I saw a video of an American officer claiming basically the opposite. Said something like “it’s not about the speed limit, it’s about traffic safety”, for ticketing someone driving the speed limit. I don’t remember it exactly but I think the point was that if traffic is over the speed limit then he thought so should you.
I remember thinking how America likes trapping people in situations where there’s no right or legal answer so you just have to hope you don’t end up being the one they pay attention to and decide to punish.
That’s exactly what it feels like. Cops aren’t required to be fair or pull over the fastest. If everybody around you is going 5-15 MPH over the speed limit and you’re going 10 over a cop can still pull you over, even if someone just blasted past you.
This is what makes the situation you describe so frustrating. If everyone is speeding you can be pulled over for not joining in. If you try to be in the middle of the pack you’ll likely be safe, but not necessarily. And if you get pulled over for something else, like a bad taillight or your kid made a face at the cop, a ticket for speeding is pretty likely.
So they can force me to drive as fast as they want? I don’t think that’s how law works…?
I saw a video of an American officer claiming basically the opposite. Said something like “it’s not about the speed limit, it’s about traffic safety”, for ticketing someone driving the speed limit. I don’t remember it exactly but I think the point was that if traffic is over the speed limit then he thought so should you.
I remember thinking how America likes trapping people in situations where there’s no right or legal answer so you just have to hope you don’t end up being the one they pay attention to and decide to punish.
That’s exactly what it feels like. Cops aren’t required to be fair or pull over the fastest. If everybody around you is going 5-15 MPH over the speed limit and you’re going 10 over a cop can still pull you over, even if someone just blasted past you.
This is what makes the situation you describe so frustrating. If everyone is speeding you can be pulled over for not joining in. If you try to be in the middle of the pack you’ll likely be safe, but not necessarily. And if you get pulled over for something else, like a bad taillight or your kid made a face at the cop, a ticket for speeding is pretty likely.