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My Uber got pulled over by the Denver police – and then things got really weird

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Re: My Uber got pulled over by the Denver police – and then things got really weird

#51

Post by pdabbadabba »

jfoster wrote: post #48
ryoshu wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Of course, in a perfect world, an officer would know everything about Colorado law. But that is clearly unrealistic. Citizens of Colorado are supposed to know and obey the law and apparently citizens of Washington state are expected to as well, if they are visiting. Why is it unrealistic to expect a Colorado police officer to know the law?

Besides, the police shouldn't try to enforce particular laws until they are confident about their understanding of them.

Where in this article did the officer try to enforce whatever law it was he thought Uber was violating?

Re: My Uber got pulled over by the Denver police – and then things got really weird

#52

Post by raverbashing »

duaneb wrote: post #45
gedrap wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>> Not answering the questions, throwing the license back at the passenger At the end of the day, cops are people. They get tired, frustrated, etc. I don't expect them to act like my personal servants. >>> I take it you've never been in a similar situation? I have, more than once. Actually, in a very similar situation. I took a bus for the first time in that country, got the ticket, and didn't know that I need to ge…

Didn't the nuremberg trials teach people that 'just doing their jobs' does not exempt them from ethical decisions? So you have a shitty job. That doesn't mean you need to be a shitty person, prioritizing victimless crimes over actual crimes.

Did you just compare massive genocide to a police officer being rude?

Re: My Uber got pulled over by the Denver police – and then things got really weird

#53

Post by gedrap »

duaneb wrote: post #45
gedrap wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>> Not answering the questions, throwing the license back at the passenger At the end of the day, cops are people. They get tired, frustrated, etc. I don't expect them to act like my personal servants. >>> I take it you've never been in a similar situation? I have, more than once. Actually, in a very similar situation. I took a bus for the first time in that country, got the ticket, and didn't know that I need to ge…

Didn't the nuremberg trials teach people that 'just doing their jobs' does not exempt them from ethical decisions? So you have a shitty job. That doesn't mean you need to be a shitty person, prioritizing victimless crimes over actual crimes.

>>> nuremberg trials

Himmler and a traffic cop is a pretty wild comparison, if you ask me :)

Re: My Uber got pulled over by the Denver police – and then things got really weird

#54

Post by Pxtl »

patrickmay wrote: post #30

As a passenger you are not required to produce identification unless the officer has probable cause that you have committed another crime (i.e. not wearing a seatbelt): http://www.patc.com/enewsletter/legal-answers/2-apr08.shtml It's always best to avoid any discussion with law enforcement, even if you have nothing to hide.

Yeah, but turning down a police officer's request for information is a good way to encourage him to find something illegal about what you're doing. There's a law that isn't on any books but is the easiest way to get in trouble by breaking it: Contempt of Cop.

Re: My Uber got pulled over by the Denver police – and then things got really weird

#55

Post by jcromartie »

Nursie wrote: post #28
jcromartie wrote: post #16

Why does it seem like so many people in authority just hate Uber? Is it the "dirty hippie" effect? Everything new is threatening and scary? What is it?

Dirty hippies? Uber? The libertarian/ultracapitalist, big-business funded cab empire? LOL

Well, that's why it's confusing.

Re: My Uber got pulled over by the Denver police – and then things got really weird

#56

Post by jcromartie »

pdabbadabba wrote: post #18

Here's a better headline: "My Uber gor pulled over by the Denver Police, and the officer mistakenly told us Uber is illegal." Maybe not so many clicks that way, though. I agree that this was a rather unfortunate and odd experience, but I don't see what the big deal is. The only thing that struck me as "really weird" about this is that the author called a Denver Post reporter to get live legal information while he was…

The formula for a viral headline is to start with an absolutely minimal description of the facts, and then add a bit of subjective/emotional language (like "things got really weird") so that the reader will have to read it to confirm if the subjective part applies to them or not.

Re: My Uber got pulled over by the Denver police – and then things got really weird

#57

Post by patrickmay »

Pxtl wrote: post #54
patrickmay wrote: post #30

As a passenger you are not required to produce identification unless the officer has probable cause that you have committed another crime (i.e. not wearing a seatbelt): http://www.patc.com/enewsletter/legal-answers/2-apr08.shtml It's always best to avoid any discussion with law enforcement, even if you have nothing to hide.

Yeah, but turning down a police officer's request for information is a good way to encourage him to find something illegal about what you're doing. There's a law that isn't on any books but is the easiest way to get in trouble by breaking it: Contempt of Cop.

Fear of this kind of abuse is why everyone should know and exercise their rights in all interactions with law enforcement. If 90+% of people weren't willing to be pushed around, the cops would be forced to learn their legal limitations.

Re: My Uber got pulled over by the Denver police – and then things got really weird

#58

Post by pdabbadabba »

ryoshu wrote: post #38
pdabbadabba wrote: post #18

Here's a better headline: "My Uber gor pulled over by the Denver Police, and the officer mistakenly told us Uber is illegal." Maybe not so many clicks that way, though. I agree that this was a rather unfortunate and odd experience, but I don't see what the big deal is. The only thing that struck me as "really weird" about this is that the author called a Denver Post reporter to get live legal information while he was…

> Of course, in a perfect world, an officer would know everything about Colorado law. But that is clearly unrealistic. Citizens of Colorado are supposed to know and obey the law and apparently citizens of Washington state are expected to as well, if they are visiting. Why is it unrealistic to expect a Colorado police officer to know the law?

The better argument, I think, is that it is also unrealistic to expect citizens to know all the laws.

The theoretical answer to this is that citizens are expected to know all the major laws that govern everyday activity, and are then expected to educate themselves when they engage in a particular activity or line of business that a reasonable person would expect might be specially regulated about more obscure laws that might apply to that activity. Officers, on the other hand, have no way of knowing what sorts of violations they are about to encounter when they go out on patrol. I don't claim, though, that this is always true of fair in practice -- I'm just relaying the conventional reply.

And I think some perspective is in order: the officer's information was, at most, a few weeks out of date, and he did not attempt to actually enforce any Uber-related law. Also note what I pointed out in my edit: the new law includes regulatory restrictions that the driver may well have been violating.

Re: My Uber got pulled over by the Denver police – and then things got really weird

#59

Post by bdg »

I'm looking for some insight here. I read about situations involving poorly behaving police and the victims never think to call police dispatch and call over a staff Sargent or something like that

Sure, there's the 'blue code' thing but this seems to me that you have entered so much 'on-the-record' data and clearly demonstrated a wish for police assistance. What are the reasons that this doesn't happen?

Re: My Uber got pulled over by the Denver police – and then things got really weird

#60

Post by ganeumann »

ck2 wrote: post #20
Dylan16807 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reality check, this dude had taken a plane and needed transport around his destination - this is very much how people live when on a trip. This is perfectly normal behavior in most of the world, especially when it's a trip for business purposes. The only change is that the price of travel varies extremely between countries.

No, I can safely say there are billions (with a b) of people in this world who could never afford to take a $100 car ride across town and back. If you think this is normal, you are in an elite group and only use people in your group to compare to. Even if there are a million people in that group, it is still elite.

There should be a name for this ridiculous argument, so we can just name it and dismiss it.
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