Do truckers call on the cops?

[Toni]

Is it your impression that some truckers will alert the cops if you pass them at a high rate of speed?

I noticed that some 25+ years ago and I also observed it 2-3 months ago. Maybe it is different in your State?

[Gokhos]

Is it your impression that some truckers will alert the cops if you pass them at a high rate of speed?

I noticed that some 25+ years ago and I also observed it 2-3 months ago. Maybe it is different in your State?


I doubt anyof them would do that, but nothing would surprise me.

[Gokhos]

Is it your impression that some truckers will alert the cops if you pass them at a high rate of speed?

I noticed that some 25+ years ago and I also observed it 2-3 months ago. Maybe it is different in your State?


May I ask in which state are you located?

[Toni]

It happened to me twice while travelling far from home. First time was some 25 years ago. I was alone on a rural road and passed a truck. A bit later a cop had just arrived, didn't have his equipment set up and wrote me a ticket for dangerous driving at a speed I was not actually driving. I went to court, they didn't show up, I won. And btw, right after writing the ticket, the cops left immediately. You could tell they had just arrived and made a special trip to catch me.

A similar event happened again while travelling far from home some 2 years ago. I've been paying attention and I suspect that some truckers do call on the cops if you pass them or do something they do not appreciate. Maybe I'm wrong. It is just my personal observation and was wondering if others have similar suspicion.

[SpeedinLancer]

I've heard of truckers complaining because of slow drivers, or drivers that are driving wrecklessly (quick lane changes, weaving, etc) but never because of speed.


but thats just over the CB - so who knows.

[erickonphoenix]

They will if you pass them dangerously. They don't like to be tailgated or cut off as faster cars slice in front of them to get around Left Lane Hogs. But for the most part a speeding car is a great rabbit so why screw the pooch.

[Hahns5.2]

I listen to the scanner and hear calls go out from the state patrol dispatch all the time from other motorists reporting drivers, it's usually weaving in and out of traffic but I did hear a "triple digit" speed call the other day too. I'd assume a lot them are called in by truckers.

Don't drive like a jackass and you shouldn't have to worry about it :)

[supercowpowers]

I listen to the scanner and hear calls go out from the state patrol dispatch all the time from other motorists reporting drivers, it's usually weaving in and out of traffic but I did hear a "triple digit" speed call the other day too. I'd assume a lot them are called in by truckers.

Don't drive like a jackass and you shouldn't have to worry about it :)

x2. I try not to pass a trucks at more than about 15 MPH faster than they're going because I want them to have a few seconds to notice me before I'm beside them. Never had any problems.

[category4]

With everyone having a cell phone nowadays I would suspect the LLH driving the minivan more than a trucker.

Listening in on the CB I have never heard one complain about speed and most will even tell the other truckers in the passing lane to move on over that little Corvette is coming up quick!!

[GreenRadar]

This happened to my Girlfriends mom in Canada once, she was speeding and some lady called the cops and so she got pulled over for it, the only reason she knew she got called on was cause the cop told her.... but I didn't think that a cop here in the states could give you a ticket for something they didn't even see you do.

[category4]

This happened to my Girlfriends mom in Canada once, she was speeding and some lady called the cops and so she got pulled over for it, the only reason she knew she got called on was cause the cop told her.... but I didn't think that a cop here in the states could give you a ticket for something they didn't even see you do.

Only if the original caller actually signed a complaint and testified against you.

[Toni]

Yes, in both instances it happened while I was travelling in Canada. And I will admit that I was slightly aggressive in passing the truck. I prefer to have an unobstructed view of the road ahead.

Thanks for your input.

[supercowpowers]

This happened to my Girlfriends mom in Canada once, she was speeding and some lady called the cops and so she got pulled over for it, the only reason she knew she got called on was cause the cop told her.... but I didn't think that a cop here in the states could give you a ticket for something they didn't even see you do.

Only if the original caller actually signed a complaint and testified against you.

x2. Otherwise the officer's testimony would be hearsay, just a repetition of what someone else said and not based on what he directly observed, which is inadmissible as evidence because the original complaint wasn't made under oath.

I saw a youtube video years ago of some ricer that got pulled over who had the cops called on him. He only got a stern warning because the cop couldn't be 100% sure it was the right car and he didn't actually see any of the supposed shenanigans occurring. Oh, and the ricer had a RD in the middle of the windshield with the coily cord hanging down... :D

[erickonphoenix]

I had the vette reported twice, the WRX reported once. I heard the reports on the vette on the scanner, the WRX I had a cop pull up while I was at a service station and ask me where I was coming from. All the reports were citizens on cell phones. Hence the CPJ

[supercowpowers]

Listening in on the CB I have never heard one complain about speed and most will even tell the other truckers in the passing lane to move on over that little Corvette is coming up quick!!

I was thinking that too. I don't think they care as long as you're not driving dangerously or doing anything that shows you don't understand the difficulties of driving a truck like cutting 20 feet in front of them or passing on the right (when they're actually trying to move over...)

The only comment I've ever heard over the CB about my speed was that "there are a couple pieces of bear beat in front of me" when I was following an 85 MPH rabbit.

[Motor On]

Something nobody has mentioned, is that many cops (esp. the ones working the highways) do listen in on the CB as well. So if they hear about some hot rodding Red Vette coming their way, well they'll be ready.

They generally don't report anymore than the average motorist with the cell phone, and probably a little less, I've found two types, those that wont do 1mph over and will block traffic so nobody else can do that either, and those that as long as you're not making life harder or more dangerous for them they couldn't care less.

One example of truckers working with cops to catch somebody, was on a Friday afternoon in the summer (i.e. very dense traffic, but still moving along) an individual was weaving in and out of traffic, clipped the bumper of one cab, push 2 four wheelers into the ditch and kept on speeding away, they started warning the trucks up ahead, the Sheriff deputy down the road heard them, got the description, chased this guy down and finally got him stopped in the rest area, and notified the State Patrol. They worked with the truckers on CH19, met up with the semi driver who had stopped at the local TA, took the hit and run reports and ended up doing feild sobriety and taking him in for DUI (good part about the scanner is I can still listen in 40miles later to hear how the call is unfolding).

Truckers live on the road, it's home in a sense for a lot of them; they don't tolerate much in the way of dangerous driver BS, and will involve who they need to in that respect; but they don't call in every idiot either.

[Toni]

I just found out that, apparently. the government of the province of Quebec used to run advertising campaigns asking motorists to immediately call the cops when they saw infractions on the road like speeding, dangerous driving, etc. Maybe that's why it's more popular over there.

I wonder if that was before or after the ban on using cell while driving :D

[stealthJamal]

I wouldn't think truckers would call the cops unless you really pissed them off or did something really crazy.

I rarely call the cops on someone driving unless it is someone who is obviously drunk.

Years ago I was in NJ on NJ Turnpike at about 2:30am and this car was coming up quick behind me so I changed lanes to move out the way. I was driving fairly fast at the time and it was rare for someone to pass me. After I moved over the car behind me moved over in my lane too, I was thinking uh oh. So I changed lanes again, so did the car closing in on me behind me and I could see it was swerving. In order to trick the driver I put my signal on to change lanes again but this time I changed lanes the opposite way of my signal, I also sped up so that it would take more time for the drunk to catch up to me. This worked. The drunk changed lanes the direction of my signal but not the direction my car went and the drunk passed me. After the drunk passed me I could see the driver was swerving ALL over the highway and at a high rate of speed. At least there was hardly any traffic. So I called the NJ state police to report car description and plate # and the NJ state police person on the phone didn't give a $hit like it was killing him to take my call. The NJ state police didn't even say they were going to check into it. After the NJ state cop on the phone made it clear he wasn't going to check into or give a $hit, I ended the call.

[orangekid13]

I've heard of cops finding the car and pulling them over saying they need to slow down, but if they are dumb enough to write you a ticket you'll get off instantly on hearsay. Unless you're still speeding, then you're f'd.

[protias]

I only make calls on reckless drivers.

I remember once on World's Wildest Police chances of a Buick moving over 120mph and tried passing this one truck. Well, the trucker just kept swirving back and forth on the freeway to block the guy. He couldn't get around the trucker so the guy pulled over.

[Toni]

I only make calls on reckless drivers.

I remember once on World's Wildest Police chances of a Buick moving over 120mph and tried passing this one truck. Well, the trucker just kept swirving back and forth on the freeway to block the guy. He couldn't get around the trucker so the guy pulled over.


Thanks for your admission. It is my opinion that some (many???) truckers do. And it is for this reason that I changed my approach when speeding. Be it a car or a truck, if I travel at 30+mph than PSL, then I will slow down to no more than 10mph above the other vehicle as I approach it from behind and after having passed the other vehicle by about 1000 feet, then I speed up again.

I realized that I need to share the road :p

The funny part is that such behavior makes some drivers think I'm a cop. :)

[protias]

I only make calls on reckless drivers.

I remember once on World's Wildest Police chances of a Buick moving over 120mph and tried passing this one truck. Well, the trucker just kept swirving back and forth on the freeway to block the guy. He couldn't get around the trucker so the guy pulled over.


Thanks for your admission. It is my opinion that some (many???) truckers do. And it is for this reason that I changed my approach when speeding. Be it a car or a truck, if I travel at 30+mph than PSL, then I will slow down to no more than 10mph above the other vehicle as I approach it from behind and after having passed the other vehicle by about 1000 feet, then I speed up again.

I realized that I need to share the road :p

The funny part is that such behavior makes some drivers think I'm a cop. :)

I should clarify, I'm no driver (trucker). I'm just your average person who hates reckless people (aggressive lane changes with no blinkers, tailgaters, that sort of stuff).

[Toni]

My mistake. Nevertheless, I strongly believe that your logic/approach is the same used by some (many???) truck drivers as well as regualr folks behind the wheels.

[category4]

Let'em call the LEO's, then I'll be sure to have someone up the road to test my countermeasures against!!!:D

[sdmills]

x2. I try not to pass a trucks at more than about 15 MPH faster than they're going because I want them to have a few seconds to notice me before I'm beside them. Never had any problems.

My policy also....15 or maybe even less if I'm not tailgated. A long time ago I scared the crap out of a half asleep trucker and he had his rig all over two lanes after I went by him. He was still complaining on the CB when I got out of radio range of him.

I don't personally know of any trucker or anyone else calling the cops about speeding, but I've heard truckers telling others that someone ought to call the cops "before that crazy (add favorite euphemism here) kills somebody."

[STiMULi]

I had a situation where the truckers were notifying each other of my arrival and passing and I started to hear these 3 truckers decied they were going to police the highways and do a rolling road block on me. These guys got to the point of being stupid, to include hitting the shoulder.

Needless to say I got around it (them) and they complained about it for as long as I could hear them after I passed.

I was hoping that LEO was not listening

LEO wasn't :D

[Freebird]

As a Trucker I have never called about speeding. I have had BMW and Corvettes pass me at well over 120 and this does not bother me at all. If you are drunk, or driving reckless and putting the public at risk, Yes I will report you. I have reported Drunk drivers several times in the past 6 years.