It wasn’t that I was running late. I honestly just usually drive too fast. So when I saw the cop – parked sort of in the ditch, with no lights on and behind an almost intentionally-placed saguaro – I instinctively hit the brakes. I was driving down a winding road that I was familiar with so I knew I had just passed the sign that reduces speed from 45 to 35 miles per hour. I had learned to drive along this stretch of road. The Pinal County Sheriff’s car suddenly came to life and began the U-turn that I immediately knew would end with yet another speeding ticket. Moreover, that time, it would mean a suspension of my driver’s license.
I looked down at my speedometer just as I saw the headlights come on. I saw the red needle was planted just past 55 as I hit the brakes. Though I knew I was too late, I slowed the vehicle to 42 M.P.H. before the black-and-white finished turning around to catch me. I had not been drinking. I was on my way to dinner at an old family friend’s house. He had been drinking and had already called me twice to see why I was running late. I thought about the influence of his drunken impatience and immediately started rationalizing it into some kind of excuse in my head just as the cop caught up to me and turned on his red-and-blues.
The engagement had begun: I was about to get another speeding ticket. Once again, my carelessness at driving was about to leave me feeling like a criminal.
This was certainly not my first baptismal in the blinding strobe of police lights. Though I really do not like driving, it is certainly necessary in such spread-out metropolitan area as Tucson. I’m not one to care very much if I’m running late, so time is not a motivation to disregard the law. I’m also not the sort of person that...
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...of knowing that I have significantly helped the financial stability of several local regional courts. Every time I sit waiting for a ride somewhere, I can find solace in my environmental consciousness, albeit forced attrition. And every time I pass a person that’s been pulled over, I can laugh with the smugness of one who truly knows the pain of another.
Despite the rationalized advantages, I know the privilege of driving is important. Still, the need to rebel against authority is burned into my memory like skid marks on pavement. All this flashed through my mind on the night I flew through the 45-to-35 speed trap and got the ticket that was my waterloo. I had just finished work and was wearing a suit and tie. The officer started the conversation by asking where I was coming from, and then asked me if I always wore a suit to work. I replied, “Of course, don’t you?”
“We will catch you and there will be consequences, criminal consequences, loss of licenses and even a jail term,” Col. Thomas Robbins, Massachusetts State Police warned aggressive drivers at the launch of ‘Road Respect’, a Spring Mobilization program at the Newton Police headquarters on the morning of April 4.
Imagine being a police officer doing your daily routine job. You are in a patrol car on the highway, watching the cars and trucks drive by. You are also looking for speeders to warn them to be more careful and maybe you’ll ticket them. It has been a very boring day for you, since you have only been called on your radio once, and it was for an accident (fender bender). Almost at the end of your shift, a blue car drives by going ninety miles an hour, but you know the speed limit is only fifty-five miles an hour. You pull the patrol car out of the gravel area that you had been sitting in and you start to follow the car. You put your lights on and catch up to them. After a few minutes you pull the person over. You get out of the car and start walking over towards the blue car. You are right about to talk to the driver and he drives off, leaving nothing but dust in your face. Now, the adrenaline is pumping in your body, but what should you do? You could call for backup or follow the blue car. Anything could happen. How far should you actually go? This is the question that will be answered in this paper. I will explain what police pursuit is and some different things officers do during a pursuit. I will also give some statistics about the fatalities that have happened in a police pursuit. I will also illustrate my opinion about how far police pursuits should go.
It was September 19 around 3 o’ clock and I was arriving to the Fontana Police Department on Upland Street. I was dressed in all black with my ironed dress shirt and pants, and my shiny polished black shoes following the dress code they had given me. It seemed like wearing all black was a bad choice because the weather outside was very hot. That day it was 96° Fahrenheit. When I got out of my car to go into the police station I realized that my whole back was full of sweat. It looked like I had just done the ice bucket challenge, but without the ice cold refreshing water. I walked into the main entrance of the
PURPOSE: To persuade my audience NOT to drink and drive Every person is accountable for his or her own “right to drink”. Failure to treat this or any “right” responsibly has consequences. The person’s “right” can and should be taken away when the failure to act responsibly endangers others.
During the dark hours, my grandfather was walking the streets in El Monte, California. It never crossed his mind that during that night his life would flash before his eyes. He was at a crosswalk where he pressed the button to cross the street. Once the cross light switched for him to cross, he did. He took his first step off the sidewalk and began walking. My grandfather did not realize what was to come once he stepped off the sidewalk. A car approached going over the speed limit. The person in the car was under the influence and ran a red light. It was then that my grandfather was hit by a drunk driver. My grandfather passed away at the sight of the scene. The young adult that hit him was taken into custody and put on trial for my grandfather’s death. If it wasn’t for the drunk driver who ran the red light that night my grandfather would still be alive today. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Today there are
...well aware of the laws and consequences against drunk driving, especially after destroying families due to their carelessness decision. Victims’ families entire life’s are annihilated because of the sudden death of their loved one, and they are never going to be able to reclaim their normal life, while the offender after a few days in prison reclaims his normal life. As a result of the fragile criminal justice system everyday road users share the road with repeat offenders who are highly resistant to change their manner of conducting oneself despite their previous authorization..When an accident happens, fatalities that occur suddenly can be more difficult to deal with than anticipated death because members of the family are not well prepared. Sudden losses are even more difficult to process when a person is killed violently knowing that it could have been prevented.
As we cruised around the community, he pointed out countless minor traffic violations, both moving and non-moving, but opted not to make any stops. At this point he stated his main concern was to spot any impaired drivers and get them off the road. Eventually, as we came up behind an older civic (the Civic had a broken brake light) on Centreville Road, the officer stated that he detected the scent of marijuana coming from the Civic. The driver of the Civic noticed Crutchman’s police cruiser behind him and dropped his speed to 5 mph under the posted limit. Officer Crutchman began tailing the vehicle which immediately turned off on the next available road. We proceeded to follow the Civic for a couple of miles. I could tell that Officer Crutchman wanted to make the stop, and I inquired why he hadn’t done so already on account of the Civic’s faulty brake light. He responded that he is cautious about making such stops because he does not want a “new law named after him” on account of the controversy surrounding pretextual stops. It is possible that this careful attitude has developed as a result of the rising public outcry against police and
Moreover, not only did I not comply with the speed limit, I did not obey my
During a high speed pursuit at speeds of over 100 mph involving an officer and the driver of the sports car the officer lost control and hit and killed a pedestrian on the sidewalk. When this occurred the sports cars driver turned to look back, crashed the sports car and was killed.
It was the night before my driver’s test, and with each passing hour I felt the anxiety creep into my veins. Vying for first place with high school graduation and prom night, receiving a driver’s license is one of the biggest milestones in a teenager’s life. A driver’s license means midnight runs to Sheetz, road trips to the beach, and rides to the mall without your mom blowing kisses from the car as you walk sheepishly towards your friends. What more could a teenager want than these perks? Of course, I was hyper-aware of all that was at stake in regards to my driver’s test. Thus, the night before the exam, I intensively studied my driver’s manual and watched YouTube videos that offered helpful driving pointers. I even dragged my mother along for one more practice run on the road.
When we sacrifice our time to help someone in need, whether it is a great or small need, we become a part of their life and can help alleviate heavy burdens. We feel good for looking outside ourselves and contributin...
“The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status, or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we all believe that we are above-average drivers” -Dave Barry, comedian. The number of accidents over the last ten years have drastically increased, drivers are paying less attention to the road itself. Many individuals behind the wheel of a car believe that their driving does not affect the road conditions, however it always will. The driving habits of today are catastrophic due to the reasoning that the driving will affect other lives through reckless or distracted driving, and disobeying traffic laws.
Wednesday, October 13, 2013 is a date I will never forget. On that day, time stopped for a moment. I was sixteen and only had my license for a month. I was so excited about having so much freedom, that I was driving every day, with no hesitation. I was invincible,or so I thought. This day changed my thinking completely. What started out as a normal day, quickly turned into one that was very different from any other. I had just gotten out of cheer practice and was on my way home. On the way, I realized that I needed gas, so I decided to go through South Carolina, since they have the lowest gas prices. It was not out of the way, so to say. It was just another rout home. It was not the first time I had taken this way, but, it was definitely the last.
It was February 10th, 2015 when I had come home from school and had my dad take me out for driving practice. It was the day before my driver’s test and I had my dad in the passenger’s seat. It was a chilly afternoon and I was so anxious that I was excessively shivering. As I accelerated to move into
As we were eating some sleazy greasy food, I obviously had to tell my friends about running from the law and my involvement. After telling all my friends about my night so far they all had a good laugh. Later that night when we were leaving the Waffle House the law was behind by my car running the tag. Once the law left we definitely decided it would be a good decision to go home. However, when we started to leave I put the petal to the metal. We fish tailed the car sideways, and as I was trying to regain control of the wheel I accidentally over corrected. If one knows anything about driving cars to fast and or wild, one of the biggest mistakes one can make is to over correct. Following my big mistake the car spun out of control off the road, into the ditch, up a hill, and finally came to a rest once I had hit a power pole with the rear bumper. As if the night had not already been embarrassing enough for me, this car accident put the amount of embarrassment I felt over the