Friday, January 23, 2015

Hell On Wheels

When somebody cuts you off in traffic, don't start following the guy all over town, get the cops on the phone, and refuse to stop following the until a cop catches up to you and  pulls the guy over. I can assure you, no cop is going to tear madly through the city to do a traffic stop on someone you say cut you off. In fact, the other guy is probably also calling the cops, reporting that some crazy bastard is chasing him all over town, screaming and gesturing at him, and he has no idea why. And in the end, you can't write him a ticket anyway because you're not a cop, and we can't write him one either because we weren't there when whatever really happened happened.

4 comments:

Don said...

In my community, the law allows for citizens to swear out traffic citations against other people. The person who swears out the citation also has to show up in court to witness it.

I know this because my father has done it a few times. He does not like people who make dangerous passes on the highway.

In one case, it was a semitruck in front of him. When the guy got the ticket in the mail, he called and said "there is no way anyone coming the other way could get my license plate." When the prosecutor told him it was someone following him who swore out the complaint, the driver got real quiet. A few days later the county get a check in the mail from him. (Prosecutor is a friend, that is how I found out the whole story)

Mad Jack said...

"Hello, 911? I'm Northbound on Somestreet and a guy in an SUV is tailgating me, waving his fists at me and screaming. He's got something in his hand that looks like a gun..."

I think the police will converge on that one, and the Michigan State police are hard on drunks. Here's the proof: http://madjackshack.blogspot.com/2010/05/michigan-state-police.html

Also, if some turkey cuts you off, runs a light in front of you or just drives like a jerk, don't follow him around like an idiot. Get a picture of his license number and maybe another of his car. Publish your beef on the Internet and see what happens.

Heidi said...

Wouldn't it be interesting if we all had dashcams?

DispatcherDame said...

Seriously. As the person who has to talk to both the idiots all in an uproar, just knock it off. One of the more annoying type of calls I deal with on a daily basis.