Serious question: ask a cop when dressed?

[tamarav]

[SIZE=3]First statement: this is a very slimly related CD situation, I was dressed and avoided making contact because of it. Serious question since I am somewhat stymied. Last night I was driving home from dancing, it was about 11:30 and I was on a winding road leading to home. I was following a large dually pickup with huge backup lights mounted low on his trailer hitch. [/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3]At some point I must have irritated the driver because he turned on his backup lights and totally blinded me. Fortunately at the time I was looking slighly off to the side of the truck and not directly at the lights but I could not see at all. I had to hit the brakes since I could not see the road. Fortunately there was no one behind me. [/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3]The pickup driver turned his lights off after maybe 4 seconds and continued at speed. I picked up speed and followed him for the next 12 miles to the area of my home. He must have felt that I was following him as he varied his speed up and down within the speed limit.[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3]As we were driving, I noticed a State Trooper on the side of the road but as we passed there was no outward indication that there was a problem. Here is my dilema, should I have stopped and told the police officer what happened? I was dressed for dancing, somewhat tired and the worse for wear but did not stop simply because I didn't really think the cop would do anything or possibly take me as credible.[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3]I followed the truck all the way to his house keeping a safe distance. He only lives about a mile from my home unfortunately. He never did see my face and could not have gotten my license plate number. I did get his street address and his license plate number and a description of his truck. My thought is to write him a note and tell him what a dangerous stunt he pulled.[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3]Any input from some of our more law enforcement folks than I?[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3]Sorry if this is thw wrong place to post this, I simply trust the opinions of the members here for all things CD related.[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3]Your sis,[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3]Tami[/SIZE]

[Bootsiegalore]

you were most likely following too close for his comfort. The best thing to do is avoid the driver. Pull off or stop and then continue on.... Following or agitating someone further could have yucky consequences. Road rage is on the rise and you don't want to piss someone off to the point they do something violent. Be safe!

Tara

[DonnaT]

I suggest, if you have a cell phone, calling the police when someone does something as dagerous as that, tell them where you are, what happened and the vehicles plate number, etc.

Since the officer you saw was nearby, he/she would have been dispatched to your location. Pulling off the road to talk to the police isn't advised, as the location might not be safe.

[Emily Ann Brown]

He probably knew how dangerous what he did was, and did it anyhow. I wouldn't drop any notes because I wouldn't want him knowing my info or looking for my vehicle later.

As for stopping to tell a police officer.....my one time trying to report some such incident got little attention, and I was in male mode. Not running down the police, just think they don't want to end up in a "he says /she says" any more than they already do.


Emily Ann

[tgirlinva]

From my point of view, there is no law that says you ought to go a certain speed. Some speeds appear to be more acceptable than others. If the man was going at or below the speed limit, he is legally not at fault. What what I think happened, as someone said, you were following too closely for his comfort and he got irritated. If he brakes and you rear-end him, you would be at fault and given a ticket b/c no matter what, you should have enough distance between yourself and the car in front of you in order to stop in any situation. You should feel lucky that you didn't hit him b/c you would not only be given a ticket, he could easily pretend that he has back injuries, etc. etc. etc. more trouble than you need basically. So what I would say is let it go. Be the better person and let it go. Calling the police would've not done anything.

[Emily Anderson]

Best to avoid idiots that are driving unsafely, and I'm sure the police are totally tired of hearing about this kind of story. Besides, I would prefer they are out chasing real criminals, and not people with lousy driving skills.

You should have stopped for a coffee and driven home later, taken an alternate route, or waited ten minutes by the side of the road until he had enough distance for you to drive home safely.

[Kay Sterling]

It's best to be careful when someone acts with road rage. Recently I was driving on the interstate and a truck passed me on the shoulder of the road and then hit the front of my new car sending me into the medium. He continued on without stopping. Since I didn't have time to get the license number the police didn't make any effort to locate the truck. I ended up with about $7000 damage and a broken vertabrae I almost always wear panties but for some reason I didn't that night which saved an awkward situation in the emergency room.

[Katie T]

FIDO......Forget It Drive On

[karynspanties]

If he turned on his rear lights, you were probably tailgating him. Why not just simply back off and put a nice distance between the two of you? I know I do not like having someone right one my a#$ and it pisses me off when it happens. I would just forget about it and move on.

[Charona]

Of course, the driver of the truck violated the law when he turned on white lights to the rear of the truck while moving forward.

[celeste26]

I agree that it was you following too close. There are certainly other ways of letting you know how close you were, like slowing down further and forcing you to pass or just ignoring you.

But put yourself in his seat and ask yourself what you would do.

[kay_jessica]

Yep. Tail gaiters get every where. It pisses me off and if you WERE tailgating I sympathise with the trucky. It wasn't him who was driving dangerously it would have been you.

I know when it happens to me I try very hard to let the idiot behind me know he's pushing to hard. But I guess if they are stupid enough to tail gate in the first place then the chances are they ain't got the sense to understand the more subtle attempts to get them to back off. Perhaps he had asked you a dozen time already and you just missed his more reasonable requests to back off.

Happy driving

Kay

[jaina]

Stop tailgating people.

[Roberta Llyan]

The last time I stopped a cop, AND yes, I stopped him for help, it cost me over $250. When I told him I was from "out of town and trying to find a street," he automatically thought: "Out of town, won't fight ticket." So he gave me a ticket for "speeding."

I will NEVER ask a "cop," and I use that word lightly, for anything. (I used to be a cop too.)

So that is my advise.

PS--No, I was not in my femme clothes.

[Emily Anderson]

Let's not beat up on cops! They have a tough life as it is, and no I don't particularly like them either... But they are necessary.

I'll tell a reverse story. I was once speeding at more than 90 MPH in a 55 MPH zone. I flashed my lights at the guy in front to pass him. It turned out he was a cop, and he put on his blue light to pull me over.

When he stopped me, he told me I was stupid to be going so fast, and I just agreed with him. End of story... he didn't even ask me for a driver's license or anything, just told me to slow down and move on. And no, I wasn't cross-dressed...

That was in the USA, and I have a similar story here in Belgium too, for another day.

[jaina]

The last time I stopped a cop, AND yes, I stopped him for help, it cost me over $250.

You were lucky.
A man here reported Identity theft to the police and they tried to railroad him with a child porn charge after the stolen card was used.

US police have been terrors for a while now.

[MJ]

FIDO......Forget It Drive On

i agree just forget it . the driver may have been scared buy you driving a little too close for comfort .
as a former police officer interacting with a " man " impersonating a hot looking woman maybe fun but all that paper work reports and dealing with the other driver and you may not be too happy with strangers knowing your unusual hobby best leave it alone . i am happy you got home safely

[trannie T]

For minor offenses such as this example of minor road rage, just pull over, calm down and both of you go your own way. If it had been a serious incident such as dangerous or impaired driving I would not hesitate in telling an officer.

[TSchapes]

My wife and I use that phrase whenever someone cuts us off, tailgates or makes any other dangerous move. If someone is tailgating me, I will try and pull over to let them go by, even if it means I have to literally pull off the road.

When I was young, I got into a pull-over fight out in the middle of the desert in Nevada. We squared off, then said a few words, and fortunately cooler heads prevailed. We cooled off and said let's not fight, and went our separate ways. God I was so immature, I could've been left for dead for the buzzards to eat! Very scary.

Yes, "Let the Wookie Win!" - CP30

Love, Tracy

[Alice B]

I think you took a serious risk following him home. What if he had decided to stop and confront you. It's not that uncommon these days.

[RockerTerri]

Tailgating=bad.

Guy flipping on bright backup lights in huge truck=danger sign about what kind of person he is.

Those things add up to stop following so close, and maybe stop for a cup of coffee or what have you. Definately, DEFINATELY, do not follow people for any longer than you absolutely have to after they pull that sort of thing. Even if you werent tailgating, my dad had a saying when i was learning how to drive; Would you rather be wrong or dead right?

Drive safe

Terri

[CD Susan]

If I had been in that situation I would not have followed him that long of a distance especially so close to your home. That situation could have turned very ugly! My advice is if that ever happens again try to put as much distance as possible between yourself and a driver like that.

[TxKimberly]

I'd have to agree with the others that have said he probably felt you were tail gaiting. Talking to the police would have done you no good - your word against his. I once saw some scum throw three huge bags of McDonalds fast food garbage out the window of his car. This pissed me off so bad I followed him long enough to get his plates and call the cops. They laughed and told me there was nothing they could do. It would be my word against theirs.
When we were moving from Ft Lewis Wa. (Tacoma) to Germany, we drove through half the US to visit our families before leaving. Your NOT going to beleive this, but making the drive from the top of Washington state to Southern California, I had EXACTLY the same thing happen to me somewhere between Ft Lewis and Oregon - can't recall exactly where any more. The truck fit the description you just gave to the letter.
I wonder if it was the same guy??!!

[Sherry-Stephanie]

"Ask a cop when dressed"??? Ah probably not....

Would he have done anything? probably not because A) you might have been (or at least partly assumed to be part of the problem )because more than likely you were following to close or perhaps you had you high beams on and didn't realize it...

Cops tend to be real conservative and crossdressing isn't one of their more accepted points of view....but then again it depends where you all live as far as the view they have....

Personally once the lights came on I probably would have lost the guy and turned off somewhere and killed a few minutes to let him put some distance between you and him ...

Just my thoughts here....

[jamie55]

Hi Tami: I won't make a judgement as to fault but I will tell you this. I own big oilfield trucks and sometimes at nite people tailgate or forget to turn off their brites. My solution, flip my work lights on and off to get their attention. They usually back off or pass. You should just let it slide.