"But Officer....."

So here is a bit of my story. I have worked in the Washington DC area and now work for a city PD which has a lot of CMV traffic. I am the lead investigator for all fatal crashes. About 9 years into my career I convinced the department to send us to get certified as inspectors after several fatal CMV crashes. I am the only one in the agency that still does inspections.

When we were getting certified they stressed the regs and the mandatory OOS violations. As I was conducting an inspection one day the driver felt comfortable enough to begin asking questions. We discussed both perspectives. I have always understood officer discretion on enforcement but as we spoke I realized there was a lot I didn't understand about the industry in general. I knew what the regs said for example on HOS and I knew the OOS criteria. What they didn't teach was CSA points, how violations affect drivers, etc. I am a big fan of knowledge and understanding so I came to this forum to get the drivers perspective since I will be the first to admit I have no experience from that standpoint.

It was very enlightening. I feel I understand a little more of what you face of a daily basis of navigating federal regs, state regs, every different POE, and various officers interpretations and enforcement methods. It has helped me to overlook some things and help the driver out when possible.

I spend most of my time on a motor (75%-85%) dealing with passenger cars. If I do stop a CMV while on my motor I typically just give them a verbal warning and or make them fix the problem with no paperwork. I also go out to all the local companies and perform terminal inspections and hand out CVSA decals. When I am in my vehicle I typically will not stop a CMV unless I observe one of the following violations: excessive speed--15+ in the city (I don't care about the highway), texting and cell phones, or an OOS violation. My goal is to not have to make any more death notifications. Since coming to this forum I have been able to see the human side of the regs as opposed to the pure black and white the feds teach with the regs. I have been known to lump as many violations as possible into 1 code on the inspection and to verbally advise the driver of small violations to keep from putting them on paper.

I try to make every interaction professional and polite. I have been known to laugh with drivers, and even when I have had to put them OOS I typically get a handshake at the end. I try to always treat drivers fairly and this forum has helped me know where I need to relax in the enforcement of certain regs

 

Its rough but someone has to get paid to ride a Harley.

 

There is the free ammo too.

 

Sadly there are a lot of people in every profession, law enforcement included, who lack common sense.

I just try to balance enforcement with the real world.