My best interest?! How can you know what's my best interest is? How can you say what my best interest is? What are you trying to say, I'm crazy? When I went to your schools, I went to your churches, I went to your institutional learning facilities?! So how can you say I'm crazy.

PSA?

Subby is right. When I'm driving with a suspended license and open containers, I stick to giving a big "thumbs up" to the local constabulary.

Usually giving the cop $1,000 has a better chance of succeeding.

Poor impulse control FTL.

One must wonder what has happened to freedom of expression.

was it 'W'?

Staplermofo FTW!

I guess it's never come up but is flipping the bird really grounds for a cop to make a traffic stop?

I'm not saying I think it's a smart thing to do, but isn't that protected by free speech?

>I guess it's never come up but is flipping the bird really grounds for a cop to make a traffic stop?

Absent aggressive driving or something that might support groups for disorderly conduct, the middle finger is not, in and of itself, grounds for a traffic stop.

This sounds like a pretextual stop where the officer stopped him solely for the reason of the driver flipping him off and just happening to find other things for which to cite him.

notmtwain: Subby is right. When I'm driving with a suspended license and open containers, I stick to giving a big "thumbs up" to the local constabulary.

Well, at least a smile and a friendly wave, when you notice you were just drag racing a cop in an unmarked SUV.

Little One-Eyed Wench: I guess it's never come up but is flipping the bird really grounds for a cop to make a traffic stop?

I'm not saying I think it's a smart thing to do, but isn't that protected by free speech?

Yes it is , Courts have ruled the the bird is covered.
//But dumbass goes all the way to the bone.

I remember reading an article where someone flipped off a cop and went to court to fight it and got it dropped so I dont think it is illegal. However you are SUPPOSED to always have 2 hands on the wheel

I was driving with an idiot who did this once. Except, instead of giving the finger, he hung half his body out the window and shouted obscenities -- while driving.

/yes, he did eventually end up in jail

actually i think it is a good idea to give the cops the finger. they hate it, but there is nothing they can do about it.

fark cops.

I was stupid enough to show a cop the "Mr. Digit Hand Puppet" once.
Unmarked state trooper was tailgating on me. Aggressive drivers can be threating. I responded.
After he pulled me over he claimed he had his flashing lights on and why didn't I get out of the way. He hadn't had his lights on and once I said so I think he thought of the video on the dashcam. No ticket. He didn't even ask to see my DL.
The one thing I take from this is not to flip the bird at other drivers. You never know who it is or how they would respond.

>However you are SUPPOSED to always have 2 hands on the wheel

Perhaps in practice; however, unless it's codified in state law or local ordinances as a moving violation, it's not something you can be pulled over for.

some_beer_drinker: actually i think it is a good idea to give the cops the finger. they hate it, but there is nothing they can do about it.

fark cops.

One time a friend of a friend of mine thought it would be hilarious to fill empty Budweiser cans with soda and drive around drinking from them while passing police cars. His master plan was to get pulled over and then let the officer in on the joke that it was soda in the Bud cans, all would have a good laugh and be on their way. Well... an open container is an open container. Doesn't matter if it's empty or been refilled. A valuable lesson was learned that day by my friend's friend.

10 years ago he could have gotten everything thrown out on the grounds that the officer didnt have a reason to pull him over. Someone exercising their free speech right was not probable cause that the person was doing something wrong.

But it is today. Hooray Police State! USA USA USA

Maybe his middle finger has spasms. Does the cop have something against people who have spasmodic fingers? Thats discrimination. The kid could sue.

Some people are just too stupid to live

It's really a judgment call. Sure, you don't want to get hauled in for an open container and a suspended license; but you also don't want to be one of those lame asses that drive by a perfectly good cop without flipping them off. The bottom line is: if you flip them off, there's always a chance that you'll get away with it; if you don't flip them off, you'll spend the rest of your life wondering what might have been...

Lighten up subby, i mean, who wouldn't make that mistake.

/Rant on

The officer cannot pull him over for flipping him the finger. However that can make the officer want to look for probable cause to pull him over.

Probable cause(s) :

All those brake/tail lights working?

License plate shows current year stickers ?

Make a right turn without FULLY stopping ?

One of the vehicles wheels touches the white or yellow lane markings ?

Lane deviation ?

Cracked window(s) ?

Tire tread ok ?

Running the license plate through WI TIMES system come back clean, valid ? With that info, running the RO and DOB for warrant checks as well while following him before making the traffic stop ?

Wearing your seat belt ?

All children secured in vehicle, younger ones in a approved child seat ?

Vehicle is in good mechanical order , and not causing any safety concerns ?

So wonder child drives by flipping off the officer, while chugging a beer and wonders why he's arrested ? The Fark a**holes come back and blast the officer for stopping him, saying that "flipping the bird" is not grounds to pull him over. Let's play this out.

Radio unit ID I will use is 101, the Sheriff himself even though he isn't the arresting officer.

Sheriff : "101 Dodge"

Dispatch : "Dodge 101 go ahead"

Sheriff : "Run me a rolling 10-28 of WI tag ABC-123"

Dispatch : "Dodge 101, your 28 comes back to a John Doe of 123 Main St in Beaver Dam. Tag is valid until 2009 on a White 1999 Geo Metro 2 door"

Sheriff : "10-4. Run the registered owner of that tag for me"

Dispatch : "Dodge 101, John Doe of 123 Main St Beaver Dam shows a suspended license, also shows a history of contacts with police"

Sheriff : "10-4, I will be stopping that vehicle here in Beaver Dam next to the hospital on University Ave. Start a Beaver Dam officer please. He has an open container and made a obscene gesture to me"

Dispatch : "101 10-4"

Need a reason to pull him over ? I think the open container was good enough, the license check sealed the deal.

Yea, that cop sure was a prick.....FOR DOING HIS JOB.

If you don't like this so called police state, there are 4 borders to the United States, your welcome to use one of them to get the fark out.

Yea, I work with Dodge County Sheriff closely for my employment, good group of people. They get the job done. If a officer steps out of line, they know about it. I know this for a fact as each squad car is equipped with devices to protect the officer and ensure he's doing his job properly.

Naturally, I expect the uneducated and low I.Q. comments on Fark to blast me for laying out the facts. Perhaps before you do something stupid, you will think about it. Don't go whining later because you got caught doing this stupid act.

//Rant off
///works with 14 law enforcement agencies
////I like slashies

Archie DeBunker: One time a friend of a friend of mine thought it would be hilarious to fill empty Budweiser cans with soda and drive around drinking from them while passing police cars. His master plan was to get pulled over and then let the officer in on the joke that it was soda in the Bud cans, all would have a good laugh and be on their way. Well... an open container is an open container. Doesn't matter if it's empty or been refilled. A valuable lesson was learned that day by my friend's friend.


Not true. You can have empties in your car. When I was in high school, we used to drink out in some remote wooded area and got into the habit of stuffing empties under my car seats. They were packed in tight, and at the time I was pulled over I also had two cases of empty homebrew bottles and a cooler in the trunk from a party the week before.

We weren't bringing the booze that night, but since my friend and I worked at a restaurant, we had a big garbage bag of ice we'd been asked to bring in my back seat. We hadn't been drinking yet or driving erratically, but I was so brilliant I thought I could get away with not attracting attention to my burnt out headlight by just driving with my brights on.

The cop pulls us over, sees the bag and starts searching my car. He's reaching under the seats, one by one lining up the empties. I'm grinning though, because I'm positive there's absolutely nothing in the car. He has us pop open the trunk, opens the cases. Still Nothing.

It's only when he had me open the cooler that we discover a single unopened can of Busch Light, floating in a post-party melted ice soup of dead leaves and cigarette butts.

After the thirty minute search, which revealed probably 50 or more spent bottles and cans-- I ended up with a Minor In Possession over that single can of swill.

He said nothing about the possibility of charging me for the empties, though.

I learned along time ago. If you are pharked up do not phark off.