Bad Driver- Good Driver

[BE Mike]

I'm curious. Those of you who've been caught and ticketed with serious moving violations, i.e., reckless driving, street racing, speeding in excess, or driving while drunk or stoned, I'm curious...Did you stop your behavior behind the wheel or did you just get a chip on your shoulder and started hating cops and courts? Does ticketing and/or arresting people do any good? Is it just better to build more safety features into our autos, because bad drivers are going to continue to drive badly? I'd like the opinions of LEO's as well. Do you see the same drunk drivers, etc. time after time, or do you think most bad drivers man up and modify their driving behavior?

 

[Plague421]

I have had 2 tickets in my 5 years of driving. One was for expired license plates. I was under the impression that they were going to send my new sticker in the mail, like they did for both of my grandparents vehicles, so I never though about checking.

The second was speeding, I was late for a job (working for Comcast each home visit is considered a job) and I had to drive from Portage to Munster (about 20-30 min) within 10 min to get there on time.

My speeding ticket has since been deferred, so is no longer on my record, and the license plates were not a moving violation. I still have all my points.

As for drunk drivers, I can say that if I were a LEO I would have ZERO tolerance. If you can't walk the line you sure cant drive.

 

[iam1096]

I got a drag racking ticket when I was 20 years old, but it got dropped. Then I made sure to only race on the track. By the way a year later I became a LEO.

 

[JByer323]

I've had a couple defferable speeding tickets. These things happen.

I just want to say though that as a bartender, I have a pretty low opinion on people who decide to drive drunk. If you drive drunk, you deserve to get kicked in the junk before you go off to jail. This is a punishment I can stand behind.

 

[BE Mike]

You guys seem like you had an isolated incident or two and took the message to heart. I would put you in the category of once burnt, lesson lernt!

 

[Crystalship1]

You guys seem like you had an isolated incident or two and took the message to heart. I would put you in the category of once burnt, lesson lernt!

Carefull Mike,

Good / Bad posts seem to get closed around here!!!!!

 

[Dogman]

Carefull Mike,

Good / Bad posts seem to get closed around here!!!!!

But they still let you talk about XD's and the good Glocks, which is all of them!!!!

 

[Pami]

Carefull Mike,

Good / Bad posts seem to get closed around here!!!!!

Only when they become inflammatory, which they tend to do rather quickly around here.


To answer the OP's question... I got a speeding ticket once going around that bend on 465 in the nw corner. I still have a lead foot when I drive (especially on highways), but I tend to flow with the traffic. I pick the middle lane and tend to stay in it unless I get behind a semi (they make me nervous since I can't see around them, so I go around them). However, I do go the speed limit around that corner. IOW... I look out for whether I'll get caught or not. It would surprise me if (at least in speeding violations) most other people aren't the same.

 

[antdog/zook]

Carefull Mike,

Good / Bad posts seem to get closed around here!!!!!

no kidding!

 

[Soundslikejosh]

Not saying that the lion is always right (or wrong), but it's not wise to poke a lion with a stick.

 

[smokingman]

I have had a few tickets.None for very severe offenses(14 or less over). One of those was on the loop...and I think I was actually impeding traffic at 12 over lol. Tickets to me are just a revenue stream. Yes sometimes they stop recklessness,or catch a known criminal,but generally to me it is just another form of taxes.

 

[Dogman]

Only when they become inflammatory, which they tend to do rather quickly around here.


To answer the OP's question... I got a speeding ticket once going around that bend on 465 in the nw corner. I still have a lead foot when I drive (especially on highways), but I tend to flow with the traffic. I pick the middle lane and tend to stay in it unless I get behind a semi (they make me nervous since I can't see around them, so I go around them). However, I do go the speed limit around that corner. IOW... I look out for whether I'll get caught or not. It would surprise me if (at least in speeding violations) most other people aren't the same.

I can see how you were picked out for speeding on 465.......cause nobody else does. I was going with the flow today and looked down at my speed and was going 68mph.

 

[JBrockman]

If they are lucky drunk drivers are faced by LEO's and hopefully are trucked off to jail where they belong!
If they are not they meet people like me that are usually using some real expensive equipment to totally rip their car to pieces to get them out! And in most cases that I have seen it is the sober law-abiding citizen in the other car that is the worse off.
Cell phone use while driving should be out-lawed with suspension of license with a violation and a heavy cost, seen several accidents due to this problem.
It comes down to a simple idea-if the speed limit is 55 then drive 55 not 60, one drink do not drive PERIOD!

 

[Pami]

If they are lucky drunk drivers are faced by LEO's and hopefully are trucked off to jail where they belong!
If they are not they meet people like me that are usually using some real expensive equipment to totally rip their car to pieces to get them out! And in most cases that I have seen it is the sober law-abiding citizen in the other car that is the worse off.
Cell phone use while driving should be out-lawed with suspension of license with a violation and a heavy cost, seen several accidents due to this problem.
It comes down to a simple idea-if the speed limit is 55 then drive 55 not 60, one drink do not drive PERIOD!

This comes down to personal responsibility.
I don't believe you should talk on the phone while you're driving (ask my husband how often he gets snapped at for it). However, I don't think there should be a law against it. Now, if you get into an accident and hurt someone else or someone else's property while you were chatting away... then the consequences should be much more heavy than they probably are right now.
Same goes for drinking/driving. It's not responsible. But this is going to start one of those inflammatory threads, so I'll stop now.

 

[fpdshooter]

This comes down to personal responsibility.
I don't believe you should talk on the phone while you're driving (ask my husband how often he gets snapped at for it). However, I don't think there should be a law against it. Now, if you get into an accident and hurt someone else or someone else's property while you were chatting away... then the consequences should be much more heavy than they probably are right now.
Same goes for drinking/driving. It's not responsible. But this is going to start one of those inflammatory threads, so I'll stop now.

Pami - you are spot on with the personal responsibility. However these day more and more people try to place blame on anything and anyone else other than themselves.

I would like to see a cell phone ban - simply because they do cause more accidents. The last several serious PI (personal injury) wrecks I've been on have been due to a driver either talking or texting while driving. About 3 weeks ago at 7pm I was sitting 96/North by NE Blvd, when a gal talking on her phone blew the red light right beside me doing 45 mph, luckily the cars coming saw her and stopped, thus avoiding a T-bone crash. I stopped her and she was very irate that I pulled her over "for no reason". When I explained to her what I saw, she looked very confused and started to look around. She realized, finally, where she was and what she had just done. She turned very pale and began to apologize profusely. She admitted that she was so wrapped up in her conversation that she had no idea what was going on around her.

If people would take personal responsibilty for themselves, this would be a non-issue. Unfortunately this just isn't the case with general society today.

 

[fpdshooter]

As a side note Pami, if there is no law against driving and talking, can you really failry punish them if they cause an accident? Now granted, the insurance co. is going to take a pound of flesh for their costs, but that is a civil issue.

Not meant to be inflammatory, but more for the sake of food for thought or devil's advocate.

 

[Blue Tile Spook]

How about the lady that was found driving a van while breastfeeding her baby AND talking on a cell phone? Bad, bad juju to me.

 

[fpdshooter]

I'm curious. Those of you who've been caught and ticketed with serious moving violations, i.e., reckless driving, street racing, speeding in excess, or driving while drunk or stoned, I'm curious...Did you stop your behavior behind the wheel or did you just get a chip on your shoulder and started hating cops and courts? Does ticketing and/or arresting people do any good? Is it just better to build more safety features into our autos, because bad drivers are going to continue to drive badly? I'd like the opinions of LEO's as well. Do you see the same drunk drivers, etc. time after time, or do you think most bad drivers man up and modify their driving behavior?

First off, I am not a ticket writer. I subscribe to the theory that an ass chewing is better that a ticket for $200 plus. Others will disagree. I stop a lot of cars, however I generally care less about the traffic infraction. I am looking for criminal offenses, drunk driving, drugs, unlicensed guys carrying guns, stolen items, etc... The majority of my arrests come from these traffic stops.

Now for drunks. According to the NHTSA drunk drivers will commit this offemse several times before they are ever caught the first time. I don't have the numbers handy but I'm sure I can dig them up. I'd say 70-80% of the drunks I arrest have prior offenses. They obviously don't learn. Part of that is blamed on the criminal justice system. We all screw up from time to time, however there should be some teeth behind this law, otherwise it is sort of pointless, especially on repeat offenders.

Across the board, we deal with the lower 5% of society. We arrest the same armed robbers, burglars, drunks, drug dealers time and again. This is just what they are, this is waht they will be. You learn to deal with it.

If you are in that lower 5% of society - see you soon!

 

[Pami]

As a side note Pami, if there is no law against driving and talking, can you really failry punish them if they cause an accident? Now granted, the insurance co. is going to take a pound of flesh for their costs, but that is a civil issue.

Not meant to be inflammatory, but more for the sake of food for thought or devil's advocate.

Yes, you can fairly punish them for causing an accident -- they are damaging someone else's property (usually). I'm saying the consequences/punishments should be harsher, beyond what the insurance company is doing. It shouldn't be a crime to be stupid (although that certainly is debatable), but it should be a crime to interfere with someone else's right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Destroying property certainly isn't going to make people very happy.

Small example: when I was helping lead a Girl Scout troop of younger girls (second grade, maybe?), the girls were very rarely out of hand with me. On one camping trip, they did start to get unruly and I snapped at them to stop running around or .. I forget. I'm sure I said we wouldn't do something like make s'mores or whatever. Anyway, I was surprised when they actually stopped running around and started being safer around the tents. I commented to my mom about it, and she said it was because they knew I actually meant it. She said I was the same way with my grandma when I was their age. I yelled at them so infrequently that they actually knew I would probably follow through on whatever consequence I gave them.

The point? If there are stronger consequences, and the courts/whatever actually enforce those consequences, people will be less likely to do whatever it is that causes harm/damage to other people and their things. We don't need more gun laws, right? We need people to be responsible with their guns. Apply that: we don't need more cell phone/driving laws. We need people to be responsible with their tools. How is it different?

 

[Denny347]

Man, I was a lead-foot when I was younger. I received plenty of speeding tickets and even had to take a DD class to get rid of some points. I deserved every one of them and never thought less of the officer that gave them to me. Don't get me wrong, I hated getting the tickets but had to admit that I deserved every one. Many of them were dropped when I went to court and the officer did not show up. Now I am the ticket writer, karma is strange that way.