Posted on 11/21/2013 8:54:21 PM PST by smokingfrog
Most drivers know to get out of the way when a police or emergency vehicle approaches. But Thursday morning one such vehicle caused some confusion and some close calls: a state Department of Environmental Conservation Police Crown Vic cruiser.
A Fox 5 employee recorded the video after observing the officer's driving westbound on the Long Island Expressway around 7:30 a.m.
At this point you see the officer tailgating a Toyota Prius in the middle lane to the point the Prius moves off to the right.
After weaving in and out of traffic things get more serious with a Jeep Cherokee. The video shows the cruiser as it cuts off the Jeep, forcing the driver to slam the breaks to narrowly avoid a rear end crash. Passengers in the Jeep were still shaken when asked about the incident just outside the Midtown Tunnel.
"Commuting from long island is crazy on a regular basis, anyway," the passenger said. "Having the police make it worse not better is nuts. I'm sorry the DEC had a bad day. It shouldn't be my problem or my risk."
After the close call with the Jeep, the Crown Vic does the same thing to a pick-up truck. That driver also slammed on the brakes to avoid collision.
(Excerpt) Read more at myfoxny.com ...
The cruiser did signal before going in front of the jeep.
Looks likely to me that the jeep saw the cop car's signal, and decided to speed up so as not to let the cop get in front of him.
Most motorists have that bad habit. Cars signal for a reason: it's a warning that the car will enter your lane and that the driver hasn't got eyes in the back of his head. Speeding up in response to such a signal is moronic, dangerous, and rude.
It didn't happen that way. Review the video, starting at the 0:48 mark.
The Jeep was in the passing lane and was just about to pass the cop, who was in the lane to the right. It was then that the cop signaled and turned at almost the same time, cutting off the Jeep. The only thing the driver of the Jeep had time to do was brake to avoid an accident.
He was heading off to an emergency. Someone threw a cigarette butt into a stream and it hit an endangered fish in the head. APB out on the perp. All vehicles respond immediately and exercise extreme prejudice against the perp if spotted.
Actually, he was making the morning donut run. A lot of folks were depending on him.
Gotta go with you on this.
Bad driving, but not a big deal.
A state Department of Environmental Conservation Police Crown Vic cruiser.
That’s right: IN A CROWN VIC.
This is normal driving on the 610 loop in Houston.
For some, that may be self-inflicted.
Typical arrogant lawbreaking cop......
Cops are above the law.
“Out of my way, peasants!”
The NYS DEC police are particularly visible this time of the year with the opening of the deer and black bear hunting season (for firearms) on November 16th. In addition to deploying in upstate NY where 99% of the hunting takes place, they are out in force checking tags and manning stations in NYC and Long Island where they are more likely to find evidence of illegal hunting activity.
It is becoming more and more likely there will be a conflict between me and an “authority” I don’t recognize. I guess it will be a bad day for both of us. I’m just sorry there aren’t more of me.
Not quite laughing...mocking really. I mean really really mocking. Hard ruthless mocking such as will cause hoped for sexual performance issues amongst their rank and file.
My state has the DNR “Rangers” (Bambi Brigade or Tree Ninjas as we call them here in the woods) complete with nifty DHS supplied zodiacs(? sic)pulled behind shiny new 1 ton Surburans.....dark green enough to pass for black in a police state pinch complete with darkened windows.
I saw them assist a year back in an inter-agency drill with REAL police by “closing off waterways” (interstate underpass creeks really that you can step across) complete with watercraft in tow as part of securing “Capital City” from mock infiltration?...or most likely zombie exfiltration field exercise.
Americans are so fixated on roads....the city boys in charge never learned squat from Korea, Viet Nam, Iraq, or Afghanistan.
Hope they never do.
Have you ever seen hard stats on that? I think the percentage is much higher than just 50%.
Given the nature of the site, I would imagine they are probably overly sympathetic towards classifying things as "line of duty" deaths. For example, i would think that most folks wouldn't classify having a heart attack as a "line of duty" death. So... I've separated out what appears to be deaths of officers purposefully caused (firearm related) as opposed to stuff that would happen to people regardless of lines of work. I'd also put serious money that the ones classified as "vehicular assault" were more likely accidents than purposeful killings. You'll note the number that are related to automobiles and such. It appears that being the tax collector for the welfare state is more dangerous than just about anything.
Line of Duty Deaths: 92
Aircraft accident: 1
Automobile accident: 21
Drowned: 2
Duty related illness: 1
Fall: 4
Gunfire (Accidental): 1
Heart attack: 13
Motorcycle accident: 4
Struck by vehicle: 6
Training accident: 2
Vehicle pursuit: 2
Bomb: 1
Fire: 1
Gunfire: 27
Stabbed: 1
Vehicular assault: 5
Line of Duty Deaths: 92
Aircraft accident: 1
Automobile accident: 21
Bomb: 1
Drowned: 2
Duty related illness: 1
Fall: 4
Fire: 1
Gunfire: 27
Gunfire (Accidental): 1
Heart attack: 13
Motorcycle accident: 4
Stabbed: 1
Struck by vehicle: 6
Training accident: 2
Vehicle pursuit: 2
Vehicular assault: 5
It would appear that actual 'firearm related' deaths of officers are higher than I thought. However, even if one were to add all this up together as actual "line of duty" deaths, then divide by the number of officers that we have out there, you're still looking at pretty paltry numbers, especially when you consider how much whining you hear about how dangerous the job is.
The number I had was from a flyer distributed by a LEO memorial fund charity. When I was EMS, that seemed reasonably close, so I ran with the ball-park figure of 50%.
The top ten most dangerous jobs are:
1. Logger
2. Pilot
3. Fisher
4. Iron/Steel Worker
5. Garbage Collector
6. Farmer/Rancher
7. Roofer
8. Electrical Power Installer/Repairer
9. Sales, Delivery, and Other Truck Driver
10. Taxi Driver/Chauffeur
(Which shows me our safety programs out here in the oil patch have been reaping benefits...)
Anyhow, despite perceptions, LEO isn't in the top ten.
Fisher? Isn’t that a bug?
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