Ever have to call highway patrol on someone?

If I had to call in for people driving erratic, being a dangerous moron, or harrassing me, it would be an almost daily thing. I'm also pretty sure it will continue to get much worse.

In reply to BlueInGreen44:

Both are impaired driving, and deserve to have the book thrown at them.

I've called a "How's my driving" number to report someone who was driving a semi like he'd forgotten he had a trailer behind him. Not sure it did any good.

I called in someone who was riding a bicycle up the Leverett connector ramp onto 93N in Boston. That's a very bad idea - it dumps you out into the left lane of a 65mph highway that people regularly drive 80 on, and there are no other left lane exits. Your only option is to cross 4 lanes of traffic and hope you make it.

Back in my immortal high school years, I actually chased a carload of teenagers from a rival high school for close to 20 miles while on the line with a 911 operator. They ended up having to pay to fix my vehicle since for whatever reason they had chucked something heavy into the side of it and left a gnarly dent plus their fines for speeding, underage drinking, and not having a visible plate....poor kids' 99+ v6 mustang couldn't go past 112, the zx3 fukus could go 115.

Since then, it depends. I'll call 911 if something is blatantly obvious, otherwise I'll usually just call the local dispatch directly for questionable stuff.

I've had to call a few times over the years. Last time I called was on Easter Sunday a couple years ago. We were coming back from a family get-together on the highway and I see a lady in a white Cadillac SRX ping-ponging and driving erratically. Knowing there was a State Police barracks ahead, I called it in. She was cutting across all three lanes with many near misses, and the police told me to stay on her and follow at a safe distance. When she got off the highway, they transferred me to the town police. She barely negotiated a rotary, went into the opposing lane a few times, and nearly took out a neighborhood Easter egg hunt before the cops finally stopped her. I hung around until after they cuffed her and took her away to make sure she wouldn't hurt anyone, and gave my info for the official report.

The next day, I got a call from a town detective. She plead guilty and took the punishment, so I didn't have to appear in court. He also said that this lady was the highest blood alcohol level drunk driver they have ever brought in. A week before, a popular town coach had gotten killed by a drunk driver about a mile from where she was arrested, and this lady's levels were WORSE. I'm glad I called.

10+ time a year for drunk driving. Here we actually have a specific number to call and they respond quick because it is a cash cow for the city. Got a thank you call once actually from the police about it. I have no issue about it, been hit twice by a drunk at night and one of them almost killed me if not for a bizarre little trick of fate.

One of my best friends used to work for a car rental company. One day, he got dispatched to deliver a rental car to a home in Malibu. He was happy to get paid to take a nice drive on one of our awesome back twisty roads that lead down to PCH.

Unbeknownst to him however, some guy was attempting to set a world speed record on a Honda Goldwing coming up the other direction from PCH and his driving was so reckless that multiple people had called the police to report him.

The Goldwing guy wound up laying his bike down on a turn and went sliding in a prone position across the lane as my friend came around the turn from the opposite direction. My friend told me that he and the Goldwing guy maintained direct eye contact with each other for about two seconds until the Goldwing guy disappeared under my friend’s car.

My friend wound up running completely over him and came to rest on top of him with his car lifted up several inches. He was so freaked out that he threw the car in reverse and backed off of him.

Before you criticize him for doing that, know that he’s a former dirt bike racer that has been airlifted twice himself so it’s pretty difficult to attribute his response to being a wimp…it was just such a horrific experience that anyone would have lost it.

Anyway, because others had taken the time to report the reckless driving in advance of the accident, the police and coroner were able to declare the Goldwing guy’s moment of death to be when he hit the ground rather than when he got stuffed under my friend’s car.

Technically speaking, my friend just ran over a corpse and as a result, he didn’t get any points against his license or have to appear in court or anything other than spend an hour or so spraying a hose under the car.

I've called in like the others, but I did have a food for thought moment a few years ago.

At the time, I was driving an early G35 6MT coupe in dark blue with black aftermarket wheels.

My wife and I drove to Baton Rouge to see friends. Baton Rouge is not a small city, and in any medium to large city, you often find a concentration of aggressive drivers. The multi lane changers. The gross speeders. The close followers.

Well, for whatever reason, we take the 4Runner instead of the G35. We see our friends, have fun, and start to drive back.

Somewhere on I12, in a 55 Zone, I'm being passed by people in the two passing lanes, when a blue early G35 6MT with black aftermarket wheels blows by on the left shoulder travelling at least 90, and spraying shoulder crap back on the road. Before it disappeared in the distance, I saw a few more highly suspect moves.

If I'd taken the G35, I could have found myself having an awkward conversation. If this doppelganger was local, I'd have been the easier one to catch, having to stay on the road for forty miles for my destination.

In reply to Mike:

That exact thing (misidentification) just happened here locally. http://www.wxyz.com/news/region/wayne-county/caught-on-video-allen-park-police-stop-and-arrest-wrong-man-for-reckless-driving

Mike wrote: If I'd taken the G35, I could have found myself having an awkward conversation. If this doppelganger was local, I'd have been the easier one to catch, having to stay on the road for forty miles for my destination.

Friend of the family has (had?) a 1959 El Camino, black with red stripes. While driving through Wisconsin on the way back to the West Coast after having visited us in MI he was stopped by the cops.

When I say "stopped" by the cops, I mean half a dozen state troopers and two helicopters, two armored cars, automatic weapons, etc.

Turns out somebody had just robbed a bank (and shot the place up while they were at it) and escaped in an almost identical car.

Absolutely, almost identical facts. I say tweaking.

I'm sure all of you good citizens pulled over to make the call about these erratic drivers.

Didn't have to--Tim was driving.

keethrax wrote:

Mike wrote: If I'd taken the G35, I could have found myself having an awkward conversation. If this doppelganger was local, I'd have been the easier one to catch, having to stay on the road for forty miles for my destination.

Friend of the family has (had?) a 1959 El Camino, black with red stripes. While driving through Wisconsin on the way back to the West Coast after having visited us in MI he was stopped by the cops. When I say "stopped" by the cops, I mean half a dozen state troopers and two helicopters, two armored cars, automatic weapons, etc. Turns out somebody had just robbed a bank (and shot the place up while they were at it) and escaped in an almost identical car.

You sure it wasn't the Sac-O-Suds?

Common in some of these posts are lists of "almosts". Unfortunately, cops often don't/can't do anything until almost turns into "did".

Called a few times. Most notable was when I was in Southern Ohio and observed a woman swerving and doing frequent 2 wheel offs to correct back on and cross the double yellow. Called the PoPo and while on the line with the operator the driver came VERY close to a head-on collision with a few Harleys. They bikers were actually forced off the road and it was a miracle that they stayed up. The operator requested that I stick with the car and call out location and worked to set up an intercept. The officer came up behind me, flashed his lights, went around and tailed just long enough to see another 2-off and double yellow cross. I pulled over and stopped well off the road behind the patrol car with my flashers on and upon request made a statement. Basically the officer told me that he didnt think it was alcohol, but (perscription) drugs and that they were taking her in (they had enough with the short tail to pin reckless IIRC), so all they would really need was my statement, but appreciated me giving my time and assistance. No idea what came of it, but I can tell you I almost crapped myself for the bikers. As soon as I saw her crossing the double yellow with them coming I started blaring the horn in hopes to avert an incident. I think I might have made a difference there.

RX Reven' wrote: Technically speaking, my friend just ran over a corpse and as a result, he didn’t get any points against his license or have to appear in court or anything other than spend an hour or so spraying a hose under the car.

I probably would have spent a week with the jitters and throwing up a bunch, too.

Yes made the call. Turned out to be a big deal. Got put on tv with the state police officers involved and presented an award by the governor. Still have the framed document I was presented.

In reply to dean1484:

Jeeze, was it the guy running against the governor you reported or something?

Drug trafficking

keethrax wrote: Turns out somebody had just robbed a bank (and shot the place up while they were at it) and escaped in an almost identical car.

Who the hell robs a bank and tries to get away in something as conspicuous as a '59 El Camino?

I actually called the cops on a state-employed driver yesterday. We have these little minibuses called Paratransit, which is the arm of our DART public transportation system that is tasked with what amounts to taxi service for handicapped people. The drivers of these things universally drive like complete hoonigans.

I was following one who was having trouble with lane position, and making a lot of aggressive lane changes, etc. In front of him was a regular full size DART bus that happened to be wrapped in bright orange advertising. The DART bus pulled over to make a stop but the Paratransit guy, who was apparently texting his girlfriend or meth dealer or whoever, also drifted off onto the shoulder at about 50 mph. At the last decimal second he looked up and YANKED the minibus back into the right lane, with a lot of wobbling, and almost hitting the car in the left lane. I had a great view and he definitely missed the LR corner of the stopped bus by about 2 feet at 50 mph. It would have ruined an bunch of people's weeks - and maybe lives - if he had hit it.

I call people in all the time over Bluetooth. It works about 1/2 of the time - I'll see the drunkard or loony pulled over by the side of the road - and almost 1/2 the time I get to see the cop who was manning the next speedtrap ahead driving the other way at qualifying speed to get to the scene as soon as he can.

I should have called today, actually. After making a delivery down to Indy, I was heading back north on I-65 and in Lebanon came across this 20 something guy on a moped riding up the shoulder.

I used to end up calling a lot. I prosecuted drunk driving cases for about 7 or 8 years and did all the training the officers get, so I got really good at spotting them. Now I'm old and boring and I'm not out during the "witching hour" much, so it's slowed down a bit.

Incidentally, my favorite case was the dude who got busted on his way home from a Halloween party and had to do his dexterities in a gladiator costume, complete with the skirt.