A question for LEOs, a little long.

Mass is pretty ordinary compared to Rhode Island.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhode_Island_State_Police

Sorry to disagree: "law enforcement should be impartial, etc" THEY ARE HUMAN, just as we are. Not that they should get away with rediculous shit, but still......

I've accumulated about 20 tickets over about a 25 year driving history, mostly from the first 4 years of driving. That seems like a lot but consider, I've been pulled over hundreds of times and never had a bad experience with a LEO, other than the ticket itself which I always deserved. I've always been polite and respectful assuming they were just doing their jobs. I figure I've averaged about 1 ticket per 20 stops, not a bad average. I now work for a LE agency as a corrections officer in a small town and most of the officers state similar opinions to those who have volunteered their LEO experience here. 10 over is usually a stop, 15 maybe a ticket, higher and you will get paper. They usually don't really care about paper but as others have stated here it is a good opportunity to check for warrants or other higher level offenses. Many DUI offenses originate as speeding stops and as a dad I'm thankful they are yanking idiots off the road to keep my family safe.

Thank you for your service LEOs and Military, I really appreciate the safe environment you provide for me and my family, especially considering some of the crap I've seen in a lot of the 3rd world countries I've traveled through!

+1 on those comments....even if I do get a ticket tomorrow

Kinda funny, I've probably done a couple hundred runs up and down Push and have never seen a cop on it. Which is pretty lucky considering how damn fast I ride on that road.

The local sheriff's deputies are keeping an eye on Push Mtn Road since, for at least the last few summers, there have been quite a few deaths. I think it was three summers ago that there averaged 1 death per week.

Sunday mornings, though, it's fairly deserted

I don't think the State Troopers have any interest in Push Mtn Road, but the sheriff's boys do watch it now.

Back when I lived in Clarksville I'd hit it at least once a week, and almost always on weekdays. There were plenty of times I never saw another vehicle on it.

Can you cite them for going 15 UNDER the posted limit?

There's not much more traffic on it now. I usually see a dozen vehicles and maybe a half-dozen other motorcyclists, depending on when I ride it. Sunday morning, there are usually a few people going to church.

The bad thing about Push Mtn Road now is that the road surface is getting bad in places. I'd say 25% of its length needs to be re-paved, and since it's not a well-traveled road it doesn't get priority when the state starts allocating road funds.

how about this... imagine you are a PA state trooper in an unmarked car on the side of a 55mph two lane road. around the bend comes a line of 4-5 cars and in the passing lane is a big block suburban passing all of them. you clock him going 96 (shut down speed for those trucks) and immediately turn your lights on. the driver pulls over right away, and when you get to the window slightly irate and ask the driver if he knows how fast he was going, he responds with "no officer, my father always told me to keep my eyes on the road when I was going that fast".

what is your response?

Fair enough...Tell him what I got him at, ask him why he was doing it. check his stuff and send him on his was if everything was good. But then again I always used traffic to find other stuff. How did it work out for you?

I was 17 at the time if I remember right, maybe just turned 18. I had 3 belted passengers in the vehicle. I executed the pass completely in the passing zone and merged safely back into the travel lane (no oncoming traffic, long straightaway, cars I was following had been doing 10 under for the last 20+ minutes).

he lost it, not in the haha that's funny way either. he said he could write me up for attempted murder for everyone in my vehicle and attempted manslaughter for everyone I passed. said he could have the vehicle towed and me sent straight to jail. after all this he wrote me a very large fine and I lost my license for 90 days. first speeding ticket I ever got and I lost my license over it.

I have always been honest with LEO's even though some say to say nothing. I have never been pinched for not doing something wrong and I take my ticket and always tell them to have a nice day and stay safe.

that first traffic stop was the only time I have been yelled at or lectured by an officer of the law and I have been caught going that fast several times since. maybe he was just having a bad day or thought I was to young to be going that fast who knows.

Well, that's probably because he didn't see too many other cars going 41mph over the speed limit?

Many speed limits are BS but my experience in the NE is anything 80mph or over and you are going to be in the top 5-10% of traffic speed.

It is your responsibility, as the driver of a motorvehicle, to operate it safely and prudently. Within that obligation is the awareness of your vehicle speed and its relevance to traffic, weather, and legal conditions. Additionally, there are no allowances for speeding while passing another vehicle. If you have to exceed the speed limit to complete the pass, then you shouldn't have attempted the pass in the first place. What your father should have told you was that you should never drive so fast that you have to pick-and-chose what aspects of safe driving you are going to pay attention to and what you are going to ignore.

That's my official answer.

Honestly, based on your story, sounds like that officer was wound a little tight. I totally understand the frustration (and associated dangers) of being stuck behind a large, lumber truck, and usually don't bother stopping people who were clearly in the middle or tail end of a pass if everything else was copacetic.

^^edit from above that needs its own post^^

I lied, I once was stopped for no reason and had to fight it out in court. after getting my license back from that first speeding ticket I still had points on my license. I was at school in a small town full of cops and residents who hated the school kids (tech school, lots of fart mufflers it was the start of the new millennium and fast a furious just came out).

anyway I come out of the grocery store after about 20 mins of shopping to find the town cop writing my plate number down. I ask her wants wrong and she said she is giving me a ticket for backing out on to a street. I look confused and she explains she saw me back out onto the street when I left the pizza shop to place my order before I drove down to the grocery store.

I said that's great then why didn't you pull me over then? she had no answer and I thought long and hard before I gave her my license and registration. she hands me a ticket for reckless driving, that ticket carries enough points to get my license suspended again.

I call my dad all upset because being a young man at a car collage who cant drive sucks! and he says well that's don't sound right and I said I know but she said she was in her right to stop me later. it goes to court and the judge says she cant do that and that he backs out onto a main road every day when he leaves to come to the court house and that's the end of that ticket.

yes I was going 41 over the limit but in a safe way and I was not planning on continuing at that velocity once I completed the pass.

I understand both your official and "unofficial" view. I never understood that rule but I accept it. if someone is going ten under and you cant go above the limit to pass them there are only so many places to get that done.

the place where this ticket took place was a very long straight stretch through a valley that comes after miles of up/down/left/right mountain driving. they were going under the limit and I may have had enough time to cruse by them at the limit but I much rather speed up and spend less time in the oncoming traffic lane.

Usually when someone agrees with me, I stop arguing

You might be surprised at the number of people who don't...

Oh, wait... 96 in a 55?!

Yeah, I would have thrown the book at you. Sounds like that officer had every right to be perturbed with your behavior.

I think he passed 4 or 5 vehicles, you know, safely.