Remember, keeping your car in good repair is a protection as well

So that way when a police cruiser suddenly comes barreling toward you at 50 mph while you're going 50 mph with a motor home in the lane to your left and in front of you and a curb to your right, you can slam on your brakes really hard and they will actually work and stop you.

Do you guys think I should call the police department and report this guy? He had lights and sirens on, and there was no way for he and I to see each other until we were in the same lane facing one another, but you're not supposed to turn into a lane you can't see is clear of traffic, ESPECIALLY if you're about to go head on into that lane of traffic. I was about to overtake the motor home on the right (which is legal here) and if I'd been 20 feet forward and next to it we would have hit at full speeds. Maybe he 30 mph and me 50 mph. Still very serious. My brakes are good, my reflexes thankfully good, and my EMT training made it so I generally keep my head in an emergency. Someone with brakes going bad with slower reflexes would have been very badly injured.

It makes me feel very unsafe in my 2001 vehicle. I was a 2008 one now for the safety features.

Luckily no one was hurt, and Piper wasn't with me, I was alone. I shouted a few choice words in my car about the officer, but I haven't done too much since. Should I report his reckless driving, or assume it's part of the job and he just didn't mean it and leave it at that?

On the other hand, now I don't get a new car and a new Madison Regent for Piper.

Wendy

Eeek you're telling me, we just spent nearly $600 to replace all the tires on our car!
Glad to hear you're ok! I'm not sure if it's worth complaining about though, I really have no idea.

One of the benefits of working with the hometown guys this weekend on a check. I emailed one (since I needed to anyway about getting techs for an upcoming safety fair) and he said to let them know, though without a car or plate number it'd be hard to find out who did it.

I know one of the troopers doing cadet driving training. The next time I see her I'm going to ask her about this. Or out of curiosity I may email her. CPS certainly does afford lovely contacts.

Wendy

Glad you're okay!

wendytthomas said:

He had lights and sirens on, and there was no way for he and I to see each other until we were in the same lane facing one another, but you're not supposed to turn into a lane you can't see is clear of traffic, ESPECIALLY if you're about to go head on into that lane of traffic.

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This police car blindly turned into a lane of oncoming traffic? That's crazy.

wendytthomas said:

and if I'd been 20 feet forward and next to it we would have hit at full speeds. Maybe he 30 mph and me 50 mph. Still very serious. My brakes are good, my reflexes thankfully good, and my EMT

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Out of curiosity, how did you avoid the accident by braking? Maybe I am not imagining the scene right. Did you swerve back behind the motor home? Or did you stop abruptly and the police car drove around you?

Oh geez...how scary. So glad to hear you guys came out OK!

Wow! That is crazy!
Let me know if you need help with the Safety Fair. I'd be happy to return the favor

broxbourne said:

Out of curiosity, how did you avoid the accident by braking? Maybe I am not imagining the scene right. Did you swerve back behind the motor home? Or did you stop abruptly and the police car drove around you?

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It was a four lane highway and I was in the right lane with a curb to my right. The motor home was in the left lane and in front of me. There was enough room between us for the cop car to swerve through, but if I hadn't stopped hard there wouldn't have been room and we would have had to collide to stop.

I'm going to call the sergeant on duty today and let him know what happened. But yeah, the guy pulled blindly into oncoming traffic.

Wendy

Even lights and sirens don't give them the right to break the law. If he pulled blindly into oncoming traffic, yes report him.

There is an area here that is very dangerous, 2 lane road, both ways a 60mph speed limit because it's out in the middle of nowhere. People hit horses, cows, deer and each other out there and die frequently. When I have to go out there, almost everytime I'm out there at night a cop almost runs me over. No lights, no sirens just going 100mph for no apparent reason. I have called and reported them on the few occasions I could even tell what city it was from. But wow, talk about scary. You don't even realize it's a cop till they almost hit you.

It really really bothers me when the cops think they can do this stuff because they are cops. It's ridiculous.

Oh, and there was a cop somewhere around here who killed a few people a couple years ago. A family was driving in a 3 lane highway. Woman pregnant with twins and I think her husband and parents.

The cop was in a rush to get home for dinner so his wife wouldn't be mad! He was going 100mph with just lights on and plowed into them from behind... killing everyone except the pregnant woman and her babies. She was left totally alone with them. The cop survived and was charged but I don't remember what he got. Probably less than he should have.

Everytime I avoid an accident like you did with a cop I kick myself... thinking if I had let him hit me maybe it would start a campaign for other cops to be more careful. But then I think of what a pain in the neck an accident is... lol

Well, I called and reported him and the sergeant called me back about an hour ago. He thinks he knows who it was who was doing it and asked if I wanted to file a formal complaint or just have him handle it. Judging by the guy's driving I bet he's a young cop just really gung ho and he just needs this reminder to not be an ass behind the wheel. Between me and my SUV and now his sergeant, I doubt he's going to forget this. I don't want to tarnish a new guy when no damage was done, but he needs to be spoken to since a lot of damage could have been done. The sergeant took it very seriously and listened and asked questions and made sure he understood. I'm very pleased. I'm happy I called.

Wendy