Spectator Slowdown

[Laconian]

Now that's the tail wagging the dog.

[GoCougs]

Yes. 

Yes.  People are accountable for their actions. 

Actually, it is more the LE roadway than yours. 

Yes, accountable for blocking my roadway . The "sheep" are right on this, to demand on-the-spot accountability, albeit it's probably not very effective. LE is generally and chronically not so good in in their accountability for traffic flow on the roadway.

That's my point; that LE thinks it's "their" roadway. Nothing supports that mentality in practice; WtP pay for the roadway, WtP pay LE salaries, and WtP elect the city/county/state council that controls LE.

[Soup DeVille]

And there they go out of the gates...

[Rupert]

[sigh]

Again, the problem is that even when police used low candle power rotary beacons there were still rubber-neckers resulting in many crashes.

Rubber-necking has always, continues to, will always be an issue even if police use a flashlight on the roof they spin around on a pin by hand.

*sigh* yourself.

I'm not talking about rubber-necking. In normal CarSPIN fashion, I have veered slightly off topic and am now talking about how stupidly bright the new style light bars are, and that is all.

Otherwise, mark me in Cougs' corner for the time being.

[hounddog]

Yes, accountable for blocking my roadway . The "sheep" are right on this, to demand on-the-spot accountability, albeit it's probably not very effective. LE is generally and chronically not so good in in their accountability for traffic flow on the roadway.

That's my point; that LE thinks it's "their" roadway. Nothing supports that mentality in practice; WtP pay for the roadway, WtP pay LE salaries, and WtP elect the city/county/state council that controls LE.

[sigh]

No.

You forget:
Police also are WtP, pay for the roads, pay LE salaries, elect city/county/state/federal "councils". 

On top of that; act as duly appointed and authorized officials representing said city/county/state/federal "councils".

[hounddog]

*sigh* yourself.

I'm not talking about rubber-necking. In normal CarSPIN fashion, I have veered slightly off topic and am now talking about how stupidly bright the new style light bars are, and that is all.

Otherwise, mark me in Cougs' corner for the time being.

Actually, it is "[sigh]", sport.

[Byteme]

 
[sigh]

No.

You forget:
Police also are WtP, pay for the roads, pay LE salaries, elect city/county/state/federal "councils". 

On top of that; act as duly appointed and authorized officials representing said city/county/state/federal "councils".

They are called "PUBLIC ROADS" not police roads or law enforcement roads.  The public paid for them and through their government proxies, own them.  Law enforcement agencies are not tax payers and with the possible exception of fuel taxes contibute nothing to the funding of public road building or road maintenance.  Individuals employed by law enforcement agencies may pay taxes, but when they do so they are acting as private citizens, not in their role as representatives of law enforcement agencies.

[Raza]

Police also are WtP

That really goes against every us vs. them thing you've said on this site in the past (which is pretty much everything).

[Soup DeVille]

They are called "PUBLIC ROADS" not police roads or law enforcement roads.  The public paid for them and through their government proxies, own them.  Law enforcement agencies are not tax payers and with the possible exception of fuel taxes contibute nothing to the funding of public road building or road maintenance.  Individuals employed by law enforcement agencies may pay taxes, but when they do so they are acting as private citizens, not in their role as representatives of law enforcement agencies.

Is it in the public's interest to have police patrolling our roads?

[Byteme]

Is it in the public's interest to have police patrolling our roads?

Just like one might hire someone to trim their hedge, the public has in effect hired some law enforcement agencies to police their roads.

[GoCougs]

 
[sigh]

No.

You forget:
Police also are WtP, pay for the roads, pay LE salaries, elect city/county/state/federal "councils". 

On top of that; act as duly appointed and authorized officials representing said city/county/state/federal "councils".

You are a subset of WtP, and do so as a citizen, not as an LEO.

In being "appointed" and "authorized" LEOs are a proxy of their bosses who are in turn elected by road-paying WtP.

[bing_oh]

Yes, accountable for blocking my roadway . The "sheep" are right on this, to demand on-the-spot accountability, albeit it's probably not very effective. LE is generally and chronically not so good in in their accountability for traffic flow on the roadway.

That's my point; that LE thinks it's "their" roadway. Nothing supports that mentality in practice; WtP pay for the roadway, WtP pay LE salaries, and WtP elect the city/county/state council that controls LE.

You are a subset of WtP, and do so as a citizen, not as an LEO.

In being "appointed" and "authorized" LEOs are a proxy of their bosses who are in turn elected by road-paying WtP.

Technically, the State...and, by proxy, the People (capital "P")...own the roadways. As representatives of the State and being authorized to enforce the rules decided upon collectively for the property of the People (ie, laws), LEO's have certain powers over such property and what goes on on such property. I wouldn't necessarily call it "ownership" as Tony has, though I'm at a loss to find a word that describes it sufficiently.

However you, individually, do not own the roadway. Nor do I as a private citizen. It's the collective property of the People, even if we have paid for a portion of it through taxes. You can't choose do do with it whatever you want at a whim. The People have authorized LE to "block" their (not "your") roadway in particular situations that they deem necessary for the good of the State. If you don't like that, you'll have to convince a majority of the rest of the People to change it.

[Morris Minor]

I still think the all-or-nothing super high intensity of modern lightbars creates more problems than it solves: gaper block being one of the problems.

[Byteme]

I wouldn't necessarily call it "ownership" as Tony has, though I'm at a loss to find a word that describes it sufficiently.

"Stewardshp:  the activity or job of protecting and being responsible for something" is much closer to what you are looking for. 

[bing_oh]

"Stewardshp:  the activity or job of protecting and being responsible for something" is much closer to what you are looking for. 

Yea, that ain't bad. Closer to the mark, at least.

[Rupert]

  Actually, it is "[sigh]", sport.

This is the internet; *sigh* is whatever I want it to be, sucka.

[CJ]

Jesus fucking Christ. I'm still confused as to how this argument formed.

[NomisR]

Jesus fucking Christ. I'm still confused as to how this argument formed.

Complaints about the bright ass lights from police cars.

But even without it in the daytime, people still rubberneck.  You see a car burning on the other side of the freeway?  Slow down to a halt so you can gawk at it.  And proceed to take a picture and post it on facebook...  yes people do this....

These people need to be FUCKING DRAGGED OUT OF THEIR CARS AND SHOT!!!

[CJ]

That's why I don't understand where the argument comes from. Police lights are bright as shit. What's there to argue about?

[dazzleman]

That's why I don't understand where the argument comes from. Police lights are bright as shit. What's there to argue about?

People here could argue about anything.  You're just noticing that?

[sparkplug]

a strobe light hat with a chin strap that policeman can wear on their head.

[Byteme]

These people need to be FUCKING DRAGGED OUT OF THEIR CARS AND SHOT!!!

Gawkers at roadside executions will really slow things down.

This might be a better alternative.  Pluck them off the road and drop them in the sea.

[bing_oh]

a strobe light hat with a chin strap that policeman can wear on their head.

Dude, strobes are so 1995. Everything's LED now.

[NomisR]

Gawkers at roadside executions will really slow things down.

This might be a better alternative.  Pluck them off the road and drop them in the sea.

+1

LEOs, can you suggest to your bosses to start doing this?  This will help everyone else a lot!

[Catman]

I see a lot of light bars now that have a steady blue light or one that flashes less frequently.  They are much less intense but still very visible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x7W6qiUwxA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[Morris Minor]

Gawkers at roadside executions will really slow things down.

I saw a very minor fender bender on the freeway a couple of weeks ago. The two drivers had stopped & were chatting on their cellphones while rush hour traffic clogged up for miles behind them. I should mention they were in the far right lane, adjacent in fact to the gore area of an on-ramp.

Definitely candidates for roadside execution.

[12,000 RPM]

LED tail lights are an eyesore as well. Makes me want to put my damn shades on at night. All non front facing LED lights should have night modes.

[TurboDan]

As annoying as those lights are at night, I don't think they really pose any real risk.  The bigger issue is TV screen billboards.

I once wrote a story on one of them that was up for approval here. Turns out they actually put out less light than a traditional billboard with spotlights at night. I find the ones around here to fit in pretty nicely.

[TurboDan]

Yes, accountable for blocking my roadway . The "sheep" are right on this, to demand on-the-spot accountability, albeit it's probably not very effective. LE is generally and chronically not so good in in their accountability for traffic flow on the roadway.

What do you want the cops to do? Bring up Mapquest on their phone and give directions to everyone? They're there to block a road that is under construction. Adults of driving age should be able to figure out how to go around the block on their own.

[dazzleman]

I saw a very minor fender bender on the freeway a couple of weeks ago. The two drivers had stopped & were chatting on their cellphones while rush hour traffic clogged up for miles behind them. I should mention they were in the far right lane, adjacent in fact to the gore area of an on-ramp.

Definitely candidates for roadside execution.

Beam me up, Scotty.  There's no intelligent life here.  What idiots.  Why didn't they just move the fucking cars out of the way?  Stupid people infuriate me.