Slow down in construction Zones

RobertN · May 15, 2005

I worked volunteer fire here for a few years(great expierience!). It could get spooky working crash sites. People get in hurries, want by, get pushy. Some just do not pay attention.

Even with the lights on the engine, flares,, the really bright reflecyive tape on our turnouts, sometimes people just did not get it.

Bob_Hoehn · May 15, 2005

While we are discussing highway safety, let me add one more. If you see an emergency vehicle on the shoulder with the emerency lights on, please slow down and move over. The other day I was on a traffic stop (I am one of those dreaded state troopers) with a guy in a pickup truck. We are on the shoulder and I have my red and blue lights on. I get plowed in the rear by some idiot doing about 60 MPH. Idiot just lost control and slammed into me. I am going to miss about two weeks of work because some people won't slow down or move over. BTW, I didn't write a ticket to the guy I had stopped. But my sarge hooked up the dufus who hit me and totalled out my cruiser. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Bird · May 16, 2005

Bob, of course I guess all of us in law enforcement have seen such things. Does Missouri not have a law such as the following that Texas enacted recently?

( § 545.157. PASSING AUTHORIZED EMERGENCY
VEHICLE. (a) On approaching a stationary authorized emergency
vehicle using visual signals that meet the requirements of Sections
547.305 and 547.702, an operator, unless otherwise directed by a
police officer, shall:
(1) vacate the lane[0] closest to the emergency vehicle
when driving on a highway with two or more lanes[0] traveling in the
direction of the emergency vehicle; or
(2) slow to a speed not to exceed:
(A) 20 miles per hour less than the posted speed
limit when the posted speed limit is 25 miles per hour or more; or
(B) five miles per hour when the posted speed
limit is less than 25 miles per hour.
(b) A violation of this section is:
(1) a misdemeanor punishable under Section 542.401;
(2) a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $500 if the
violation results in property damage; or
(3) a Class B misdemeanor if the violation results in
bodily injury.
(c) If conduct constituting an offense under this section
also constitutes an offense under another section of this code or
the Penal Code, the actor may be prosecuted under either section or
under both sections.

)

GaryM · May 16, 2005

Bird,

Not sure of the exact wording, but I'm pretty sure Missouri has a similar law.

And of course it's a good idea even in the absence of a law.

keeney · May 16, 2005

I am amazed at the number of people who will honk, flash their lights, and zoom aorund you when you do slow down for an emergency vehicle or construction crew on the shoulder.

- Rick

johnday · May 16, 2005

Bob; We've got a law in Michigan similar to that. It's a good law, too bad common sense and courtesy at the least aren't a little more rampant. The only problem I see is that it's largely unenforcable in that the cop that's by the side of the road is the only one close enough to do anything about it. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif Hope you're alright.

Now if I was a cop for a day..........

shvl73 · May 16, 2005

It's real fortunate you weren't more seriously injured, a state trooper in Massachusets was hit while in her cruiser, on a traffic stop, and will never be the same again. I believe she is confined to a wheelchair with serious motor skill and cognitive function impairment. I think the guy that hit her was doing around 80-90 mph and I think he was drunk. You guys have a dangerous job, and it seems a large part of the danger doesn't come from a gun wielding thug. I hope you recover 100%.

Bird · May 16, 2005

( in that the cop that's by the side of the road is the only one close enough to do anything about it )

That's frequently true, but not always. I was lucky and never got hit, but some people enjoyed seeing just how close they can come by, some even blew their horns as they went by to see if they could startle the officer. And I did have one that I really enjoyed. I was issuing a traffic citation when a Corvette ran by real close, and just as he got even with me, he stepped on the clutch, gunned the engine a couple of times, and took off. Of course, he didn't realize that I was just handing the other violator his citation, so I was ready to go; jumped in my car and took off after the Corvette. Now of course that Corvette could have easily outrun the Ford cruiser I had then, but instead of continuing in a straight line, he turned right, lost control, spun 360 degrees and came to a stop very close to the curb with no damage to anything. Hmmm, a smart alec SMU law student. Of course, I got him out of the car, told him he was under arrest for "fleeing or seeking to evade", took him and put him in the cruiser. He quite beligerently claimed that he didn't even know I was behind him, so I couldn't arrest him on those charges, saying, "Just give me a speeding ticket and let me go."

Now he had a passenger in the Corvette, but the passenger hadn't moved, so I hadn't spoken to her until I got him in the cruiser, then I went to speak to her. She was holding a birthday cake in her lap and they were on their way to a birthday party. It seems it was only their second date, and the young man had borrowed his older brother's Corvette. And the first thing she said to me was, "I was trying to tell him to slow down, but he said, I can't, the cops are after me." Kind of blew his defense, so he didn't even show up for court to contest the charges. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

johnday · May 16, 2005

Bird; Kinda makes you feel for the braincell challenged. NOT!! Sure glad you're one of the guys that got to retire, it truly is a crazy world out there. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Nothing like winning to make your day tho!! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

idkioti · May 17, 2005

Sorry to hear about your crash. I have read with interest all the comments, but I have not seen what I've experienced while patrolling. While on a traffic stop for speed (92 in 65 mph zone) I was rear ended by a 22 year old woman breastfeeding her baby. She received all the injuries, baby and I were fine. Then 8 months ago, one of our county ambulances rear ended me while I was parked behind a critical injury motorcycle accident with overheads and strobes activated, cones and flares everywhere. Seems the driver had a cell phone in one hand and the radio mic in the other, while steering and looking to see where the victim was at. A previous comment was made about multi-tasking, boy isn't that the truth. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif