Rant: Virginia State Police

[T2T III]

Just before lunch time today, I was traveling on one of the highways here in Northern Virginia. I was traveling at the speed limit in the left lane and the lane to the right of me also had vehicles in it. There was a vehicle doing an extremely good job of tailgating me. This went on for about a mile and when the traffic cleared, the officer switched lanes and was staring really hard at my vehicle while I was gathering a description of him and his vehicle. He then turned off the highway onto another highway.

This evening, I called the non-emergency number and launched a complaint. In a sense, I was kind of mad. There is a "road rage" campaign going on at the moment and here is a cop thinking he doesn't have to abide by the rules that he should be enforcing.

10 minutes after I hung up with the person who took the report information, I got a call from someone asking for donations for the Virginia State Police. Ironic? Also, we're on the national "do not call" list which has been great for the past 6 months. We've had essentially no telemarking calls - until this evening, from the Va state police association.

Anyway, regarding the tailgating incident by the officer, I'll provide updates when the State Police responds to my complaint.

Cliff notes:
- State Police officer was doing an excessive amount of tailgating on my vehicle today.
- I launched a complaint against the officer.
- 10 minutes after launching the complaint, I get a call asking for donations to the VA State Police association.

Such a day ... :roll: :roll: :roll:

 

[CRXican]

Good job. Bastard CHP officers do the same damn thing but in my case I get pulled over.

 

[FoBoT]

at least he didn't tazer you

 

You shouldn't have been sitting pretty in the left lane. It's for passing.

The VSP officer was wrong to tailgate you, but if you wanted to drive the speed limit, you should have stayed to the right.

 

[Turkish]

Heh... its weird. It has the best and worst of the police officers at the same time. I am 21 and been living here for 4 years. No speeding tickets yet... got away with 3 warnings though 😀

 

[CRXican]

Originally posted by: jumpr
You shouldn't have been sitting pretty in the left lane. It's for passing.

The VSP officer was wrong to tailgate you, but if you wanted to drive the speed limit, you should have stayed to the right.

Biggest bunch of sh1t I've ever heard. You're supposed to drive the speed limit in ALL lanes.

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
at least he didn't tazer you

yeah..that smarts..especially after they have their way with you using a maglite....


seriously watch the cops..they have magical powers such as ticket writing from the dimension of uncontested culpability and lazers man..LAZERS

 

[slick230]

Originally posted by: CRXican

Originally posted by: jumpr
You shouldn't have been sitting pretty in the left lane. It's for passing.

The VSP officer was wrong to tailgate you, but if you wanted to drive the speed limit, you should have stayed to the right.

Biggest bunch of sh1t I've ever heard. You're supposed to drive the speed limit in ALL lanes.

What about the phrase "passing lane" do you NOT understand?

 

[CRXican]

Originally posted by: slick230

Originally posted by: CRXican

Originally posted by: jumpr
You shouldn't have been sitting pretty in the left lane. It's for passing.

The VSP officer was wrong to tailgate you, but if you wanted to drive the speed limit, you should have stayed to the right.

Biggest bunch of sh1t I've ever heard. You're supposed to drive the speed limit in ALL lanes.

What about the phrase "passing lane" do you NOT understand?

There's no such thing as a passing lane

 

[slick230]

Originally posted by: CRXican

Originally posted by: slick230

Originally posted by: CRXican

Originally posted by: jumpr
You shouldn't have been sitting pretty in the left lane. It's for passing.

The VSP officer was wrong to tailgate you, but if you wanted to drive the speed limit, you should have stayed to the right.

Biggest bunch of sh1t I've ever heard. You're supposed to drive the speed limit in ALL lanes.

What about the phrase "passing lane" do you NOT understand?

There's no such thing as a passing lane

Uh, OK. :roll:

 

Originally posted by: CRXican

Originally posted by: jumpr
You shouldn't have been sitting pretty in the left lane. It's for passing.

The VSP officer was wrong to tailgate you, but if you wanted to drive the speed limit, you should have stayed to the right.

Biggest bunch of sh1t I've ever heard. You're supposed to drive the speed limit in ALL lanes.

Is it really now?

The Code of Virginia would argue differently

§ 46.2-842. Driver to give way to overtaking vehicle.

Except when overtaking and passing on the right is permitted, the driver of an overtaken vehicle shall give way to the right in favor of the overtaking vehicle on audible signal and shall not increase the speed of his vehicle until completely passed by the overtaking vehicle. Any over-width, or slow-moving vehicle as defined by § 46.2-1081 shall be removed from the roadway at the nearest suitable location when necessary to allow traffic to pass.

(Code 1950, § 46-227; 1958, c. 541, § 46.1-211; 1979, c. 361; 1989, c. 727.)

 

[ThisIsMatt]

Same type of thing happened to my sister. Some a-hole cop (no light bar) was tailing her really close and she ended up rolling a stop trying to get away from him. He then proceeds to pull her over and give her a ticket.

 

[krunchykrome]

Originally posted by: Tiles2Tech
Just before lunch time today, I was traveling on one of the highways here in Northern Virginia. I was traveling at the speed limit in the left lane and the lane to the right of me also had vehicles in it. There was a vehicle doing an extremely good job of tailgating me. This went on for about a mile and when the traffic cleared, the officer switched lanes and was staring really hard at my vehicle while I was gathering a description of him and his vehicle. He then turned off the highway onto another highway.

This evening, I called the non-emergency number and launched a complaint. In a sense, I was kind of mad. There is a "road rage" campaign going on at the moment and here is a cop thinking he doesn't have to abide by the rules that he should be enforcing.

10 minutes after I hung up with the person who took the report information, I got a call from someone asking for donations for the Virginia State Police. Ironic? Also, we're on the national "do not call" list which has been great for the past 6 months. We've had essentially no telemarking calls - until this evening, from the Va state police association.

Anyway, regarding the tailgating incident by the officer, I'll provide updates when the State Police responds to my complaint.

Cliff notes:
- State Police officer was doing an excessive amount of tailgating on my vehicle today.
- I launched a complaint against the officer.
- 10 minutes after launching the complaint, I get a call asking for donations to the VA State Police association.

Such a day ... :roll: :roll: :roll:

Which lane were you in?....the left passing lane or the right lanes? And what was your speed and what was the speed limit?

 

[Bulk Beef]

Serves you right for being a rubbernecker.

 

[Turkish]

Originally posted by: CRXican

Originally posted by: slick230

Originally posted by: CRXican

Originally posted by: jumpr
You shouldn't have been sitting pretty in the left lane. It's for passing.

The VSP officer was wrong to tailgate you, but if you wanted to drive the speed limit, you should have stayed to the right.

Biggest bunch of sh1t I've ever heard. You're supposed to drive the speed limit in ALL lanes.

What about the phrase "passing lane" do you NOT understand?

There's no such thing as a passing lane

Yes there is trollboi.

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: CRXican

Originally posted by: jumpr
You shouldn't have been sitting pretty in the left lane. It's for passing.

The VSP officer was wrong to tailgate you, but if you wanted to drive the speed limit, you should have stayed to the right.

Biggest bunch of sh1t I've ever heard. You're supposed to drive the speed limit in ALL lanes.

Is it really now?

<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://§ 46.2-842. Driver to give way to overtaking vehicle. <B">
Except when overtaking and passing on the right is permitted, the driver of an overtaken vehicle shall give way to the right in favor of the overtaking vehicle on audible signal and shall not increase the speed of his vehicle until completely passed by the overtaking vehicle. Any over-width, or slow-moving vehicle as defined by § 46.2-1081 shall be removed from the roadway at the nearest suitable location when necessary to allow traffic to pass.

(Code 1950, § 46-227; 1958, c. 541, § 46.1-211; 1979, c. 361; 1989, c. 727.) ">The Code of Virginia would argue differently</a>

§ 46.2-842. Driver to give way to overtaking vehicle.

Except when overtaking and passing on the right is permitted, the driver of an overtaken vehicle shall give way to the right in favor of the overtaking vehicle on audible signal and shall not increase the speed of his vehicle until completely passed by the overtaking vehicle. Any over-width, or slow-moving vehicle as defined by § 46.2-1081 shall be removed from the roadway at the nearest suitable location when necessary to allow traffic to pass.

(Code 1950, § 46-227; 1958, c. 541, § 46.1-211; 1979, c. 361; 1989, c. 727.)

I realize that his statement is foolsih as there are INDEED passing lanes, but they are relative as is speed.
Passing lanes are all but non-existant as it is more a designation for the farthest left lane. In cities, leaving the farthest left lane for passing is not even practical.

As for speed, as a Virgiian you should know that they use the term " safe speed" quite a bit. This is quite relative and annoying in legal reasoning, but it explains why the law is sometimes ambiguous when it comes to a SPECIFIC number. OF course the cops take advantage of the numbers too😀

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: ThisIsMatt
Same type of thing happened to my sister. Some a-hole cop (no light bar) was tailing her really close and she ended up rolling a stop trying to get away from him. He then proceeds to pull her over and give her a ticket.

Sorry, but that is your sisters fault.

 

[Mellman]

While its not right the cop was tailgating you, its also not right you were traveling in the left lane, doing the speed limit....unless there was traffic(hah, always traffic im in fairfax) I've had cops do that too, but as I'm sure you know, all the other citizens up here are just as bad...tonight i saw some a-hole on the toll road out by reston, came flying up behidn me in the right lane, and there was a marked state trooper, he tailgates the trooper, cuts off the person in the middle lane, cuts off the right lane, and speeds around and proceeds to try to get in the left lane....on go the flashers and he's getting himself a ticket, i couldnt believe he'd do this in front of a cop? how could you NOT see a big ass cop car?

But in all honesty....if your going the speed limit, get the fvck out of the left lane.

 

[Svnla]

Down here in Louisiana, the cop can give you a ticket for driving the speed limit on the left hand line (passing lane). We just have a new law "Rolling Road Blocker".

 

[Vic]

Obviously, you should have gotten your slow ass out of the passing lane. OTOH, it is illegal for even a cop to speed without his lights on, and it is also illegal for his to tailgate (but who watches the watchers?).
Anyway, you did the right thing. Tailgating is a common game that cops play in order to spook you into doing something wrong. In a similar circumstance, I saw a cop tailgate a guy forward, forcing him to speed up in order to get over to the right. The officer then pulled the car over, probably to give him a speeding ticket.
The right thing to do in that case is to simple wait for a time when, while travelling at or below the speed limit, you can get over to the right.

 

[T2T III]

OK, Allow me to respond to a few comments:

Obviously, you should have gotten your slow ass out of the passing lane.

I would have loved to, but the right lane was full of traffic. In order to get out of the lane, I would have had to excessively speed up (a big no-no with a cop on your butt) and then I would have been tailgating a car in front of me.

You shouldn't have been sitting pretty in the left lane. It's for passing.

Believe me, I don't like driving in the left lane. It was my intention to get out of the lane as soon as I could, but the circumstances, were less than ideal at the moment.

Serves you right for being a rubbernecker

Do you even know what a rubbernecker is? A rubbernecker is not someone who drives the speed limit in the left lane, but a person who gawks at accidents and impedes the flow of traffic.

Which lane were you in?....the left passing lane or the right lanes? And what was your speed and what was the speed limit?

Left passing lane. I was driving 45-46 M.P.H. and the speed limit was 45 M.P.H. in that zone.

 

[Doggiedog]

I saw some funny sh!t last week.

I was merging onto the highway and got up to 65mph when a police car blew by in the left lane at about 80mph. I didn't see it since I was screened out by an 18 wheeler. But following the police car was some guy in a Mercury Sable completely tailgating him. Looking at the police car, it was a Port Authority police car (part of the police department in NY and NJ that deals with bridges, tunnels, bus stations, airports, etc.) so I figured he didn't have the authority to pull anyone over because this was on the interstate. When traffic clears up this guy goes to pass the cop suddenly the cop turns on his lights and pulls him over. What a dumbass!

 

[Bulk Beef]

Originally posted by: Tiles2Tech

Serves you right for being a rubbernecker

Do you even know what a rubbernecker is? A rubbernecker is not someone who drives the speed limit in the left lane, but a person who gawks at accidents and impedes the flow of traffic.

You're a NoVa driver, therefore, you are a rubbernecker.

You people make my commute hell.

 

[T2T III]

Originally posted by: sward666

Originally posted by: Tiles2Tech

Serves you right for being a rubbernecker

Do you even know what a rubbernecker is? A rubbernecker is not someone who drives the speed limit in the left lane, but a person who gawks at accidents and impedes the flow of traffic.

You're a NoVa driver, therefore, you are a rubbernecker.

You people make my commute hell.

Oh, I see. Your driving isn't taken into consideration - therefore, you are a perfect driver?

 

[Match]

OP, same thing has happened to me, also in NoVa.
To others that are being hard on the OP, it is possible to be in the left hand lane, going the speed limit, and passing someone - all at the same time! Granted, it doesn't happen very often.