Smashed, then smashed

[Jester]

Eyes: Certain substances change the size of your pupils (large for depressants/narcotics, small for stimulants like meth/crack)

Also, your eyes will track more unsteadily if you are under the influence.

When a police officer asks you to watch his pen with your eyes, but not move your head, this is what they are checking. Generally speaking, the eyes of a sober person will track smoothly from side to side, while the eyes of someone under the influence will track in a more jumpy fashion. This is not something that a person can control in any way, which is why it is one of the tests they give.

Notice the phrase above, "generally speaking." Of course there are situations and scenarios where this may not be the case, where one person's eyes may be different than the general population, etc., etc. This is why field sobriety tests involve MULTIPLE tests or tasks, so that the officer can get a good feel for what is (or is not) going on.

Yelling at a cop is as smart as pouring gasoline on a fire.

I've actually poured gasoline on a fire. It was fun.

Yelling at a cop has never produced anything I would refer to as "fun."

In a more meta-sense, as others have noted, does anyone know of any situation where being uncooperative with the cops made things BETTER?

Yes and no. If one is protesting something, and is intentionally engaging in civil disobedience, obviously they are going to be uncooperative with the cops. And that may make things "better" in the sense that the point of the protest may be made more forcefully through such action. However, it is generally not going to make the cops treat the person any better, no.

[Sapphire Silk]

Also, your eyes will track more unsteadily if you are under the influence.

Nystagmus. As you note, there are a lot of things that can affect it, and there are several sub types, some of which are normal in some people. So a cop won't rely on that alone. It's the totality of the field sobriety test, not any one item.

I've actually poured gasoline on a fire. It was fun.

You have a strange idea of fun

[Jester]

You have a strange idea of fun

And this is news to you?

But allow me to provide details. Down here in Key West, we have this thing every December called the Lighted Boat Parade. Which is exactly what it sounds like: different boats decorated in holiday lights doing a floating parade for people watching from other boats and on land.

Well, for several years, my buddy Captain Food participated in the LBP. I call him "Captain Food" because he runs a gourmet dinner cruise on his small yacht, which accommodates up to 6 people, and was picked as one of the 5 most romantic dinners in Key West. For this, he has a big ole grill mounted on the back of his boat.

Well, for the years he did the LBP, in addition to the regular type decorations, he decided he wanted to make a big impression visually. So he took the lid off the grill, had it turned on, and thought it would be awesome if someone could squirt lighter fluid on it, creating big fireballs. Guess who got the job of fireball creator? Yep, yours truly. The good Captain made sure that there was always someone on the back deck with me with a fire extinguisher ready to go if necessary, but luckily it never was--although there were a couple times when I had to hit the deck quickly to duck out of a backdraft fireball!

No, technically this was neither gasoline nor a fire in the traditional sense, but this was basically the same idea as pouring gasoline on a fire. (And if your goal was to create a bigger fire, gasoline would be a good thing to pour on the fire, don't you think?)

[Chromatix]

The trouble with pouring petrol on a fire is that it is so volatile that the flame can run up the stream and into the container you're pouring from. Also, if you don't pour cleanly, the fire will run along the trail to your feet, and up your fuel-soaked trousers. If you are surprised by this occurring, you are likely to drop the container, spilling fuel everywhere which then catches fire rapidly. It is therefore EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.

Other fuels such as kerosene are less dangerous than that, but liquid fuels in general are a bad idea to use as accelerants on an already-lit fire.

On a related note, you should never use water to put out a liquid fuel based fire (such as a chip pan), though it is okay to use it on a fire that is mostly solid fuel with a small amount of liquid fuel involved. The reason is that the burning fuel will float on top of the water, then the water will boil, and the resulting turmoil will throw burning oil all over the place. Result is you now have a much bigger fire than before. The correct approach is to remove external heat (if possible) and to smother the fire with an airtight blanket (a damp towel works) or a layer of foam.

[Jester]

Wow. Maybe it's too early in the morning for me, but it seems like you just took all the fun out of it. Meh.

[Mr Hero]

Don't worry, Jester, there's always SoBe bombs. Pour gasoline about half full in a SoBe bottle and screw on the lid. Put the bottle in the fire with the top pointing up. Then run to observe from a safe distance.

[Jester]

Now I just have to find someone that drinks SoBe. Because I don't drink it, but I hate waste, so would feel bad just pouring it out.

[PandaHat]

If you rear end someone and the cops are involved, you are getting a ticket. No if, ands, or buts. If you rear end someone, you are automatically considered at fault. Don't argue. Accept the ticket, and take it to traffic court if there are extenuating circumstances. If you don't have a history of bad driving (lots of tickets, etc), and a reasonable story, you have a chance of convincing a judge. Hire a lawyer if in doubt.

My dad was once waiting to turn into his street behind a van. It was a hill start, and the van rolled back straight into Dad. The driver of the van was incredibly apologetic, totally admitted fault. They exchanged details. My dad noticed that the neighbour across the road was gardening and he asked him if he would be willing to be a witness to what happened. Neighbour agreed.

Lo and behold, the insurance company got in touch with Dad and told him he was responsible for paying for the damage that happened when HE rear-ended the van. My dad was able to say, that's not what happened and I can prove it. Cue the driver phoning Dad and begging him to take the blame because he would lose his job if he got into one more driving accident. Cause you know, that's Dad's problem. He apologised to the driver for the situation he was in, but said quite firmly that he wasn't taking the blame.

Thank goodness that Dad had a witness, cause generally if it looks like a rear-ending accident it is treated like one.

[wolfie]

On a related note, you should never use water to put out a liquid fuel based fire (such as a chip pan), though it is okay to use it on a fire that is mostly solid fuel with a small amount of liquid fuel involved. The reason is that the burning fuel will float on top of the water, then the water will boil, and the resulting turmoil will throw burning oil all over the place.

It depends on the type of liquid fuel. Burning oil (petroleum or otherwise) is a clear DON'T USE WATER situation, but an alcohol fire is the opposite. In those forms of auto racing where alcohol fuels are used (burns too cleanly - flame is barely visible), if there's a crash with a fuel spill they assume there's a fire, and douse it with water. The water mixes with the alcohol (unlike oil, which would float on top), and dilutes it to the point where it is no longer flammable.

[Kazim]

They also tend (Atleast where i live) to add a foam addative to the water, just incase the oil ignites.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

You'd be surprised at how many times drunk drivers get in accidents and get busted for DUI and still get back on the roads. It's sickening. The drunks seldom get hurt bad; it's always some poor innocent going about their honest business who gets hurt.

Tell me about it. We almost lost one of our coworkers several years ago b/c of a drunk driver.

Butt-Head was driving home at the time of the accident - DD was uninjured, but Butt-Head was seriously injured and spent several days unconscious before coming out of it.

He still can't recall much from the night of the accident but at least he's alive. His truck was totaled, but the settlement he got from the wreck (he sued the DD) he bought another one and pay off what was left owing on the hospital bills.

As for the DD, turned out he was not only intoxicated, but also driving with revoked license. Needless to say, that guy got into LOADS of trouble. IIRC, he's pulled some time over that.

[Kristev]

I saw an episode of The People's Court you might have liked yesterday. A man parked his car in one shopping center's lot, but when he was finished there, went to another shopping center. His car didn't.

He had been doing this for years, and happened to know that a great many people had been doing it for years. But when he returned, he discovered his car was missing. It had been towed for violating the original shopping center's private property, I think.

Anyway, he sued and tried to get the tow people into a lot of trouble. The judge didn't buy it. She felt that the plaintiff was in the wrong by not moving his car, and so she wouldn't help him.

[2gigch1]

Just recently I was hit by another car. Frankly it wasn't worth mentioning - the guy swung into my lane trying to get around a box truck and clipped my passenger rear quarter panel. On his 2012 Toyota Highlander he probably did $800 - $1000 worth of damage. On my 1999 Suburban, after I was able to determine which dent was the freshest and thus most likely his, I figured it will be another part of the asthetic atmosphere of my truck.

We exchanged information (as we are supposed to) and I bid him good day. I figured he could go fix his damage, and we would ignore mine.

The next day HR gets all up in arms about my accident (which I had yet to officially report up our chain of command) because of course, yonder silly man has claimed - you guessed it - its my fault.

Now let me remind you, gentle readers, that my venerable chariot is, for lack of a better term, an asshole magnet. In the greater DC area I am considered fair game for the cut-in-front-of-you-and-jam-my-brakes crowd. Problem is this truck tips the scales at just below 10,000 lbs and it doesn't stop on a dime. So for self protection I have dash cameras.

Two of them.

One is a low quality, run all the time, endless looping, cover my ass type camera. The second records to a hard drive broadcast quality video whenever I remember to roll it.

Sooo, a half hour after our company insurance rep called me with questions he found himself looking at a 30 second clip that prooves I stayed within my lane and did not cause the accident.

That was easy.

$50 on eBay folks. Everyone should own one.

The only thing I need to do now is learn Russian, 'cause all the good YouTube crash videos seem to be from Russia and I want to learn to cuss like they do, to keep up with the theme.

[Sapphire Silk]

As for the DD, turned out he was not only intoxicated, but also driving with revoked license. Needless to say, that guy got into LOADS of trouble. IIRC, he's pulled some time over that.

About 10 years ago I got rear ended by a drunk driver. I was going 50, he was going 90. I had just left a friend's house on an Air Force base a few minutes earlier, it was well after midnight. I was driving a CRV, he was driving a sports car. The whole rear end of my car lifted up off the ground, and it rocked left to right so hard when it landed that I thought my car would flip (it didn't). I ended up on the right should, he ended up in the median. He hit another car ahead of me, and debris from his car hit a pickup heading in the opposite direction.

Someone took off running into the fields as I ran up to the drunk's car, inventing profanity as I ran along. The driver had a face full of blood. He admitted to owning the car, but denied he was driving. However, I looked in the car: blood all over the driver airbag, none on the dash. He was the only one hurt.

Highway Patrol shows up, I end up taking a trip to the hospital because my neck starts hurting. HP can't get driver to admit to driving the car, and I got very frustrated; I noticed the DoD sticker and told him the kid was in the Air Force; a call to his CO and the CO would ORDER him to tell the truth about who was driving. But the cop didn't want to bother with it, and so he got off. I was pretty mad about it.

His insurance did cover my repairs since his car did cause the accident. His car was a total wreck and I'm sure was totaled (and it was brand new, too). A few weeks later, I saw him hoofing it on base.

The best part was, he did pay a price for the accident. Turns out he was in the same squadron (tho not the same office) as my friend. When she found out about the accident, she was furious. When she heard this guy got in a wreck the same night, she realized it was the guy who hit me. She let everyone in the squad know who had hurt her friend (me). He lost a stripe over it (for giving alcohol to a minor, the kid he claimed was driving was underage), and was ostracized for quite some time. No one would give him a ride.

Anyway, he sued and tried to get the tow people into a lot of trouble. The judge didn't buy it. She felt that the plaintiff was in the wrong by not moving his car, and so she wouldn't help him.

He was in the wrong. Parking lots are private property; they uniformly have signs saying parking for customers only. If you aren't in their store, your car doesn't belong there. Even if you "plan" to go there, and go somewhere else you still can't park there.

[Argabarga]

He was in the wrong. Parking lots are private property; they uniformly have signs saying parking for customers only. If you aren't in their store, your car doesn't belong there. Even if you "plan" to go there, and go somewhere else you still can't park there.

Yup, I love towing the cars of people who park in business "A" lot and then go somewhere else.... oh how they whine.