This happened around the Port Washington area. The stretch of freeway from Port to Sheboygan is relatively flat, boring, and unremarkable, so I was able to watch Mr. Nipper and his lead foot gallop miles ahead. No lights, no siren, nothing to indicate he was on an emergency run. When I exited the freeway at Hwy. 28 in Sheboygan, whom do I see waiting at the red light? Yep, Mr. Leadfoot McNipper. He was in the LEFT right turn lane. You know, the one that has a special sign that tells drivers they can't turn right from that lane? Well, guess what Mr. Nipper does. Exactly that. And, as I watch him, he cuts across all the lanes of traffic to turn left on to Taylor drive. I get the green arrow and once again, find myself caught up with him waiting for another arrow to turn onto Taylor. I look over at him, and I am at a complete loss as to how this arrogant jerk gets to be the judge of other drivers.
If he had been on an emergency call, he gets to do pretty much what he needs to do within limits. But he wasn't on an emergency call and as such is subject to the EXACT same driving rules everyone else must obey. If I had done the exact same maneuvers he had done, I would find myself tonight with multiple fines and several points assessed to my license. And, I can't even report this yahoo because the car was completely unmarked, and had a regular license plate with no identifying organization on it. State Patrol? Ozaukee County? Sheboygan County? Milwaukee County? Any number of municipals? Federal? Who knows?? Which brings me to the point: How do you behave when no one can identify you? Do you barrel down on a 2007 Martrix with a police interceptor engine (I know this because it had a plate saying exactly that on the edge of the trunk) just because it somehow soothes your ego? Not much competition there. At 165 horsepower, I can barely merge onto the freeway at times, but it gets great gas mileage. Then, disobey the speed limit not only on the freeway, but through a construction zone and then ignore the posted traffic law signs. Yet, in the course of his job, this "officer" is going to write tickets to the public who have done exactly what he has willfully done without just cause.
I expect more from people who should be setting good examples. If a person freely chooses to become an officer of the law, I expect that while in the car the tax-payers have bought, doing a job the tax-payers pay for, and "should" be an expert in the area where the tax-payers need an impartial judgement of behaviors. Again, I ask. Would Mr. Leadfoot McNipper have let me do the exact same things he did this afternoon?
