This is why when you see emergency lights, move the @#$% over!

[hounddog]

Connecticut has a variation of this that I don't think is as bad.

The speeder will be clocked by an officer in a car at the side of the road.? A little further down the road, an officer standing on the shoulder points to the speeding car to tell the driver to pull over.? Another car waits a little further down to pull up behind the driver, and issue him/her a ticket.

I would think it might be easier to beat this type of ticket in court since issues could be raised about identification of the car, since the ticket is issued by a different officer than the one who clocked the speed of the car.

Michigan was one of the first to utilize 'wolfpack' tactics.   If they do it the way we do, the officer running the radar or laser is the one who's name appears at the bottom of the citation.  An officer can not issue a ticket for an offense he did not see.  At least that is how we do it here.

[Tave]

I should've been pulled over by a "wolfpack" in Iowa. I was last in line of a group running like the beasts of hell, and I was the only one who didn't get pulled over.

[James Young]

hounddog writes:

Michigan was one of the first to utilize 'wolfpack' tactics.   If they do it the way we do, the officer running the radar or laser is the one who's name appears at the bottom of the citation.  An officer can not issue a ticket for an offense he did not see.

Does the citation not require an attestation by the issuer/writer that the information is known to him and is correct?  Does Officer Joe Observer just sign a bunch of blank citations, give them to Officer Joe Writer and then radio to Joe Writer that he sees Driver A speeding and then Joe Writer completes the body of the citation?  How can such an attestation be accomplished if the guy who physically writes the ticket is not the one who alleges that he witnessed such and such a violation and, in fact, they are separated by distance that precludes physical conversation?  If I put your name at the bottom of a contract, you are not bound by it. Why should a citation receive any less protection?

On a larger scale, can you show us the value ? to society, not to the treasury of the jurisdictions ? of such tactics?

[hounddog]

I should've been pulled over by a "wolfpack" in Iowa. I was last in line of a group running like the beasts of hell, and I was the only one who didn't get pulled over.

Did you feel like the sick calf on the African plaines videos?  Never be last in line on one of those trains, you are the weakest and easiest pray.

[Tave]

Did you feel like the sick calf on the African plaines videos?? Never be last in line on one of those trains, you are the weakest and easiest pray.

It came on me like a sixth sense. I was in the middle of the pack, felt something turn in my stomach, slipped back to last, and started letting distance grow between the rest of us. I lost sight of them around a turn and after I cleared it, I see them pulled over: BAM!, one right after the other. Then I began to point and laugh.

[dazzleman]

It came on me like a sixth sense. I was in the middle of the pack, felt something turn in my stomach, slipped back to last, and started letting distance grow between the rest of us. I lost sight of them around a turn and after I cleared it, I see them pulled over: BAM!, one right after the other. Then I began to point and laugh.

Isn't that a great feeling? 

A few years ago, I was driving through Virginia.  I was leading a line of cars in the left line doing 80-85 mph in a 65 mph zone near Stafford, when all of a sudden, I saw a state trooper come rushing up the median with lights flashing.

He got onto the highway about 5 cars behind me, and got into the left lane.  One by one, the cars behind me moved over to the right, and he stayed in the left lane.  I was sure he was coming after me, and I had already reconciled myself to having another ticket, and an expensive one, under my belt by the end of my expected roadside encounter with the friendly Virginia state trooper.

All of a sudden, the car behind me pulled over to the left, and the trooper pulled up behind him.  I went on unscathed, and didn't see another cop for the rest of my time in Virginia.  That was a nice relief. 

[dazzleman]

Michigan was one of the first to utilize 'wolfpack' tactics.? ?If they do it the way we do, the officer running the radar or laser is the one who's name appears at the bottom of the citation.? An officer can not issue a ticket for an offense he did not see.? At least that is how we do it here.

I was in the car with my buddy when he got a ticket from one of these 'wolfpacks.'? He had been in the left lane of I-84 in Newtown, doing about 80 mph in a 55 mph zone, when his radar detector suddenly went crazy.? I wasn't paying total attention beforehand, but he saw the cop car at the side of the road with the radar gun, and instantly said, "I'm busted."? Just afterward, there was a trooper standing on the shoulder who pointed to his car and motioned for him to pull over.

I wonder what would have happened if he had just kept on going.? He pulled over as soon as he could, and it took a few minutes for a cop car to pull up behind him.? Given that there obviously wasn't a cop right there to begin pursuit, could he have slipped through the net if he had just kept going rather than pull over voluntarily as he did?

In any case, my buddy drove off with a $250 ticket in his pocket from that encounter.? ?Of course, he was back up to 80 mph before the ink on his ticket was even dry.? And he nearly got 2 more tickets before the trip was done.? The cops were all over like cockroaches that day.?

[Tave]

Last time I drove out of Denver there was a trooper in the right side emergency lane of I-25 south, gunning people and ready to hop on his bike in pursuit the moment he zapped anyone. I don't have the balls to stare-down oncomming I-25 traffic from the ROAD. That guy was NUTS! The minute I-25 reaches Ft. Collins traffic balloons and it's a free for all. He was crazy.

[TheIntrepid]

I was in the car with my aunt once, and when an ambulance came up behind her, she didn't pull over. She sped up. It was retarded and made me angry.

[James Young]

Last time I drove out of Denver . . . .The minute I-25 reaches Ft. Collins traffic balloons and it's a free for all. He was crazy.

The stretch of I-25 between about E-470 and Cheyenne (WY) is arguably the fastest section of really busy highway in America.  With a posted limit of 75 mph, I estimate the 85th percentile at 83-85 mph and the 95th percentile at 88-90 mph. 

[Tave]

The stretch of I-25 between about E-470 and Cheyenne (WY) is arguably the fastest section of really busy highway in America.? With a posted limit of 75 mph, I estimate the 85th percentile at 83-85 mph and the 95th percentile at 88-90 mph.?

Travelling south on it, the second you cross the Colorado border speeds increase 5-10 mph. :P It's so weird.

Same thing happens when I take the back road into Ft. Collins. I can tell I've crossed the border even if I miss the sign. Without fail I see Colorado license plates whizzing by.

[rohan]

I wonder what would have happened if he had just kept on going.

You ever see the vidoe from Rodney King?

[dazzleman]

You ever see the vidoe from Rodney King?

Very funny, but I don't think so.?

My question was more along the lines of -- was the wolfpack really set up to pursue people who didn't stop voluntarily, given the fact that it took a few minutes to get a car over to deal with my buddy when he pulled over immediately.

I suspect that if he had just kept on going, they probably wouldn't have pursued him.? I know a guy who did just that in the same situation in Connecticut, and nobody came after him.? Apparently the whole thing was a big bluff.

BTW, how was the honeymoon?  I hope it didn't fall off from overuse. 

[rohan]

Very funny, but I don't think so.?

My question was more along the lines of -- was the wolfpack really set up to pursue people who didn't stop voluntarily, given the fact that it took a few minutes to get a car over to deal with my buddy when he pulled over immediately.

I suspect that if he had just kept on going, they probably wouldn't have pursued him.? I know a guy who did just that in the same situation in Connecticut, and nobody came after him.? Apparently the whole thing was a big bluff.

BTW, how was the honeymoon?? I hope it didn't fall off from overuse.?

It sounds like they do it diff than here- we don't point at people to pull them over we have a car pull them over or they just keep going.  Way to dangerous to do it the other way- and I've never seen anyone do that here either.

Honeymoon was fantastic- by the way- when a 38 year old marries someone 26 there are issues with overuse.    I think she was trying to kill me for my insurance policy- what a good way to go though.

[dazzleman]

Honeymoon was fantastic- by the way- when a 38 year old marries someone 26 there are issues with overuse.? ? I think she was trying to kill me for my insurance policy- what a good way to go though.

As long as it's still intact, you can recover, man.   I'm glad it went so well.