Why is it legal for state troopers to drive 90-100 mph when there is no emergency? I have an 18 month old son in the vehicle with me! Its not safe!

Whether they’re allowed or not – they are not the only potential speeders on the road, I’m sure.
Also, are you in the car now? I assume you’ve at least pulled over to post the Q…

Passenger! Ok! I protest against it, besides what kind of example are they leading for us and the youth?

It was explained to me one time by an officer that they are not always required to use their sirens when there is an emergency. So, really, you never know when they are just speeding or there is an actual emergency.

I’m not sure its legal; they do it because they can.

Well, does my video recorder make a point?

They’re legally not allowed to, but there’s a common understanding cops can do whatever they want for the most part.

That is called crooked cops.

Its kinds like if I wanted to slang dope, for the most part its not illegal until I got caught

How can you be certain there was no emergency?

@jody, if they are speeding somewhere to an emergency how is that crooked? while i dont agree that they dont have to have their sirens on its still not crooked

Driving 100 mph is completly safe but it all depends on who’s driving. A state trooper, who’s job it is to drive down the highway and most likely recieved adequate training driving at high speeds, is more apt at it than a immature teenager who wants to impress his/her friends. In Germany, their national highway, the Autobahn, contained pockets of road where there is no speed limit at all, you could drive by a cop at 150 and he would just smile back. The Autobahn witnesses fewer accidents than the US highways because their citizens have great respect and awareness for the road. They don’t talk on their cell, ear lunch (their cars don’t even have cupholders), or yell at their kids. If a state trooper is calmly blazing the highway at 100, which happened to me on Tuesday, there is no reason for someone to overreact and fear for their life.

Do any of you even have kids!?

Was the siren running? You never elaborated. It’s certainly not legal to do that in the UK. Oh, and none of us have children. We sit underground in the dark. :)

@jody, what is wrong with driving 100 mph, if you dont suck at driving

GA richardhenry

Take it to a track bra’

The siren was not on

Who cares if you have kids?

now ur getting ugly

@niki I’m glad you said it.

You have absolutely no way to know that the policeman you saw was not responding to an incident. Why do you assume that the officer was not responding to an incident?

If you are really concerned about it, you could call, but you seem to have a big chip on your shoulder about it.

You do not mention dangerous driving stunts or other moves that actually endangered you. As someone else mentioned, and this site shows, police officers receive specialized driving training precisely because they have to drive in emergency situations.

I think you should be a lot more worried about civilian speeders and reckless drivers.

I think its more offensive when the fuzz turn on their sirens just to go through a red light.

Who polices the police?

Ok, I’m really a nice person, it aggravates me K, this kinda thing I see all the time, I’m not looking for a pissing match I just wondered if someone might have a legitamate answer

have you tried calling the police station and speaking to a superior? I’m sure they would like to know if they do have reckless officers out there.

@ Jody: I have three kids. Why do you ask?

You wanted a legitimate answer, but I think your original question was flawed. You assume the cop was speeding in the absence of an emergency – but you have no way of knowing whether there was an emergency or not, right? Lack of a siren does not necessarily equal lack of an emergency.

So, would you not want a trooper (or cop) to speed if you and/or your son was involved in an emergency or dangerous situation where you needed a police officer? They don’t speed because it’s fun or because they can; if they’re in their police vehicle then they are most likely speeding towards an emergency situation. Either they go the speed limit all the time (and arrive to an emergency situation in whatever time that takes) or they speed to get there as soon as possible in the safest way possible to help people that need it. You can’t have it both ways.

Once a cop was speeding up a ramp getting off a highway and I was driving down the road that he has to stop to cross (there was no siren) and I’m not sure if he wasn’t paying attention or what but I had to swerve out of my lane just to avoid him running straight into my car. No siren, nothing. There have also been numerous occaisions where I have seen cops speed to fast food restuarants and pull into the drive thru (siren or no siren). Once I saw a cop speed to the taco bell drive thru to beat another car to the line. Also some ambulances use their siren when there is no emergency but I never really see them speed like cops around here. Maryland state troopers are the worst. I see all these things and sometimes it bothers me but I just of all the times I speed and thank my lucky stars I didn’t get a big fat ticket.

@nayeight your response is very confusing

I also was in a bad accident once. A unmarked police car was speeding and had to come to an immediate stop. I had just pulled onto the road and rear ended him. Now they gave me a ticket for failure to control my speed to avoid a collision, and I wasn’t speeding or anything but he stopped so fast that I didn’t have time to react. Did his car have way better brakes than mine because it was probably modified? Probably but in the eyes of the law it was still my fault.

@ waterskier Are you talking about the siren thing? I saw my mistake and just edited it. Or are you perplexed about something else. Superbad was badass, by the way.

Oh! Correction – I just think of all the times I was speeding….etc.

You got an answer jody. It might not have been the answer you wanted, but it was a better one. Cool your jets. If you think it matters that you have a kid, get a sign for your car. Otherwise don’t act like it should make a difference in someone else. Your kid is Your Responsibility, not the cops or anyone elses.

While sirens are useful at junctions and in urban areas on an open highway it is probably safer for the police to drive quickly without the sirens. Unfortunately a lot of people start acting weird when they here sirens coming up behind them which can make their job interesting.

(Also, the off topic chatter is really annoying. Really Really Annoying. Please, take it to PM)

@nayeight. yes now it is corrected and makes more sense. thanks

@delirium, where is there off topic stuff
@lightly seared, you are correct indeed. could you imagine going down the highway, like I-75 (most of you should know this highway) and then have a cop with sirens. everyone would be, well do i pull over to stop, its a highway, what do i do. sirens + highway = not good

Kay said, “They don’t speed because it’s fun or because they can”

Maybe not all of them. Maybe not even most of them. But it’s still probably not a great idea to speak in absolutes like that. I personally know a few who do.

Did anyone else see the 20–20 expose a few years ago about speeding cops? After many, many complaints about an individual, a tv crew clocked the cop at 90mph and then traced him to his home. He had finished his shift and just wanted to get home.

We cannot know if in this instance he was actually on a call or just joyriding or abusing his power. If I’m not mistaken, even police who are responding quietly to a situation (no sirens) are required to follow safety precautions, i.e. flashing lights. It doesn’t matter whether or not he is trained to speed safely – if he is not following procedure, he should not be speeding.

Police have an incredibly difficult and dangerous job for which they are grossly underpaid. That does not mean that the laws that they enforce do not apply to them. And who’s to say that ignoring the little things (speeding for no cause) doesn’t lead to larger and larger infractions. I must admit, while I quake at the thought of trying to do their job, I have less and less respect for police the more I have to deal with them.

I know of an officer who lives on one reservation and works on another, he travels fast with his lights on too and from work all the time

@syz: I’ve been following this thread and thought you oughta know that I think your answer is the absolute best of any here I’ve read. GA points for you!!! :D

I’d have to agree with Sloane on that. Good answer syz, definitely better than anything I could think of myself.

I’ve heard the rationale that cops need to move faster than traffic so that they can spot dangerous drivers—they won’t see them if they stay surrounded by the same cars, of course!