Kansas Highway Patrol and chasers on 4/24/16

[MFPalmer]

Multi-million dollar settlement because a police officer confiscated a radar detector? And this would be defamation? And other "torty" things?



I really don't have interest in debating statutory interpretation in my off hours. Sorry. Suffice to say I wouldn't be writing what I did if there weren't loads (like... a lot) of cases readily available that look at the legality of radar detectors in vehicles. Trying to convince a random internet person of anything does not rank high on my list of activities this evening.

Best of luck in your defamation suit.

 

[Matt Tottle]

Multi-million dollar settlement because a police officer confiscated a radar detector? And this would be defamation? And other "torty" things?

Per the statute that you yourself quoted, any such confiscation would have to be the result of an arrest under that statute. Hence the "wrongful/malicious arrest" part. Defamation would be for the damage to one's character due to such an unwarranted malicious arrest. And other torty things.. Yeah, like mental anguish, pain and suffering if you get hurt while locked up, lost income if the arrest gets you fired or causes you other harm like losing security clearance, punitive damages, etc etc etc. You do actually know what the word "tort" means, right?

I really don't have interest in debating statutory interpretation in my off hours. Sorry. Suffice to say I wouldn't be writing what I did if there weren't loads (like... a lot) of cases readily available that look at the legality of radar detectors in vehicles. Trying to convince a random internet person of anything does not rank high on my list of activities this evening.

Ohh.. a lot.. Like you mean the Oklahoma statute that you edited in which - like the Nebraska statutes - are completely irrelevant to the discussion? Did you actually READ 47 Okl.St.Ann. § 11-808.1 before you posted it claiming "They do appear to be expressly illegal in Oklahoma"? It says:

It shall be unlawful for any person to:

1. Possess, operate or use a radar detector while operating or as a passenger in a commercial motor vehicle;

2. Operate a commercial motor vehicle in which a radar detector is installed or present; or

3. Install or have installed a radar detector in a commercial motor vehicle.

Added by Laws 2012, c. 207, § 5, emerg. eff. May 8, 2012.

It is merely a state-level reaffirmation of the federal DOT regulations prohibiting the use of radar detectors in commercial vehicles. It does not apply in any way shape or manner to passenger vehicles, and guess what? It is STILL a traffic infraction, NOT a criminal offense - so there is nothing enabling it to be confiscated.

You wrote what you did because you don't understand what you are talking about. Here, today, on Earth in 2016, nowhere in the US except VA and DC are there actual laws on the books that make radar detectors illegal. And your claim of "agencies have construed them as interfering with police communication" is absolutely laughable, because here on Earth, radar detectors do not interfere in any way with "communications". Once again, if you disagree, I challenge you to find and cite a single case.

Best of luck in your defamation suit.

Wouldn't need luck, there's plenty of actual case law (unlike the FUD you've been spewing) to back up what I say. It would be open and shut.

 

[Todd Lemery]

I can only add that I was pulled over for speeding in Texas and when the officer asked me if I was chasing I told him yeeeaaaah.......the result of that was this nice officer shaking my hand and wishing me well. After that experience I keep my speeding under wraps because I didn't want to let him down for not ticketing me.. He really could not have been nicer.


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[Matt Tottle]

Another good interaction I had was when I was on scene at a rescue after an EF2 went through Stafford County a couple days after Joplin. A huge tree crushed an SUV and there was a lengthy extrication going on to get a critical patient out (sadly there were also two fatalities). Storms were still rolling through, and I was asked by the incident commander to stay there and monitor the situation, and give them a heads up if anything else gnarly was coming their way.

 

[Royce Sheibal]

As a resident of Nebraska, I can confirm that residents whom have radar detectors hide them in the presence of LEOs. I don't use one, but for those that do it's a concern.

 

[Matt Tottle]

As a resident of Nebraska, I can confirm that residents whom have radar detectors hide them in the presence of LEOs. I don't use one, but for those that do it's a concern.

Well in that case nobody better ever chase into Nebraska with a cockpit full of screens, cameras, cell phones, or anything else that's 100% legal to own and use. Seriously people, stop spreading fertilizer. No cop in Nebraska has written a ticket or arrested someone for using a radar detector in the past decade or two, nor has any cop confiscated one. They have absolutely no legal basis to do so, and if they did it would not go unpunished by anyone who has even the slightest grasp of their rights.

 

[Quincy Vagell]

It’s pretty dumb to drive like that, but we all know chasers who do. I personally keep the speed down, rarely over the speed limit at all on the interstate in the Plains since it is often 70 or 75. Gas mileage goes in the tank pretty quick and if you’re being strategic about chasing, there aren’t many times where one would need to excessively speed to get into position. I drive upwards of 50,000 miles a year, so burning rubber will literally burn a hole in your wallet for wasted gas mileage by going stupidly fast.

Since chasers are often out-of-staters too, you have to be extra careful. I was once following the flow of traffic on I-80 in Nebraska (77 in a 70 zone) and got pulled over, but luckily it was just a warning. (I had Connecticut plates at the time, so that stood out like a sore thumb) A similar incident happened on a county road in Kansas, but I explained the situation (was the day of the Mount Hope EF-2 tornado) and I wasn’t driving recklessly, so I only got a warning there too.

Anyway, what gets me is the speed by which some chasers go. Heck, on Friday I even had an NSSL van pass me when I was already going about 5 over the limit and they were going at least 15 over… I sometimes feel like I drive too slow for a chaser since I'm always getting passed. In a passing lane during a chase I have no problem slowing down or pulling over to let more "zealous" chasers get in front of me.

I'll echo the point that I've only had positive experiences with law enforcement in the Plains. In Kansas last year, I was pulled over safely off the road taking video and an officer came over to chat with me and see what was going on. He even felt bad that he was distracting me, but I said it was okay. On the evening of the Pilger storms, the same thing happened and the officer talked to me about how he remembered "the night of the twisters" and ironically the following night was almost a repeat of that event... I pulled over in South Dakota once to watch a storm at night and I had an officer come over and ask if I was okay. (By design, my car does not look like a chase vehicle, so I don't bring attention to the chaser side) The two rare times that I was going a little over the speed limit (as the flow of traffic generally does) in the Plains, the interaction with law enforcement was polite and I was just given a warning.

 

[B. Dean Berry]

The driving patterns of other chasers don't concern me. Unless you team up with some other locals, or pal around (usually here or on social media) with others in your field, there is rarely any sense of "community" or "camaraderie" in this hobby/sport/form of employment, unless someone genuinely has an un-needed beef (Wichita Falls ARES and their treatment of chasers comes to mind), or one of us dies (Tim & Paul Samaras, Carl Young, Jeff Wear, etc). It wasn't too long ago that we'd stampede each other, trying to get to the local news station first to sell our tapes.

All you have to do is don't be a retard while driving, know your stuff, don't "run code" (if you have warning lights, save them for the shoulder if you can't find a parking lot), and in general, don't be an asshat. Simple stuff. Trooper X of Y State Highway Patrol is engaging in political grandstanding for his pet project. Nothing more. You find stuff like this every now and then. Here in PA, we had a Trooper X who's pet project was attacking volunteer firemen, a few months before he retired, because they were running "illegal blue lights". Mind you, the law describes lighting devices that haven't been made since the mid-1980's, but there's a crisis to manufacture and revenue to collect.