TN: Police stand in traffic almost getting hit to issue tick

**proudNMAmember** · 05-28-2007, 05:00 PM

Monday, May 28, 2007
Tennessee: Police Stand in Traffic to Issue Seatbelt Tickets
Police in Memphis, Tennessee are using federal gas tax money to endanger themselves and other motorists in order to issue traffic tickets. Under the "Click it or Ticket" program orchestrated by the National Highway Transportation Agency, federal funds are paying Memphis officers to stand in the middle of multi-lane highways wielding laser speed detection guns. When the officer spots a car he can ticket, the driver is motioned to pull over across several lanes of moving traffic. WHBQ-TV interviewed several motorists who found the practice exceptionally dangerous. "He was out in the middle of the road," concerned motorist Doug Wilson told the Memphis TV station. "If he gets hit, he gets hit. I hate to say it, but you don't teach kids to play in the road, why should he be standing in the road?" On Plough Road last Friday, a six-lane, 50 MPH route near the airport, dozens of officers stood in traffic for six hours in order to write 175 tickets to those who neglected or chose not to wear a seatbelt as well as those accused of speeding. The effort generated thousands in revenue for the city.
Source: Cops Brave Traffic to Write Tickets (WHBQ-TV (TN), 5/25/2007)

**bart99gt** · 05-30-2007, 07:33 AM

I've always considered that to be a rather stupid and foolish practice just for the sake of "being more efficient" at a fixed speed trap. There is a 4 lane where my local county and city cops employ this tactic on almost a daily basis and its just a miracle that one of them hasn't been hit and killed while some soccer mom comes screaming down the hill doing 60 (the road should be posted at 55, but that's another story) jabbering on the phone.

**Asleeper** · 06-01-2007, 12:13 AM

Originally Posted by bart99gt

I've always considered that to be a rather stupid and foolish practice just for the sake of "being more efficient" at a fixed speed trap. There is a 4 lane where my local county and city cops employ this tactic on almost a daily basis and its just a miracle that one of them hasn't been hit and killed while some soccer mom comes screaming down the hill doing 60 (the road should be posted at 55, but that's another story) jabbering on the phone.

I saw the police do that recently. There were several officers doing lidar and one cop walked out into the 3rd lane to stop a car(in a 45mph zone, downhill, where people usually are going around 60 or so).
Officer's should not be risking theirs(and ours) safety because there will always be the one moron who will is not paying attention and will either panic stop or swerve and cause an accident.