because like in the UK, the cop is suppose to be a deterent to speeding and thus make it a safer road. when the cop hides, it is presumed that the cop is there to write a ticket and make money, not to reduce speeding.

maybe that is the reason in canada.

 

I have noticed around here the police do stereotype people based on the car they drive. Small imports will get pulled over for very minor infringements, whereas a Cadillac or a truck is far less apt to get pulled over.

The only advice I have is drive the speed limit and don't do anything stupid.

 

The 'deterrent' to the speeders is when the cop is on the side of the road writing the previous speeder a citation.....That sight tends to slow down the upcoming drivers.....Also, there's this wonderful little invention called "VASCAR"....The cop can be following a car on the interstate and gauging their speed based on how fast the intervals are on landmarks that the miscreant is passing......

Hiding isn't a no-no in NC....I don't know Canada, though.....

And there's a reason that the under -25 crowd gets higher insurance rates than others---and it ain't overzealous cops targeting the younger crowd either.....

 

hey, didn't say i agreed with it. i do not speed, never had a speeding ticket and do not like it when others speed also. it gives me great joy to see someone get pulled over for speeding.

 

Hiding is a realtive term though.

In town here it is not uncommmon for a cop with the gun hiding behind a 10" diameter light standard with his Orange X vest on.,

With his car parked around the corner with 2 other officers writing.


In problem areas in Alberta police have been given more latitude to set up .

They can park on an overpass and aim the gun anywhere they want .....then with pick up cars get them a Km down the road.


Too many people think the law doesn't apply to them.

Who cares how they are caught

 

The laws about hiding vary from state to state, some I think need to be a little more strict about not hiding. I agree the deterent is what they are supposed to be doing. Take Ohio, they can't park at night with their lights off, if they are doing radar they must at least have their lights on, now this is a good idea for safety reasons, also I believe it's ohio that says they can't use unmarked cars for traffic enforcement, this is another good idea. The use of unmarked cars by traffic enforcement is just personally a bad idea on many levels, first is the obvious if your not visible your not much of a deterent. Police are more effective when they are trying to deter crimes then trying to punish people for them. The use of unmarked cars is nothing more than revenue gathering. Next reason for not using unmarked cars has to do with people getting used to being pulled over by them, there is a couple instances where this has been bad. In Iowa the state patrol uses cars with odd colors, some even have mag wheels, and tinted windows (which is illegal in the state of Iowa BTW to have windows tinted byond 87%) with cover plates so you have virtually no idea it's a cop car, then pull people over. Yet there was a news reporter that disappeared years ago and they still haven't found her body, last anyone saw her they thought she had been pulled over by a unmarked cop car turns out probably not really a cop. Next especially since 9/11 I heard of a instance down in Florida where what is presumed to have been a possible attempt by a possible terrorist to hijack a tanker truck using an unmarked White SUV (in this case it was a ford expidition) the driver got suspicous and drove off calling the state troopers, when a trooper finally got to where they were the expi ran off never to be seen again. Ok same day I am driving down teh road and here is a silver Ford explorer with regular plates and NO markings with lights in the grill that had a tanker load of gas pulled over, now how are we supposed to telll the difference between a cop and a bad guy that bought some lights off the interent and installed them in his grill. Lately there has been numerous robberies, rapes, and kidnappings by people doing exactly that, but if the cops where by law forced to use marked vehicles in traffic stops people wouldn't be so inclined to stop for these bad guys, or they would be more noticable and maybe some people would even be alive still.
So when the polices activities have a tendency to make us LESS safe and only for revenue gathering that practice needs to go away.

 

there worse than deer hunters

 

I had to chuckle at this statement. I don't think you meant to, but why are the criminals that commit these crimes with these "ghost" vehicles totally overlooked in this sitauation. Who's job is it to catch them? So what are people going to want next? Police cars and vehicles to look like parade floats with loud music and fireworks shooting out of it so they can hear be heard and seen at all times?

If you don't want to get stopped for speeding or running a yellow light or other traffic offences, don't commit them. It shouldn't matter that the police have unmarked cars.

It's pretty simple if you ask me.

 

I agree to a point, criminal behavior is different than speeding though. There is definitely a need for unmarked police cars, for sure. For traffic enforcement, visibility is a very good deterrent. But what if your wife or daughter is being pulled over at night by some "unmarked" car. How do you feel about it now? Ever heard of abduction by people that impersonate LEO's? I have.

Re, the op.,

Prolly should face the judge and hope that he had a nice morning on his way to work and wasn't run off the road by some crazy speeder.

 

"If you don't want to get stopped for speeding or running a yellow light or other traffic offences, don't commit them. It shouldn't matter that the police have unmarked cars."

guess you never been to small town florida, alabama or what ever other smallville.

some will pull you over for whatever reason they can think of, the "dirty" license tag is a popualr one, but point is, out of area tags, you are a target for their revenue searching.

plus i love it how if a town is near any state highway, the speed limit mysteriously goes from 55mph to 30mph without warning and often the new speed limit starts over a hill or is obscured by some overgrown trees, not enough to be illegal but enough so you don't take notice because there is nothing around the area that would have you beleive you are entering a town.

i don't know if is still in practice or not, but many towns use to buy a small strip of land by a state highway so they could introduce a lower speed limit in hopes of collecting revenue from those who decided not to slow down for the 50 feet the speed limit is reduced.

and pulling over for an undercover car? in florida i will never pull over for one at night.

when i lived in washington i had an "undercover" pull me over, i pulled over then the car pulled in behind me then took off by me with some guys in there laughing at what they did. the car was not a real cop car obviously, but had the little in grill lights and the headlights strobed and had the perfectly clean look even.

i got the plate number and turned it in, never found out what happened, i guess the idiots did not figure in the license plate.

 

I agree with ya on the criminal behaviour is different than speeding statement. And I will also agree that pulling someone over at night with a "ghost" car probably isn't a great idea.

If someone is going to abduct another by impersonating a cop, what can be done about it really?

The same thing can happen to your wife or daughter walking thru the mall parking lot or answering the door.

It's sad but it happens.

 

one of my class mates was arrested for that, he didnt graduate though, if that tells ya something.

more and more people there are, more and more disorders there will be.



the line i like best----------more and more people i meet, the more i like dogs(n.e.heardsman)

 

The same thing happens everywhere. I just find it funny when people "actually" get caught for doing it and deny or wonder what they did wrong. And then get pissed off because they get a ticket.

So if your "tags" ( i take it this means insurance and registration ) are all paid for and up to date, what does it matter if you get pulled over. They are not getting any revenue from you if they can't find anything wrong. What would happen if that car with "dirty tags" runs into you? Would you be mad that your not covered because he doesn't have insurance? Or if you mean by not visible because the tag is "dirty", how hard is it to wipe the dirt off? ( I think this more what you are getting at )

And in alot of the cases this small town has to have these sign locations approved by the State's Transportation Department. I'm sure the State has restrictions and so forth for highway safety. Police have little say in how a town wants to govern speed thru the town. They are there to inforce it.

 

You guys missed my point totally, I have no problem with unmarked cars when used by say detectives, or such what I do have a problem is unmarked, and I don't just mean ones without lights on the roof I am talking totally unmarked even to the point of not having official lic plates which is what Iowa does being used as traffic enforcement vehicles. The law allowing for "cover" plates which arelic plates that are regular state plates used on passenger cars yet aren't he official plates for the vehicle they are on. BTW Cover plates are also flagged so if someone runs them to find out registered owner they come back to the undercover cops, cover ID and also flagged so the person doing the searching is now on the list of watched persons, but should only be used in situations where it is actually being used to catch REAL criminals, usually used in Vice and drug enforcement undercover operations.
I don't have a problem with "hidding" in Iowa they park a pickup in a construction zone with a guy sitting in the back, or park a back hoe with someone in it running a radar gun (they have several different versions of this) and a radio he calls down the road with the speed and vehicle info then sitting on the next on ramp is a couple of chase cars, these chase vehicles NEED to be fully marked, unmarked should NEVER be allowed for traffic violation enforcement it does not make us safer.

 

i have never even got a ticket and i am pissed off about it, cops are not there to harrass people.



i meant was they look for anything to pull you over, the tag is not dirty, they just use it as an excuse to pull you over and myabe to find something else, some equipment violation or whatever to find, they know you will just pay and not return all the way back to go to court just to prove you are right.

where i grew up in small town kansas, the police were vocal and unashamed of doing this with people. police many times look for an excuse just to pull someone over, kind of deters from what the police are there for.

even when working in security in the Navy i, or anyone else could bend rules in our favor in pulling someone over, searching them or whatever. it could be argued of course but by the letter of the rules, we had all rights to do it.



umm, i don't know what state you are from, but it is not the case in many states. when a town buys a strip of land near a highway, it is now "city" property even though it could be 20 miles from the actual city. the city then has the right to control the speeds through the town limits. police do have a say because in small towns, the police and town government are essentially one unit. the town wants revenue and so does the police, they cooperate very good together. the state approves it because it does not want to take any part in a town's financial troubles, its much easier to give them what they want.

i remeber florida doing this a lot and it even made national news on a few news programs, i think since then they have curbed that abuse there, but it probably still happens most likely until someone makes issue out of a certain town.