Non typical lighting a hazzard

[troidus]

Originally Posted by SteelJM1

How does a cop sans emergency lights pull someone over? I'm not stopping for any white/black/blue crown vic with no lights just cause the driver wants me to.

Originally Posted by abhibeckert

By driving next to you, winding down their window, and telling you to pull over? Maybe with a horn blast to get your attention?

It might take a while before there is a safe point to do that, but they'll just patiently follow you until then.

If need be, they'll follow you all the way to your destination.

BTDT, back in high school. Two Wichita PD lieutenants in an unmarked Diplomat followed me all the way back to school, then cut me off in the parking lot with a gold badge displayed in the passenger window. They yelled at me for awhile, then said they didn't have a ticket book so they were going to let me go with a warning. We were doing 90 for a good portion of the trip.

[abhibeckert]

Originally Posted by troidus

They yelled at me for awhile, then said they didn't have a ticket book so they were going to let me go with a warning. We were doing 90 for a good portion of the trip.

Pfft bullshit. I reckon they were just lazy.

Tickets don't have to be issued on the spot, I know someone who overtook an unmarked cop car, and they didn't do anything... until the next day when he returned from work to find a couple of officers standing outside his front door, where they issued him a ticket for reckless driving.

Personally, I'm always really happy when an officer yells at me instead of issuing a ticket! It's happened a few times...

[SteelJM1]

Originally Posted by abhibeckert

By driving next to you, winding down their window, and telling you to pull over? Maybe with a horn blast to get your attention?

It might take a while before there is a safe point to do that, but they'll just patiently follow you until then.

If need be, they'll follow you all the way to your destination.

I suppose so.. but what's to stop ne'er do goods from pulling the same stunt? It's not unheard of.

I think I'd personally ride to the closest police station if at night, or very public location in the day. But an unmarked, unlit, non uniformed officer yelling at me from his car and following me home is not a good idea for all parties involved.

[PalePhase]

Originally Posted by SteelJM1

How does a cop sans emergency lights pull someone over? I'm not stopping for any white/black/blue crown vic with no lights just cause the driver wants me to.

There have been quite a few nut jobs playing freelance police officer in the metro Atlanta area in recent years. IIRC, one of them had the misfortune to pull over a real cop.

[duck]

When I was sixteen a buddy of mine's parents had a Dodge Dart - which is what both marked and unmarked Seattle PD drove at the time. We had one of those handheld spotlights you plug into the lighter socket and I grabbed some blue lighting filter from my school's drama lighting department. If we thought cars were going too slow at night then we'd pull the light out, hold it by the driver's side mirror and "pull people over." Worked great and fortunately we never got busted for being such teenaged idiots.

[dwoodward]

Originally Posted by PalePhase

There have been quite a few nut jobs playing freelance police officer in the metro Atlanta area in recent years. IIRC, one of them had the misfortune to pull over a real cop.

Not to mention Bubba Stewart's mistake last year.

Motocross superstar James "Bubba" Stewart Jr. could have been living out a fantasy of being a cop or simply running late for a flight Monday afternoon when, according to authorities, he flashed red and blue lights at the truck in front of him on Interstate 4.
But that Chevy Silverado happened to be filled with legitimate off-duty officers.

"oops"

[abhibeckert]

Originally Posted by SteelJM1

I suppose so.. but what's to stop ne'er do goods from pulling the same stunt? It's not unheard of.

I think I'd personally ride to the closest police station if at night, or very public location in the day. But an unmarked, unlit, non uniformed officer yelling at me from his car and following me home is not a good idea for all parties involved.

I'm with you there. But in this case they were both in full uniform... And I had just committed a $350 traffic offence moments earlier. So I stopped.

[Retro]

Good conversation on lighting going on here, but lighting doesn't seem to be the problem with this situation.

Leaving the "elderly" driver and the issues that can have out of it. It appears that the problem is the driver of the Avenger wasn't paying attention.

The elderly driver slowed down. Cars slow down all the time. Even if he slowed from 75 down to 10, it wouldn't have been instantaneous. There would have been plenty of brake light time for the Avenger driver to slow down.

The Avenger driver who hit the black car either wasn't paying attention, was driving too fast, was following too close, or any combination of those.

[Seth S]

Originally Posted by PalePhase

There have been quite a few nut jobs playing freelance police officer in the metro Atlanta area in recent years. IIRC, one of them had the misfortune to pull over a real cop.

There was a guy here in Vermont last year who was arrested for pulling people over. He was driving an SUV type vehicle and would pull in front of people, slam on the brakes, and proceed to get out and yell at them for speeding. They got him quickly enough and he claimed he was helping the police.

[DJFireUSA]

Sad (scary even) part is you can buy everything needed to "play" a FBI Agent, or State Trooper, or local LEO.

Uniforms, Badges, ID cards, lighting, sirens, etc etc etc....

If it's a real LEO then they will follow you. Just slow down and waive for them to follow. Stop when you feel comfortable.

I was part of a catch and release program a few nights ago. Traffic all around me and something happened. All of a sudden I was well outside of my traffic 'comfort zone' so I squeezed though and got the hell out of there. Bumped the speed up a bit to get some distance but then slowed back down. Approaching the next light I see party lighst behind me. We chatted for a minute and he was kind enough to let me go but I did make him follow me for a short distance to get to a better lit area off the road.

FYI anytime you can get off a main drag or into a less traveled area please do it. It's safer for BOTH you and the Officer. He/she is just doing their job.

[PT Rider]

Originally Posted by Bill Harris

Is that yellow low beam legal? I think that Federal regs require headlights to be white.

But the regs don't define what "white" is. A yellow bulb with a dense dye probably wouldn't pass a judge's laugh test and also blocks a lot of light before it gets to the road at night. A bulb with a very thin yellow dye on it is probably no problem and blocks very little light.

Riders on older bikes with a weak, marginal headlight were often smart to run the high beam. Modern bikes with one or two excellent halogen headlights put out so much light on high beam that I find myself automatically looking away before I estimate the distance and closing rate. I have to notice this and look back, and by then time has elapsed and the bike is closer, sometimes closer than I'd like to make a smooth pass.

[Toto]

I drove a paramedic unit for about 10 yeares before my back fianally gave up the ghost.
My biggest concern with the modulator is that I don't wan't to be confused with an emergency vehicle. Drivers do some crazy stuff around emergency vehicles when lit up.
They will stop in front of you, do panick lane changes among other unsafe stuff. I am sure they make you more noticeable, but maybe not in a good way.
To each his own, but I wouldn't have one.

[dbuzz]

Non-typical lighting.... annoying? yup .... handy? possibly ... on someone else's bike. Rode into work this moring accompanied by quite by chance, by a bloke on a Goldwing with no less than 6 (yes 6) lights ... 2 headlights (on high beam) 2 on the lower triples and 2 on the lower forks .... WTF ! Looked like a 747 coming in to land. Damn annoying behind but handy in front ... the cars parted like the Red Sea Was running a car tyre too

Was horrible when it was behind me I figured having it in front was the better option ... running point LOL

[Dorian]

Originally Posted by Kommando

A multi-faceted approach.

I use the "triangle of light", both front and rear. I have a wimpy stock headlight on my DR, and whitish fogs on the forks (with 1W H3-replacement LEDs) that are aimed low. These don't blind oncoming traffic, but they light up the shoulders a little bit and provide some minor color contrast to the headlight.

I think the non-blinding "triangle of light" is the best way to be seen by others and oncoming traffic. I think you are actually seen "better" - by that I mean they can more easily figure out what you are, and your closing speed relative to your surroundings - because they can see you AND what you are riding past. I hate it when motorcycle riders use hi-beams. All you see is a ball of annoying bright light that washes out the immediate surroundings and makes it difficult to determine how far away it (bike? car? truck? train?) is and how fast it is approaching. Hi-beam blazers think if a little light is good, a lot is better - NOT! A good example; ever watch an approaching train with a blazingly bright light? How far away is it? How fast is it approaching? Same deal. Sadly nothing will prevent people from pulling out/turning left in front of you but IMO you have the best chance with (multiple) LOW beams. Oh yeah, and ditch those modulating headlites

- Dorian

[ttpete]

Originally Posted by Dorian

I think the non-blinding "triangle of light" is the best way to be seen by others and oncoming traffic. I think you are actually seen "better" - by that I mean they can more easily figure out what you are, and your closing speed relative to your surroundings - because they can see you AND what you are riding past. I hate it when motorcycle riders use hi-beams. All you see is a ball of annoying bright light that washes out the immediate surroundings and makes it difficult to determine how far away it (bike? car? truck? train?) is and how fast it is approaching. Hi-beam blazers think if a little light is good, a lot is better - NOT! A good example; ever watch an approaching train with a blazingly bright light? How far away is it? How fast is it approaching? Same deal. Sadly nothing will prevent people from pulling out/turning left in front of you but IMO you have the best chance with (multiple) LOW beams. Oh yeah, and ditch those modulating headlites

- Dorian

Well, those are just personal opinions reflecting your likes and dislikes. You're editorializing. You present no cause-and-effect data whatsoever.

I've empirically established what works for me through actual observation. It's obviously apparent that no matter what, someone is going to be pissed off, so I've quit caring about it. I may annoy some people, but that means that they have noticed me.