Flash me!

[Gun Smith]

You just remember the times you do. It's a numbers game. Sensor lights make it doubly so.

 

 

I've been driving that section of road for 16 years.   More often than not I catch up with the speeders.   Not too hard to remember.

 

What does happen while they are speeding as I  travel along at a little slower pace?  The whole time they are traveling at the higher rate of speed they risk being ticketed which can also expose them to higher insurance rates.  Also, they have a greater risk of an accident (running into a poke like me, less reaction time, etc.).    And finally,  they consume a greater percentage a fuel per mile.  To me, just my mere opinion, it's just not worth it, especially on a daily commute when I can get from point A to B in about the same time on average.

 

To the topic at hand,  I do not believe it should be illegal to flash your lights to warn of cop stake out.   However, I cast my vote on the side of I wish people would not do it.    

Edited February 6, 2014 by Gun Smith

[runco]

Before age 20, I never could tolerate anyone passing me.  I sped everywhere I went.   I constantly tried to provoke others to race me, I had a muscle car and was proud of it.  Like someone said above, I also paid several speed taxes and had a lot of points.  Did you know they reward you a embedded speed tax in your State Farm premium if you pay a government speed tax.  Sometimes State Farm doesn't like you, and you have to find car insurance like cotton states or some other weird farm crop name insurance that has a pay by the week/mo, and its like 3x the State Farm rates!   I had a lot of buddies that bought the same insurance when they received their preferred beverage tax too.  Go figure!

 

Age 20 to 30, I continued to speed, I was more careful, even bought a speed tax detection device.  Probably did save me some dough, maybe enough to defer the cost of my detection device, or breakeven.  The full economics from faster than thou was beginning to sit in.  That education I received was finally to pay off.

 

Age 30-40, I really saw some changes in my driving habits.  I wasn't tempted as much to go fast, driving life was beginning to slow down but living life was beginning to speed up.  Got married, had kids, and just wanted to be cautious.  Changed vehicles from hot rods to heavy diesel trucks.

 

Age 40-50, driving habits are noticeably different.  Routinely my wife reminds me why are you driving soooo slow.  I never even look at the speedometer at all.  I just don't find it necessary to go fast, money is not a factor, but safety is.

 

Who knows where my driving habits go from here.  Will I become that old man with a turn signal on all the time?  Will I have to fear that slow tax certificate?  Will I become the dreaded two hands on the steering wheel driver?  Will I forget how to get home and end up in Georgia one afternoon driving home from Work?  Hmmmmm.

 

Don't get me wrong, each time I meet a police car on the Highway, I still look in my rear-view mirror as if I was that fast teenager!  My thrill of the day.

[tnguy]

I'm not saying everyone should drive fast, just that it's not completely illogical. Those fuel savings only really matter if your time is worth nothing also. I think consideration for others on the road, whether you travel fast or slow, is the important thing. Keep traffic flowing and everyone should be happy.

 

As for keeping an eye on the speedometer, I point to at least two tickets I received where I was not intentionally speeding. One I had sped up to allow someone on the right to pull out behind me as he was coming up on a slow vehicle and another I gave it some (brief) gas after being stuck behind a truck doing 15 under the speed limit for 10 miles and there happened to be a cop sitting by the road at that exact point. Neither incident put anyone or anything in danger (other than the cop standing by the side of the road writing the tickets, ironically).

Edited February 6, 2014 by tnguy

[LagerHead]

I don't flash anyone. There have been a lot of criminals caught during a routine traffic stop.

 

 

There have also been a lot of criminals CREATED during a routine traffic stop.

[tnguy]

There have also been a lot of criminals CREATED during a routine traffic stop.

 

And a few criminals conducting routine traffic stops. ;)

[45guy]

How do you 'accidentally' speed? If you're speeding and don't know it then your mind is not in the here and now where it belongs. In a word, negligence.

There's a sure fire way to get out of every speeding ticket forever. Stop speeding. It's so simple a caveman can do it.

 

This ones easy. Maybe there was a change in the speed limit that you did not notice. Are you telling me you have never passed a speed limit sign, looked down a realized you were going a few miles over?  Here in Bluff City with the speed cameras on the 4 lane they had to move the 45mph 2 miles from the camera in each direction. So what has been 55mph for as long as I can remember is now 45. Guess were LEO set up their radar? Also there is a place were you merge from one 4 lane to another 4 lane. Not much traffic or activity along this stretch of road. I have found myself going 55 and above many times even though the limit is 45 for several miles before it moves to 55.

 

Anybody that tells me they have never realized that they were speeding "accidentally" either does not drive, has never driven or is not being honest.

[Caster]

That's NOT an accident. That would be MY fault for NOT paying attention. It's a matter of personal responsibility. I take responsibility for my incompetence when I speed and get caught. I pay the ticket. Focus determines reality. Never once will I claim to be immune to or above it. Quite the contrary.
One does not wake up one day and forget how to read speed limit signs. If that DOES happen to a person, its incumbent on them to stop driving and seek help. Same goes for drinking and driving or texting or any other activity that removes your attention from the road.

This whole country is suffering from a severe case of "Desire to pass the buck". No one wants to admit and accept guilt for their own actions.

I despise the word accident. Very VERY few cases can honestly be attributed to the word. A falling meteor maybe. Even the biggest percentage of weather related incidents are NOT accidents. It's no surprise if you live in Florida and your house gets blown away by a hurricane. I don't wanna be in the same room with a person stupid enough to claim ignorance of the potential for floods in New Orleans.
I could go on for several pages.

[monkeylizard]

Back to the OP, I recall reading a ruling out of Florida (IIRC) at least a decade ago and probably more, that came to the same conclusion. It may have been a state court ruling. I can't recall now. Good to see that the Fed court sees it the same way.

[E4 No More]

As a former LEO of the 90's and IIRC, I believe that the courts determined that flashing of the lights to warn of police ahead was protected speech.

 

I find some of the comments on here a bit humorous because MANY LEO's, Prosecutors, Judges, Mayors, etc, would speed their butts off. They would be all about us writing citizens for traffic violations, and you can walk into just about every traffic court in the US and easily determine that the judge was nothing more than a revenue collector, and not at all concerned about whether the accused was actually innocent. In most places traffic violations are infractions: therefore, they don't worry about guilt or innocence, or even if the LEO is lying his/her ass off. If it was really about safety there would be studies performed to establish a need for such things as a speed limit for a particular stretch of road, and there'd be more tickets written for stupid things people do like transport loads that are not secured.

[tnguy]

That's NOT an accident. That would be MY fault for NOT paying attention. It's a matter of personal responsibility. I take responsibility for my incompetence when I speed and get caught. I pay the ticket. Focus determines reality. Never once will I claim to be immune to or above it. Quite the contrary.
One does not wake up one day and forget how to read speed limit signs. If that DOES happen to a person, its incumbent on them to stop driving and seek help. Same goes for drinking and driving or texting or any other activity that removes your attention from the road.

This whole country is suffering from a severe case of "Desire to pass the buck". No one wants to admit and accept guilt for their own actions.

I despise the word accident. Very VERY few cases can honestly be attributed to the word. A falling meteor maybe. Even the biggest percentage of weather related incidents are NOT accidents. It's no surprise if you live in Florida and your house gets blown away by a hurricane. I don't wanna be in the same room with a person stupid enough to claim ignorance of the potential for floods in New Orleans.
I could go on for several pages.

 

The point is not that it is somehow impossible to manage to avoid speeding, the question is about the amount of one's attention and effort should be diverted from safely navigating the road to mitigate what is often otherwise a totally harmless infraction. If I am driving safely, I am driving safely and a couple of numbers stuck on a white rectangle have little to do with that.

[Erik88]

When it comes to roadside checkpoints do the laws vary by state? I've seen videos of people refusing to even give their name at these checkpoints and being allowed to pass through? 

 

I'd like to know my rights for the next time I encounter one of these.

 

When I was in high school some friends of mind were riding around late at night. 3 of the guys were smoking pot(not my thing) and the driver and myself were both sober but there was a handle of vodka in the car as well. We came over a hill to see all of Lenoir City's finest manning a roadblock. That was the only time I was convinced I was going to jail. Either it was the worlds dumbest cop or his nose didn't work but we managed to pass through.

[Spiffy]

Tell that to the douchecanoe that has his brights on as I hit him back. Good thing about having newish vehicle is that even the halogen lights are pretty fregin bright.

 

Isn't it a GMC that when you pull the lever back that the high/low and fog lights come on? 

[tnguy]

When it comes to roadside checkpoints do the laws vary by state? I've seen videos of people refusing to even give their name at these checkpoints and being allowed to pass through? 

 

I'd like to know my rights for the next time I encounter one of these.

 

When I was in high school some friends of mind were riding around late at night. 3 of the guys were smoking pot(not my thing) and the driver and myself were both sober but there was a handle of vodka in the car as well. We came over a hill to see all of Lenoir City's finest manning a roadblock. That was the only time I was convinced I was going to jail. Either it was the worlds dumbest cop or his nose didn't work but we managed to pass through.

 

Your rights? Written up there in the constitution and bill of rights. What they might actually do to you? Different story.

[Duck]

Well it depends on what kind it is. A DUI checkpoint the only thing they are legally allowed to do is determine if you're drunk...can't even ask for ID without probable cause..

I was told in a college course that an exception is with THP, since they issue DLs they can supposedly ask for them.

https://www.tn.gov/safety/thp/checkpoints.shtml Edited February 9, 2014 by Duck

[Patton]

We are getting further off topic but there is case law on Tennessee Highway Patrol's Drivers License Checkpoints. The claimant was a friend of my family, Larry Allen Hicks, he was arrested at a DL checkpoint in Chattanooga about 15 years ago with a small amount of drugs. Long story short he won an appeal in local appellate court but the decision was reversed by the State Supreme Court, Jerry Summers represented Hicks and encouraged him to not take it any further. In TCA 40-7-103 ( c )it gives THP the right to conduct Drivers License Checkpoints but in Hicks' case it was a Chattanooga officer making the arrest, their case was hinging on the Chattanooga officer making an unlawful arrest and not TCA 40-7-103 ( c ) , which was pretty cut and dry. Edited February 9, 2014 by Patton

[Duck]

TCA 40-7-103
c Unless a law enforcement officer has probable cause to believe that an offense has been committed, no officer, except members of the Tennessee highway patrol acting pursuant to § 4-7-104, shall have the authority to stop a motor vehicle for the sole purpose of examining or checking the license of the driver of the vehicle.

I am actually shocked by this, they can just stop you to check a license?

Patton, did that guy give up on his case solely do to a small fine or sentence? It sounds like he had a strong case since he wasn't even arrested by THP.
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/tn-supreme-court/1126395.html Edited February 9, 2014 by Duck

[Patton]

I don't know why he stopped with the appeals, I do know he spent upwards of $10k fighting his case. He had in my opinion one of the best attorneys in TN. Truthfully, I am as confused as any on why THP is allowed to ask for a DL and obviously others are not. The only trooper I ever asked about it gave me an answer I am discounting as being incorrect. An attorney that specializes in traffic cases that I know well says it is a blue law that if ever challenged will most likely fall. According to the attorney, even though Appendix ( c ) was last modified in 1997, the law makers believed that THP was the issuing authority for driving privileges in TN, that is why they were given the statute to request.