'You pulled us out of a funeral procession'(WA)

komonews.com ^ | 11 August, 2009 | komostaff

[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

Mandating that adults wear their seat belts may be silly, but you have no more right to ignore the law when you're on your way to a funeral than when you're on the way to McDonald's.

True....but all the same, that doesn't mean the cop had to be a jobsworthy little jerk about it.

[SaraJohnson]

You are right. Shirley, I did not mean it.

[Kirkwood]

Was he asking (hinting) for money? There have been local cops in my state who would shake down people passing through and make up some baloney charges, then say it can go away if you pay a “fine” immediately or else your car will be impounded indefinitely.

[GrayNo]

That’s how the law started out, but ‘to save us from ourselves’, now it is a violation on its own. My daughter was just pulled over because the officer, who was going the other direction, wheeled his car around and stopped her because he thought she didn’t have her seatbelt on. Found out he was wrong, but proceeded to check her registration, license etc.

[fr_freak]

To Protect and Serve Man

It's a cookbook! IT'S A COOOOOOOOOOOKBOOOOOOOOOOOOK!

[Kirkwood]

Could be once cut out of the procession, they didn't know the way to the cemetery and spent another half-hour trying to find it. I've been to some graveside services that lasted only 15 minutes. I don't recall any lasting more than 30, and those were military funerals. For most, it is just a short prayer and it is done. Everything else took place at the funeral home or the church.

[EDINVA]

around here every funeral procession is accompanied from the church/chapel to cemetary by police, so all cars are together in a procession .. it’d be difficult under those circumstances to pull one car aside

[JimSEA]

And we wonder if anyone will actually be around and want to enforce the Obamanation. Wonder no longer.

[WoofDog123]

“Mandating that adults wear their seat belts may be silly, but you have no more right to ignore the law when you’re on your way to a funeral than when you’re on the way to McDonald’s.”

How many federal laws do you think you have violated in the last month? Did you have a right to violate these laws?

[Zack Attack]

Actually, Officer Neckvein only got a 5 day suspension and is back on duty.

[dcrider182]

no. nothing like that. He was so pissed about SOMETHING. but i didn’t know what it was.

[ellery]

ping.

[M1911A1]

Used to be the seat belt citation was only to be given if you got pulled over for something else.

That didn’t last long. Now it’s a primary offense.

Looking over the RCW, I don’t see any exemption for the dead in the seatbelt law. The cop missed a chance to write a ticket on the hearse. If you are going to shoot yourself in the foot in the PR department, might as well go all the way.

[ellery]

And as usual, the police department claims that the officer did nothing wrong.

[CharlesWayneCT]

Could be, but the article explicitly said “by the time they got back on the road”, it was over, and that it took 12 minutes.

The person pulled over was the brother. I can’t imagine a funeral which wouldn’t wait a few minutes for the brother of the deceased. It is hard to believe none of the 5 had a cell phone and could call and tell what was happening.

And it’s hard to believe that nobody noticed a car being pulled over out of the procession. As a brother, you wouldn’t have expected him to be in the back. And normally, a person from the funeral home is in the back.

We are asking the police officer to forgive a crime because of circumstance, and to fault the officer for the brother missing the burial. But it would have been an easy task for the group to hold up the burial for 12 minutes as well, and they didn’t.

So I don’t know why the police officer gets all the blame. The brother and his family could have put on their seat belts. The officer may not have known they were in a procession, but the officer could have given them a warning. The funeral director could have noticed the brother missing and waited. The brother could have called and told them to wait. The rest of the family could have noticed him missing and asked to wait.

So I don’t know why the officer is the only one being blamed.

[microgood]

Mandating that adults wear their seat belts may be silly, but you have no more right to ignore the law when you're on your way to a funeral than when you're on the way to McDonald's.

We could replace this cop with a robot since intelligence is no longer required for his job.

[microgood]

So I don’t know why the officer is the only one being blamed.

If a 90 year old women was crossing the street and fell down in the crosswalk, instead of helping her up, this guy would give her a ticket for obstructing traffic.

Basically, most people have a sense of fair play. You do no kick people in the teeth when they are down. But this is what the post-Christian world looks like.

[Kirkwood]

Could be, but the article explicitly said “by the time they got back on the road”, it was over, and that it took 12 minutes.

Could just be an expression of speech. Or not even an accurate quote.

The person pulled over was the brother. I can’t imagine a funeral which wouldn’t wait a few minutes for the brother of the deceased. It is hard to believe none of the 5 had a cell phone and could call and tell what was happening.

Normally cops won't let anyone use a cell phone, even other people in the car. Could have been a large funeral procession to the gravesite and no one noticed family members were missing.

And it’s hard to believe that nobody noticed a car being pulled over out of the procession. As a brother, you wouldn’t have expected him to be in the back. And normally, a person from the funeral home is in the back.

I have no idea what that means about being in the back. If the procession was not controlled by a police escort (and it sounds like it was not) then a large procession can get broken up by traffic. Most drivers have zero respect for funeral processions these days.

We are asking the police officer to forgive a crime because of circumstance, and to fault the officer for the brother missing the burial. But it would have been an easy task for the group to hold up the burial for 12 minutes as well, and they didn’t.

I disagree. it is clear the cop was being a total jackass. The cop could have said, "I'm sorry for your loss and I know you are grieving and didn't think about putting them on. But please put on your seatbelts and drive safely. Thank you."

So I don’t know why the police officer gets all the blame. The brother and his family could have put on their seat belts. The officer may not have known they were in a procession, but the officer could have given them a warning. The funeral director could have noticed the brother missing and waited. The brother could have called and told them to wait. The rest of the family could have noticed him missing and asked to wait.

I disagree with everything you said.

So I don’t know why the officer is the only one being blamed.

[runninglips]

What would happen if a passenger refused to identify himself or produce ID? Would they then arrest him? What if he refused to be arrested and fought? Would they then “subdue” him for not wearing a seatbelt?

Ultimately, these JBT deserve to be resisted fully, but it is so much easier to OBEY our “superiors.” Why is it that it is not out of line for the state to decide that they will enforce a seat belt law, a helmet law, a littering or smoking in a bar law, with the threat of deadly force? .....actually, the state is willing to kill you for violating the above laws if pressed hard enough.....and they call those that speak of defending our rights extremists.

[count-your-change]

Was the deceased ticketed too? The seat belt law applies to everyone with no exception for being dead, right?