wrote in message
...
In article , "Bob Patton"
rwpmailatcharterdotnet says...
I was in Sequim, Washington over the weekend. The crosswalks in that
little
town have yellow patches at either end. If a pedestrian is on or beyond
that
yellow patch, traffic stops while he crosses the street. Incredible! A
bit
hard for this lead-footed Missouri boy to get used to.
Bob

Here in Oregon, if a pedestrian steps off the curb, even in the middle
of the block (nowhere near a crosswalk) traffic stops and both sides
are supposed to wait until the person completely leaves the street
before continuing. I've been here 12 years now and it's still feels
freakin' weird to me.


Don't even TALK to me about traffic cops in Oregon! (riverman-sized story
follows)

I was following a friend to a river put-in in rural Oregon once, and just as
we crested a hill outside a small town and passed the "Speed Limit 35" sign,
I looked at my speedo and I was doing 37. So I eased off the pedal and saw
my friend pulling away from me. A moment later, I saw him on the side of the
road ahead with a local cop flashing his blues behind him. I pulled over a
little ways behind the cop (not knowing the way to put-in) and waited for
him to get his ticket. The cop strolled back to my truck, and demanded MY
license, too!! I said that I was absolutely certain that I was not speeding,
and he passed me the ticket and said "Tell it to the judge. I have you on
radar." I said "no way!!" and asked to see the radar evidence, so he took me
to his car and showed me that his radar was set for 40 mph. He then pushed a
button and the reading changed to 52, and he said "that's your friend" and
he pushed it agian, it blinked , still on 52, and he said "and that's you."
I was furious, because I knew this was wrong, and I vowed to fight it in
court. He said "you can do that if you want, but I have the evidence." This
was small-town railroading at its best, and I was ripped.

My friend just sent the fine ($75) in to the county clerk, as he knew he was
guilty, but I fumed about it for weeks and got all psyched to fight it in
court. I even wrote a few letters of protest to the county clerk and police
department, but got no replies.

Several weeks later, I drove up to that town for my court date, and when I
got to the courthouse, there was a recess going on. A bunch of cops were
standing around, and I started chatting with one. He knew about my case
because my letters had been circulated, and he told me that the judge on the
case was a real 'hanging judge', and if I fought the case, I would certainly
lose (as it was my word against the cops), and I would pay the full penalty
and lose points. He also mentioned that the officer who had ticketed me was
the Chief of Police in that town, and a good buddy of the judge. However, if
I pleaded guilty, the judge would cut the fine way down and not assess any
points. I thought about it for awhile, and figured that the cop had good
inside knowledge and I really had no evidence, so I better plead guilty and
take the lesser penalty.

When the judge called my case, I stood and pleaded guilty, and the judge
looked at me and said "are you SURE?" and I said "Yes, your honor, I just
ask for a reduced fine" and he said "OK, I assess you court fees of $20, and
waive all points." I was relived to have gotten off so lightly, but I was
still pretty ****ed about the outcome in general. Just to kill time, I
watched the rest of the court cases, and left when the court was dismissed.

I bumped into the judge on the porch as I was leaving, and thanked him for
reducing the fine, and briefly told him the whole story. He said that he
really wished I had pleaded NOT guilty, as he had heard several complaints
about that particular policeman in similar situations in the past. He also
said that police radars cannot store several cars on them at once, and since
my friend had paid his fine, he basically had admitted that the 52 reading
was HIS, therefore there was no evidence against me and had I fought the
case, he would have ruled in my favor!!

I was SO FURIOUS at being railroaded by the same police department in the
same small town that I jumped in my van, roared out of the parking lot, flew
out onto the highway, and right at the top of the hill got pulled over by
the SAME COP doing 60 in a 35.

--riverman