pulled over for vaping
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On a final note, it should be remembered that, unlike we lawyers, police officers are only human.
RadicalJD
you should really learn your rights. He has no reason or right to inspect your "smoking apparatus". He had no probable cause. I'm probably repeating someone else in this thread but KNOW YOUR RIGHTS!!!
I may have to start carrying a camera with me everywhere just for this reason.
I may have to start carrying a camera with me everywhere just for this reason.
["pulled over for vaping..."]
this is a lawsuit waiting to happen...sounds like that cop suffers from "Barney Fife" syndrome
this is a lawsuit waiting to happen...sounds like that cop suffers from "Barney Fife" syndrome
Thanks for sharing. I am still a little paranoid when vaping and driving and honestly don't want to be pulled over for a cop to see the stash I carry. I usually have a SD, Xhaler, and prodigy on the seat beside me with three or four liquids in the cup holder and a carrying case in the seat with extra stuff. They would think I was a drug dealer or something most likely. I'll bet their eyes would bug out when they found my smash box of nasal snuff in the console.
I haven't seen 1 positive reply to this thread, so I'll state my 2 cents.
1. Its perhaps natural the police officer in question was curious about your smoking device, because he hasn't seen it before, and lets face it, it could be mistaken for a high tech crack pipe.
2. The OP and pretty much everyone in the 17 pages of comments missed something very important. That is "the opportunity to educate". If I was pulled over I would have explained to the police officer full details of the device, given him my business card with a link to ecf faq's. He might have headed back to the police station and mentioned the device to his fellow officers.
The thing is guys - lets face it, way too little people know about vaping. We should be understanding to this. With the right attitude, the OP could have turned a negative situation into a highly positive one.
Getting paranoid or hiding your vaping habit, is exactly what NOT to do.
Think - word of mouth guys, thats all I am saying.
1. Its perhaps natural the police officer in question was curious about your smoking device, because he hasn't seen it before, and lets face it, it could be mistaken for a high tech crack pipe.
2. The OP and pretty much everyone in the 17 pages of comments missed something very important. That is "the opportunity to educate". If I was pulled over I would have explained to the police officer full details of the device, given him my business card with a link to ecf faq's. He might have headed back to the police station and mentioned the device to his fellow officers.
The thing is guys - lets face it, way too little people know about vaping. We should be understanding to this. With the right attitude, the OP could have turned a negative situation into a highly positive one.
Getting paranoid or hiding your vaping habit, is exactly what NOT to do.
Think - word of mouth guys, thats all I am saying.
If you read the OP, she said that she DID explain that she was using a PV. She did try to educate the officer. Unfortunately, that wasn't good enough for the officer and he wanted to search the vehicle. She probably gave consent, thinking she had no choice.
Bottom line is that, yes, we want to educate law enforcement officers, but that does not mean that vapers should put up with being hassled. Thus, I and others have been suggesting that one should NEVER consent to a search, and should assert their rights. That isn't being "negative," it's simply prudent.
RadicalJD
Exactly.
You'd also see, if you read a bit more carefully, that in addition to what JD said every point you made has been made by someone else in this thread.
I'm gonna play devil's advocate here.
Unless the driver is vaping with a cigarette look-a-like then it will look suspicious to ANYONE who sees it. Especially if you have a Blue LED or a Chuck or something like that. Remember that 90% of the people you bump into are not going to have a clue what an e-cig is and even if they do they have probably not seen one before.
As far as a police officer pulling you over for doing something that is clearly suspicious, I say roll with it. There are two scenarios there. 1.) you are doing something legal and it educates the officer. He is unlikely to pull you over again regardless of what he said. It would be a waste of his time. 2.) There is something illegal going on. That should be dealt with as that is what we are paying them for. I do not always agree with the laws that we are stuck with but I do agree that we should abide by them.
Long story short - use your brain. If it looks suspicious or out of the ordinary (which e-cigs clearly do) then do not do it while driving if you do not want to get pulled over. I would rather have them doing their job and taking up 5 minutes of my time than the alternative.
Just my .02 cents.
Unless the driver is vaping with a cigarette look-a-like then it will look suspicious to ANYONE who sees it. Especially if you have a Blue LED or a Chuck or something like that. Remember that 90% of the people you bump into are not going to have a clue what an e-cig is and even if they do they have probably not seen one before.
As far as a police officer pulling you over for doing something that is clearly suspicious, I say roll with it. There are two scenarios there. 1.) you are doing something legal and it educates the officer. He is unlikely to pull you over again regardless of what he said. It would be a waste of his time. 2.) There is something illegal going on. That should be dealt with as that is what we are paying them for. I do not always agree with the laws that we are stuck with but I do agree that we should abide by them.
Long story short - use your brain. If it looks suspicious or out of the ordinary (which e-cigs clearly do) then do not do it while driving if you do not want to get pulled over. I would rather have them doing their job and taking up 5 minutes of my time than the alternative.
Just my .02 cents.
Fantastic idea. Since I just got my Kingpin PV, I'll have to grab the manual and stick it in the car.
Very well said. Its kind of like driving while drinking iced tea out of a Jack Daniels bottle. If its a 100% non-alcoholic beverage, then you are not breaking the law by any means...but if a cop sees you drinking out of such a container...he's gonna pull you over and assess the situation.
I'm sure I must have said some positive things.. especially about police officers. As I recall I even mentioned how much I appreciate them and that 90% of them are doing a great job. Several people have said what you're saying about making a positive experience of it, as well.
This is also an opportunity to be educated. In this thread, many vapers who obviously weren't aware of their rights, well, they are now, for sure.
The OP sounds like she did "what you would have done" .. she explained the device.. And he still searched. You're not going to see a big sunshine and butterfly response to vapers being harassed, not on here.. It just won't be that way, man.
I don't think anyone disagrees with you Mark.. The stop was probably justified.. I don't want some stoned nineteen year old driving around anywhere near me, either.. The issue is what went on after the officer knew there wasn't anything wrong..
Exactly. If you see me vaping and pull me over, fine. I've been pulled over for things like that, before. But once you know that you were wrong about what you thought you had seen, let me go about my business.
Make sense?
Well, a business partner of mine use to snort acetaminophen.. Tylenol.. Mixed with some other stuff he had to have because he destroyed his body working 20-30hrs at a time. I think tabs were part of it.
Long story short, even I never really believed him, so when we got pulled over I was sure he was going to need bail and everything else.
We were pulled over one time when an officer saw him doing this (still not sure how in all hell he saw it) and the officer was just sure he had a big **** bust on his hands.
Two more cars arrived and they were all set to search when they used the little test kit thing on it and found out it wasn't dope. They couldn't believe it, one of them produced another thing with a cotton swab and they were forty minutes trying to come up with a positive result.
Now if those officers, in THAT situation, had the sense to not search us when they found out that he was innocent.... why couldn't this one have done the same for some lady who's got a nicotine vaporizer? What substance did he possibly think it was upon his inspection of the device? ...
I can't imagine, for example, this lady I know who's in the academy .. seeing one of these, even a mod, taking a look at it and thinking she had a reason for a search. I just can't imagine an officer being THAT confused.
Pure nonsense.
I'll say something positive.. since there certainly isn't alot of it in this thread, for sure.
I think I've already said part of it, but, 90% of the officers out there are just out working for peanuts trying to protect a pile of hateful not grateful
sI think the ONE officer we heard from in this thread didn't represent the majority of them.
Almost every officer I've ever dealt with has been willing to explain himself. Even the ones who leaned on me!!
The ones who just attack someones character and refuse to explain why they think or feel a certain thing or way are not the majority. Period.
It's the ten percent who act like they're 100% right no matter what, laugh at any questions you may have, refuse to explain anything they say, and lean on people just for kicks... they are the few who ruin it for the rest of them.
Knowing your right is absolutely not about being against the police force. It should NOT be us against them.
If one ever makes it that way, your ONLY defense is to know what time it is when it comes to your rights. You are not allowed ANY other defense, so you absolutely should have the ONE you're afforded.
Also, as has been said, never forcefully assert your rights.. rights work for you in court, not out in the streets. And don't forget, the majority of the officers are good hard working people who risk their lives every day. They do not appreciate the bad apples who run it for everyone, either, not any more than we do.
People ONLY remember BAD. The time an officer saved them from a hold-up man fades away and the time they got a ticket when they weren't speeding will be coming out of their mouth ten years later. Human nature is a horrible thing.
Truth be told, the vast majority of police officer I encounter in my work are very professional, and don't take things personally. Even the ones that I cross examine in court, and attempt (often successfully) to discredit, take it all with good humor. They know it's nothing personal.
Similarly, I would venture to say that most police officers would not get bent out of shape when someone refuses consent to a search or to answer questions. It's all part of their job.
RadicalJD
Similarly, I would venture to say that most police officers would not get bent out of shape when someone refuses consent to a search or to answer questions. It's all part of their job.
RadicalJD
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