Triumphrat

airrider03 · 09-28-2007

I just started riding with earplugs a few days ago, and I must admit it is a whole different world on my bike.
So last night I'm on a familiar route home and I look in my mirror and there's the red and blue lights flashing, so I ease over to let him by but he got sticky to me.
I shut down and pull off my helmet and this guy is very angry saying things I couldn't even hear. I interrupted his dialog with some words like "hang on a second" as I carefully pulled out my earplugs (trying not to pull out my eardrum).
I started to apologize to him for whatever violation I committed, when he cuts in and says "I've been chasing you for a mile, and I blared my siren 4 times and you didn't stop". Hell! If I only knew he was there, I would've. Bummer, those earplugs are good!!
When I explained to him that I just started wearing these plugs a few days ago, he says "If you say that, I will cite you also for driving with a distraction".
This guy is not negotiating. And I get the 49 in a 30mph zone.
OK, the earplugs need some getting used to.

Distraction he calls it?
What do you call a Tailgater that's 20 feet off your tail, chasing you down with a 2 ton sledgehammer/grinder combo? Where is the police officer when somebody violates your safety zone? How often does a police officer cite someone for tailgating?
I've gone thru speed traps with tailgaters on my back tire and the LEO did NOTHING, leaving me to the mercy of this potential involuntary murderer.

Since I started driving at age 16.5, I've been rear-ended 3 times at red lights and in stop and go traffic. I've also avoided a bad accident by blasting thru a red light on my Tiger, getting out of the way of a ballistic car that skidded right thru the intersection and would've definitely maimed me for life.
I've also avoided slamming my Jeep into another car that just got rear ended as she pulled out of a gas station. After slamming into the Toyota at 55mph, the Ford Explorer flipped forward onto it's radiator grille (I'm sure the driver had his foot on the brake at that point, 'cuz it went all the way over onto it's roof). All this is happening two lanes over from me, so when I looked forward, there's the toyota going backwards at a 45 deg angle bouncing off the center divider. I could see the womans hair clips, she was so close. I declared to myself that I will do anything to avoid slamming into her at 50mph, so I swerved and made it thru. I had a chance to talk to her a few months later, since I was the only witness to step forward, she thanked me...it felt good.

Over the years, I've developed a survival technique on the road that may not be aligned with state law, but because of my clean record, I believe that I am a safe driver.

And if the officers want to give me a ticket without negotiations, slowly stripping me of my respect for the law, allowing the tailgaters to proliferate, then just go right ahead.

As for me, I will do anything to survive on my motorcycle out on the roads. I can control what's in front of me, but the only way to control what's behind you is to avoid the threat...if there is no way to move over,
I WILL GAS IT FAST, regardless of speed limits.
For me, death will not come from behind.

I know this is long, but I had to air out, and thanks for reading my words.

LoVel · 09-28-2007

[quote=airrider03;835075]
And if the officers want to give me a ticket without negotiations, slowly stripping me of my respect for the law, allowing the tailgaters to proliferate, then just go right ahead.
quote]

I love this part airridder. Whenever I make a negative comment about an LEO I get the third degree Like I am a criminal. Nobody stops to think why I have a problem with the local police and state troopers. Would it be because of life experience or am I just genetically engineered to dislike those particular LEOs.

Now we will have to listen to all the reasons why he treated you like worthless garbage. We may even be called closet cop haters.

In my opinion they act the way they do because they can. Unless they pull over the wrong person they will not be held accountable for their behavior. Be very afraid of a badge with an attitude.

doodledog · 09-28-2007

I do not like cops for many reasons, No I do not have a criminal record, I have worked with the police, my wife works for the police, my dad was a cop all his working life from leaving the air force, but the attitude of the modern batch,

and the way they treat people and especially young people stinks, so flame on I dont like cops.

airrider03 · 09-28-2007

Let me stir the soup a little...
I have 2 riding jackets...one is a JR Velocity and the other is a JR Pheonix.
The Pheonix has the word "Rocket" in 2" reflective graphics along the lower back. This always left a bad taste in my mouth since I don't ride like a "rocket squiddy", but the graphics are reflective, so for safety, I did not remove the patch.
The Velocity is Black, with no outstanding grapics at all, just some nice reflective piping along the seams, I like that.
I've been pulled over several times on my Sprint. Wearing the Velocity (no grapics), and I've been treated very well and with understanding.
The Pheonix, however, 100% both times, the officers were very aggravated, adament and robotic, and I received tickets without any discussion.

Is it possible that the word "Rocket" on the lower back of my jacket plants a thought into his brain?

Last night, when I got home...the first thing I did was cut that patch off. I'd like to replace it with something like "Slow Down" in big reflective letters and take it to the test.

Do you think it will change their attitude?

Wombat · 09-28-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by airrider03

Do you think it will change their attitude?

The more important question is:

Do you think it will change yours?

airrider03 · 09-28-2007

Sampling my current attitude:

I'm on the highway.
Speed limit is 65mph.
Traffic is moving at 85.

Do I slow down to 65 and wait for someone to push me off (including 18 wheelers)?
Do I travel at 85 and get stuck in everybody's blind spot?
Or...do I go 90 and keep all the action safely in front of me.

What is the safest thing to do, besides stay home?

I stay away from clusters, I don't like to cram into tight spots.
Being stagnent and waiting for 20 tons of rolling metal to creep up on yer back is not my idea of a good time.

So, Wombat...what would you do??

LoVel · 09-28-2007

I'm sure Wombat will be here to answer you in a minute but while we are waiting. I use the throttle to get the heck out of there and then resume a more normal speed when the action is cleared up.

Eyun_G · 09-28-2007

I can definitely see how police people can hate police, although they do serve a greater purpose. The extent of my experience was one of my riding buddies with a burned out tail light. The cop just told us to get it fixed and sent us on our way. My buddy was freaked though because we were doing like 42 in a 35 when they pulled the two of us over. Anyway, my experience with the police around here has been pretty good, pulled over twice, and just given a verbal warning.

To be completely honest, I would be just as pissed and hold just as much of a grudge if I had any tickets. You're anger is frustration is understandable.

HiDesert · 09-28-2007

I can understand why you're PO'd, but policemen are like any other group of human beings. Some are @$$hats, and some are reasonable and easy to get along with. I've dealt with a lot more of the former than the latter, thank God.

But if you make a point of hating all of them, I'm gonna guess someone who lives by his perception of what other people think and are likely to do is going to pick up on that, and I don't think it will make your life any easier.

There is no right to negotiate when you get pulled over. The officer makes an allegation, which you either agree to or discuss in front of a judge. If the officer gives you any chance to discuss it, he's going out of his way to be a nice guy. By the book, he doesn't have to do that at all.

There are certainly policemen who live their lives on a power trip, who should never be allowed to fill a uniform. Did I miss a discussion about Officer "Do-you-want-to-try-me-tonight-young-boy"? But I also know there are good men who've had their friends killed during traffic stops. And there are a lot of motorcyclists who make policemen's lives a lot more difficult.

I'll also admit that the preoccupation with speeding is irrational. Why do "safety zone" signs never say anything about tailgating, failure to signal, failure to yield? Let's just be honest and say "finance generation zone".

airrider03 · 09-28-2007

I guess it all comes down to "where are the police when you need them".

I've always respected their duties and presence, but these last two incidents (wearing the "Rocket" jacket) I noticed a sudden swing in attitudes right from the approach. I'm attributing that to the first impression the officer gets as he approaches my LZ.
Imagine if I had racing stripes and a number on my back, I prolly would've gotten locked up without saying a word.
I'm launching that Rocket emblem out the window because it just doesn't fit my demeanor.

Unfortunately, people are still getting hurt out there on the roads, so it becomes a survival mission.
Hey, we've all seen police camera video of secondary crashes as the officer writes up the initial violator. Freakin' rubberneckers!

The physics of stopping on the side of the road with a bunch of cars trying to squeeze by at high speed doesn't appeal to me. I didn't feel very safe on the side on the road with a police car behind me flashing his lights for 20 minutes. If I was run down, who's the blame, how do you rationalize being restrained in a vulnerable position? What do you tell your loved ones after you've been maimed at a police stop.

By the way, the limit on that road is 45, he got me in a small 30mph section at dusk and I went another mile with him chasing me...
Man, those ear plugs are good!

Don't sweat it Wombat, it's a tough question.

Unless you're a police officer, then the answer should come easily!

Hidesert:
I'll also admit that the preoccupation with speeding is irrational. Why do "safety zone" signs never say anything about tailgating, failure to signal, failure to yield? Let's just be honest and say "finance generation zone".

I've crossed the bridges from Pennsylvania to NJ many times. The moment you get into NJ, it becomes NASCAR. In Penn, there are signs that suggest a "safe following distance" and highway attitudes reflect that, but in NJ, never saw one, just billions of advertising billboards for new cars, cell phone service, insurance companies, banks, fast food joints, etc, and NASCAR racing. I guess those are more important messages. :-/