Houston: Deputy constable hit by SUV on tollway dies

...but I can tell you from first hand experience that you are supposed to pull over immediately (within reason) when an officer turns on his sirens. I was passing through the toll booth on the Dallas North Tollway at Parker Road in Plano when the Trooper in the lane next to me decided to slipstream behind me and turn on his sirens. Having seen too many of the stories you alluded to, I preceeded to the next exit with my blinker on (which was about 1/2 up the road). I stopped in the parking lot of the convenience store at that exit. The two Troopers jumped out of their car, guns blazing and ordered me to get out of the car and put my hands on the side of the car. They proceeded to frisk me and asked why I was running. Running??? I pulled over to the nearest spot that I felt was safe for both of us and I had my turn signal on the entire time so that they knew what I was doing. They suggested that someone who does not pull over immediately must have something to hide (e.g. I could have been hiding drugs, a weapon, etc.). I suggested they search my car if they truly felt that was the case. Needless to say they did not take it further, wrote me a ticket, and sent me on my way.

I was furious for days but was told by my attorney to let it go. He said this particular Trooper gets many complaints and one more will probably not do any good. He did confirm that you are supposed to pull over as quickly as possible when an officer turns on his lights. I will still never do it on the side of a freeway, both for my safety and the safety of the officer(s) pulling me over.

JJB

 

New Law also requires you to change lanes and reduce speed by 20MPH.......but it's in English, sorry........

 

It only takes an eye blink of inattention to lose ALL that stuff, brudda.....

Sorry to hear of this, and forward our condolences to him......

 

You people reading this have NO IDEA what it is like to try to commute safely to work every day among the MILLIONS of illegals here....no idea at all.....they drive like sheeeit.

Stinky taco laden, chorizo sheeeit man........

*sticking new 100 Club sticker on the back*

And the construction trash and loose ladders in the road, makes it tough on tires as well.....

Goodyear is #1 in Racing...

 

The problem is that we all get complacent behind the wheel. We become numb to the fact that we are driving a several thousand pound vehicle at a high rate of speed in close proximity to other vehicles. Because of this complacency our attention wanders. In this case it could have wondered to a cell phone conversation or to a conversation with passengers or to any number of things. This is complicated by the fact that the officer was a motorcycle cop and his lights were probably lower and of less intensity than those on a cruiser’s light bar. This may have lessened the distance in which the officer was visible and allowed a short period of distraction to become catastrophic. I really wonder if it is a wise policy to have motorcycle cops pulling people over on congested highways. Nevertheless, it appears that the officer did everything right and was not standing in the lane of traffic and the driver of the SUV left his lane striking both the motorcycle, car and officer who were on the side of the road. Not only does the SUV driver have the duty to stay in his lane, he has the duty to either change lanes away from the officer or decrease his speed to a speed 20 mph less than the posted speed. It appears that for whatever reason the SUV driver failed on both accounts. Many lives will be altered significantly as a result. However, all of this is based solely on a newspaper account of a police investigation of an injury to one of their own. It will be interesting to see how the facts develop as the investigation continues. You just hate to see this type of thing and know that you can only offer condolences to the officer’s friends and family.

P.S. - Could someone explain the relevance of Mexican drivers to this thread. From the article it seems that the only person connected with this story of potentially Mexican heritage is the reference to Officer Lopez who was injured by a drunk driver.

 

Very sad indeed, prayers out to the family.
I may drive up for his funeral. I attended the SAPD officer's funeral this past past Thursday. As for location for stopping, it could be kinda 'iffy. Usually activate my lights where I want the driver to pull over, or direct them over the PA. I've seen some who get upset when people don't pull over immediately and some who don't pull over in an appropriate spot. I don't know if I'd blame the driver for pulling over there. Pending traffic, the officer may have felt comfortable stopping there, may have been doing it all morning.

How far over did this guy drift??? The officer's motorcycle was hit, then the car, then the officer. The driver must have been over a decent amount, sad.

RIP Deputy Constable Jason Norling
BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS,
FOR THEY SHALL BE CALLED THE CHILDREN OF GOD
Matthew 5:9

 

I hadn't heard that the SUV hit the motorcycle and the other car. The story I heard on channel 11 this morning did not mention those details (or any details really). Typical.

 

yep.....here's the section from the article posted by the thread starter:

 

I had an officer REALLY mad at me - I pulled over and stopped so quickly he nearly rear-ended me!

I realized we were on a four-lane road and there really wasn't room for him to safely get out to talk (yell) at me, so I signalled and pulled into a parking lot about 20 yards down the road.

After yelling, he kind of cooled off and said he never had anyone stop so fast for him. ;D

 

It's the truth, not to mention the millions of LEGAL citizens who don't know how to drive either. I could go on about that.

There have been countless numbers of people killed or seriously injured right outside my parents neighborhood (Jersey Village). And I know of two for certain that were illegals running a redlight and killed the other driver. Be careful if your around the 290 and Senate feeder roads.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims loved ones. I'm sure the guy who did this is sincerely sorry and will feel guilt for the rest of his life. I personally hope he doesn't get hit with the negligent homicide. I could only imagine the driver that was pulled over is experiencing their own grief of witnessing this whole thing.

I hope this story alone makes at least a few people who always talk on their phones or do other things get hands free, and/or give up talking while driving all together.

 

It is rough on the defense but they have to come up with something.

The guy was hit prior at 35mph? Seems like SUVs are built tough as they are advertised. =/ I can see how he could have been not in a good mindset, he was hit by a woman who was taken off to the hospital. But the alignment, naaah. Ain't gonna happen unless it is within five minutes of driving. That's my two cents.