A video worth its weight in silence!

[Tennesseahawk]

I got a ticket for going 7 over, in MI, last week. The cop asked how fast I had on my speedometer. I said "probably 63". Well... I admitted to a crime; which I'm sure he wrote on the back of my ticket, in case I took it to court.

A lot of stink about MN and IN DOT doing the fatigue survey. If you don't take it... IOW, INCRIMINATE YOURSELF, you would have no reason to worry about getting put out of service, when you're totally rested. You also don't have to worry about the resulting service failure, or ticket.

I came across this nice little video which proved me to be an idiot, when I talked to the cop. It's not really so little, at 49 minutes, but the law professor, and his cop friend, will teach you to KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT when it comes to the police.It's a myth that those who plead the 5th have something to hide. It's just SMART! Watch the video!

Law school professor explains why not to talk to police. (Video)

[highway star]

Ron White: "I had the right to remain silent, but I didn't have the ability."

I had a DOT inspection in Texas during the June blitz last year. The guy used a neat, sort of casual approach to getting consent to search my sleeper. He said I had a nice truck and he didn't see many like it with sleepers, could he check it out. I suppose there are those that wouldn't realize they just consented to a search, I just wanted to get the inspection over with and get to the delivery. He didn't go in the sleeper.

[flattop40]

Great video. However, If you stand mute or plead the 5th then you are viewed as guilty cause he has something to hide. Its a catch 22

[Tennesseahawk]

Great video. However, If you stand mute or plead the 5th then you are viewed as guilty cause he has something to hide. Its a catch 22

Like the guy said tho, there are 10,000 laws, and opening your big mouth is likely to implicate you in one of them, even if you believe in your heart of hearts you've done nothing wrong.

[piper1]

I just wanted to get the inspection over with and get to the delivery.

Exactly how any of us would think, be co-operative and we'll get out faster. Turns out that's exactly what they now want to use to hang us.

[nightcreacher]

i had been stopped doing 80 in ohio once,when the officer asked if i new how fast i was going,my answer was evidently to fast or you wouldnt be here.it must have cought him off guard,he chuckled,and wrote me for 69 in a 55,or maybe he just didnt want to take me to jail

[iceroadtrucker]

i had been stopped doing 80 in ohio once,when the officer asked if i new how fast i was going,my answer was evidently to fast or you wouldnt be here.it must have cought him off guard,he chuckled,and wrote me for 69 in a 55,or maybe he just didnt want to take me to jail

Well Steve there are some good Officers out there and then there are some bad officers out there. Sounds like ya gota good Officer.

[ATeam]

...the law professor, and his cop friend, will teach you to KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT when it comes to the police.It's a myth that those who plead the 5th have something to hide. It's just SMART! Watch the video!

Law school professor explains why not to talk to police. (Video)

Diane (an attorney) and I watched the video. She agrees. The message is valid. Don't talk to the police.

That leaves us with the very real problem of finding yourself face to face with a cop, say at a scale stop, where he or she starts asking questions about your in-order, properly-kept and legal log book. From the video, you know to not talk to the police. Yet you don't want to be uncooperative or disrespectful.

Consider a hypothetical example:

You are at the weigh station counter. Having not yet said a word, you presented your papers to the officer as requested. The officer looks at your registration, CDL, medical card, insurance document and hands them back to you. The officer then pages through your log book for a moment or two, looks you in they eye and asks, "When did you start driving today?"

Do you speak? If so, what do you say?

Consider also this real-world example. You are at a rest area, walking back to your truck after taking photos of it against the beautiful mountain backdrop the rest area provided. A state trooper drives between you and your truck, rolls down his window and says, "That's a beautiful truck."

With the video in mind, I said, "Thank you" and was careful to not say another word.

Should I have said instead, "I have the right to remain silent?" or "My attorney tells me to not talk to the police?"

This is quite different than how we used to be with the police; like when a state trooper, parked her car, got out, approached me as I was cleaning the back of the truck, and asked the question expediters often get; "What do you haul in that thing?" That turned into a friendly visit and fun truck tour (photo below, pardon the wind-blown hair).



We have given tours to several officers who were friendly and curious and we enjoyed the visits. We like helping the police better understand our life on the road. One officer even let me play with his dog outside as Diane showed him the inside of our truck. Are those pleasant events gone forever?

For all we know, a question like "What do you haul in that thing?" may be the beginning of a clever interrogation by an officer who is looking to place our truck within range of a crime scene where a truck was seen that matches our truck's description.

Also to consider is talking to police who are, in good faith, seeking information from you as a witness. You want to help but how do you know they are questioning you in good faith? How do you balance the desire to help with the need to protect your own best interests by keeping your mouth shut?

Readers, if you have not yet watched the video, please do before responding. It is the video that prompts these questions. I'm especially interested to hear from people with law enforcement experience.

[moose]

If you got nothing to hide - hide it in the bunk ...

officers have no place inside a truck .
allowing an officer into your bunk - will not keep you out of troubles .
& i have to agree with the proff. and the sheriff , talking to the officer will not help your case.
as to that logbook scenario , i would just say that i mark it as i drive it ,memorizing what i did 2 hours ago is not a CDL requirement .
as long as your paperwork are in order ,and your truck is safe to drive , then there is no real rezone to talk to the cup , more then just being polite .



Moose.

[greg334]

The bad thing is that we don't have in house lawyers traveling with us. We are faced with a lot of dis-information and dumb advice from different sources and many of us tend to take legal advice from roving lawyers without taking in account our unique situation. A traffic stop is completely different from having a stop by a dot officer for a light that is out and who is trying to make sure we follow the rules we agreed to accept when we started this work.

What I see is that some are saying to listen to this video which is for student lawyers and apply them to our work. Sorry there is something wrong, some of the people here will think that it applies to our work but the truth is this is a regulated industry that requires discloser while preforming our work no matter what is being asked about what we are hauling, how long we were working and so on. You are required to maintain records and be able to answer questions about those records from your log to your manifest to your last pretrip. It gets worst with Hazmat loads, where we are required to do certain things to ensure the safety of the public, we have no choice but to disclose things about our work.

Drug tests are a perfect example, do you refuse a drug test because you think it is a violation of your rights?

A lot of truckers feel that this infringes on their 'rights' but they forget that this is a regulated industry, like Airline Transport Pilots – they agreed to the rules when they decided to make it a career and there are requirements that we all go through regardless. This video reinforces the idea that they are not required to take a drug test because it may incriminate themselves.

The guy/gal who is sitting there asking the questions behind the desk can decide that because you refused to answer or hesitated in answering or act like you are hiding, to go further like put you out of service for 10 hours or delve into your records deeper, including auditing your logs.

Without a doubt, you will run across LEOs with bad attitudes, sometimes that is all you will get other times it is a rarity. But if you maintain a professional attitude, work with them and not against them, things will go smoothly and quickly.

There is also a problem that this doesn't apply to with customs and using this philosophy, refuse to answer a DHS officer, claiming the fifth or what ever, they will look at you as guilty and they will tear the truck apart, pull the freight off and hold you for a while without any recourse. I have had my sleeper inspected a few times, I know from working with customs that there is no choice in the matter - a refusal is something that they will not tolerate. You do know that they can pull you over anywhere they are and do an inspection of your truck?

The advice I have gotten over and over is to answer truthfully and think before I open my mouth to make sure I can back it up with my documents but don't ever refuse to answer any question while I am driving my truck.

[Jefferson3000]

I got a ticket for going 7 over, in MI, last week. The cop asked how fast I had on my speedometer. I said "probably 63". Well... I admitted to a crime; which I'm sure he wrote on the back of my ticket, in case I took it to court.

A lot of stink about MN and IN DOT doing the fatigue survey. If you don't take it... IOW, INCRIMINATE YOURSELF, you would have no reason to worry about getting put out of service, when you're totally rested. You also don't have to worry about the resulting service failure, or ticket.

I came across this nice little video which proved me to be an idiot, when I talked to the cop. It's not really so little, at 49 minutes, but the law professor, and his cop friend, will teach you to KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT when it comes to the police.It's a myth that those who plead the 5th have something to hide. It's just SMART! Watch the video!

Law school professor explains why not to talk to police. (Video)

I've learned to have everything ready for show, but hand over nothing more than what is asked for. I was stopped at a FL scale house and asked to come in and show my license and registration. I had my insurance, med card BOL, and logs ready to go, but I wasn't about to produce them if they didn't ask.

They took a quick peek at the reg and let me go. Whatever!

[wallytrucker1]

As a retired cop an old saying comes to mind," when you wrestle with a pig in the mud, after a while you realize the pig is having a goodtime" . You give a cop a hard time or delay him, he will normally find something to reward your efforts. I try to cooperate and show a professioal attitude. If a cop is an "adam henry" he will still be one when you leave, just try to keep the time you spend with him minimum. BTW, if you invite one into your trk., make sure you are very clean. If they have a legal right to be there,whatever they see could be used against you. I hear a lot of CB conversation about giving the ofcr. permission to enter your trk and he finding a Burger King receipt in a trash can and a date doesn't match your loco book and now you have a problem. nuff said..

[nobb4u]

A good reason to keep your mouth shut.

When I started driving over 25 years ago I was told that in order to drive in the US you need to know at least 175,000 different laws. So in 25 years I am sure that the number has risen accordingly.

One might want to keep a lawyer on board to take care of business with law enforcement.

I also feel it is an exercise in futility to argue with a police officer beside the road. That is what courts are for.

[pelicn]

My father, father-in-law, brother-in law, and now my son were/are police officers. As I listened to the officer on the video, I heard ALL of their voices. LOL
I am one that would be cooperative and probably hang myself.