Why is everyone so angry?

[BigV]

I reckon they'll last exactly the same length of time. Mine do.

[elSicomoro]

I used to take Griff's Subaru all the time when I lived out that way.

[Griff]

I've been meaning to ask you about all the body parts in my wheel wells btw...

[elSicomoro]

Don't ask, don't tell, bro.

[wolf]

Yeah, Griff. He paid you for that headlight.

And speaking of the Colorado cops, get this:

A few nights back I got behind the wheel (sober!) to make a quick run down to the local town post office to check my mail. It was about 8:00 pm on a week night and the streets were DESERTED! The post office is situated at the intersection of two one way roads at a stop sign. Soooo... if you make a right turn to pull up in front of the post office, there is no way on God's earth that you could possibly pull out in front of another driver - well, maybe at the height of the tourist season if some drunk from Cleveland had managed to navigate three blocks driving in the wrong direction, but tourist season is over.

I slow down, glance over for any headlights from the hypothetical drunk going the wrong way, and without coming to a complete stop, drive the additional 20 feet and stop in front of the post office.

Out of nowhere, officer pulls up behind me with his red lights flashing. This is obviously the most fun the local cops have had in days, because the cop who usually hangs out at the local speed trap and who had been trapping no one even came down to join in the fun. The noble boys in blue conferred over my licence and documents for a good 20 minutes. You'd have thought I was dressed up like a Muslim cleric caught trying to carry a ticking package into the post office.

They gave me not one but two tickets for failure to come to a complete stop at a stop sign, because speed trap cop had remembered me pulling the same stunt earlier this summer.

$100 in fines and 4 points on my licence!

I'll see 'em in court! Jeez!

[wolf]

So you intentionally violated the law and got pissed off when you got caught.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Your lucky he didn't beat you with his nightstick and ask if you wanted him the slow down or stop.

Originally Posted by wolf

So you intentionally violated the law and got pissed off when you got caught.

I could stomach ONE ticket, Wolf. Yeah, I did break the law - oh criminal me, turning onto a street where no traffic could be expected to be coming from without pulling to a COMPLETE stop in case of any imaginary drivers. Lock me up for 20 years! Me and every single other resident of this town, by the way. NO ONE comes to a complete stop there.

Its the SECOND ticket that gets me! So speed trap cop remembers seeing me not come to a complete stop once before? HUH? So why didn't he give me a ticket THEN? How is that legal to ticket me for a supposed infraction 3 months AFTER I allegedly committed it? Since I'm such a menace to society, why didn't speed trap cop stop me before I "killed" again? Its not like there is anywhere I could have made a quick get away to. The street the post office is on is a dead end. He could have cornered me easily!

The SECOND ticket is the one that feels like harassment to me. I'll make the damn town spend $100 prosecuting me over it. They can pay speed trap cop's salary to come testify against me; they can pay a judge for his time to hear the case in court; they can pay the DA's salary to press forward with the case; and they can pay for my court appointed lawyer if it comes to that!

[xoxoxoBruce]

The post office is situated at the intersection of two one way roads at a stop sign.

The street the post office is on is a dead end. He could have cornered me easily!

Huh? One way dead end?

LOL! Its "SO Manitou" as our mayor likes to say.

Here's a sketch (I'm not much of an artist)

Is that what they call it? A "T" intersection? It looks like a "T", yes. Anyhow, you can see the temptation to not come to a complete stop when making a right hand turn.

[xoxoxoBruce]

you can see the temptation to not come to a complete stop when making a right hand turn.

I can see that stop sign should have an "except right turn" sign under it. There is absolutely no reason to stop there (for right turns) except possibly pedestrians.
But the law remains that you must come to a full stop at the stop sign, you can't just ignore it.
The proper procedure is to;
1- Turn on your right turn signal.
2- Come to a complete stop.
3- Check for pedestrians.
4- Make the turn and stop.
5- Put on your 4-way flashers.
6- Set the parking brake.
7- Check for traffic before opening the door.
8- Exit the vehicle.
9- Wrap your logging chain around the bumper.
10- Wrap the other end around the stop sign support.
11- Get back in your vehicle, release brake, turn off 4-ways.
12- Turn on your left turn signal and check your mirror.
13- Accelerate to the dead end and perform a bootleggers turn.
14- Drive home (stopping for mail, optional).

[Sundae]

Originally Posted by marichiko

The SECOND ticket is the one that feels like harassment to me. I'll make the damn town spend $100 prosecuting me over it. They can pay speed trap cop's salary to come testify against me; they can pay a judge for his time to hear the case in court; they can pay the DA's salary to press forward with the case; and they can pay for my court appointed lawyer if it comes to that!

Isn't making the town pay effectively wasting your own money? If the current Stop sign is pointless (and ineffective by the sound of it) then shouldn't it be changed?

If you get the sign changed so that you don't have to stop when turning right (I think that was suggested, bear with me if not, its all the wrong side of the road for me) then you won't get caught again. How about writing a letter to the council to get it changed, detailing how much police time is being wasted to no effect. If this produces no response you could highlight it to a local paper , perhaps encourage them to take it up and run a campaign. There must be plenty of otherwise conscientious drivers caught in the same trap.

I don't know if these sort of things work in the US, but in the UK you can usually embarrass local authorities enough to get them to review situations, even if the changes are rejected. At the very least raising public awareness of the waste of police time might stop them using this corner as an easy target for crime statistics.

[xoxoxoBruce]

There must be plenty of otherwise conscientious drivers caught in the same trap.

The problem with local police in small towns, where they know just about everybody, is enforcement is selective. If they evenhandedly enforced that particular stop sign there would be a chance of getting it changed. But if it's a money maker, mostly from tourists and the less desirable elements (not mentioning any names but she's probably lucky they didn't shoot her in the knee), then there's no way in hell they'll change it.

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

The problem with local police in small towns, where they know just about everybody, is enforcement is selective. If they evenhandedly enforced that particular stop sign there would be a chance of getting it changed. But if it's a money maker, mostly from tourists and the less desirable elements (not mentioning any names but she's probably lucky they didn't shoot her in the knee), then there's no way in hell they'll change it.

Precisely, Bruce! That stop sign is there to make money off tourists. Since the incident occurred, I have formed the habit of taking a few minutes every time I pick up my mail and watching the actions of other drivers at that same stop sign. So far, easily half the cars coming to that intersection don't pull to a complete stop. The one's going right almost never do.

Yes, I am an "undesirable element." I have gained a certain notoriety by going to city council meetings and demanding that they look into providing more low income housing for the elderly and disabled... Plus, I am in the process of ratting out the ax murderer to the world (and the DA), and the president of the local gardening club, who hasn't yet discovered that her new boy friend is really Devil Boy in disguise, has taken exception to this, so I am rather high profile in this small town. I'm lucky the cops didn't shoot me in BOTH knees!

As far as spending money fighting the tickets, it won't cost me a thing to do that. I have gobs of time to go down to court, and due to my income level, if the matter ever actually went to trial, they have to pay for a court appointed lawyer for me.