Interesting story about my nephews black friend who kept getting stopped by cops for no reason

[Quixote1818]

According to my nephew, one of their other friends suggested he get a US Marines bumper sticker, which he did. Guess it had worked for someone else. Turns out he hasn't been pulled over since and it's been two years.

Spread the word.

[bluedigger]

1. I dodged a couple DUI's thanks to my Army National Guard bumper sticker back in the day.

It works for everybody.

[Oklahoma_Liberal]

3. Puke.

I can't imagine how many times you must have driven drink to have successfully "dodged a couple DUIs" -- considering statistics show that the average person busted for DUI drinks and drives dozens and dozens of times for every time they get caught.

[bluedigger]

4. Thanks for the shaming, OK Lib.

It's been a quarter century in the past, but hey, I feel bad now, so, thanks! I'll try to live up to your standards in the future, and thanks again for setting such a sterling example of moral superiority! Welcome to DU!

[treestar]

8. Drunk Driving is rather serious

Very dangerous to self and others.

[erronis]

11. I hope you holier-than-thou types also don't

- Turn your head to yell/talk at your passenger/kids
- Fumble in your purse/pocket for your -
- Coins, cigarettes, breathmints, excuses
- Lipstick that you proceed to put on while admiring your crummy lips in the mirror
- Try to adjust the controls in the new cars that are all visual vs. mechanical
- Use the rear-view camera instead of actually turning your stupid head to see what is out there.

But the only one that is known to be more fatal than DUI:
- Using a communication device while driving.

I don't care if your fancy new car has bluetooth and your hands are always on the wheel.

Your mind is more focused on that "fascinating" conversation you're having with someone, somewhere; who will all of a sudden hear that crashing sound.

[MineralMan]

13. I don't do any of those things. Ever.

I also don't drive while intoxicated. See, I think that driving safely and soberly is really, really important. That's not being "holier-than-thou." That's driving safely.

Anyone who gets into a car while intoxicated is deliberately doing something that has the potential to cause the death of others. No sympathy at all for DUI. None.

So, what type would you call me, then?

[christx30]

18. There was a guy that I knew at work

that had a reputation for being a drinker. He would go to the pool hall after work and slam a few down. One night I saw him on the news, having been arrested for a DUI related vehicular homicide. I was strange seeing someone that I worked with in that situation. But his irresponsibility took someone's life. And he has no one to blame but himself.

[MineralMan]

39. Similar things have happened to many people.

My father told me some stories like that before I got my license. He made it quite clear to me that driving had some serious potential for trouble. My father is now 90 years old. He never got a single traffic ticket. Neither have I. He taught me to drive as though people's lives depended on it. He is a very wise man.

[christx30]

42. My dad has one rule in his car:

if you are driving you do NOT touch your cell phone. Driving is your only job while you are there. And I agree.

[rug]

24. Ned Flanders.

[MineralMan]

31. Who?

Look, I take driving seriously. I don't want to die in a car accident, and I don't want to hurt anyone else. So, I drive carefully, obey traffic laws, and avoid distractions. If you have a problem with that, it's your problem, not mine.

I suppose your reference is some sort of insult, but I have no idea what you're talking about, so I'm not insulted.

[rug]

33. Okely dokely.

[MineralMan]

34. Some kind of cartoon character?

Really?

[rug]

35. Don't be insuted. The Simpsons has a multitude from which to choose.

[MineralMan]

36. I've never watched that.

It's funny that you jumped into this thread to make a feeble attempt to insult me for being a careful driver. I have no idea who that cartoon character is, but the attempted insult is obvious.

Again,

[rug]

37. You should know who he is before characterizing it as an attempt.

[MineralMan]

38. OK, rug. Wharever you say...

[CreekDog]

40. They weren't insulting you for being a careful driver

[MineralMan]

45. They? i only saw one person doing that.

Or were you thinking of joining in?

[CreekDog]

48. They can be singular or plural

and they weren't insulting you for being a good driver.

[christx30]

43. The Ned Flanders character is from the Simpsons.

He's a Christian sterotype character that is holier-than-thou about everything and gets into everybody's business. He is saying that because you think DUI is a bad thing, you are that kind of person. Which makes him Homer Simpson.

[MineralMan]

46. Oh, OK. Thanks.

[CreekDog]

41. You haven't heard of Ned Flanders?

That's like not having heard of Spock.

[MineralMan]

44. Dr. Spock?

My mother was a big fan of him.

[CreekDog]

47. Mister Spock

[MineralMan]

56. Very logical. I asked, because there are two Spocks

of prominence. One is a character in a science fiction series. The other was a physician whose book on child-rearing had an enormous influence on how the baby boomers were raised. Which one do you suppose had the greater influence on real life?

I knew which one was referenced in that post. My point was to bring up the other one as a counterpoint. But you knew that, didn't you?

[blackcrow]

17. I don't do any of those things.

I don't drive under the influence, either.

[treestar]

20. what's holier than thou

all of that is bad but driving drunk is way more dangerous. Surely you aren't defending it. It impairs attention and judgment.

[erronis]

25. All of the listed items I listed are impairments - and willful

- Turn your head to yell/talk at your passenger/kids
- Fumble in your purse/pocket for your -
- Coins, cigarettes, breathmints, excuses
- Lipstick that you proceed to put on while admiring your crummy lips in the mirror
- Try to adjust the controls in the new cars that are all visual vs. mechanical
- Use the rear-view camera instead of actually turning your stupid head to see what is out there.

I'll bet that I could point out several bad driving habits to anyone who wants me to comment as a backseat driver while they are at the wheel.

I'll add the following:
- Getting into the car taking medications such as ambien?
- Getting into the car in a fit of rage?
- Getting into the car having had a drink or a toke or a reefer?

My understanding is that most traffic mishaps occur because of driver distraction, not because of meds or alcohol.

I live in a state that bans hand-held phones but I still see an awful lot of dimwits driving fast-then-slow, cross-lane while trying to hide their phone plastered to their ears.

Then there are also an increasing number of you (me) who are getting impaired because we don't have the mental reflexes, the peripheral vision, the acumen that we used to have.

I know *you* all are perfect and nobody will be able to pry the steering wheel away from your cold frozen hands, but when are *you* going to say "I'm impaired because of age, eyesight, reaction speed" and give up your license?

[Winning1]

30. Are you seriously defending your drunk driving?

Tisk tisk

[treestar]

52. all bad, but not quite like being drunk

I did read texting while driving was even worse and can see why. How absurd to actually think you can pay attention to the road and text.

All of it can cause accidents, but drinking impairs one's reaction time the most, much more than the other things.

[bluedigger]

12. Really?

Never heard that before. Thanks for the PSA. I don't think I've even had a beer in the last three months, but if anybody else wants to jump in and beat me up over past transgressions, feel free! I'll be here all day.

[treestar]

21. I think it started when you admitted to doing it and getting out of the penalties

Due to military service.

Why be defensive? You did a dangerous and wrong thing and paid nothing for it, and we're the bad guys?

[Ms. Toad]

22. My close friend's mother was killed by someone driving while drunk when I was 12.

They found him in a bar later - he didn't even know he had hit someone.

So yes, you should expect a less than heartwarming response when you brag about being able to continue driving while drunk. Some of us have been pretty dramatically affected by people driving while drunk.

I'm glad you are not doing it any more - but being surprised and annoyed by negative reactions to you bragging about getting away with it? My first reaction was exactly the same as the first response to your post. Nausea from being instantaneously flooded with the four decades old memory of that horrendously long bus ride to the school the day after my friends' mother was killed.

[Chemisse]

27. Yes it is, BUT

Decades ago it was not considered to be a very serious offense. People did it ALL the time, with the main concern being to not get caught. It was rather a joke.

And then there was a HUGE series of campaigns to raise awareness, increase penalties, and even lower the acceptable blood alcohol levels.

So what was considered a little naughty 3 or 4 decades ago is now a shameful and horrific act.

That is a good thing, but you can't judge people's acts from decades ago on today's standards, when those standards have changed so much.

[treestar]

51. True

Especially seeing that in the old days the cops just followed people to make sure they got home safe!

[Flatulo]

10. Back in the day there wasnt a lot of enforcement and awareness about the perils of driving drunk.

In the '70s, the police would even follow you home to make sure you got there okay.

[MineralMan]

14. Kind of not the same thing at all, is it?

In one case, someone driving legally is not getting pulled over by racist cops. In the other case, someone's getting a pass on a DUI charge. The two things don't seem very similar to me.

[bluedigger]

15. The point is getting preferential treatment by the police.

Whether I deserved the favoritism or not in this case is not the point. If I had said I beat some speeding tickets, not a fuck would be given.

[MineralMan]

16. But it is exactly the point.

One has to do with racism and profiling. The other has to do with getting away with something illegal. There is a difference, indeed.

[bluedigger]

19. The OP pointed out a strategy for blacks to avoid harassment by the police.

I provided an example of my experience with it. I'm white, so all I can give is my experience. Maybe it was a bad example. Anyone who has served in the military is pretty aware of getting preferential treatment from law enforcement; it's common knowledge you will get the benefit of the doubt for many infractions. I'm not going to apologize for or excuse ethically challenged cops, it is what it is. If minorities can use that reverse prejudice for good, I support that. As for me, I've already been punished and learned my lesson, a long fucking time ago. Trust me, the State balanced any karmic debt I owed in full, and then some. I've moved on. Now I just try to be a better citizen, and do no harm to my fellow man.

[hunter]

49. Consider this thread... diverted.

[LawDeeDah]

2. kick for exposure - what a fantastic idea

[BrotherIvan]

5. Sad, but whatever works

Shows where police loyalty lies: conservative values, not equal protection under the law.

[johnp3907]

6. I always wanted to swipe one of those Fraternal Order of Police tags.

Y'know, those ones that some people put right on their license plates for cryin' out loud. That placement in itself must be illegal.

[Snotcicles]

7. Thats excellent. Stealthy, Driving While Black. nt

[treestar]

9. Whoah

It's even a kind of good news that it trumps being black. That is Driving While Black is not a crime for a black marine? That's er, progress of some kind!

[freshwest]

29. It's the Team Jersey effect. IDK if highly stressed people are able to handle much more.

At times, when I see the team spirit (for whatever media or one's personal life created) reflected in people that are all strangers to each other, I feel a sense of comarderie and that is a good thing.

At other times, I feel a deep and alienating sense of horror. As if everyone's just playing a part in life, but didn't write their script. But if they didn't have a part, they'd do something worse, I suppose, like being a mob?

Too deep a question to ponder with a splitting headache.

[treestar]

50. Hope that headache is gone

That cat on the right says it all in your sig line!

[freshwest]

53. Thanks, and he does say it all. And have been told to report to the doctor tomorrow. UGH...

Saw one doctor Friday, hoping it was just muscle pain and he did all he could, but after examining me he was truly agitated and concerned. He spoke loudly and *insisted* I see a MD right away.

He named a serious condition. Now everyone I've asked if it is that bad, is on my case...

As the day has progressed I am somewhat better, but will go to the urgent care clinic when I get up in the morning. GAH!

[Vattel]

23. He could wear a blonde wig too and get a baby car seat with a doll in it and maybe a jesus fish.

That should do it.

[Historic NY]

26. Imagine how many time these nimrods get stopped...

when they have license plates Happy Hr, Cocktail, Alcehol, etc....

[DFW]

28. Preferential treatment not just when being pulled over

I fly a LOT, and this doesn't apply to when I'm overseas, which is 80% of the time now. But when I'm in the States, due to being a male traveling alone, often on a one-way ticket (they profile these), the dark hair and beard, I'm sometimes pulled out for a special pat-down security check. I put on a thicker southern accent that I really have, use a commanding officer tone from the movies (I never wore a uniform), and cooperatively say, "alright, sir, let's get it done!" Works every time. The TSA guy hears that, pats my pack twice and says OK, you're done. They really do have pre-conceived notions of what everyone is, and all you have to do is conform to the one they find least worthy of their attention (if you're 17 and black, you're pretty much SOL). Of course, the bad guys know this, too, which is why all these roadside pull-overs and special pat-downs at airports usually only harass innocents.

[jen1980]

32. I hate the SSS

As a black female, has there ever been a terrorist that looks like me? No. Just because my company usually buys one-way tickets at the last minute doesn't make me a terrorist.

[freshwest]

54. I've seen your recent pics. You *do* look suspicious, LOL. And all those places on the passport?

Who other than Agent 007 and a globe trotting terrorist would be going to all those spots? HUH?

[DFW]

55. Hey, just whose side are you on anyway?