Another IL trooper killed by semi .

They've still got a job to do. You don't sit there crying over your fellow fallen soldier while the battle rages on all around you...to do so is a great way to end up just as dead as your buddy. You've got a job to do, so you put on your big boy pants and you do it. In their case, not doing their job endangered OTHER PEOPLE because they weren't out on the streets patrolling.

You aren't being paid to ride with the Patriot Guard....you're doing that on your own time, at your own expense. Nothing wrong with that.

...and that "thin blue line" crap is why a lot of people strongly dislike the police. http://www.uic.edu/depts/pols/ChicagoPolitics/policecorruption.pdf Heck, that female bartender who was brutally attacked (on video) several years ago by a drunk off duty Chicago cop finally won a judgement against the Chicago PD for their cover-up of the incident. Those Chicago PD officers are some real class acts!

 

Condolences to his wife and family, may he rest in peace.

Also just because there were pd on honor guard does not mean they were on duty; I don't know if they would have to be on duty to do honor a fallen comrade. Also some of the pd that were perhaps waiting on the state police to get finished most likely were doing the escort afterward. Don't know what time they were driving, but as anyone knows going through Chicago is a challenge, esp for something like that and to not to have an escort would perhaps have made the trip very hard.

I hope the driver is ok and he had a good reason for being in the left lane.

 

no, only a citizen who has actually observed these men in action, not based upon a gallant episode of COPS, but on our day-to-day interaction with them

some of it is good, most of it is not

no one is to blame but cops for our perception of them

just like we are to blame for the public's perception of truck drivers, good and bad

 

I agree, just a small handful can taint the image for the majority. Isn't it strange it never seems to work the other way? I guess that's one big flaw in humans, to see the bad, and assume that all are the same, even if it's just a fraction of the overall.

 

Like i said before , its a brotherhood and i dont mean like a group of Teamsters at a pickett line. Thats not life and death. In this area as well as others. If a city cop is killed in action there is a huge procession of local, State, county and some fed as well as first responders. Look, everyone knows trucking wether OTR or Local freight is a Dangerous job. All of us here can be gone in a flash. How ever its a different scenario when you put on a uniform and badge daily knowing that you are a target.

 

In the event the cop was taking a dangerous situation and making it better(helping a stranded driver get off the road, etc.) when this happened, then it is unfortunate. If he was taking a situation and making it more dangerous (writing a silly ticket for seatbelt, running radar, filling out paperwork, etc.) then he merely paid the price for his poor judgement. Sure it may be the truckers fault for rear ending him, but who is the dead one? I think cops would be a lot better off if they stuck to solving crimes (crime being something that causes actual damage to another person or their property) rather than collecting fines. I don't even believe in calling 911, but I did once to report a traffic impediment, it was Washington State Patrol running a speed trap. Cops do more to snarl up traffic than they do to help it.

 

We were on one of the sections of 95, don't remember if it was in NJ or over toward Baltimore, but a cop had pulled over a vehicle in the left berm, he turned out into the front of the traffic suddenly and almost caused an accident, the vehicle he had pulled over was left to try and get out on their own. I don't think they should be able to pull anyone over on the left berm for writing tickets.

 

The driver pulls whichever way they want. The cop just turns on the lights .

Rolling the Smashed Pumpkin

 

I-57 northbound just before you get to the 83, there is a billboard telling people to move over. In the picture on the billboard, they have the car pulled over on the left shoulder with traffic "moved over" into the right lane.

In a way, it is almost safer to do that as the officer can exit his car safely and conduct the stop with the driver next to the driver's window without standing in traffic. Besides that, traffic is SUPPOSED to be in the right lane (keep right except to pass), so by stopping on the left you force a smaller percentage of vehicles to alter their course. Lastly, pulling over on the left shoulder allows for easier visibility. The driver sits on the left side of the vehicle, so it is easier to see "around" the vehicle ahead of you to the left side than it is to the right.

Sure, the shoulder is usually narrower on the left side of the road...but as long as you get completely off the road and out of the travel lanes, it could easily be argued to be safer.

 

they should outlaw pulling people over on the right shoulder

if a cop pulls anyone over on the left shoulder, he should be fired

the should only pull people over at the exits or very wide right shoulders