Stopped by the Police today....

[GoneCamping]

My 1st traffic stop in about 20 years! I had to go to the Social Security office in Kissimmee to clear up a small problem, and got pulled over by the Kissimmee Police for not stopping at cross walk for a pedestrian. Oddly enough, they had 12 to 15 cruisers there, and pulling over just about everyone going down the street.

I saw the guy, he was standing there behind a construction sign leaning on a cane, he wasn't moving, wasn't trying to cross the street. He didn't even look like he was trying to cross or even move, I'd have stopped and let him go by if it looked like that was what he was doing.

I mentioned to woman Cop what my thoughts on that were, and also let her know my curiosity about all the cop cars, and all the people they were pulling over, thinking this was just a money grab for the city.

She came back from her cruiser, gave me a written warning, then admitted that the guy was a "Decoy" they were using. I'm pretty sure if I hadn't called their bluff, I'd have got a $160 ticket. In the end, I only go to Kissimmee once or twice per year.

I'm very supportive of LEO's everywhere, but not when they are playing dirty tricks and setting people up!!!

[4Campers]

That's dirty playing. When the cop admitted the guy was a decoy every damn ticket they wrote that day should get dismissed.

[toomanytents]

I was at a low-vision support group meeting with my dad one day.  One of the group was totally blind and used a cane.  Someone asked how he crosses the street at a cross walk.  He said he makes himself "big and loud".  He waits until he doesn't hear any cars coming, then takes one big lunging step off the curb while waving his cane in the air, then stops and waits & listens before proceeding.

In Oregon, if you are just standing on the sidewalk, you are a pedestrian and drivers don't have to do anything.  Once you put your toenails into the crosswalk, drivers have to stop.  "Courteous" mind-reading drivers who think that just because you are standing on the sidewalk near a crosswalk means you MIGHT cross and they should stop now just create traffic hazards from unexpected stops.

I can understand the local cops using a decoy to actually cross the street, but just standing on the corner doesn't make you a pedestrian crossing a road.

[4Campers]

Most city crosswalks have audible beep so blind folks know when it's (supposed to be) safe to cross.
A person asked me what that beep was, I told them so the blind know when the light was green. They said "I didn't know blind people drove cars!"

[GoneCamping]

That's dirty playing. When the cop admitted the guy was a decoy every damn ticket they wrote that day should get dismissed.

That's probably why I got a Warning instead of a citation. Knowing what they were doing, and spilling it in court would indeed have got a lot of tickets dismissed, and I'm pretty sure they didn't want me in there making that case.