Officer stepped out in front of car on Interstate to stop it.

[JoeNashville]

I saw this today on the way home. The guy was out of his cruiser and literally stepped out into the lane of traffic holding up his hand and motioning for the guy to pull over. The car had to lock his brakes up to avoid hitting him and almost caused a rear-ender, all of this occurred at highway speeds. The local city law enforcement (of which this guy was a part) was doing heavy LIDAR patrol on 440 in Nashville today, many got citations.

Question: Is there any good reason for a LEO to physically step out into the roadway to stop a car and have them pull over??? Mind you, this was on the INTERSTATE and he almost caused a motorist to have an accident.

EDIT: there was a story in the local newspaper with photo evidence of what happened. Here is the picture. Notice where the officer is standing in the right lane. This is EXACTLY what I saw last week. We're talking dude is standing in the road with oncoming traffic in HIS LANE. Nuts.

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050901/NEWS09/509010433

 

[McFly]

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[Lawman85]

We actually do this quite a bit on I-75. We don't actually step into traffic. We stay on the left shoulder and motion people over after we zap them with the laser. I thought the other STEP officers were nuts when they told me they do this, but after trying it... it works pretty well. There are several reasons for it, but the way we do it, it's for safety. It is safer to flag the person over from the left lane then to jump in my car, floor it up to 120mph, change lanes through traffic, and then initiate the traffic stop. We still have to do that on occasion when the person "pretends" not to see me on the side of the road and makes for the next exit... That's why we always have 2-3 officers doing it to catch the guys getting off the interstate to hide.

 

[ka3ak]

So what kind of trouble would the P.O. be in if he caused an accident? Who would pay for the damages?

 

[charged98cobra]

So what kind of trouble would the P.O. be in if he caused an accident? Who would pay for the damages?

This would be a hard question to answer without knowing the exact circumstances involved... I do know however that you can be ticketed for not merging over a lane when there is an emergency vehicle in the car trouble zone.

 

[Lawman85]

If one car has to stop suddenly and the others run into the back of it... they were all following too close... they would all get citations and be found at fault.

 

[Ginsu]

There are safer ways to stop motorists on the highway; Lawman has stated one that works well and is safer than the 1/4 mile suicide dash. Going from what you posted, I would have to say that officer is aspiring to a new career...a hood ornament...

 

[Illson 94 SVT]

yea man, to get a cop in trouble is like trying to get your 4 month old sibling in trouble for knocking over a cup of milk, it just doesnt happen. You can have charges dropped,cases lightned,wrongful arrests, what ever....there just doing there job and so what if the one law youve never heard of nore have any of your freinds heard of gets a cop out of paying for property damages and possible funerals so they can step out on interstates and pull people over like that. ::sarcasm::. Safe for your all knowing selfs, dangerous for us who have more to worry about then why cops are standing on the side of the road....and it works better you say?

 

[Lawman85]

yea man, to get a cop in trouble is like trying to get your 4 month old sibling in trouble for knocking over a cup of milk, it just doesnt happen. You can have charges dropped,cases lightned,wrongful arrests, what ever....there just doing there job and so what if the one law youve never heard of nore have any of your freinds heard of gets a cop out of paying for property damages and possible funerals so they can step out on interstates and pull people over like that. ::sarcasm::. Safe for your all knowing selfs, dangerous for us who have more to worry about then why cops are standing on the side of the road....and it works better you say?

First of all... take an english class.. Second, when you sign for you driver's license you agree that you know all applicable traffic laws regarding the operation of your vehicle. It is your responsibility to check out new laws or familiarize yourself with current traffic laws. What about the one law you've never heard of? Are you talking about "Following too close"? If you've never heard of that law, then you need to quit driving.

 

[crew_dawg16]

Well, given enough squad cars, I have seen a much better way of pulling people over at speed traps. Arizona highway patrol sets up one laser gunner on top of an overpass, whilst ~10 squad cars are pulling people over on the other side. Much safer than the afformentioned method of stepping out in front of a car that is speeding on an interstate. Who steps out in front of a car that is doing over 65 mph?

 

[Lawman85]

Well, given enough squad cars, I have seen a much better way of pulling people over at speed traps. Arizona highway patrol sets up one laser gunner on top of an overpass, whilst ~10 squad cars are pulling people over on the other side. Much safer than the afformentioned method of stepping out in front of a car that is speeding on an interstate. Who steps out in front of a car that is doing over 65 mph?

I disagree... although I said I don't agree with stepping out in front of the car, but flagging them over to the side is much safer. When you are in the left emergency lane and traffic is running 70+, it is insane to try to floor your car and merge into traffic behind the offender. 99% of the time there are cars behind him that won't let you over, so you end up chasing him for miles and miles before being able to stop him... if you don't cause an accident by changing lanes and running 100+MPH... I've done both methods.. flagging them over is much much safer and easier.

 

[RedVenom96]

If one car has to stop suddenly and the others run into the back of it... they were all following too close... they would all get citations and be found at fault.

LMAO :bs: even with a car or two's worth of distance i don't think most people could avoid rear ending someone at highway speeds, not to mention you are not expecting someone to slam on their brakes on the highway with good moving traffic. :bash:

 

[StangJason]

So what if the motorist is so surprised by someone standing in the road and runs over the officer. Can they be tried for murder? It sure don't sound like a smart thing for an officer to do that's for sure. If I was an officer I would prefer the chase down or the radio ahead.

 

[03CobraBro]

I had an officer step out in front of me one time and motioned me to pull over... Of course that was just on a city street so it wasnt any problem to get stopped (yet kind of thought the point of pulling someone over for speeding was because they may not be able to stop in time...)

Anyway, is it really worth stepping out into the middle of an interstate physically to stop someone? Officers have a hard enough time keeping from getting hit just standing on the shoulder writing a ticket...

What happens if one of these guys gets taken out or cause a major accident? Is the person in the car to blame?

 

[Lawman85]

LMAO :bs: even with a car or two's worth of distance i don't think most people could avoid rear ending someone at highway speeds, not to mention you are not expecting someone to slam on their brakes on the highway with good moving traffic. :bash:

Then you are still....following too close... Read your driver's handbook again. There are two rules about following cars... one is to keep one car length between you and the car in front of you for every ten miles per hour your driving, i.e. at 70 mph you should have 7 car lengths between you. The second rule is the 2 second rule. You pick a fixed object on the side of the road, when the car in front of you passes the point you start counting until you pass it, you should stay at least 2 seconds behind that vehicle.. which means, the faster you go, the bigger the distance. If you don't agree and want to ride someones ass, then you will pay the price, both insurance wise and ticket wise, when you slam into them when they have to stop for an emergency.

 

[crew_dawg16]

I disagree... although I said I don't agree with stepping out in front of the car, but flagging them over to the side is much safer. When you are in the left emergency lane and traffic is running 70+, it is insane to try to floor your car and merge into traffic behind the offender. 99% of the time there are cars behind him that won't let you over, so you end up chasing him for miles and miles before being able to stop him... if you don't cause an accident by changing lanes and running 100+MPH... I've done both methods.. flagging them over is much much safer and easier.

If said motorists don't let a cruiser with lights on and siren blaring merge into a traffic lane, then what suggests they will not just run you over? I see your points, but in this situation I would rather be inside 4,000 lbs of good ol' american steel and have to chase the purpetrator for "miles" rather than standing on an interstate. People on motorcyles don't get noticed on the roads, and people driving home from work certainly aren't looking for an LEO to step out into an interstate.

 

[Lawman85]

If said motorists don't let a cruiser with lights on and siren blaring merge into a traffic lane, then what suggests they will not just run you over? I see your points, but in this situation I would rather be inside 4,000 lbs of good ol' american steel and have to chase the purpetrator for "miles" rather than standing on an interstate. People on motorcyles don't get noticed on the roads, and people driving home from work certainly aren't looking for an LEO to step out into an interstate.

I said, I don't agree with stepping onto an interstate. There is a difference between stepping onto the interstate and flagging people over from the side of the road....

 

[Steeltwo]

If one car has to stop suddenly and the others run into the back of it... they were all following too close... they would all get citations and be found at fault.

By the sound of the original post.

The officer misjudged the cars speed and distance causing the driver to lock up inorder to stop in time.

If a car is having to lock up its brakes in order to stop, the officer did not give proper warning. And in that case, the officer would be at fault for the first car.

now if there was a pile up, i'm sure the tailgaters would get their tickets.

 

[Lawman85]

By the sound of the original post.

The officer misjudged the cars speed and distance causing the driver to lock up inorder to stop in time.

If a car is having to lock up its brakes in order to stop, the officer did not give proper warning. And in that case, the officer would be at fault for the first car.

now if there was a pile up, i'm sure the tailgaters would get their tickets.

At fault for the first car how?? Because it had to use it's brakes? The damage caused to the first car, if the second car hit it, is the fault of the second car for following too close. The first car was only reacting to what they saw in the road. If the second car is following so close that they can not make their own emergency manuvers, then they are following too close.....

That is not rocket science.. it's very easy to prove in court, and judges are very familiar with the law.

 

[01cobra'''dohc]

i'm sorry but this is so stupid, i don't know how anyone could think standing on the side of the fast lane is safe. ecspecially stepping out into on coming traffic. thank god there aren't stupid cops in ohio that do this, well i've never seen one do this. i've seen a couple of semi's blow a tire and a chunk of the tire goes off the side of the road. what would happen if a cop got hit by something? if a cop is dumb enough to stand on the road he probably already has his funeral planned out.
if a cop ever done this to me i'd keep on going til a cruiser got behind me and pulled me over. its not fleeing and alluding if ur not getting chased. if for instance they got my license number i'd go to court and fight it.