TexasCHLforum.com

Russell:
As far as my stopping to help out motorists, I'm not really
handy with fixing cars or other items, but I can change a flat
(I've got a decent floor jack which is better than most people's
OEM scissors jack), jump a battery, or add needed fluids.

In my tool chest in the bed of my Ford Ranger I've got jumper cables,
my hand tools, a plug in air compressor, oil, AT fluid, PS fluid, DOT3
brake fluid, 2 gallons of water, WSW fluid, and some planks to raise
the jack up to the levels that some PU's and SUV's need.

When I used to have this gear in the trunk of my Nissan Maxima, the
trunk was maxed out and the car rode kind of low. Now that I've got the
truck, it's much easier.

Christ calls us to be of service to others, and helping people with car problems
is very satisfying to me. I know who I am and when I help a stranded woman,
I like to think that this is one more woman who is NOT going to be raped. Even
when I see another man helping a stranded woman, I stop to check him out and
spoil the party if he had unpure motives.

For a while I stopped helping people at night, preferring to call 911 and have someone
with a gun on their hip help out. Since I am now a person with a gun on his hip or in
his pocket, I have no reason to fear who I help. Most all people I've helped have been
very nice. If I ever run into someone bad, I will seek cover, and put some of my Speer
Gold Dots in their direction.

USA1 - Yes, I have 2 lime green vests with silver reflective bands.
One just stays on the driver's seat, the other is on the passenger seat and I wear
that one when exiting the Ranger to help out.

Thanks for the kind words, my friend.

SIA

srothstein:
You commented above that speed cameras are allowed under
Texas law to be operated by counties or DPS.

In a bold, but apparently unsuccessful request, the small town
of Hickory Creek, Denton County, asked TexDOT/maybe DPS too,
if the town of Hickory Creek could install and gain revenue from
speed cameras set up on I-35E.

Hickory Creek is a 4.6 square mile town whose 2005 population
count was 3,044. Since I-35E runs through town, the revenue
patrol is out on the highway most days, since there's no crime
to speak of in the town itself. But the town was trying to cut
down on having actual LEO's run the speed traps, by going to
automated cameras.

If the higher level authorities had granted the speed cameras to
the Town of Hickory Creek, it would have been the first town in
Texas to have speed cameras on an interstate.

SIA

bronco78 wrote:
To the OP.. I apologize for hijacking your thread.

Your apology is not necessary but is accepted sir.

I was shocked to see this 12/09 thread come back to life
like a zombie!!

Did you know that although laser/lidar is thought to be the
ultimate speed-measuring device, it has serious drawbacks
that discourage its use by LEO's in some circumstances, to wit:

1. Laser can't be used from a moving vehicle. So officers can't
be cruising the roads and using laser on vehicles they might want
to ticket. Radar is the preferred device for that.

2. Laser can't shoot through glass. So the officer must have his
window rolled down if he's sitting in his cruiser. If he wants to have
a comfortable angle while monitoring traffic, his car will be parked
perpendicular to the flow of traffic. When you see police unit parked
like this, it's more apparent to a motorist.

By the way, just to throw another fun fact into the LEO/speed device
soup here - Arizona has decided to de-activate all the speed cameras
and roving speed-monitoring vans across the state. The Arizona
citizenry has been very vocal in their displeasure of such high intensity/high
tech Big Brotherdom. One outraged citizen even murdered one of the
men who was staffing a speed monitoring van.

SIA

PUCKER:

Wow, CB - that's a blast from the past. We had CB's during the heyday
of CB, circa 1977-79. We gave up on CB because everyone and their dog would
clog up Channel 19 with chit chat and it became useless for cop reports.

My Valentine One is nice and quiet until there's danger aboot (as they say
in Canada!).

SIA

USA1:
Well, I am quite intrigued as to how the 1st LEO to see my CHL will react.

PappaGun:
I'm not one of those guys that will refuse to show ID without a Supreme Court
warrant. I would have gladly shown both my DL and CHL to Young Trooper.
I believe that he asked a few pertinent questions, and I was being kind of an
imp to bring up the bad guys' gun-hiding habits. I kind of skated near to the
point of being asked for ID, but he never asked.

SIA

Since I stop to help people on the side of the road on a regular basis,
my Ford Ranger is equipped with white-and-amber, police quality strobes,
with a front-facing set on the dashboard and a rear facing light bar as well.
I also carry 4 large cones with reflective tape on them. These items are to
increase the safety factor for myself and the people that I assist.

Of course another 2 pieces of safety gear that I carry are my CHL and my Taurus.

Tonight about 1000 PM I came upon a gentleman changing a flat on his Kia,
on the southbound side of I-35E in Hickory Creek, right before the highway
crosses the bridge over Lake Lewisville. This is Denton County (north of Dallas).

I had the rear strobes rocking, my 4 cones out, and was wearing my lime green safety vest
with hi-viz silver stripes. I did not have the front strobes on since no one could
be approaching us on the one way highway.

A young DPS trooper pulled over and asked who I was. I told him I'm just a citizen
helping out the gentleman changing the tire. He asked me to turn on my dash-mounted
strobes so that he could see that they were also white-and-amber, and not red or blue.
Then he shone his Maglite on my radar detector and said "What's that?"

I replied "it's a radar detector." He said "So you're using that to break the law."
I replied "Well, sometimes you guys get the wrong guy when you'r working."
He smirked kind of a "Whatever" look and dropped that line of chatter.

The trooper was about to book when I said "Hey, I'd like to give you some information that you
may find useful" and I told him about the study of bad guys' gun habits, and where they
hide their guns when LEO's question them. He listened and thanked me for the information.

He then got into his cruiser and left. What's funny is that he never asked me for any ID when
he was inquiring about me or my strobes, but then when I told him about the gun stuff, I thought
sure he would then ask me for ID and I'd present him with both my DL and CHL.

But he never did. My PT111 was in my right front pants pocket and I had 2 mags on me.

Chuckle, chuckle. It doesn't take much to amuse me.

SIA