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I had picked up a load of snowplows at Leavenworth going to Wichita. I had pulled out onto the highway and headed south. The first traffic light I came to was green.
The one thing you can count on is that a green light will turn red. Since this is my first time to haul a load like this, I'm cautious about hitting the brakes hard. I am driving much less than the posted speed limit.
As I get to the intersection, I am passed by a car. Ths car was driven by an elderly lady so I couldn't be going fast. I was about a mile down the road when the red and blue lights come on behind me.
There is a curb on my right so I can't pull over, I stopped right where I was. The officer motioned me to come back to his car. He got out and stood in front of his car.
It was a young Lansing city officer. He said that I was speeding. I told him that I wasn't speeding. The officer then said, "I was in the convenience store and almost didn't get you".
That was the first red flag.
I made three trips from my truck back to the car. Before he handed me the ticket, he asked me what the color of my truck was? You would think on a sunny afternoon, he could see 60 feet.
That was the second red flag.
In our conversation the young officer said that he never speeds in his personal car. The third red flag has risen. I told him that he was a liar, then went back to my truck. He wasn't going to follow me to the truck. He was happy that he wrote a ticket to a truck driver.
I belonged to a legal service at that time. I talked to the lawyer that was going to handle the case. I told him of all the red flags that this officer had raised to me in the traffic stop.
I wanted to go after this police officer because I'm sure that he has done this to other truck drivers. Once I told the lawyer that he had used laser to get me, the lawyer said that he couldn't beat it.
What about the officer character? He admitted that he was in the store so you know he was out after truck drivers.
I had picked up a load of snowplows at Leavenworth going to Wichita. I had pulled out onto the highway and headed south. The first traffic light I came to was green.
The one thing you can count on is that a green light will turn red. Since this is my first time to haul a load like this, I'm cautious about hitting the brakes hard. I am driving much less than the posted speed limit.
As I get to the intersection, I am passed by a car. Ths car was driven by an elderly lady so I couldn't be going fast. I was about a mile down the road when the red and blue lights come on behind me.
There is a curb on my right so I can't pull over, I stopped right where I was. The officer motioned me to come back to his car. He got out and stood in front of his car.
It was a young Lansing city officer. He said that I was speeding. I told him that I wasn't speeding. The officer then said, "I was in the convenience store and almost didn't get you".
That was the first red flag.
I made three trips from my truck back to the car. Before he handed me the ticket, he asked me what the color of my truck was? You would think on a sunny afternoon, he could see 60 feet.
That was the second red flag.
In our conversation the young officer said that he never speeds in his personal car. The third red flag has risen. I told him that he was a liar, then went back to my truck. He wasn't going to follow me to the truck. He was happy that he wrote a ticket to a truck driver.
I belonged to a legal service at that time. I talked to the lawyer that was going to handle the case. I told him of all the red flags that this officer had raised to me in the traffic stop.
I wanted to go after this police officer because I'm sure that he has done this to other truck drivers. Once I told the lawyer that he had used laser to get me, the lawyer said that he couldn't beat it.
What about the officer character? He admitted that he was in the store so you know he was out after truck drivers.
Then he was unprofessional and refused to walk up to the truck. That tells me all he wants to do is to write tickets. Then he lied when he said that he never speeds in his personal vehicle. So how can you trust him to use the laser?
I put my trust in the lawyer that he would take care of it. I did everything he asked me to do. I received a letter from the state saying my driver license was suspended. Now I had a crooked cop and a bad lawyer.
Everything got worked out after I told the legal service that I would take legal action against them if it didn't get fixed. The lady asked if I would use one of their attorneys? What do you think?
Ron Moore is a professional truck driver and contributing columnist. E-mail
ron_weasel@yahoo.com
