Here was the situation as background:
I was driving in my Honda Accord with my wife, taking her mother back home. I'm travelling on the 110 S, and then I noticed that my exit was 1/2 mile away. I started changing lanes, not in one continuous motion, but staying 200-300ft in each lane before making the actual change.

When I'm on the off ramp, I noticed that there was a large >10 group of CHP officers behind me about 500 ft away. One of them pulled up next to me.

He was screaming at me to roll down my windows. He started calling me a bastard, and kept yelling about how I could not possibly have NOT known that the exit was coming up. I tried to let him know that it really was the first time that I was taking that off ramp, since I was trying to drop my mother-in-law off, but he wouldn't hear it.

He continued for what seemed like several minutes, yelling, cursing, and personally attacking me.

Was this reasonable? If he did not like the way I changed lanes, he can criticize that, not verbally assaulting someone. Keep in mind, I'm a small Asian guy, with his wife, dressed very conservatively. I'm a physician by profession. Basically, I'm as least threatening as they come. I never cussed at the officer or called him any names, I rarely ever cuss in my everyday language.

Maybe he was having a bad day, but if I proceeded to call my patients "bastards," "idiots," "fVckin' geniuses," you can bet I'll hear from their lawyers soon.

It's too bad that this is the personality that we have in our police force. How do they expect law-abiding average joe citizens to support them in the communities if this is how we're treated? If this guy were ever shot, and needed medical attention in the street, he just lost my help. I'd keep on driving....

 

Man that is really bad, I feel soo bad that has happened to you. You should go file a report with the CHP. Even thou you dont have his badge number etc... i would still go to the CHP office and file a complaint.

Even that complaint might make a difference.


2004 Diamond Graphite G35 Coupe 6MT, Premium Package, Aero Package, DVD Nav

2003 Brilliant Silver G35 Sedan Premium Package, Aero Package, DVD Nav

 

even with those experiences, as long as i drive off without a ticket, i'm a happy man.

yea, but some CHP's, they tail gate your a$$ sooo damn close for NO reason for a really really long time.

 

It makes them feel special. Let them take off that badge and leave that cop car and lets see who the real punk is.

 

I would have asked him if I broke any laws. It doesn't sound like you did as the vehicle code is broad in its definition of a safe lane change. In fact, it actually reads that you can not move from your lane until it is safe to do so. So, as long as you don't hit something or break another law in the process, you've done nothing wrong.

That being said, if he's not giving you a ticket then tell him to have a nice day and leave. I'd get his badge number too and let him know that you have it. I'm sure his watch commander would like to know he's harrassing citizens.

 

I definitely didn't break any laws. By the time I saw the sign saying that the exit was coming up, I had 1/2 mile to go. I switched lanes 3 times, again in a noncontinuous fashion, so going by simple physics, I averaged about 650ft in each lane.

The only good was that he didn't give me a ticket. But even if he did, I would have got a traffic lawyer, and again with my simple physics, easily have shown that I moved over one lane at a time. There was moderate traffic, so there was no way I could even do all the lane changes at once without hitting someone or cutting someone off.

I plan on writing a letter of complaint to the CHP South LA office. They have a department that deals with the conduct of officers. If he was just some random guy, then that's fine. But a "professional" while on duty who started screaming personal attacks at the people he's "serving" is uncalled for. I could easily get a lawyer and file a claim for verbal assault. Afterall, here's a guy that I never met, who has a gun, and he's yelling at me and threatening me on the road. I could argue that I felt that my life was in danger. We'll see....

 

Definitely file a complaint. Cops like this shouldn't have the right to stay on the road. It's bad enough we have insane maniac drivers on the road, now CHP officers are harassing people from a moving vehicle? I wouldn't want to run into this guy. Sorry it happened to you, I would probably freaked out before he pulls out the shot gun.


CPV35 G35C Maliblue

 

did you get any of the cop's info though? cuz i think you need at least his badge number or patrol car number/license plate number. if not, it doesn't really do any good unless a bunch of ppl complain about the the department as a whole.

 

You know, without commenting on your specific situation, a lot of drivers out there are dumb as dirt.

Sunday on the 5 Fwy south, where the 10 merges into the five, a guy moves right in front of me. He is going 45mph(one the friggen freeway), I am going 65mph(admittedly exceeding the speed limit and driving excessively fast for conditions). He did not even look. He did not look in his rear view mirror, he did not look over his shoulder, he did not signal. I did not think he was going to cut in front of me because he made no indication that he would. I had to slam on my brakes really hard.

Then a 1/2 mile or so later, the stupid $@#^ does it again.

I finally was able to pass him. I swear from the look on his face the idiot has no idea he almost just caused two accidents.

I am certain that if a cop was to pull him over for illegal lane change at that moment, he would insist that he did nothing wrong and some idiot in a black infiniti was tailgating him. Im sure he would say that the black car just appeared out of no where(duh!).

Just in general, cops don't start screaming at people for no reason. Yeah bad stuff happens. The exceptions, not everyday things.

 

I agree that alot of drivers are just clueless. That's even more reason for me to pay attention when driving. Several SUVs have almost run me off the road, they just don't see me, or they don't care, and they decide, "I'm coming through, cars be damned!"

In this situation though, I could not have done the lane change any safer. I gave each car about 5 cars' length before I went into their lanes. I double checked with my rear view, side view, and turned my head several times to check for cars before each lane change. I was going about 70 MPH when I did all this.

However, even if he did have a problem with the lane changing, there's no need for personal attacks.

 

agreed....there are A LOT of clueless drivers out there that truly don't know what's going on out there on the road and drive like they are the only car out there. however, there are some truly bad cops who abuse their power and let it get to their heads. i've told this story before but someone i know got pulled over for her tinted windows. the cop yelled at her for having it and made her peel them off with her hands in front of him. and believe me, she is the nicest, sweetest, most soft-spoken girl i know.

my cousin got a speeding ticket for going 37 mph in a 35 mph zone because he slightly passed up the cop next to him. when he was pulled over, the cop yelled at him and told him he had no respect for cops because ppl can never pass a cop...it's disrespect. he actually put on the ticket 37 mph in 35 mph zone. by the way, the weather was nice and there could have been no reason for a reduced speed limit than the one posted.

 

officers are humans as well,,,,,,,,and as such, they're probably taking their family/work/love or SEXUAL fustrations on the next vehicle with the slightest infraction, if any, and that happens to be you. heard of DWB? yours just could be DWA......and it ain't that rap group..


04 6mt Sedan / stock airbox mod / z-tube / k&n panel filter / crank pulley / 18" r/h c2s / s-tein springs

 

in my case, both friends would qualify for dwa--driving while asian, right? however, they both drove non-riced cars. but the girl was driving a bmw and my cousin was driving a '90 toyota celica.

 

That doesn't mean that cops should assualt the driver by yelling or shouting. I would say some cops are pretty stupid for there own actions and never regret what they did wrong. Cops always think they are above the law and can do whatever they want to.

 

It has always bugged me, we are at their mercy. Most of them are 'OK', but there are bad apples too. Best bet is to befriend one and carry his card with you. That has worked for me with LAPD before, I know two officers from high school/college.

Here is the CHP's internal affairs web page. You should file a complaint. Don't let his bad attitude get you down, just laugh it off!

http://www.chp.ca.gov/html/cit_complaint.html