I'm sure everyone has experienced some version of this: You're driving along, maybe 5, 10 or 15 mph over the speed limit, as is everyone beside you, when all of a sudden you see the familiar silhouette of a police car. Immediately, everyone slows back down to the speed limit. This slowing continues until A) the cop car is out of sight, B) you realize the cop has pulled someone over and won't be coming after you or C) you see someone ahead of you going just as fast, if not faster, so are wagering that they will be caught first. This is all fine and dandy, as I see speed limits as mere suggestions anyway. Nothing pisses me off more than cars actually going 55 on the highway while everyone else is doing about 70.
Well, the other day I had this police car experience and of course everyone very noticeably slowed down when the cop car merged onto the road from an on ramp. I thought to myself, "Great, it's slow going for the next few miles." I can deal with a mild inconvenience such as this, no problem. What inspired this post was my next thought. I realized that if you like traveling above a snail's pace when driving, it must absolutely blow to be a police officer. I must imagine that whenever an officer is driving around, he is constantly dealing with the slow-down reaction of the other drivers. This has got to be why police officers are always in a bad mood when they pull someone over.
Imagine every where you drive, everyone else is going at exactly what the speed limit is. Just by being on the road, you make every other car into speed limit robots that are afraid to pass or speed up. Granted, you are the authority figure, so the power you feel must account for something, but it must stink to know that your travels are going to take that much longer than if you were in a plain car.
What sucks is that this will never change. People will never risk getting a ticket when they see a police car on the road. They will wait until the threat is out of sight to go back to 'breaking' the law, as is the smart thing to do. It's the same with the speed traps that are common in places like DC. People see the speed cameras, slow down to the appropriate speed as they past by, then speed back up again once past them. Another analogy is to when you are being observed or evaluated on your job. You want to do the best/right thing while being watched, then once it is over, you can go back to the slackiness that every worker would rather do.
Getting back to my point, this thought makes me respect the police at least a little bit more, since it is just one more thing they have to deal with on a day to day basis. Sure, if they wanted to, they can just flip on their lights and zoom off as they please, but for the most part they are dealing with drivers they know are driving slow just because of their presence and must deal with it all day every day. I now know for sure that I could never cut it as a police officer, at least one that drives around on duty, as I would no doubt be screaming on the speakers at the slow drivers and ramming them with my brush guard out of sheer annoyance. However, if they gave me something like this picture, I could have a change of heart. I'd still be stuck driving slow though.
Getting back to my point, this thought makes me respect the police at least a little bit more, since it is just one more thing they have to deal with on a day to day basis. Sure, if they wanted to, they can just flip on their lights and zoom off as they please, but for the most part they are dealing with drivers they know are driving slow just because of their presence and must deal with it all day every day. I now know for sure that I could never cut it as a police officer, at least one that drives around on duty, as I would no doubt be screaming on the speakers at the slow drivers and ramming them with my brush guard out of sheer annoyance. However, if they gave me something like this picture, I could have a change of heart. I'd still be stuck driving slow though.
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