Speeding is illegal, but authorized representatives of the law and emergency services are allowed to drive as fast as needed as long as they have their lights and sirens activated.
An amateur videographer and self-proclaimed citizen journalist named Philip Turner noticed a Texas Highway Trooper speeding on Interstate 35 without the emergency signals activated, so he took upon himself to pursue and pull over the police officer who was driving.
Turner had a dash cam that was filming his trips, and he also had another video camera in his vehicle, so the entire encounter was recorded and posted on the Texan’s YouTube channel.
The same dash cam also recorded the vehicle’s speed, which reached 90 mph while pursuing the police cruiser that was being driven above the state’s speed limit without any warning lights, as required by law.
After Turner flashed his lights and honked his horn at the SUV driven by the officer, the Texas state trooper slowed down and pulled over. The emergency lights of the cruiser were immediately activated, and the officer exited the vehicle with a flashlight in hand.
Politely, the officer asked the driver, who also stepped out of his vehicle, if there was any way he could help him. Phillip Turner left his car with a video camera in hand, and confronted the officer for speeding. He then asked for the state trooper’s badge number, as well as permission to film his license plate.
The state trooper admitted his fault for speeding without having emergency lights activated, and apologized to the citizen. As Dallas News reports, Turner was arrested in November for filming a police station in Galveston, Texas.
In the comments section of the YouTube video embedded below, Turner explained that he considered the officer to be “very professional,” and honest. The citizen-journalist has also noted that he believes that more police officers should mirror the state trooper’s attitude when confronted with something they have done wrong.
We would like to remark that you should not engage in the act of attempting to pull over a police officer, even if they are speeding without they emergency lights activated. The safest way is to send the dash cam footage to the according precinct and request an official reply, avoiding confrontations of this kind.
Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News