silly question

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lexmarkz00

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Okay, I figured I'd ask here, since there seem to be quite a bit of old folk, so... say a police car is gaining on you rather quickly (and I mean quickly), with the intent of getting and staying on your ass (I'm assuming to check up on your license plate? Or quite simply just to pace you.)... would you or the officer be at fault if you decided to put your foot on the break, causing them to rear end you (accidentally on purpose)? I've always been curious. Not saying that I'd actually do it though. :)

Something tells me I'll be flamed for this, but I don't really care.
 
When doing a moving Plate Check, most police officers will stay in the lane next to you, and back about 20-30 feet, just for that reason.

If the cops' intention is to pace you, believe me, he/she doesn't (shouldn't if they have any brainmatter) have to tailgate you. A good cop can pace you from a few hundred feet back.

So to answer your question, a cop worth anything, won't get himself/herself in a position to have you slam on your breaks to have them rearend you.

If they DO tailgate you for some odd reason, and you do end up being rearended by them, well... you're screwed. I know of four different ways to tell the court how I was trying to pull you over, but you caused an accident, and get you to take the fall for it.
 
I think it is bull that if you do need to hit the brakes and a cop just happens to hit you, that you are at fault. I'd hope if there was a person in the road or something that could do serious damage or injury that the cop who rear-ended you would not get you for it. But I would not be surprised if you would get nailed for trying not to hit something cause that is how it works.

I was tail-gated by a cop one time so I called the police and told them that I was being followed alittle to close by one of their officers. I told them he was riding for atleast 15 miles before I decided to report it. About a minute later the cop slowed way down and traveled at a proper distance, I decided to turn off the highway just to cool down.
 
You could slam the brakes, get rearended by the following vehicle and it is not your fault. The person behind you has the responsibility of following at a safe distance. But, you would need a good reason for doing it. Like avoiding hitting an animal. I do not advise doing this, because someone could get hurt pretty bad. The police should know better, I get pissed when I see a police car on someone's a**, when they get behind me I usually take my foot off of the gas and coast to slow down. That is not illegal and it causes the police car to choose to hit you or their brakes.
 
^^^
lol



im pretty sure there are diff. driving laws in diff. states.. but here in miami.. if u get his in the back.. its not ur fault.. no matter what.. even if i go in reverse and ram my car into the car behind me.. he would either need to have a witness, or show the officer at the scene of the accident that the car behind me put his e-brake on before the incident and the tire streaks of his car moving back.. and if he moves his car before the cop gets there.. i automatically get the benefit of the doubt..
 
Beamer said:
I think it is bull that if you do need to hit the brakes and a cop just happens to hit you, that you are at fault. I'd hope if there was a person in the road or something that could do serious damage or injury that the cop who rear-ended you would not get you for it. But I would not be surprised if you would get nailed for trying not to hit something cause that is how it works.

I was tail-gated by a cop one time so I called the police and told them that I was being followed alittle to close by one of their officers. I told them he was riding for atleast 15 miles before I decided to report it. About a minute later the cop slowed way down and traveled at a proper distance, I decided to turn off the highway just to cool down.
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u called 911 or the police station itself? i ask because i called 911 for something not related to them, but i had nobody else to call on the emergency and they scoffed at me
 
I tired hitting the brakes hard once when followed. Cop turned his lights on real quick and insisted I was drinking, but I wasn't. Then told me I was speeding. I wasn't. Finally let me go with a verbal warning. As far as your courts go and taking the cops word, it depends on the judge. Most of the judges in my area would not let you take the fall if a cop hit you and you weren't intoxicated or driving reckless.
 
In Texas it would be deemed "reckless driving", a class B misdemeanor at the least. As stated earlier, only a rookie or an idiot would allow themselves to be placed in that position.

BTW, I am a retired LEO, 22 years of service.
 
Here in Columbus, if you get into a car wreck with any city employee on the clock (that includeds cops), regardless of fault, the city pays $0. Our wonderful city councel <serious sarcasim> decided that one and nobody ever even noticed it.

Related: A city salt truck was salting a road, ran a red light and blasted an on coming car...seriously injuring the driver of that car. The city paid $0 because of that law. Bunch of BS.

The moral is, here, even if the cop hits you, your still gonna lose your a$$.
 
I thought tailgating was illegal not to mention stupid. Why is it that cops get to stretch the laws for their own benifit or to just @#ck with you.
 
a story just like chriswells78

maybe this will help you understand how cops can never be at fault for anything:

my brothers friend got hit by a cop car while he was walking across an intersection in the cross walk, while the crossing sign said it was OK to walk.

The accident was deemed his fault and the cop had no repercussions. He couldn’t even get anyone to pay for his hospital bills. (knee is still messed up) he went to court and still no one was forced to pay.
 
Mack Daddy said:
I thought tailgating was illegal not to mention stupid. Why is it that cops get to stretch the laws for their own benifit or to just @#ck with you.
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Elect the right judges, city council, or whoever you need to and the cops won't be able to
 
chriswells78 said:
Easier said than done when residing in an urban area.
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Nice to see another columbus guy on the board. Are you the LS I see with the "DEEZ NUTZ" plates by any chance? I laugh out loud everytime I see that car.
 
No, I still have my temp tags on until the 24th. I'll just get regualar plates on then. I can't see any justification in giving the state more than the required 55 bucks for 2 worthless, ugly peices of tin that says I am allowed to have my car on the road.:rolleyes:
 
Well, the thing is, regardless of what the law is, there is still civil liability and it does not always follow the criminal system. You can be found not guilty criminally, but still held accountable in civil court.
 
I heard somewhere that municipal vehicles etc. weren't ever responsible in accidents. Sounded very weird to me.
 
actually a really good friend of mine is a cop here. i asked him this one time. he told me that if a cop was up on ur ass like that you are allowed to brake check them. and yes it is their fault. but that doesnt mean. that they will pay for damages. you know they will fight it cause most of them are :q:q:q:q:q:q:qs.
 
BanginLS said:
u called 911 or the police station itself? i ask because i called 911 for something not related to them, but i had nobody else to call on the emergency and they scoffed at me
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I did not know the # and did not want to use 911 so I called 411 and ask for blah blah and than was patched through. At first I got an attitude from the police department but after being calm and explained that I just thought I was doing something good they said give them a second. They came back on and said "ok, its taken care of, you have a great day sir." And a few seconds after that he backed off.

My boss did something like me when he got pulled for speeding. He was driving to work early and there was a cop ahead that started to go fast for no reason it seemed so my boss stayed back a good distance and went alittle fast. Well the cop slammed on his brakes, hit his lights and got behind my boss and pulled him. While my boss waited for the cop to come back he placed a phone call to the department and told them what happened. He said he saw the officer getting back out of the car and than went back to the CB and than came back up to the boss and said "you have a good day sir."

Ok, back on topic.
 
I believe it says right under my name :). Excuse me for not knowing the term they use for it, radio communicator, whatever lol.
 
I like to look at things from a different point of view...

Say, for instance, an officer is going to a call that requires that he/she get there soon, but doesn't quite require the use of lights/siren. So he gets behind some motorist hogging the lane and/or possibly refusing to move over. The next thing the officer knows is that the aforementioned motorist is slamming on the brakes to supposedly "teach the cop a lesson." So the motorist get's hurt, the cop get's hurt, there's thousands of dollars in property damage costs and medical bills, and I guarantee the cop will likely charge the motorist with aggravated assault. The only one who wins in a situation like this is the personal injury attorney, and the insurance industry has another statistic from which to try and raise all of our rates. Would you really want to risk your life or the life of someone else and damage your own property for something so stupid? You don't know what the officer is thinking and or doing, so why force an unpredictable situation. If you want some real laughs, try pulling a fake gun on an officer.

Any time I'm "gaining" on another car, my foot's already on the brake so I'm actually decreasing on them. I always know my position in traffic and am thinking of my egress route if something happens. It comes with common sense, training and experience. However, if a cruiser was to gain quickly on you and not pass, just slow down and pull over. If the officer falls in behind you to ask you why, just say that you preceived that the officer was going to stop you because of how quickly the cruiser came up from behind.

BTW... it has nothing to do with "old folks" as much as it does with one's level of maturity.
 
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