pulled over at day 8 of ownership is this normal

Always annoys me when I see this comment. 90% of my traffic stops result in verbal warnings, and 100% of them could have resulted in a citation. I'm not sure why everyone has it in their head that they're the victim of a bad stop when they catch a break. Almost makes me want to write every stop, just so they don't feel "violated" by me being lenient, but I can't bring myself to do that and end up writing that one guy that would genuinely appreciate the warning for what it is - a warning.

 

+1000

I try (unsuccessfully) to avoid commenting on LE threads anymore. I will add everyone could remember a traffic stop does not require Probable Cause. It only requires reasonable suspicion a much lower standard for a legal stop.

 

The whren case used probable cause language and some states have strengthened that through their own appellate decisions (that was on the 90s when I was in school so I haven't tracked anywhere but my own state). Reasonable suspicion (reasonable articulable suspicion in my state) has had its definition refined over time in many appellate cases here and I assume has in other states too. Not all states use RS (most do as I understand it).

But yes, RS to stop and PC to arrest in my state is technically more correct, but if we want to fine tune it more, without a statutory violation there's no RAS here either. The subjective violations like "negligent driving" have been tossed here as not enough. Other states may differ on that.

One of my best friends does traffic almost exclusively. She doesn't bring it up for things like stopped for no headlights at 3am going wrong way on one-way-street, but for things like described in the thread has a wonderful success rate of suppressing everything after the stop.

I guess important to know how your jurisdiction leans on the issue.
(Have a few drinks....Not while driving... With a local criminal attorney).

 

Protect and Serve is LAPD's motto; what's your data re the CHP's history of "bad stops"? Since their primary mission is traffic enforcement, I'm interested to see the metrics you're using.

As other have said, in OC it is not at all unusual to see expensive and exotic cars on the roadway. Of course, any red or yellow car draws more attention (the colors can be seen more easily), and exotic cars draw attention of their own. With 43,000 sections of the Vehicle Code, however, lots of cars are violating one of them most all of the time. That means there is no shortage of opportunity for a traffic officer to stop a car if they see a violation- the roadways are a target rich environment for enforcement, as anyone who drives the roads already knows from seeing so many knucklehead moves by other drivers whenever we drive.

In most instances, sweeping across six lanes of traffic will draw an officer's attention no matter what you're driving. The CA Vehicle Code does not necessarily preclude such a movement, so the conditions, presence of other vehicles and other factors all relate to the culpability of the driver.

At 70 mph, you're traveling a little more than 102 feet per second. When changing lanes, the majority of possible threats are in your blind spots, which are generally larger in low-slung vehicles (unless you're driving with the top down). At night, the perception of speed and distance of other objects is also distorted depending on the ambient light. If something "appears" in your mirror or peripheral vision, your reaction time will depend on your 1) sensation (hey, something's there, I think), perception/recognition (crap, it's a car, I think), 2) your situational awareness (applying your sensory information into memory to draw up the range of possible responses - this takes awhile if the sensory input has surprised you); 3) response selection (turn away, slow down, hit the brakes, pray), 3) movement time (foot off the gas and onto the brake, do I shift down, too?) and then 4) the device response time (that pesky physics of movement). Add to that the time it takes for the vehicle to move or slow, and you can cover a lot of ground before you complete your work to avoid a collision. With an average time to do all of this being about 1.5 seconds, you've also gone about 150 feet before starting your avoidance maneuvers if necessary.

Since we are talking about changing six lanes (open freeway, lots of visibility, but also broad blind spots with that width), the task is to ensure each lane is clear as you move into it, so the process of sensation to movement occurs in rapid sequence.

So you turn on your turn signal (or not) and start moving to the right. Lane changes cause about 9 percent of all collisions nationally, so it is a driving behavior cops watch for to help lessen the frequency of those violations. If you're driving at night, a significant percentage of people in other cars have been drinking (not a shock), and many of the sober ones are busy texting or listening to music with buds in their ears. Whether or not this specific driving action violated the law is predicated on the circumstance; being stopped by the police by a relatively continuous multiple lane change on a freeway at night would not be beyond the pale of reasonable conduct by the officer who watched the movement (since they are charged with working to lower the number of folks killed while driving).

As also said, not getting a citation, in most circumstances, means it is your lucky day, and not that the officer stopped you without a reason. YMMV, my thoughts only.

 

+1, my thoughts also.

On the highway, outside of “maybe” speed, I drive all my cars relatively the same. Funny how for me it’s the family SUV that tends to get the tickets, as to date I have yet to get one, repeat one, ticket in any of the many shinny speedy cars from the barn.

Keep up the good work LE’s. Too bad your hands are so tied up when it comes to making a judgment call if the person looks…. (fill in your answer here). I digress.

 

No argument with a warning. In fact, I'd suggest that a warning is often more appropriate for non intentional violations.


What I object to is being pulled over for something that is not a violation of a published law, rule or regulation.


There is no criminal "common law".


The criminal laws have been codified.


Thus, your not supposed to face criminal law consequences unless you have violated a statute, a published and commonly known law, rule or regulation.

Changing lanes, whether it be one or six is not a violation of any stated, codified law, rule or regulation.

I don't think this notion should offend anyone. Certainly not a cop or socially aware citizen who gives a damn about constitutional safe guards and general notions of fair play and common sense.

I find it shocking that anyone would support the idea of being pulled over and detained, even if for minutes, unless a codified law, rule or regulation has been violated.


This is quite basic, land of the free, home of the brave stuff here guys. These principals are what separates us from the 3rd world.

 

Since the driving took place in California, we'll use Section 21658a of their Vehicle Code. It states:

21658. Whenever any roadway has been divided into two or more clearly marked lanes for traffic in one direction, the following rules apply:

(a) A vehicle shall be driven as nearly as practical entirely within a single lane and shall not be moved from the lane until such movement can be made with reasonable safety.

That section of the law is pretty clear, and the driver's actions are an issue of fact if the cite had been written. The use of signals for turning movements is required as per CVC 22107, which requires reasonable safety and an "appropriate signal". Both of these requirements are also an issue of fact the officer would have to conclude had been violated, and for which a judge would either convict or exonerate the driver after hearing both parties in court.

Since safety is the core issue for any turning movement (including lane changes) the mere use of mirrors would generally be inadequate to establish the necessary level of safety. That is why looking over one's shoulder in the direction of the intended lane change or turn is recommended by any source discussing the issue. In the case of six successive lane changes, that could mean a driver was distracted away from their path of travel for the 3-5 seconds it would take to complete that maneuver (at minimum). Try driving at night and close your eyes for 5 seconds sometime and you can get a sense of how long (and how far) that it when a car is moving at more than a hundred feet a second.

Since none of us was there except for the OP and the officer who stopped him, we can't pass judgement or draw conclusions about the propriety of the stop. There are a number of factors, though, that would indicate it is not beyond the pale to imagine the officer's conduct was both lawful and appropriate. This is not meant to endorse the officer's actions or critique the driving described, just to present some issues relevant to the discussion.

 

+1 and nicely stated (and researched)

 

I just recently got stopped twice in one day. First was because I went around a stopped vehicle on the "wrong" side. Two turn lanes left, two lanes straight. Truck was broke down in middle left turn lane. Left most lane was super backed up, so I went around in the standard traffic lane and pulled to the front. Cop did NOT like that. Hassled me a bit, but ultimately I wasn't doing anything wrong, so all he did was tell me to please go on the other side next time.

Not more than 5 hours, a state trooper pulls out from another stop and promptly pulled me over. Reason? I have collector plates, and he wanted to be sure I knew about the restrictions on said plates. This one didn't even bother looking at my license or insurance. I tried to go for a triple play, but couldn't pull it off. To be fair, this was on July 3rd, so a lot more enforcement out that day.

Was just really odd being pulled over twice for specifically not doing anything wrong in one day.

 

Some useless trivia for you. One can also promote Nystagmus by pouring cold (not ice cold!) water into the ear. Try it next time you are bored in the shower. Pro tip: lean your head to the side.

I hope I have in some way enriched each and every one of your lives.

 

Interesting about the collector plates. I contemplated going collector plates on my 348, but decided against it for this very reason....it's just another reason to draw (potentially unwanted) attention.

 

Red expemsive car=more stops. Cops want to teach and hassle "arrogant righ people" who is boss. think of it as a red flag to a bull. A Subaru wrx with big wing is also a recipie to get stopped. a;beit for different reasons.

Get a ferrai in something like a dark blue or grigio and you dont get stopped.

 

It's worked for me so far.

But then again a GT/4 isn't a real Ferrari.

 

Moving rapidly across 6 lanes on a S. Cal freeway is always going to get you noticed, regardless of whether you have a signal flashing or not. Merging into each successive lane is going to bring out the variation in speed accusation.
That is usually an indicator of an impaired/distracted driver and I'm all for cops pulling over anyone driving seemingly erratically.
Next time get across a couple of exits prior and do it in an orderly manner