Is this Legal/Ethical?

[SovietSecrets]

Thats just seriously a dick move on the cops part, but like people have been saying the law is law for some cops. Other cops are pretty chill, but most aren't and do things like this.

Also cops pull this shit to meet a quota of some sort. I got ticketed $40 for parking too far from my own curb in a dead end street that no one goes too and I live at the very end of it.

 

[Ameter]

Depends on where you live. You might check further into the whole "curfew" thing. Where I live, while there is a curfew from midnight to 5:00 AM for drivers of that age, it is expressly stated that the curfew doesn't apply when going between school, work, or HOME or when accompanied by an appropriate person.

From what you have described, I think 2 years is a little harsh. Can you predict getting stuck behind a train or in a clogged intersection? 3 minutes is really not a lot of time when it comes to time margins. Especially with the 5 minute differences between everyone's clocks and watches.

Which is why any intelligent person would give themselves a buffer in time, instead of cutting it down to the last second

 

[TrollOgerElf]

not all teenagers are irresponsible fuck ups
but this cop however is a dick

must not have met or was getting a head start on his tickets quota

 

[Zhukov]

Legal?

Yes.

Ethical?

That's relative.

Dick move of epic proportions?

Absolutely.

 

[PeePantz]

I'm sure he'll get it overturned and will be able to keep his license. Cops like these to to be regulated and destroy the true nature of law. They are there to protect and serve, not destroy lives and bust people because they can. Nabbing a kid for three minutes over curfew is pissing on what that law is meant for.

 

[Cogwheel]

WTF is this curfew?

They don't have that in England. That's beyond ridiculous. Setting a curfew for drivers just because of their age.

Agreed, more or less. I'm still astonished to hear about this curfew thing. What are the details and what sort of places have it? I thought these things mostly belonged in Orwell novels and nations that take inspiration from them.

 

[Patrick Dare]

Wow... I am very surprised at all of the people siding with the cop.

The cop may have been technically justified to do that he did, but I consider it to be rather ridiculous. The kid was even on his way home, so I consider it to be a jerk thing to do.

And two years? That's just too strict for three minutes past midnight. That's too strict for even an hour over, in my opinion.

That police officer must have either been really bored or in a really bad mood.

I'd like to note that I definitely don't think that what the cop did was illegal. I just don't think that it was really necessary. I guess that it's really about the cop's intentions; is he just looking to exercise his power because he can (which many cops enjoy far too much)? Or does he think that he is doing the right thing?

Really, I think that he was just being overzealous.

Basically this. It's just a fucking curfew, it's not like the kid was hurting anyone or putting them in danger. God and king save us from the unruly teens driving 3 minutes past curfew!

 

[The Stonker]

That's just wrong bro.

Cop tailing you?
Speed up and think it's grand turismo.

 

[bl4ckh4wk64]

Being a 16 year old driver who just broke curfew for the first time tonight. It's not fair, but your neighbor was wrong. He should have left earlier, just like I should have. The cop was in the right, but that doesn't mean what he did was ethical. Same thing happened to my cousin except it involved a cop following him out of a bar and getting him with a DUI. You want to complain, talk to him. He got 3 months community service, a night in prison, and he's charged with a felony. All because he was .001 over the legal limit. My cousin was in the wrong legally. Morally, he was correct as he wasn't the least bit buzzed and he made it home before the cop arrested him.

Also, what area are you in where the curfew is 12:00? Mine's 11:00, and I think in most areas it's 11. If it is in your area, than your neighbor is a retard that doesn't deserve to drive.

Edit: Just because he can make a legitimate excuse for it doesn't mean it's right or he should be let off easy. "Oh, there was a person in the way of my bullet." You could be at a range, or hunting, and this might happen. However, it is not an excuse for manslaughter. Just because you weren't planning on breaking the law, doesn't mean that you're not actually breaking the law and deserve to be punished. Most states also have a zero tolerance attitude towards minors, which leads to harsher punishments in order to protect the population.

 

[Patrick Dare]

WTF is this curfew?

They don't have that in England. That's beyond ridiculous. Setting a curfew for drivers just because of their age.

Agreed, more or less. I'm still astonished to hear about this curfew thing. What are the details and what sort of places have it? I thought these things mostly belonged in Orwell novels and nations that take inspiration from them.

I'm not sure of the perversity of this but we had this here in New York (I think it's a state law anyways, they have it in the part of NY I live in). If you were a driver under 18 (I think it was 18, maybe 17) you couldn't drive between certain hours unless it was for work and if so I think you actually had to get something from your job and they'd mark it on your license. There was also a curfew put into affect in a town near me where I used to hang out a lot as a teenager. I don't think anything really bad ever happened, they just got sick of kids being out late. You could still be out after the curfew but you had to be walking, no standing still allowed.

 

[Tim_Buoy]

Depends on where you live. You might check further into the whole "curfew" thing. Where I live, while there is a curfew from midnight to 5:00 AM for drivers of that age, it is expressly stated that the curfew doesn't apply when going between school, work, or HOME or when accompanied by an appropriate person.

From what you have described, I think 2 years is a little harsh. Can you predict getting stuck behind a train or in a clogged intersection? 3 minutes is really not a lot of time when it comes to time margins. Especially with the 5 minute differences between everyone's clocks and watches.

Which is why any intelligent person would give themselves a buffer in time, instead of cutting it down to the last second

maybe he did give himself a buffer in time and something happened like an accident or slow light its happened to me several times

 

[Patrick Dare]

Being a 16 year old driver who just broke curfew for the first time tonight. It's not fair, but your neighbor was wrong. He should have left earlier, just like I should have. The cop was in the right, but that doesn't mean what he did was ethical. Same thing happened to my cousin except it involved a cop following him out of a bar and getting him with a DUI. You want to complain, talk to him. He got 3 months community service, a night in prison, and he's charged with a felony. All because he was .001 over the legal limit. My cousin was in the wrong legally. Morally, he was correct as he wasn't the least bit buzzed and he made it home before the cop arrested him.

Also, what area are you in where the curfew is 12:00? Mine's 11:00, and I think in most areas it's 11. If it is in your area, than your neighbor is a retard that doesn't deserve to drive.

Except your cousin is an irresponsible douche who likes to endanger the lives of others because he's too fucking cheap to take a cab and too fucking dumb to plan ahead

While I certainly don't condone driving while intoxicated you also have to understand that drugs affect different people different ways. Two people could drink the same amount in the same amount of time and one could be completely sober while the other one is falling all over the place. Personally I think the drunk driving laws take the focus away from the real problem which is irresponsible drivers which is what they should be prosecuted for, reckless driving.

 

[zehydra]

It was legal for the police man to fine him, but I don't know if it was ethical. It seems an awfully harsh punishment. It was not just, what the policeman did, that's for sure.

 

[allansianadventurer]

Maybe he left earlier but was driving slower than anticipated because there was a cop following him all the way home.

 

[Tim_Buoy]

WTF is this curfew?

They don't have that in England. That's beyond ridiculous. Setting a curfew for drivers just because of their age.

Agreed, more or less. I'm still astonished to hear about this curfew thing. What are the details and what sort of places have it? I thought these things mostly belonged in Orwell novels and nations that take inspiration from them.

most major american cities have some sort of curfew regulating how late a minor can be out at night normally set at midnight normally its used as a measure to reduce crime

 

[Scout Tactical]

I'm sorry, but this kind of thing sickens me.

This turns the law from sonething meaningful into an excuse to abuse people for trivialities, and in my opinion undermines confidence and respect for the institutions of law.

Laws as a concept exists to serve a purpose, not as an entity unto itself that should be tolerated just because.

It genuinely drives me nuts that people support these kind of things.

If it makes you feel better, it sickens me that people do not stand and support their laws steadfastly. I suppose we shouldn't prosecute someone if they just steal a stick of gum? What if they just kick their dog once? It's not animal abuse if they only kick him once, right? Of course, these are examples of things that show someone lacks respect for the law, and moral fiber on the whole. Once you start making exceptions for "trivialities", there is a slippery slope. This isn't the fictitious, absurd slippery slope politicians use to say that letting gays marry will result in nuclear war or some other relative impossibility, but a real, empirical one that we have seen.

For instance, speeding by five or six miles per hour is the norm. This means that the speed limit in all areas needs to be five miles below what it is expected to be. The government acknowledges that people are breaking the law, so they lower speed limits across the board to cut it out. I guess we could move the curfew back to 11:30, though.

Anyway, as proof that this affects our mentality, I'd like to point to anyone who has posted in support of the criminal here. Their perception of the law has been warped to the point where they think that breaking the law "only by a little" isn't breaking the law any more. It's sad to think their social values have decayed so much.

 

[TheLaofKazi]

I see Pirate Kitty set a precedent that a good number of people seemingly blindly followed...

Honestly. We all know what the law says, but the problem is, most laws don't leave room for context. Not everything is black and white.

I could understand more (but not for such a long license extension) if he was out messing around, but the kid was on his way home, and he got the ticket in his driveway. How absurd is that?

Why would you WANT him to be driving? He's 16!

You're lucky he didn't get tailed and then drive right through your goddamn house in the confusion.

Would you rather make him wait until he's 18 to drive? Sure, he will probably mature over those two years, but either way, he's still going to be just as inexperienced, and that is the biggest factor that determines someone's driving ability, it's not necessarily dependent on age beyond a certain point.

 

[Ambi]

SNIP

The driver broke the law.

The police officer did nothing wrong.

If you cannot understand that, best we stop the conversation here, least it turn into an argument.

Yes, the kid broke the law. Yes, the police officer did nothing wrong according to the law. But considering the degree to which he broke the law, why do you believe he deserved the punishment he was given?

If the officer decided to exercise personal judgement like police officers often do, and reasoned that letting the guy off wouldn't hurt anyone and that that punishment would be unfair in proportion to the offence because he was so incredibly close of being within the curfew, would you say that he did something wrong, and that it was unfair?

I think it was pretty mean and uptight of the police officer, unless the kid did something stupid to attract attention to himself. It reminds me of those teachers everyone hates and no-one respects, who enforce every petty rule to the extreme. "Top button undone? After school detention! No, it's the rules, unquestionable, holy rules. Don't tell me that's not fair! It doesn't matter if you have a valid excuse. The rules are there for a reason" as opposed to the teacher who lets little things slide when they don't matter and everyone gets along fine.

 

[Jamboxdotcom]

WTF is this curfew?

They don't have that in England. That's beyond ridiculous. Setting a curfew for drivers just because of their age.

Agreed, more or less. I'm still astonished to hear about this curfew thing. What are the details and what sort of places have it? I thought these things mostly belonged in Orwell novels and nations that take inspiration from them.

most major american cities have some sort of curfew regulating how late a minor can be out at night normally set at midnight normally its used as a measure to reduce crime

actually, it's usually done in the name of "protecting the children". which is about as moronic a concept as there is... goddamn this world could use a little more darwinian parenting.

 

[Cazza]

It's not fair. Cops should be there to help. Not waste there time fo that shit. They should have bent the rules and let them off.