Riddle me this

"Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer" (smallbear94) 03/20/2018 at 12:30 • Filed to: police, look where you're going, trick question it's me because the cop will always win

2

39

Had I not been able to stop, who would have been labeled “at fault”?

No siren, I spotted the lights for a split second through the windows of the RAV4 and got my foot off the gas. Apparently being a cop gives you license to be reckless. At LEAST use the siren dude.

*Standard disclaimer about distortion from wide angle lens—cop cars in camera may be closer than they appear*

ttyymmnn > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 03/20/2018 at 12:35

2

Hard to say since the GIF never loads (assuming it’s a GIF). It’s my understanding, though, that even with Code 3, they still have to stop (or at least slow down enough) to make sure the intersection is safe to enter against the light.

WilliamsSW > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 03/20/2018 at 12:35

5

I would presume your fault because cop, but he seemed to be proceeding cautiously.

The *far* more likely scenario there is that you stop quickly, then get rear-ended by the guy reading his texts behind you... :/

ttyymmnn > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 03/20/2018 at 12:37

2

Watched the video. I think it was okay. He was waiting for you, and not just barreling through the intersection. But I would be more concerned with what WilliamsSW pointed out.

OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 03/20/2018 at 12:38

6

I guarantee one with lights on top would have been easier to see. Unmarked police cars need to be banned. Unmarked police cars are not there to “Protect and Serve”. They are there to
“Profit and Steal”.

Long-Voyager > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 03/20/2018 at 12:38

1

Considering the cop was stopped and waiting for an opening, if you would have hit him it would have been your fault.

bbutle01 > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 03/20/2018 at 12:38

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Love the strobe effect the camera creates in the lights of the cars coming at you. At first I thought there was another police car, then I realized what it was.

Long-Voyager > OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars 03/20/2018 at 12:44

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They only profit/steal if they catch you doing something wrong, so technically, it’s still on you that they make their profits.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > WilliamsSW 03/20/2018 at 12:46

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As noted in the tags :)

We both must have nailed the brakes at the same time.

And that’s the thing that pisses me off, if that was a cube van there instead of the RAV4 I’d have had a lot less time to react. Use the damn siren, that way everybody is looking for you and texterboi isn’t going to bumperhump me because I had to lock up.

450X_FTW > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 03/20/2018 at 12:48

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You’re not an emergency vehicle, so I’d say it would be your fault (I don’t agree with it, but chances are that’s how the outcome would be)

OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars > Long-Voyager 03/20/2018 at 12:48

1

People always use this argument but it does not matter. There have been multiple cases locally where criminals have pulled over and have robbed citizens who believe an unmarked car is pulling them over. There is absolutely no point to an unmarked car other then providing profit.

Long-Voyager > OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars 03/20/2018 at 12:49

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Criminal in a crown vic is not an unmarked Police vehicle..........

If you do something wrong, you will be pulled over, period.

Takuro Spirit > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 03/20/2018 at 12:50

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I’d say it’d be 50/50 but if there were injuries the city would probably settle out of court in your favor since he wasn’t running sirens and you have proof.

OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars > Long-Voyager 03/20/2018 at 12:51

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If unmarked vehicles are prevalent, then it gives criminals a way to impersonate them with a simple light on their phone. A deterrent is just as effective as a “gotcha”.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > ttyymmnn 03/20/2018 at 12:52

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Watch again, he wasn’t stopped. We must have both seen each other at the same time because we both nailed the brakes.

It felt closer at the time. Not sure how close it really was, because you can’t really trust the wide-angle. Not to mention it’s got a little better POV than me in this case, being further forward and more centered.

But yeah... I actually put that in the tags. My fault because cop.

¯\_()_/¯

Long-Voyager > OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars 03/20/2018 at 12:53

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I see a whole bundle of straws here.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars 03/20/2018 at 12:54

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In this case the lights weren’t a problem because the flashing nose bits were the first thing to come into view, and the roof lights were high enough to see through the RAV4. Just. But yeah... This car *was* actually marked, but it’s a Black-on-Grey scheme.

OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 03/20/2018 at 12:56

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I see the marking now. I still think the actual roof bar is the best way for lower cars to give off light. Unmarked cars are still the work of power/money hungry cops that give the profession the bad name it has.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Long-Voyager 03/20/2018 at 12:57

2

Watch again... they weren’t stopped. They were rolling right through from *not* the turn lane and we must have both saw each other at the same time. On top of that, if they WERE stopped and waiting for an opening, how would I have been able to hit them?

But like I said in the tags, trick question... it would always be my fault because cop.

WilliamsSW > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 03/20/2018 at 12:58

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Doh, I missed the tags obviously.

I’d be *really* pissed at the cop there if I got rear ended because he was in silent mode.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > 450X_FTW 03/20/2018 at 12:59

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I agree. I actually put in the tags but it doesn’t show the whole thing... ¯\_()_/¯

Doesn’t matter, nobody checks them anyway. Myself included.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Takuro Spirit 03/20/2018 at 13:01

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This is an interesting view. Personally I’d have bet on “cop can do no wrong” prevailing, but you may be right.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars 03/20/2018 at 13:02

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Takes a bit to see, doesn’t it :)

Unmarked cars have their uses, but using them for traffic enforcement is a scam.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > WilliamsSW 03/20/2018 at 13:05

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Doesn’t matter... neither did anyone else. And I almost never check them myself, don’t know why I expect other to. Plus, looks like it got cut in half so you can’t tell what it says.

Precisely... I think I’d be more pissed at them than the guy who hit me.

OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 03/20/2018 at 13:07

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Our local PD needs to give off all the light they can... these officers apparently have to have a decade of experience or a college degree but think it’s fine to pull people over IN THE DRIVING LANE, IN TURN LANES, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD, IN ENTRANCES TO NEIGHBORHOODS. Good lord have the person pull into the next available area! Holy crap.

facw > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 03/20/2018 at 13:09

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My understanding is that it is their responsibility to make sure the intersection is clear before crossing. As long as you stop as soon as you see them you should be in the clear (though that doesn’t mean that police won’t make it a pain for you).

Urambo Tauro > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 03/20/2018 at 13:22

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Honestly, I’m more pissed off at the RAV4 driver for blocking the box and compromising your visibility. People don’t seem to understand just how much of a problem this is. The stop line is there for a reason.

EDIT: And while we’re at it, let’s not forget that (Jeep?) on the other side of the intersection, who’s also pulled too far forward, further blocking the cop’s view of you. 

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Urambo Tauro 03/20/2018 at 13:35

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They had every right to be there. The light was green. The reason I couldn’t see the cop is because they weren’t coming from the turn lane—not the fault of the RAV4 driver, as much as I like to rip on those rolling potatoes.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > ttyymmnn 03/20/2018 at 13:43

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(with the disclaimer that I only know this to be true in New Mexico, but I suspect Texas is similar) By policy, this is true. By law, their emergency lights give them right-of-way over other traffic. Had they hit, our oppo would’ve probably been cited for failure to yield to an emergency vehicle and been considered “at fault” for insurance purposes. The cop probably would’ve gotten a reprimand for failing to clear the intersection before proceeding through it as an internal policy violation, and not a violation of law, but that is unlikely to help the other guy unless insurance companies really want to fight it out and make noises about lawsuits.

Urambo Tauro > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 03/20/2018 at 13:50

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They had every right to be there.

Sorry to hear that. In some states it’s definitely illegal to stop in the intersection at all, and one must make sure that there’s enough room to fully clear the intersection before even entering it. In my state, the final stopping point before entering the intersection is the crosswalk (or a clearly-marked stop/limit line).

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Urambo Tauro 03/20/2018 at 13:56

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Why? Provided that the person turning in the other direction is actually in the turn lane, there’s no visibility issue unless there’s a truck turning... but that would obstruct your view anyways. And this way, you always get at least a couple cars through the light even if it’s busy and there’s no advanced green.

450X_FTW > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 03/20/2018 at 14:15

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When they yell about you not being an emergency vehicle, respond with “hey man ALL vehicles matter”. Never know, it might work.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > 450X_FTW 03/20/2018 at 14:16

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Needs a hashtag

BigBlock440 > Long-Voyager 03/20/2018 at 14:27

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Did you, uh, catch this one:

https://jalopnik.com/these-are-the-most-bullshit-reasons-youve-gotten-pulled-1823884492

I’ve also been pulled over for doing nothing wrong. Even got a ride in handcuffs in the back seat. Sure, because I was doing “nothing wrong” I only lost like 6 hours of sleep and $8 for a taxi ride, then another hour to go get my car the next morning, but yeah, that’s bullshit. There’s tons of cases of people “not doing anything wrong” still getting pulled over and getting robbed by actual cops (civil forfeiture), as well as people getting pulled over and getting robbed by people who pretend to be cops and can get away with it because they don’t need to use a marked car.

Urambo Tauro > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 03/20/2018 at 14:42

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The closer you get to an oncoming car, the more it affects your visibility around them.

Thanks to the position of the RAV4 and the oncoming (Jeep?) in your clip above, I don’t see the edge of the oncoming left-turner until you’re about two (?) car-lengths behind the stop line. Keep in mind that your camera is mounted near the center of the vehicle, so your actual angle of visibility from the driver’s seat is going to be slightly worse than that, and you;re going to have to be even closer to the intersection in order to see each other.

The oncoming left-turner’s visibility is going to be similar to yours, which means that if they saw an opening in traffic, they might have tried to take it, a split-second before you came into view. If you were at-speed instead of accelerating, and they saw what appeared to be an opening, they might have started their turn when you suddenly appeared, and there might not have been enough reaction time for either of you to avoid a collision.

This would have been bad enough without the cop there. But as for him, visibility is even more compromised (all the more reason why he should have used his siren).

Besides, leaving space for emergency vehicles is exactly why we’re not allowed to do a lot of things that might help efficiency. Like use the shoulder as an extra travel lane to help relieve congestion, or block an intersection to get an extra car or two through before the light goes red. The emergency vehicle isn’t always trying to turn left from a different lane. Sometimes it needs to cross the intersection while their light is red.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Urambo Tauro 03/20/2018 at 15:01

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But again, they were coming from the wrong lane—the Range Rover can be clearly seen in the left turn lane. I understand that emergency vehicles must use the technically incorrect lanes sometimes, that doesn’t make it a bad idea to enter the intersection as you are supposed to, it’s just another reason why they need to use the siren.

Urambo Tauro > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 03/20/2018 at 15:28

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Yeah, a siren could have made this so much less of a close call. I wonder if undercover cops are more lenient to the other party in the event of a crash when they’re running silent.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Urambo Tauro 03/20/2018 at 15:35

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This guy wasn’t undercover... it’s just a sneaky Black-on-Grey scheme. Not going to find any leniency for that. But it’s an interesting question.

Captain of the Enterprise > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 03/20/2018 at 18:03

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I’m no lawyer but wouldn’t driving into oncoming traffic or turning left at the wrong time make it the cops fault. I would think you would have right of way. It’s stupid to do that and not even have the sirens on too.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Captain of the Enterprise 03/20/2018 at 22:11

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Oh, for any normal person it would be their fault, for sure. I just wonder how it would have played out in this case.

My guess is, without the dashcam footage it would be open and shut against me. With the footage, I’d have a shot but still could go against me because cop.