[ben45750]

Originally Posted by Orangetxguy

You did right by not stopping where it wasn't safe. From what you wrote, the Trooper did what was right, by waiting for a straight stretch of road to pass you.Where the Trooper stepped out of line, was stopping you at an accident scene and verbally abusing you. As has been pointed out, you didn't specify if the tropper issued you a ticket. I'm betting he didn't, because even though he was pissed at you, he also knwo's that you did what was safe fr your truck, which is all that matters.

Thank You, Thats what I was looking for. I didn't think I did anything wrong? I did what I thought was the the safest thing to do in that situation.

[kc0iv]

Originally Posted by golfhobo

West "By God" Virginia certainly has FAILED to keep up with the times! :lol:

A "Streetcar?" give me a break! A "bell???" :roll:

Although, I agree with you KC0iv, that he might should have STOPPED, I don't think it is necessarily relevant, and doubt that it would hold up in court against him. Please note the enlarged text. This law EXCLUDES police cars!

Now, there MAY be another section and chapter that applies to police cars, but you didn't reference that.

Besides, he was in a right hand curve. There's no way that his LEFT mirror would have revealed the trooper behind him. (And he could CLAIM that the rightside mirror was filled with his trailer.) What kind of highway was this? State or U.S.??

And, if you want to get technical, what part of the trooper's training told him that HE could stop a vehicle IN THE ROADWAY to cite the driver? Didn't he fail to follow his OWN instructions to wave the driver over to the side of the road to cite him?

I still believe that a call to the supervisor would clear this up. Although, it seems apparent that, in West Virginia at least, the proper thing to do would be to pull as far right AS POSSIBLE, and STOP!

I sure do wish there was ONE good reference manual on STATE SPECIFIC laws that we, as truckers, should know about! Especially since, a FEDERAL law that would STANDARDIZE such traffic laws is totally outside of the realm of possibility for this backwards country! :roll:

Ben: IF you got "cited," I would FIRST call the supervisor to discuss it, if that fails, hire an attorney to fight it. You "MIGHT" have been in the wrong, but under the circumstances, I believe it could be reduced at least.

golfhobo, I think you missed this part:

...I'm waving him around me and he doesn't do anything.....

The exclusion would be for another police vehicle i.e. a second police vehicle following another police vehicle. This section like most state laws restrict how close you can follow an emergency vehicle.

As far as a "streetcar" I don't know the final outcome but I read Huntington is trying to revise the streetcar. see: http://wowktv.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=786

I believe Route 5 is a state road. At least that is what it look like on mapquest.

A trooper for any law enforcement officer can stop a vehicle anywhere they feel it can safely done.

I think you will find most if not all states have similar laws when it come to emergency vehicle.

kc0iv

[Orangetxguy]

Ben, something to remember about this is, if you do take it beyond this forum, you risk getting every Kenan truck that runs in that particular trooper's area a good hard look, by and from, all of his supporter's, of which there will be some.

Vent here..vent to the safety office...and if the safety office thinks there is a valid point to make, then procceed.

[marylandkw]

That kind of behavior is never acceptable from a trooper a shipper or any other person on the road under any circumstance. State Troopers are held to a higher standard in general ( I have no personal knowledge of Wv)

I know in my days as a Trooper, A strongly worded letter to my commander would bring down the wrath of god. Make sure to include your Drivers license number and date of birth and full name as it appears on you license. If you were not cited for any offense it will improve your side of the argument.

Now the down side is, you will likely never receive any reply to this aside from a form letter saying it was handed over to the appropriate authorities and thank you yada yada. Chances are if you don't include it in your letter, he won't remember your company name at all.

A phone call will not mean diddly squat, write a nice professional letter including your request to be cited for the offense. Nobody will loose their job but he will learn an important lesson.

[ben45750]

I'm sure your right marylandkw. Nothing would happen even if I did write a letter or say anything about what happened. I do know WV is hurting for Troopers, WV doesn't pay much so they don't attract many candidates that even want the job.

I do have another question that someone might be able to answer that I see quite often. Volunteer Fireman/rescue people that have the flashing lights and siren. What classification do they have as an emergency vehicle? Some of them drive like that State Patrol. Can they get away with that?

[Rev.Vassago]

Originally Posted by ben45750

I'm waving him around me and he doesn't do anything.

That's because he didn't know what was in front of you, and if he would have followed your hand gestures and gotten in an accident, then not only would he have likely gotten fired, but you and your company would have been liable to a degree.

Finally we get to a straight stretch and he passes me.

Which he could have probably done sooner had you stopped.

I get right up to the accident and the officer jumps out in the middle of the road with his hand up.

Did he really "jump"?

He proceeds to jump on the side of my truck and yell at me through my window.

You mean when you saw the officer approaching, you didn't open your window? Why not?

I stoped the truck, set the brakes and ask him to get off of my truck. That pissed him off even more.

And rightfully so. He has every right to be there.

I asked him what he wanted me to do? I asked him if he wanted me to cause another accident by pulling over in the ditch (no doubt the truck would have went over) and he would have 45,000 pounds of gas to deal with IF it didn't ignite. he told me he didn't care and when an emergency vehicle has their lights on I MUST GET OVER.

You must stop or move over for an emergency vehicle. You couldn't move over, and you didn't stop. You were in the wrong.

I told him to write the ticket and lets see what an educated judge thinks about this situation.

An educated judge would have upheld the citation.

He did this in front of a group a people around the accident, which in my opinion makes me and my company look bad and that we don't obey law enforcement.

You were doing a good job of that yourself with your failure to obey the law and your attitude towards the officer.

Or was I in the wrong and should have got out of his way?

You should have stopped, and since you didn't, you should have been courteous to an officer of the law who was trying to reprimand you for it. If I were that officer, you would have ended up with the citation, as well as a nice level one inspection. If I weren't qualified to perform a level 1, then you would have waited for a qualified officer to show up.

And I'm not saying that because you didn't stop for him. I'm saying that because of your attitude towards him. Not opening your window, demanding he get off your step, arguing with him. All horrible attitudes to have.

Let the flaming begin.

[Rev.Vassago]

Originally Posted by golfhobo

Besides, he was in a right hand curve. There's no way that his LEFT mirror would have revealed the trooper behind him. (And he could CLAIM that the rightside mirror was filled with his trailer.)

He knew the trooper was back there. He stated as much. Obviously he either wasn't in a right hand curve, or his mirror revealed the trooper as there.

And, if you want to get technical, what part of the trooper's training told him that HE could stop a vehicle IN THE ROADWAY to cite the driver? Didn't he fail to follow his OWN instructions to wave the driver over to the side of the road to cite him?

Lane was blocked with an accident. It wasn't a travel lane anymore. :roll:

Although, it seems apparent that, in West Virginia at least, the proper thing to do would be to pull as far right AS POSSIBLE, and STOP!

The same procedure holds true in Wisconsin. You pull over and stop. If you cannot pull over, you stop. It's safer for an officer, or any emergency vehicle, to pass a stopped vehicle in the roadway than it is to pass a slow vehicle in the roadway that cannot pull over.

[golfhobo]

Originally Posted by marylandkw

That kind of behavior is never acceptable from a trooper a shipper or any other person on the road under any circumstance. State Troopers are held to a higher standard in general ( I have no personal knowledge of Wv)

I know in my days as a Trooper, A strongly worded letter to my commander would bring down the wrath of god. Make sure to include your Drivers license number and date of birth and full name as it appears on you license. If you were not cited for any offense it will improve your side of the argument.

Now the down side is, you will likely never receive any reply to this aside from a form letter saying it was handed over to the appropriate authorities and thank you yada yada. Chances are if you don't include it in your letter, he won't remember your company name at all.

A phone call will not mean diddly squat, write a nice professional letter including your request to be cited for the offense. Nobody will loose their job but he will learn an important lesson.

Thank you MDKW, for your "informed" reply. I figured as much. And, I MEANT that a phone call to the supervisor was for the purpose of requesting a "formal review" of the situation. A letter might be better than a phone call, but a "personal interview/inquest" might trump a letter. It will, after all, be recorded... or SHOULD be.

I only suggested this as an alternative to a public defacing in court, as I thought the matter should be handled "in house."

[golfhobo]

Well.... REV... it's nice to see you've found TIME to rejoin us! And, yes... I agree with most of what you said in your previous post! I would have had my window down, and my shotgun handy BEFORE the officer jumped on my truck! Who KNOWS what uniform a terrorist might wear these days?? :lol:

Originally Posted by Rev.Vassago

He knew the trooper was back there. He stated as much. Obviously he either wasn't in a right hand curve, or his mirror revealed the trooper as there.

Of course, you are RIGHT, but can you PROVE it??

Lane was blocked with an accident. It wasn't a travel lane anymore. :roll:


Oh, YES IT WAS! Apparently, there was at least ONE lane available to pass the accident, or the poster wouldn't have been driving THROUGH it! There was AMPLE room on the side of the road (or even in the blocked lane) PAST the accident for the trooper to wave the driver INTO! I see this EVERY day! :roll:

The same procedure holds true in Wisconsin. You pull over and stop.

And WHO cares about Wisconsin??

If you cannot pull over, you stop. It's safer for an officer, or any emergency vehicle, to pass a stopped vehicle in the roadway than it is to pass a slow vehicle in the roadway that cannot pull over.

Could be true, but, who knows if the officer can see around the vehicle enough to pass safely? If NOT.... he is STUCK there! By continuing to MOVE, at a slow pace, the driver affords the officer MORE opportunities to pass him safely.

I've seen MANY situations where an ambulance or fire truck is trying to get through traffic, and the WORST situation for them seems to be a STOPPED vehicle! I could be wrong (as could YOU.) Perhaps, we could get some input from someone who is actually IN that field??

[Rev.Vassago]

:roll: