Observations from roadside inspections

Heard a story about this from an old timer, it really made me think. What you just said Outerspacehillbilly might sound like a great idea, and it did to me, until i heard this story.


A truck driver get's pulled over really late at night without an up to date logbook, the bear walks up to the truck and asks for his log-book... The driver hands his log book to the bear which is not up to date, the Officer hands him a ticket for not having an up to date log-book, and the truck driver throws a fit! He asks the bear if he's DOT certified, and guess what? He's not.. But, just because the man challenged the Officers authority he calls a DOT cop and the DOT cop comes and writes a citation.

This is a real story that i heard, and ofcourse, i'm giving the short version.

If he would have just kept his mouth shut and took this ticket to court he would've beat it and nothing would have ever went any farther, but because he threw a fit the officer found a way to stick him anyway.

The best thing to do in this situation or any others where you have to deal with the 'captain america' types is to just shut up and deal with it, if you challenge their authority they WILL get upset and they WILL find a way to screw you, IF an officers willing to go that far out of their way to mess with you in the first place, they obviously have an authority complex, and if you challenge it, it will make them mad, and when that happens, they will make sure that you know it.

I'm not referring to people like Deislebear, etc. who are actually professionals and do their job in a way that reflects that, but there are ALOT of a-holes out there.

 

I have to agree with you eckz... yes the officer may not be DOT qualified but who knows what his reaction will be if you, like you said, throw a fit. While it may make you angry or want to spit teeth, it might be better to just handle it like a professional and if need be, fight it in court. And also yes dieselbear is one of the many professional DOT officers out there. You always will find some a-holes out there. The most I found is in, big surprise, California.

 

Well, maybe if the guy wouldnt have thrown a fit and just asked if the officer was certified it might have turned out differently, then again maybe not. Why would the driver have a fit if he was caught red handed?

 

Your probably right if you throw a fit then yeah your probably asking for it.

However I was referring to personal experience that has happened to me not some story I heard. I have never once had a problem either. The first 2 times the officers did not know what to say or do when I asked they were caught off guard. Both checked my license and told me to be on my way. The 3rd time the officer was DOT certified and he kind of chuckled when I asked. It did strike up an interesting conversation though. He checked my book and let me go. I didn't say anything about throw a fit. I said ask, you know respectfully and politely. Amazing how far a little professionalism will get you.

 

Even asking politely can be felt as an insult from someones point of view like that.

If they are bothering you in the first place, they already know they aren't allowed to do that, so they must be having a pretty bad day already, that, or they just don't care.

 

Well maybe so but in over 10 years I have yet to have a problem when showing them respect and professionalism. Although I have met a few that didn't deserve it the majority were just as professional and respectful back.

 

It's a risk you take either way in my opinion. Personally I'd rather just let them give me the ticket and then take it to court.

Personally i find it hard to believe that if a non DOT officer takes it upon himself to write you a ticket and you (even politely as possible) ask if they are DOT certified that they're going to just drop the ticket and let you go.. Obviously if they took it upon themselves to do so they aren't going to let you go that easily just like that... If they were, then why would they even be bothering to deal with anything above their pay-grade in the first place?

Remember, this conversation is about what to do if someone that's NOT DOT certified tries to write you a ticket, look at your log-book, etc. Not about ANY DOT officer.. The driver threw a fit (Supposedly) because he was pulled over by a city cop just so he could ask to see his log-book, which he wasn't even allowed to see in the first place.. But when confronted with this he diddn't let the guy go, he called a DOT cop and the driver got a ticket anyway.

Then you have some bears that ARE DOT certified, and you asking if they are DOT certified is considered an insult to their intelligence because they don't realize that non DOT officers DO try to bother us at times so there is also the possibility that they think you're being a smart ### as well.

I've always had fairly decent experiences with DOT officers, and never bothered to "check up on them".. If they ever wrote me a ticket that i thought was unfair, i'd fight it in court, not at the scale, or on the side of the road.

 

I could care less if I insult there intelligence or hurt there ego. As I already said, no wet behind the ears Buford T Justice wannabe that is not DOT certified is getting #### from me. He is not gonna get a chance to write me a ticket because he can't! If he wants to call a DOT officer to come thats fine by me I don't worry about inspections from DOT. I have never had a citation yet other than 1 warning for a minor crack in the windhsield and don't ever plan on getting another one. These local yocals only try that crap because drivers allow them to access information they shouldn't be in the first place. If you want to waist your time going to court to fight a ticket that should not have been issued in the first place be my guest. I on the other hand won't allow them to have a chance to write me one in the first place because they have no jurisdiction to do so.

 

I could care less if I insult there intelligence or hurt there ego. As I already said, no wet behind the ears Buford T Justice wannabe that is not DOT certified is getting #### from me. He is not gonna get a chance to write me a ticket because he can't! If he wants to call a DOT officer to come thats fine by me I don't worry about inspections from DOT. I have never had a citation yet other than 1 warning for a minor crack in the windhsield and don't ever plan on getting another one. These local yocals only try that crap because drivers allow them to access information they shouldn't be in the first place. If you want to waist your time going to court to fight a ticket that should not have been issued in the first place be my guest. I on the other hand won't allow them to have a chance to write me one in the first place because they have no jurisdiction to do so.

Let me clarify I have never questioned a DOT officer or State Trooper if they are DOT certified or not because obviously all DOT are and most states that I am aware of the State Troopers also are. I was referring to the post that LooneyTunes made.

 

I like it. Using school terminology, that's good news for drivers who make straight "A's", but not so good news for the "D" and "F" drivers. Fortunately, I'm an "honor roll" truck driver.