San Jose cops being REALLY dumb! (8-12-10)
08-12-2010, 01:36 PM
#1
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San Jose cops being REALLY dumb! (8-12-10)
Today I was on First street (right after I made a left onto first from Keys) to grab lunch at "The Plant" (shopping center) when I noticed two police motorcycles parked on the side of the street, and about 75 feet down the road I see two fully uniformed bike cops sitting at a bus stop bench... They were observing traffic and as soon as I saw them I knew that it was a "tarp" (Trap for you n00bs). About two blocks down there was a squad of about 5 police cruisers parked on side of the street with officers flagging down cars and telling them to pull over.
it's a 3 lane road (each way) with a lot of traffic and these cops would walk right out into the middle of the street (walk into any lane) and flag cars to pull over. The reason they were pulling people over was due to the cell phone crack down. Apparently the fine went up from $100 to $250 for a first offense and will be a moving violation starting Jan 1st. The squad of cops would be radioed by the bike cops who were observing traffic from the bus stop and would flag and point at cars (to pull over) accordingly.
Sounds innocent enough right? They were just enforcing the law and making some money for the city... However, there is one problem, not only was it dangerous but in the brief time that I was driving by (had to drive by twice, once on my way there and once on the way back) I saw TWO accidents caused by these police officers abruptly stopping traffic on a super busy road!
I seriously observed them for a total of maybe 30 seconds and in those 30 seconds I saw TWO separate people rear end the person in front of them. The cops walked straight onto the street no matter what lane it was (even the fast lane, they stopped whatever car was in violation) and stopped the car, which caught the people behind them by surprise and caused them to rear end the person in front of them.
This is totally reckless and unsafe! I normally take the side of the police because they do the worst of the worst and deal with the worst of the worst, and they are only doing their job, which is why I'm not really blaming the cops in question but rather the department senior who ordered them to set up a trap like this.
I'm tempted to call the department and file a complaint because of how dangerous of a situation they were causing. The cop cars were parked quite a distance away from where the cops were walking into traffic, they weren't using lights or any form of warning system to tell people that traffic could come to a complete stop... It was literally just one cop walking into traffic out of the blue (in heavy traffic) and getting directly in front of the car who was violating the law by talking on their phone and making them pull over. This caused a lot of confusion amongst the drivers and caused two friggin accidents just while I was there, so imagine how many accidents it caused all together!?
I know we have cops on board here and people who will always take the side of the police regardless of the situation, but this was really ridiculous!
Be warned if you're going to talk on your cell phone... Not only is the fine $250 for first time offenders but cops are going all out to catch people on their phones. I saw at least 10 cars pulled over as I drove by... Very systematic and quick, but also very dangerous!
Cliff notes:
Cops walking into busy traffic and stopping cars by walking right in front of them and telling them to pull over for talking on their cell phones. I saw two accidents happen within 30 seconds of observing the police trap... People are getting rear ended because the cops come out of nowhere and tell people to STOP on a very busy street that is nowhere near an intersection or crosswalk so drivers are confused and caught off guard and thus causing accidents.
it's a 3 lane road (each way) with a lot of traffic and these cops would walk right out into the middle of the street (walk into any lane) and flag cars to pull over. The reason they were pulling people over was due to the cell phone crack down. Apparently the fine went up from $100 to $250 for a first offense and will be a moving violation starting Jan 1st. The squad of cops would be radioed by the bike cops who were observing traffic from the bus stop and would flag and point at cars (to pull over) accordingly.
Sounds innocent enough right? They were just enforcing the law and making some money for the city... However, there is one problem, not only was it dangerous but in the brief time that I was driving by (had to drive by twice, once on my way there and once on the way back) I saw TWO accidents caused by these police officers abruptly stopping traffic on a super busy road!
I seriously observed them for a total of maybe 30 seconds and in those 30 seconds I saw TWO separate people rear end the person in front of them. The cops walked straight onto the street no matter what lane it was (even the fast lane, they stopped whatever car was in violation) and stopped the car, which caught the people behind them by surprise and caused them to rear end the person in front of them.
This is totally reckless and unsafe! I normally take the side of the police because they do the worst of the worst and deal with the worst of the worst, and they are only doing their job, which is why I'm not really blaming the cops in question but rather the department senior who ordered them to set up a trap like this.
I'm tempted to call the department and file a complaint because of how dangerous of a situation they were causing. The cop cars were parked quite a distance away from where the cops were walking into traffic, they weren't using lights or any form of warning system to tell people that traffic could come to a complete stop... It was literally just one cop walking into traffic out of the blue (in heavy traffic) and getting directly in front of the car who was violating the law by talking on their phone and making them pull over. This caused a lot of confusion amongst the drivers and caused two friggin accidents just while I was there, so imagine how many accidents it caused all together!?
I know we have cops on board here and people who will always take the side of the police regardless of the situation, but this was really ridiculous!
Be warned if you're going to talk on your cell phone... Not only is the fine $250 for first time offenders but cops are going all out to catch people on their phones. I saw at least 10 cars pulled over as I drove by... Very systematic and quick, but also very dangerous!
Cliff notes:
Cops walking into busy traffic and stopping cars by walking right in front of them and telling them to pull over for talking on their cell phones. I saw two accidents happen within 30 seconds of observing the police trap... People are getting rear ended because the cops come out of nowhere and tell people to STOP on a very busy street that is nowhere near an intersection or crosswalk so drivers are confused and caught off guard and thus causing accidents.
Last edited by brucelee; 08-12-2010 at 02:16 PM.
08-12-2010, 01:42 PM
#2
I guess I won't be messing with my phone at all on the road anymore. I've seen them do the same thing on 7th street and keyes by the supermarket. Sad to say but a cop is bound to be hit by a driver that can't stop in time and it'll be all the driver's fault.
08-12-2010, 01:46 PM
#3
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I can understand if they were chasing down some murderer or terrorist, but dude, this is ridiculous.
08-12-2010, 01:48 PM
#5
That is wrong should have signs at least saying possible sudden stops. I also wonder how close they were following and maybe the ones who rear ended the others were on a cell too.
I was told 250 is what they say but after fee's and such its closer to 400
I was told 250 is what they say but after fee's and such its closer to 400
08-12-2010, 01:54 PM
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best way to avoid this is just to NOT answer your phone while you're on the road... I don't use a headset because I don't like talking while Im driving so I just avoid the phone all together.
Regardless of the violation, these cops were being RIDICULOUS. You think I should file a complaint with the city? I should go back and video tape it from across the street and wait for an accident to happen. I'm really tempted to do it.
08-12-2010, 02:02 PM
#9
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first cell phone ticket..180 dollars after fees..2nd cell phone ticket..291 after fees.
didnt really learn my lesson but now i need watch out for damn police when driving.
didnt really learn my lesson but now i need watch out for damn police when driving.
08-12-2010, 02:44 PM
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i'm not a cop and i do not agree or disagree with their tactics but regarding the rear-endings - this is why they remind us to be:
1. attentive
2. keep a goos distance from vehicle in front
3. don't use cell phone while driving
I don't always follow these rules myself but if I got a ticket or in an accident because I forgot one of the above, I guess that's my fault. We need to be a bit more responsible for our own actions.
1. attentive
2. keep a goos distance from vehicle in front
3. don't use cell phone while driving
I don't always follow these rules myself but if I got a ticket or in an accident because I forgot one of the above, I guess that's my fault. We need to be a bit more responsible for our own actions.
08-12-2010, 02:55 PM
#15
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i'm not a cop and i do not agree or disagree with their tactics but regarding the rear-endings - this is why they remind us to be:
1. attentive
2. keep a goos distance from vehicle in front
3. don't use cell phone while driving
I don't always follow these rules myself but if I got a ticket or in an accident because I forgot one of the above, I guess that's my fault. We need to be a bit more responsible for our own actions.
1. attentive
2. keep a goos distance from vehicle in front
3. don't use cell phone while driving
I don't always follow these rules myself but if I got a ticket or in an accident because I forgot one of the above, I guess that's my fault. We need to be a bit more responsible for our own actions.
If someone died in one of those accidents, it would make a VERY brief story on the local news but if an officer was struck and killed while trying to stop one of those cars, not only would the person who hit the officer spend the rest of their lives in prison (for the officers stupidity) but it would make nation-wide news and be some HUGE story that we would never heard the end of... Now imagine if a black man stuck a white officer, or vise versa... Imagine how big of a story that would create? My whole point is that none of this should of happened and the danger that they caused should have never of even been a danger in the first place. The cops are in the wrong in this scenario, there's no way around it... Arguing that people should be paying more attention is a farse, and although I do agree that people should pay more attention, sometimes people have a lapse in judgment where they are looking over their shoulder and not noticing that the car in front of them (no cars in front of them so there are no early indicators of danger) is stopping very suddenly for NO REASON, especially since it's not in an intersection, cross walk, or the fact that there are no cars in front of the car that was rear-ended. The police caused this and it's on them.