Guest Post by Eric Peters
They say “speed kills.” Here is a case-in-point.
A cop driving at very high speed struck and killed a motorcycle rider who had the bad luck to be in the wrong place at the wrong time – that place and time being in the path of the cop’s speeding car. The cop was driving so fast he’d outrun his sight lines; as he crested a gentle rise the bike was suddenly in his path. He never knew what hit him.
Literally.
Ironically – tragically – the cop was speeding to catch up with a speeder; that is to say, a driver who was going faster than the sign by the road says one may. No one knows how fast he was going. We only know how fast the cop was going – and what the result of that was.
We also know what the cause of that was.
The cop was determined to catch the “speeder” – and to do that, was willing to drive at whatever speed was necessary to catch up to him. Including speeds defined as reckless speed under the law, when someone who is not a cop drives that fast. As an example, it is prima facie “reckless driving” in Virginia to drive any faster than 80 MPH anywhere – irrespective of the speed limit (even when the speed limit is 70 MPH, as on some Virginia highways). But how can a cop running radar by the side of the highway catch up to a “speeder” doing say 83 MPH except by speeding even more than that?
And how is that not “reckless”?
Keeping in mind the cop running radar is typically sitting by the side of the road. How else is he going to close the distance between himself and that car that just passed by him doing 83 except by speeding a lot faster than that? If he drives within the speed limit, he will never catch up and the “speeder” will “get away.”
And so the cop speeds – often at speeds much higher than the speed of the car he’s trying to catch up to . . . in order to “bust” the driver for “speeding.”
This is an oddity – an incongruity – vis-a-vis the mantra of the Safety Cult (and the courts) that “speed kills.”
As it did in this case. Legally – officially.
Rather than charges or even repercussions for the speeding cop – who was driving so fast that he had almost no time to react to the sudden appearance of that motorcycle in his path – sympathy and condolences.
He meant no harm, of course. But neither, probably, did the “speeder” he was attempting to catch up to.
And that “speeder” killed no one.
Despite the fact, the “speeder” will be blamed for the death of motorcyclist killed by the speeding cop by people who seem to think that “speed” does not “kill” when it is a cop doing the “speeding.”
But the law must be enforced!
At any cost?
In every case?
“Speeding” – as such – is a statutory offense. It is not a crime, properly (morally) speaking, in that it does not follow that “speeding” causes harm to anyone. If it did, few of us would risk driving – given practically every car on the road is “speeding,” which is a consequence of the fact that speed limits are almost always set below the reasonable speed most people drive. In order to make “speeders” of everyone, so as to make it easier to collect fines for “speeding” from almost anyone.
If you take issue with that then you must insist that most drivers are unreasonable by dint of the fact that most of them drive faster than whatever the speed limit is – and that’s not a reasonable argument.
Just the same as Prohibition – also widely defied – was not a reasonable law. Yet for years, Prohibition was enforced by any means necessary by officers of the law.
It is a similar situation with regard to speed laws – and the officers who enforce them. Their mandate – like that given to Prohibition-era cops – is to catch “speeders,” by any means necessary. If that means driving twice or even three times faster than whatever the posted speed limit is, then so be it.
The “speeder” must be caught!
If someone gets killed in the process, that’s just the price that has to be paid. By someone else, who had nothing to do with any of it.
The problem compounds because the “speeder” also has an incentive – to get away. The driver who is driving 83 on a highway with a 70 MPH speed limit and so driving not much faster than the normal flow of traffic when he drives past the cop hiding by the side of the road knows he is about to get a “ticket” – possibly for “reckless driving.” It gives him an incentive to drive faster than 83 MPH, in the hope that he might put as much distance between himself and the cop – and hundreds of dollars (possibly, thousands, if it’s a “reckless” charge) in fines.
The cop must drive even faster to catch up to the “speeder.” And now they are both really “speeding,” with the admixture of adrenaline and fear that attends a chase.
Some will say the “speeder” ought to just pull over. But – in the first place – he might not even be aware that a speeding cop is trying to catch up to him. And – in the second – the speeding cop closing on him, lights and siren blaring – can trigger the same understandable response as the sight of a German Shepherd off-leash and snarling.
It’s a dangerous dynamic – far more so than this maniacal obsession (in some parts) with catching “speeders,” no matter what it takes .
And no matter who happens to get in the way.
It is my sincere desire to provide readers of this site with the best unbiased information available, and a forum where it can be discussed openly, as our Founders intended. But it is not easy nor inexpensive to do so, especially when those who wish to prevent us from making the truth known, attack us without mercy on all fronts on a daily basis. So each time you visit the site, I would ask that you consider the value that you receive and have received from The Burning Platform and the community of which you are a vital part. I can't do it all alone, and I need your help and support to keep it alive. Please consider contributing an amount commensurate to the value that you receive from this site and community, or even by becoming a sustaining supporter through periodic contributions. [Burning Platform LLC - PO Box 1520 Kulpsville, PA 19443] or Paypal
-----------------------------------------------------
To donate via Stripe, click here.
-----------------------------------------------------
Use promo code ILMF2, and save up to 66% on all MyPillow purchases. (The Burning Platform benefits when you use this promo code.)
Biker was trying to get out of the way!
If you or I ran into that motorcycle rider, we’d be charged with vehicular homicide or at least manslaughter…this popo will get off with not even a warning.
I used to be a motorcycle rider myself until my town got overrun with browners in Corollas and Caravans. I can hardly drive my giant SUV around town without seeing people routinely running stop signs, being unable to complete proper lane changes or navigate a traffic circle.
I still have my bike, but don’t expect to ride it until we’re able to secure an acreage in the middle of nowhere Alberta.
Getting plowed into by an old geezer in Brenham, Texas ended my bike riding.
He never called to see how I was doing, or say he was sorry for fucking me all up.
I Manned myself back to work and am OK for my age.
Yep, been riding since the late 90s…first on a Suzuki, and now on a Honda…I don’t need someone not paying attention turning left in front of me as I ride right through a clear green light. On my motorcycle course they said this is the most common way motorcyclists get killed around here. Oh the other best piece of motorcycle training…look where you want to go.
I can’t tell you the number of fellows I work with who gave up their bikes either when they had a near miss left turn accident or their wife said we have kids now…you riding the bike is too risky.
The Cop too…Too bad they both miscalculate…And with speed like that, it’s very hard NOT to cause an accident.
That is why I despise the system. Money grubbing, power hungry assholes.
Obey and Pay
Remember that speeding ticket I received on Route 88 between Albany and Binghamton where I was going 88 mph (yes, irony) in a 65 mph zone?
I was very polite to the police officer who caught me (what else should I have done? I was legitimately speeding, might as well be polite and respectful – he was respectful in return). It truly was a downer at the time, because I hadn’t had a speeding ticket in….at least 20 years?
The cop, in return for my demeanor, gave me the lowest radar speed possible he said – 11 miles over the speed limit, 76 in a 65. I said thank you, officer.
I contacted a local lawyer and paid him $395 to negotiate the ticket down with the prosecutor by telling him several mitigating circumstances, and he got it knocked down to a no-points non-moving violation.
The issue was that if the 3 points had made it to my MA insurance, it would have gone up for 6 years, and that would have cost more than the $395 over that 6 years.
I guess the system gets your money one way or the other.
Yes, it does.
Especially in the commonwealth of Taxachusetts fuck that place!
For at least 30 years the state of Kansas has allowed their prosecutors to offer to not report your conviction on a traffic offense if you will pay an additional 50% of the assessed fine. The bribe money goes into some kind of “police fund”. Last time around I refused their offer, taking my chances. Turns out the conviction never caused an auto insurance premium hit-likely because I was an out of state driver. The prosecutor was a tub of lard and probably was too lazy to do the extra work to report my offense to the Insurance Mafia. Though one of the kids-with a Kansas drivers license-got hit with a premium increase after refusing to take the bribe.
Insurance companies got the law changed in Kansas you can no longer pay double to reduce to a non-moving.
Passing though SC, I was pulled over for speeding by a Black Highway patrolman, who laughingly gave me the ticket, because he thought it was funny that my Cobra radar detector wasn’t as fast as his trigger finger on the radar gun. When I heard the beep , it was too late.
I told him I was was just passing through and to save me the trouble of going to court to pay the fine, could he just estimate the amount and I would give the cash money to forward to the court. Of course he could, so I gave him a crisp $100 dollar bill and I was on my way…needless to say, I never saw that ticket appear on my driving record…but others…phew… lost my license for 90 days that year due to points from speeding….did I mention , I travelled a lot for work , and wasted no time getting there… so I drove 90 days sans a license albeit a lot slower.
Pigs are NOT your friend.
I am sorry for the both of them.
https://policestatefilm.net/
Looking at the video I am wondering WTF is the trooper doing in the far right trying to pass the bike on the right.
The cop should at least have been in the left lane in his reckless pursuit. “Serve and Protect”…right.
Correct. Anyone hearing a siren behind them should be pulling over to the right, onto the shoulder. When that cop came up upon the biker suddenly, his proper action would be to pull over further to the left, into the oncoming but empty lane, to pass the slower biker on the left.
Even proper situation awareness didn’t save this biker. If I was his family, I’d sue for millions. But – and its a big but – that biker should not have been in the passing lane unless he was passing somebody. That’s one of many golden rules that us bikers who have survived this long still live by. For me that’s 44 yrs of riding and still counting.
I had something similar happen to me a number of years ago when I was still working and commuted by bicycle, but obviously with less severe consequences. One of the residential streets I occassionally used was very wide, much wider than a normal residential, but the speed limit was still 25. One day as I rode along, a car passed me going 35 or so, not alarmingly fast for that street. Well, about 5 seconds after it passed me, a cop who was speed-trappng on a side street pulled out and passed me going about 55-60 to catch up. No siren, just flashers. It startled me so much I almost fell off my bike, but landed on my feet. When I caught up to where the cop had the car pulled over, I said wtf, you almost knocked me off my bike. The cop just glared and said something to the effect that if I knew what was good for me, I’d just keep on riding. To protect and serve, my ass
I prefer riding in the dirt. I had a lady pull out in front of me and she said the same thing many people will say about motorcycles” I didn’t see him” It was very painful bouncing off that car, Between that and all the deer and elk here that wipe out cars I just am not into street bikes. Any contact with the cops is usually a bad thing. Like being a politician the job attracts the wrong kind of people. cops are not hired for their intelligence.
Amen!
When I lived in Charlotte part-time (1999-2008), at least one happened every year.
The POLICE are and have always been the jackboots of the state.
They are not responsible for your safety (per SCOTUS).
They are not there to serve (you).
They serve the bureaucratic state.
They do not even make into the top 10 high risk jobs.
But defunding the police is a mistake.
Defund the state, the source of the problem.
Indeed, they are there to serve you…right up on a platter…
They enforce POLICY, hence POLICE. They enforce corporate policy of the INCORPORATED CITY, which is not law.
To hell with the police and there never ending excuse making supporters. This is coming from an ex-suppoter.
I remember having a polite discussion with an off-duty cop, who pulled me over in his personal car for passing him on the right. He was a left lane hog, either unaware of the traffic around him or deliberately trying to set the traffic pace while off-duty. Needless to say, he didn’t issue a ticket.
LEO’s have a great deal of issues to deal with and it is a difficult job . It requires an individual with a heightened state of awareness along with a calm state of decision making under combat stress situations ! These people often are out of touch with the average Joe or Jane and hence the LEO gives little consideration to those around them in the heat of the moment .
I often wonder when I hear a news report , officer fired weapon multiple times but missed the suspect. Where did all the bullets end up and who is responsible for the damage .
If any law abiding citizen discharges a weapon they are responsible from the time they pull the trigger till the round stops .
Consider that LEO’s have a high rate of alcoholism , domestic abuse , divorce and suicide their emotional and mental state of mind and control under stress requires constant monitoring and attention.
Just doing my job going through the motions is fine for a doughnut maker but not for LEO’s
My neighbor, who’s wife sent him to the butcher shop to get something for dinner was killed by a speeding cop chasing Foo Foo in a stolen car. She never got over it and he was sorely missed in the neighbor. The cop went on to retire with a fat city pension , proving once again that government pwnd fat and stupid really does pay.
After reading the comments, I see that most hate the police. Given the choice of having no police and roving gangs of criminals and self-appointed vigilantes, I’ll choose police every time. I was a military cop (not by choice) during the Vietnam era and was taught two things. Never fire your weapon to wound or incapacitate – shoot to kill only. The logic is that if you do not intend to kill, you should not pull your weapon, and dead men cannot testify. Also, if a person is trying to flee from you or fight you, logic dictates that he must have committed an act so heinous that would justify his fear of being brought to justice so he must not be allowed to escape to harm others again. When my four years were up, I decided against being a cop because I did not want to have to deal with the worst society has to offer, day in and day out.
We got by perfectly well without the stasi for the first hundred or so years of the republic’s existence, and could well do so again. As with all of the other formerly honorable institutions in this country, the police have descended into being little more than a state-sanctioned mob with qualified immunity. They are a standing army, which is utterly incompatible with the needs of a free state.
Don’t worry, this won’t change the mind of the boot lickers. And that is at least 90% of the population.
Where I live its not the speeders that are the issue but get entirely ALL the blame. Theres hardly a stretch of straight road long enough for more than one, maybe two cars to pass a slower driver.
Here our speed limit is 50mph or 80kph, and we get asswipes driving 35mph/55kph and jam up traffic behind them and never pull over to allow traffic to pass. So people take more risks passing because the front 3 or 4 douche bags won’t pass the lead asswipe. So instead of ticketing the asswipes jamming up traffic, impeding the flow, they go after the guys that pass these asswipes. And, the asswipes intentionally drive slow because I know some of them, they are doing it to keep peep safe from speeding.
Its all BS brainwashing to keep you in the don’t question and obey them that rule over you. I don’t wear a seatbelt, pretty much never except when bushwack’n and I speed too, according to the overseers’. I ride a bike, head on swivel, and will ride until I can’t. Certainly not going to stop because I’m fearful somebody runs into me, and I have had that happen already too.
Feel bad for the biker, and distain for the cop.
Cop should have never tried to undertake (pass on the right) as the motorcycle looked like he was making way by heading to the shoulder.
So long as LEO have qualified immunity, they will continue to murder citizens at will, and without remorse.