Hello all,
     Here in the states the police require probable cause to stop and=20
question someone. Also a tow driver has to have probable cause or a=20
court order of some type to seize and tow a vehicle. The problem here is=20
determining what probable cause is. If you are behaving in an odd manner=20
that can be probable cause for the police to decide to stop and ask you=20
some basic questions regarding your identity. If your vehicle is parked=20
illegally that is probable cause to have it towed. Most times an officer=20
will issue a ticket unless it is a safety issue such as blocking traffic=20
or parked in front of a hydrant.
     The larger cities pretty much understand and abide by what probable=20
cause is. This has come about because of cases such as Rodney King and=20
other large profile cases. You have to be careful in the smaller towns=20
and communities. Here the police forces are small and the officers are=20
poorly trained. This is especially true in the South. Fortunately the=20
police are mostly reactive rather than proactive. As long as you don't=20
do anything to call attention to yourself the police in these towns will=20
leave you alone. If you do attract their attention they can be as bad as=20
the Gestapo was in Nazi Germany. It can turn into a nightmare real quick.
     The police used to park across the street in front of bars just=20
around closing time. The reasoning was that since someone is coming out=20
of a bar they are probably under the influence. Well one person took the=20
police to court over doing this saying that it did not meet the=20
requirements of probably cause. It went all of the way to the supreme=20
court where they ruled that just because someone is coming out of a bar=20
that is not enough probable cause to warrant stopping and questioning=20
this person. Now the police have to witness someone driving in such a=20
manner as to be probable cause that they are driving under the influence.
     The real scary part now is that there are more and more states that=20
are legalizing marijuana and as this is happening quite a few people are=20
taking this as permission to drive a vehicle while under the influence.=20
In fact in California the number of arrests for being under of influence=20
of MJ is now higher then the arrests for being under the influence of=20
alcohol. I don't understand this as driving is a full time job. 99=20
percent of the crashes here in the states are driver caused. Yes,=20
weather and road conditions can be a contributing factor but except for=20
the cause of a failure of a structure such as a bridge or a sudden=20
thunderstorm that comes out of no where the weather or failures of some=20
type do not cause crashes even though people like to blame the weather.=20
They just don't want to face the fact that they were driving too fast=20
for conditions and following too close.
     Some people want to blame some type of failure on the part of the=20
vehicle but that excuse just doesn't stand up when it is closely=20
examined. If the vehicle had had proper inspections and maintenance done=20
the failure just would not have happened. What people here don't get and=20
I suspect this is probably true all over the world is that what we do or=20
don't do effects someone somewhere. Our insurance rates would be 30 to=20
40 percent lower if people would treat driving as the serious job that=20
it is. Also the cost of our vehicles would drop 20 to 30 percent as a=20
result of this. Another 30 percent of the cost of our vehicles is to pay=20
for the liability insurance that the manufacturers have to carry because=20
Americans like to sue over so many different things.
     A case that really irritated me was when the court ruled that Ford=20
was to blame for that fire that killed two teenagers when their Pinto=20
was struck from behind by a drunk driver that didn't have any insurance.=20
The Pinto was sitting stopped at a red light when it was hit from behind=20
by guy doing 90 mph. It is sad that these kids died but it wasn't Fords=20
fault but we all get to pay for that ruling. I don't believe anybody in=20
a small car can survive getting hit from behind by another vehicle that=20
is doing 90 mph. For you metric folks that is about 135 kph.
     I just found out that the reason Montana changed their speed limit=20
law from R&P, that is Reasonable and Proper to 80 mph is because a=20
person who kept getting tickets for driving at unreasonable and improper=20
speeds refused to pay these tickets. Montana took him to court and the=20
court ruled that R&P was unconstitutional on the grounds that it was too=20
vague. So another narassic brat who only cares about themselves ruined=20
it for the rest of us who understand and care about what R&P means. You=20
used to be able to drink and drive in NV and several other Western=20
states. But the law had to be changed because so many people thought=20
that because it was legal to drink and drive that you could drive while=20
intoxicated. Hum, sounds like a state that is having a problem with=20
their MJ users. Well enough ranting for now.
Thanks,
rich!

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