to make up some stuff or took the time to really exaggerate the situation into something considerably worse than it was.
05-06-2003, 03:11 PM
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I don't know how Hawaii courts compare with the mainland, since I only have experience here, but it seems that if you get a lawyer to fight the tickets, they are often overturned here. Then it just becomes a case of harassment, but at least it won't go on your record.
05-06-2003, 11:06 PM
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You did the right thing by pulling over to cool off. He did steer you wrong about writing to your congress man about making a complaint. He was suppose to tell you to call the Honolulu Police Commission. They are listed in the phone book.
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05-07-2003, 02:53 AM
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Yeah, I'm glad I pulled over too. My hands were shaking and felt a bit numb as my grip on the steering wheel was starting to crush it, so I took a break knowing that this wasn't a good sign for me to be on the road. I really wanted to say something back to the officer since he was being a total pr-ck, he was rude to say the least considering I answered him politely, respectably and with a lot of "yes sir/no sir" statements.
The one major thing that went though my mind at the time was that I knew doing anything to correct him or state my case was absolutely pointless as he wan't about to back down from his beliefs. That alone gave me the strength to keep my mouth shut long enough to blow off steam elsewhere.
The one major thing that went though my mind at the time was that I knew doing anything to correct him or state my case was absolutely pointless as he wan't about to back down from his beliefs. That alone gave me the strength to keep my mouth shut long enough to blow off steam elsewhere.
05-08-2003, 08:57 AM
#10
I think the Hawaii courts are easier to contest a ticket as you are dealing with a prosecutor whereas on some places on the mainland the officer acts as the prosecutor. He or she has more on the line than a prosecuting attorney would. Whenever a friend would get a ticket in Hawaii the 1st question would be radar or following you. The following tickets were always easier to get out of (harassment factor always came into play).
The whole incident was a power trip for the officer. There is a shortage of officers in Hawaii so they sometimes have to scrape the bottom of the barrel when recruiting.... (mind you, some of the officers are very professional and do a great job!)
David
The whole incident was a power trip for the officer. There is a shortage of officers in Hawaii so they sometimes have to scrape the bottom of the barrel when recruiting.... (mind you, some of the officers are very professional and do a great job!)
David