Flashing headlights/freedom of speech

[SteveJ.]

I'm beginning to wonder about you and abuse of power.

Ya think?

This officer, and apparently his coworkers really typify what is unseemly about LEO's like them. 

Not all LEO's.

[gPink]

I wonder if he carries a tire tread depth guage in his pocket protector.

[MAN OF BLUES]

careful Jim, we're trying to hold an intelligent conversation with a self proclaimed "BADCOP621"   

best part is he hasn't figured out yeat that pulling his posts, or even editing them will have zero result in masking his comments when you use the "quote" feature in responses....
 

[MAN OF BLUES]

[koval68]

Warning other motorists of speed traps is perfectly legal in Ontario!
Charges under Section 168 and 169 of HTA(Highway Traffic Act) are few and far between nowadays in our province because of the two stories by The Toronto Star.
This is the follow up story to the one in my reply#52:
http://www.wheels.ca/article/173244

[VirginiaJim]

The word 'Troll' is coming to mind to me at the moment and we aren't pleased at all....  In fact, we're getting into a very bad humor about this.

[badcop621]

These are my interpretations of the codes that we are talking about. If you ask another officer , he may have a different interpretation.  If you ask someone whos not in law enforcement, they may have the same as me and may not.  Everyone has a right to have a different interpretation. I write a ticket based on my interpretation. Some things are very clear. Some things you have to interpret. It's My job to write the ticket as I have been trained to do. It's the judges job to determine guilt or innocence. I don't care one way or the other what the courts do with it.

My .02

[ZG]

    

Like sands through the hour glass...

[badcop621]

That's really a stretch and I think that any judge would see it that way.  You do realize that a large number of motorcyclists run with their bright lights on during the day, me included, for visibility.  If you decide to enforce during the day then you would be writing them and me tickets and all this just because your upset someone is warning about a radar setup?  I'm beginning to wonder about you and abuse of power.  I'm trying to take a neutral position here but in bringing up that statute, which is clearly for nighttime usage of headlights and what the writers in Richmond presumed, is showing your true colors.  And how the heck can you tell which lights are on bright these days with everyone running hot whites and non-dot off-road lamps?

If I see these hot white lights or non dot off road lamps, such as HIDS , then it presents a whole different charge. I will stop and inspect the lamps, ballast, etc for the dot approval.

[badcop621]

good luck with that, tell us all how it works out for you......

it's clear by the verbiage, that the law has been changed as time passed, to include a "modern vehical" more commonly known as one that "doesn't have antique plates" affixed to it....
"Dimmer" (rheostat) switches on single beam headlight equiped vehicals were old hat from the late 20's on, so this tells just how atiquated the law you are quoting here is, or should I phrase better as how far back it goes....

I would also fair well challenging 10 people to guestimate 200, 350, or 500 feet on any road, day or night....yeah it's law, but enforce it, right......

it's clearly evident the law quoted above IS related to night driving by the initial preface that preceeds the content :
"vehicle is being driven on a highway or a portion thereof which is sufficiently lighted to reveal any person or object upon such highway at a distance of 350 feet ahead..."

you can really stretch things out in any manner you want to, it all goes by the letter of the law.
Go earn a Jurisdoctorate in Law and then we can play the game......
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juris_Doctor

ain't scoring big bonus points yet....sorry.

Why cant this be applied in the daytime? It clearly states "vehicle is being driving on the highway OR a portion thereof which is sufficiently lighted" . The key word there is OR. The first part of that says nothing about it being at night.  Can you be blinded by hi beam lights during the day? YES. Lets say it's the afternoon and a thunderstorm comes up and the sky gets black from the clouds. Does it apply now? But wait , according to your INTERPRETATION, it doesn't apply since its daytime.

P.s. I modified the post just for you.

[Outback_Jon]

If I see these hot white lights or non dot off road lamps, such as HIDS , then it presents a whole different charge. I will stop and inspect the lamps, ballast, etc for the dot approval.

And when I refuse to allow you to search my vehicle?  (Before you answer, think back to your Academy days - what was that, 6 months ago? - and see if you've got probable cause.)

Interpretation of the law is not up to an individual LEO.  That is a job for the courts.  You're really trying to stretch the laws to cover a behavior you don't like.

You seem to be a civil rights lawsuit just waiting to happen.

[Son of Pappy]

Starting to sound like a DOD rent a cop.  Screen name appears to be more of an earned nickname.

[badcop621]

And when I refuse to allow you to search my vehicle?  (Before you answer, think back to your Academy days - what was that, 6 months ago? - and see if you've got probable cause.)

Interpretation of the law is not up to an individual LEO.  That is a job for the courts.  You're really trying to stretch the laws to cover a behavior you don't like.

You seem to be a civil rights lawsuit just waiting to happen.

Va law allows any law enforcement officer to inspect any vehicle for proper equipment, engine numbers etc; You have to have reasonable suspicion to stop the vehicle. That's when my training and mechanical experience comes into play. If a driver refuses to let a police officer inspect their vehicle for the proper equipment, then state law allows the officer to suspend the registration of the vehicle. This means taking the license plates from the vehicle and calling a tow truck. Even if the officer inspects and finds that the vehicle is equipped with improper lights, he may still seize plates from the vehicle. Not likely for for the first offense though.

[Cholla]

State law allows a cop to be the judge and jury? Sounds like VA laws need some Constitutional review. And did ya know some cars have HID lamps as OEM equipment? You are leaving yourself wide open for some big lawsuits. Or you are just talking big. Or, are you really a cop? If you are, please tell us where.

[badcop621]

State law allows a cop to be the judge and jury? Sounds like VA laws need some Constitutional review. And did ya know some cars have HID lamps as OEM equipment? You are leaving yourself wide open for some big lawsuits. Or you are just talking big. Or, are you really a cop? If you are, please tell us where.

That's were training and experience comes into play.

[badcop621]

Official name change! This is what I feel like on here ! It seems most folks on this thread aren't from Va and are completely ignorant of the law here in Va. Go read the entire traffic code book for Va and the case law that goes with it and you may understand where I'm coming from. I'm going to leave it at that. I am merely trying to let ya know about some of the laws here. I didn't make them. I was trained on how to enforce them by experienced police officers that have enforcing them for years.
As stated above, I'm done posting on this topic. 

[Son of Pappy]

Wimp, don't you have donut to eat?   Starting to feel like an old smokey and the bandit flick 'round these parts.  I can't hardly wait for winter to set in, this should be an epic year

[Cholla]

Official name change! This is what I feel like on here ! It seems most folks on this thread aren't from Va and are completely ignorant of the law here in Va. Go read the entire traffic code book for Va and the case law that goes with it and you may understand where I'm coming from. I'm going to leave it at that. I am merely trying to let ya know about some of the laws here. I didn't make them. I was trained on how to enforce them by experienced police officers that have enforcing them for years.
As stated above, I'm done posting on this topic. 

If you were trained to enforce then why are you interpreting law? You admit you have no experience in that area and it shows. My son lives in VA and has for over ten years. He's a firefighter but you would never find him intrprting fire codes. He's also in the military but he'll not interpret the UMCJ. Not his job. You would do well do do what you say you were trained to do-ENFORCE law. Why won't you tell us which department you work for? Afraid of a reprimand? Btw, on the name change you're worse as a lawyer than a cop.

[bbroj]

  You're really trying to stretch the laws to cover a behavior you don't like.

+1. This has been my impression from the beginning. He and those like him are trying to justify writing these tickets with existing laws that were not intended for this purpose.

[VirginiaJim]

And that hits the nail right on the head.