SRL Archive - Discussions & Debates

Okay so my brother and I were driving home today and we came over the bridge…

I saw my brother, and he looked like he was looking for something.

I asked him if something was wrong and he told me that he always looks for cops when he comes over the bridge.

I asked why and he said that one day he saw a cop shooting his radar gun and then another cop ahead to bust you.

Luckily the cops were dumb that day and the cop that would bust you was parked past an intersection so luckily my brother turned before getting a ticket.

So here's the discussion: Do cops really keep you safe by making sure that your under the speed limit so that your looking for cops every two seconds… Or do they make the streets more dangerous because your always looking for them and not keeping your eyes on the road.

NOTE: I do think that people whom are driving recklessly or kids drinking and driving should be busted. Also if your getting robbed or something there should be cops to come for help. Just the cops that "camp" and wait to give you a ticket.

Share your opinions!

I feel the exact same way, I hate cops cause I think most are a cop for the wrong reason, just to bust people "camping". I don't mind cops who will stop and help people on the side of the road, but lots of times I'll see a car broken down on the side of the road and watch a cop pass the person, those are the cops I hate who are just out to get people and not to serve and protect the town.

Cops that don't follow state law are bullshit. Simply.

In Wisconsin, it is illegal to radar people at night, with no lights on. Meaning you can't radar people without some sort of like on (i.e. interiors or headlights/parkign lights) I run into tons of cops that don't follow this rule and it's bullshit.

The cops that sit on the roads etc aren't really doing a good enough job if you can pick up on there plan like that. I don't think it's more dangerous that you look around, almost more helpful. Most people get tunnel vision when they drive so it could help. Although I know a few people that watch like hawks for cops because they drive like idiots and when they are looking for the cops, they lose focus on the road, worsening there driving. I think if it does put the road in more danger, it is the drivers fault because the #1 rule of driving is to pay attention to the road at all times.

From: Mr.Klean
Cops that don't follow state law are bullshit. Simply.

They often don't..

Searching anything other than your person isn't allowed unless you consent to it. They usually trick you into it by saying step out of the car. You don't legally have to unless they have a warrant for your arrest, or a search and seizure warrant.

i do not enjoy cops just sitting on the sides of the roads waiting to bust someone, but i believe this is necessary. without this happening, people will go any speed they want, and they will gradually become more and more reckless. The fear of cops is a constant reminder to not become reckless. Now people should not be driving around looking out for cops; if they are doing that, they should get a ticket because they are trying to cover up a ticket-able offense that they committed.

once agian, i don't like it (cus i love going 120+ mph), but i think it is a necessity.

From: Function
So here's the discussion: Do cops really keep you safe by making sure that your under the speed limit so that your looking for cops every two seconds… Or do they make the streets more dangerous because your always looking for them and not keeping your eyes on the road.

The idea is that the fear of passing a cop while breaking the law will prevent you from breaking the law (or at least to a smaller extent).

If the speed limit is 55, and you know there aren't cops around, why not do 90? If there may be cops around, you don't know, you may go 5-10 over the speed limit, but 90 would just be a giant ticket, so most won't risk it.

Without cops, there would be no punishment for breaking the laws of the road, so many people wouldn't follow the laws.

Cops do not, usually, keep you safe. The only time they do keep you safe is if you're getting beat up and there's a witness besides the cop himself.

You know, when cops apply for a job… If they score a 100% on the test they don't get accepted. Smart people question the law.

PS: What pisses me off even more are citizens with citizen's arrest capabilities.

From: R0b0t1
Cops do not, usually, keep you safe. The only time they do keep you safe is if you're getting beat up and there's a witness besides the cop himself.

You know, when cops apply for a job… If they score a 100% on the test they don't get accepted. Smart people question the law.

PS: What pisses me off even more are citizens with citizen's arrest capabilities.

What's wrong with citizen arrests?

My car was nearly totaled by a cop. :fiery:
He just came flying through the intersection with no lights/sirens or anything.
Then they tried to say the accident was partially my fault. :duh:
Luckily, they ended up paying for all the damages but I got nothing for possible future injuries or depreciated value of the car. And I was without a car for 3 months while it was being fixed.

They're citizens. And they can arrest.

Why don't you just OBEY THE LAW? Then you don't have to worry about getting a ticket or getting in trouble. Yes they keep the streets safe, atleast around here they do.

I had a friend who recently decided to run from a cop(he said he was tired and just paniced), he was going about 140 mph when he passed the cop(he was on a highway, not interstate), then he decided to pull behind a strip mall and stop and wait for a few minutes. But, I guess the cop saw him pull behind there and that was when they got his plates/face on camera. Now he is selling his '00 Firebird WS6 (with a good amount of work done to it) to pay off the fines and court fees. He did get away, but the cops showed up at his door at 3 a.m. (about 5 hours later). Lesson learned, do not STOP when running from the law.

Well, you shouldn't be going +10 over the speed limit you bozo.

From: josh81193
Why don't you just OBEY THE LAW? Then you don't have to worry about getting a ticket or getting in trouble. Yes they keep the streets safe, atleast around here they do.

I had a friend who recently decided to run from a cop(he said he was tired and just paniced), he was going about 140 mph when he passed the cop(he was on a highway, not interstate), then he decided to pull behind a strip mall and stop and wait for a few minutes. But, I guess the cop saw him pull behind there and that was when they got his plates/face on camera. Now he is selling his '00 Firebird WS6 (with a good amount of work done to it) to pay off the fines and court fees. He did get away, but the cops showed up at his door at 3 a.m. (about 5 hours later). Lesson learned, do not STOP when running from the law.

You think quite oddly. ;) We never said we didn't obey the law, did we? And even if we did, that's not the point of this thread.. Even if people do obey the law, cops don't always do the same. Ever heard of ANY of the DEA-caused psuedo-drug-selling civilians shot when they were completely innocent? Those are one small example of police not obeying the law.

AND! This isn't about that, either. It's just that police are obsolete and they don't REALLY help stop criminals. They hurt normal civilians who pay taxes, vote, and keep the economy up. They rarely get infamous criminals that are the cause of ACTUAL crime.. (Al Capone, current gang leaders, etc..)

From: i luffs yeww
You think quite oddly. ;) We never said we didn't obey the law, did we? And even if we did, that's not the point of this thread.. Even if people do obey the law, cops don't always do the same. Ever heard of ANY of the DEA-caused psuedo-drug-selling civilians shot when they were completely innocent? Those are one small example of police not obeying the law.

AND! This isn't about that, either. It's just that police are obsolete and they don't REALLY help stop criminals. They hurt normal civilians who pay taxes, vote, and keep the economy up. They rarely get infamous criminals that are the cause of ACTUAL crime.. (Al Capone, current gang leaders, etc..)

*eh hem*

From: Function
So here's the discussion: Do cops really keep you safe by making sure that your under the speed limit so that your looking for cops every two seconds… Or do they make the streets more dangerous because your always looking for them and not keeping your eyes on the road.

Also see.

From: josh81193
Why don't you just OBEY THE LAW? Then you don't have to worry about getting a ticket or getting in trouble. Yes they keep the streets safe, atleast around here they do.

I did answer the question. You must have been playing GTA while you were reading.

It's just that police are obsolete and they don't REALLY help stop criminals. They hurt normal civilians who pay taxes, vote, and keep the economy up.

I don't even know what to say, other than R U DUM? Just by the way, cops are not a different species, they are humans too, and they pay taxes, vote, keep the economy up, and honestly, they probably break the law too, just as much as we do. (such as, pirating music, speeding, ((+1 mph over the speed limit IS speeding)) gambling, so on).

What do you MEAN they don't help stop criminals??

From: i luffs yeww
They rarely get infamous criminals that are the cause of ACTUAL crime.. (Al Capone, current gang leaders, etc..)

rofl, so little the little old lady down the street that got killed by a robber was because the mastermind Al Capone told one of his thugs to rob a little old lady? :duh:
but I guess that's not an actual crime? just a pretty harmless one (to me anyway).

I'd love to see a society without police, lol.

From: josh81193
+1 mph over the speed limit IS speeding)) gambling, so on).
What do you MEAN they don't help stop criminals??

+1 over the speed limit is not speeding. Thats just silly the speed limit is in place to set a general area of limit of speed for the driver. Driving isnt an exact science, so you can stay directly at the same speed ever. Thats why cops only stop you when you're 10-15 above the limit because a change in ~5-8 is easily accounted for by small hills and such. So even if it may be technically above the speed limit (which i disagree with) it is not effectively so.

Cops will naturally take the youngest person. If there are 3 people speeding, one right after the other, they're going to go after the middle guy (who in this example is the young teenager) because he is a young teenager despite everyone going the same speed and the other having more potential to actually be a criminal.

Cops are quite inefficient. Also to much authority is given to them. There are bad cops, there are good cops. To many problems to pin point the exact problem being cops.

Also if there would be no cops… it would just mean we'd have a different justice system. Maybe one that worked.

From: Dan Cardin
+1 over the speed limit is not speeding. Thats just silly the speed limit is in place to set a general area of limit of speed for the driver. Driving isnt an exact science, so you can stay directly at the same speed ever. Thats why cops only stop you when you're 10-15 above the limit because a change in ~5-8 is easily accounted for by small hills and such. So even if it may be technically above the speed limit (which i disagree with) it is not effectively so.

Cops will naturally take the youngest person. If there are 3 people speeding, one right after the other, they're going to go after the middle guy (who in this example is the young teenager) because he is a young teenager despite everyone going the same speed and the other having more potential to actually be a criminal.

A speed limit is technically in place as the highest rate of speed that you are allowed to go on ideal conditions (as in, not raining, no fog, daytime, etc.) You can get a ticket for going 61 mph in a 60 mph zone. You may not consider it speeding, but it is against the law. And yes, cops do discriminate people because of their age and what car they are driving. Am I saying that speed kills? No, not at all. It's just the idiots that don't know how to drive that get people killed.

I had a Porsche 928 as my first car. People that are close to me probably would see me as the person that drives 90 mph daily, especially since I raced go karts since I was 9, so people naturally think I'm a speed demon. But, that's not the case. I know that speed belongs on the track, not at a stop light. Only ticket I've ever gotten was for going 80 in a 45 (friend convinced me to open it up a little).

But, on topic, does this keep the general public safe? I think on a large scale, yes. There are idiots that don't know how to drive that think they can go 100 mph, and by giving people tickets who only go a small portion of the speed limit over, it reduces the risks of people tempting themselves to go over the speed limit and getting thereselves and someone else killed.

Its not that I may not consider it against the law, but its the same as my arguments for other things. If something doesn't then you can't determine that it exists. In this case, the thing that doesn't exist is cops that will stop someone solely because they are going 1 mile an hour over the speed limit (i guess it could be an excuse to search the car or something). So if no cops stop anyone at 1 mph over, then the speed limit is effectively not that speed limit. It is whatever speed the cops will start stopping people at. Which is why many speeds are purposefully set lower than they need be, because they know people will automatically drive 5-10 miles above it.

To answer the original question, "Do cops really keep you safe by making sure that your under the speed limit" The answer is pretty much a complete no. It keeps other people safe.
I live down in an area where there aren't any sidewalks, and the people enjoy to take walks sometimes with dogs or their kids. Some parts of the road are curvy, I've had to slam on my brakes from going 30 without a whole lot of clearance. I see a couple people and even one of my friends that like to drive there going 60-75.

Some areas are really dangerous to speed in, some less so, some more so. Speed limits are set up to help maintain order. If every person went over 70 in 35's, be horrible for new drivers and the elderly. Think about if everyone was going 60 in school zones. Don't deny that people wouldn't, there just wouldn't THAT many people.

There are cops that pull you over for driving recklessly, then there are ones that pull over anyone that's speeding. If you have a good reason (my wife's having a baby, girl just passed out out at school) then they won't give you a ticket and they might even escort you.

You can't blame most cops, there aren't that many that are doing it just to piss you off. Some have quotas in certain cities for how many speeding tickets they need to give out. The ideal goal is people should stay within a reasonable amount of the speed limit and focus on the road and any possible hazards.

I'm also going to throw out I really can't stand the people who say "Why are you giving me a ticket, don't you have robbers to catch?" If cops are needed to go to an emergency, they will be informed and they'll go there, but they need to do something outside of that time.

Dunno if this was mentioned, but a few years ago there was something about civilians being able to go up to five miles over the speed limit without it being illegal. Which makes sense. Once my parents let me get my license (they won't let me because of suicide attempts and they're worried I'll drive off a cliff or something, which I probably would.. anyway.), I'll go FOUR whole miles per hour over the speed limit wherever a cop is, just to prove a point. :p

From: i luffs yeww
Dunno if this was mentioned, but a few years ago there was something about civilians being able to go up to five miles over the speed limit without it being illegal. Which makes sense. Once my parents let me get my license (they won't let me because of suicide attempts and they're worried I'll drive off a cliff or something, which I probably would.. anyway.), I'll go FOUR whole miles per hour over the speed limit wherever a cop is, just to prove a point. :p

Where do you live? Just wondering why they didn't just increase the posted speed limit.

Because changing thousands of signs is generally not cheap.. Or useful. It's just that you've file miles per hour to go above where you don't get in trouble. Or it may be it's only a misdemeanor or something.

So, where is this law in place? Like, what state if you're American.

Oregon.