Cops ticketing lane changers

A

accuratehorn

10,000+ Posts
PSA-Austin police are riding around in a bus identifying those changing lanes without using a signal. This weekend they will enlist a semi for the same purpose (IH-35).
According to the TV news they gave out 14 tickets for this yesterday.
Ms. Accurate was one of them. Steam was coming out her ears at home. She says she always signals, doesn't tailgate or drive aggressively (which is normally true), but nobody remembers to signal every single time they change lanes, maybe she forgot.
So be forewarned, the cops are out there giving tickets for this, and the Fourth weekend they will be all over the place.
 
It's the law, so ticketing is fair game but lame. When Austin has stamped out all the other crime, eliminated drunk driving, speeding, etc. then I think they can justify this action. This is a consolidated money grab, pure and simple.

Grove, there are other countries in the world that already have the governmental control and dictatorial style you so hope America to have.
 
austin loves crap like this. they are the city that hangs police by stop signs to make sure people are wearing their safety belts. i got a ticket there for cutting down a dead tree in my yard. my uncle had a house on the lake and the city decided to inform him that his stairs and boat house were no longer his and were the cities property eventhough he was being taxes for the lakefront property value. worst municipal and county politicians in the state. truly pathetic human beings.
 
You know, I wouldn't have nearly so big a problem with cops ticketing those breaking traffic laws if I didn't routinely watch cops turn on their lights to skip a red light, roll through stop signs, not use their blinkers to change lanes, speed when they are not going on a call and all manner of other ******** that they ticket for on a daily basis, drive slow in the left lane, when the signs clearly say that slower traffic must keep right, etc.

It pisses me off that they enforce rules that they have no desire to follow themselves.
 
Riding bumper cars is dangerous too.

Shouldn't a half-crippled, narcissistic doctor be forbidden from doing such a dangerous activity?
 
"Effective September 1, 1997, persons at least 21 years old are exempt from wearing a motorcycle helmet if they:

have successfully completed a motorcycle safety course, or
are covered by a health insurance plan providing the person with at least $10,000 in medical benefits for injuries incurred as a result of an accident while operating or riding upon a motorcycle."

You got your panties all twisted in knots over that? Wow. Get a ******* life.
 
Police operate from public funds so they can go out and write fines to the public. But since some believe they are there to help they keep being supported. It is a huge waste of money that only causes more headaches and does little to stop actual crime.
 
Hey, I got an idea. USE YOUR TURN SIGNAL!!!!! Its not that hard.


As far as the money grab. I assume these tickets are what, about a $100? 14 tickets - Renting a bus + gas + the salary for the cops. Not exactly the most profitable way to fill the coffers.
 
That's a very, very, poor excuse for the current way we make and enforce traffic laws. Because the money is spent on something that might be useful, it's okay to ticket people purely in order to get the money? Forcibly taking someone's money away should be not done with such a cavalier attitude. Power should be wielded with a lot more discretion than the current attitude, which is the same type of attitude as the red tape laws that fine business owners because their bathroom stall is .5 inches less wide than it ought to be. It's sad that we use what should be a highly respected profession that the community looks up to and trusts and feels safe around as if they were merely bureaucrats with guns.

Lane changing without signalling CAN be dangerous. It's a lot better to ticket than to ticket someone for driving fast in the left lane on an open highway which isn't dangerous at all. But even the safest drivers are going to occasionally forget to signal and the situation on the road should be taken into account. It's really stupid to have people out riding around looking only for that instead of looking for general unsafe practices.

Changing lanes without signalling is less dangerous and less obnoxious than changing lanes right in front of someone while signalling. And less dangerous and less obnoxious than tailgating. And less dangerous and less obnoxious than driving too slow in the wrong lane.
 
They are doing this now to increase the police contacts with drivers on the road so they can sniff your breath and investigate possible DWi violations on the 4th weekend.
 
Like most traffic offenses, it can be dangerous and/or irritating to other drivers to not signal a lane change. Or it can be no danger whatsoever. No danger of causing an accident or any inconvenience to anyone else, I mean. So it can be illegal but not dangerous, or illegal and dangerous. Depends.
The Mrs. says she wasn't driving aggressively or tailgating, and just was observed not using a signal to change lanes. She doesn't even think she failed to use a signal, because she believes she always uses them. I'm guessing she forgot to use them, but I doubt she caused any potential hazard, knowing how she drives.
So there's people who should get tickets, or even removed from the road, and then there's the majority of people who get tickets for violating the letter of the law but are in no way about to cause an accident.
 
How does the public (the normal public, not the fringe public) view the Austin police? I don't know - just wondering.

If the normal public doesn't have a problem with this then it's no big deal. But it's things like this (stupid things to some) that really tick some people off and create/maintain a rift between the public and the cops.

Is there a safety problem with this issue? Have their been wrecks? Why are they doing this? Generate revenue?
 
**** traffic cops. A waste of money and I say this having had exactly 3 tickets in 28 years of driving...the last being over 10 years ago.
 
They would do MUCH more to prevent bad driving by just driving along in their cruiser. That increases good behavior 100%. Hiding in a bus is just a money grab and isn't helping anything.
 
It also increases bad behavior because even decent drivers get justifiably worried of being fined for something minute or unintentionally drifting a few mph higher, so everyone starts slowing down and then you have a nice pack of cars all moving at the same speed and screwing with the flow of traffic (not that cops ever enforce flow of traffic anyway, but it still gets worse when a police car is cruising along).
 
Wow, traffic cops are writting traffic tickets. That's a news flash. Just drive like you're supposed to and not like Sergio.
 
A few years ago, a friend of mine got a ticket on I-35 in Grandview. It was 1:05 a.m., and she was the only one northbound for miles and miles. She was driving in the left lane. Out of nowhere a cop pulls her over and gives her a ticket for "traveling," which is copspeak for driving in the left lane when you are not passing someone. (Remember, the left lane is for passing only.)

She was no danger to anyone, as she couldn't even see any rear lights ahead of her or headlights behind her, yet he gave her the ticket because she was breaking the law.

It cost her $105.
 
Moral of the story is use your frickin' blinkers!!! They are not placed in your car for decoration, it's used for safety. I rather have an advanced warning that I'm about to get cut off...
wtf.gif
 
You guys really are missing the boat on this entire debate. Scottsins has it right in most likelihood. If APD waits until the 4th to make these kind of stops, it will be argued that it is a ruse for a stop without probable cause. Never done before or since. Now, they can honestly say that it wasn't something they just decided to do on the 4th. After 2:00 a.m. on the 4th they will also be stopping every car driving on the sidewalk.
 
what scottins said. they are looking for probable cause to stop drivers for dwi. yes, it is to make money for the city but it is also to get drunk drivers.
 
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