VIDEO: Encounter on a traffic stop involving an Illinois State Police trooper who was accused of using a cell phone and speeding.
A YouTube publisher posted a video of trucker (apparently himself) on a traffic stop at an unknown location and an unknown date. The truck driver claims he honked his horn at the trooper after he witnessed him driving in excess of the speed limit on wet roads while using a cell phone.
Initially the trooper said he was going to cite the truck driver for unnecessary use of his horn. The trucker driver calls the trooper out that might believe in law enforcement position, he his above the law. The speed limit at the location was reported to be 70 mph, and the trooper implies that he was going 70 mph. The trucker says he had the cruise control at 65 mph. The truck driver also reports that his dash cam would show that the trooper “blew by him” at a high rate of speed, allegedly well over 70 mph.
Check the rest of the discussion. Is the trooper reasonable? Is the trucker courageous making a valid point and calling out corruption, or is he being a jerk? The trucker ends the video in his own words, “And that’s what happens when they know you’re recording.”
FLASHBACK …
On November 23, 2007, Jessica and Kelli Uhl (age 18 and 13 respectively) were traveling home for a family photo shoot with their mom after visiting with their Dad and stepmother. While traveling on Highway 64 in heavy traffic the day after Thanksgiving, the girls were struck head-on by an Illinois State Police patrol vehicle that was traveling at an estimated speed of 126 miles per hour. Illinois State Police trooper Matt Mitchell was accused of using his onboard computer and talking to his girlfriend on his cell phone while driving at high speed when he crossed the median and crash into the girls’ car.
Jessica and Kelli were killed in the crash, and another vehicle carrying a pregnant woman and her husband was also injured in a secondary crash.
VIDEO: Illinois State Trooper Responds to Trucker Honking Horn at Trooper
http://t.co/8CYI3JJjWH pic.twitter.com/K4JN2A7NYR
— Cardinal News (@EarlyReport) June 29, 2014
The girls’ mother Kim Schlau Mitchell in her role as an activist for safe police driving reports that Mitchell had been in seven car crashes before the severe crash that killed her daughters. Two of of the crashes occurred while Mitchell was on duty as a trooper; one of the crashes resulted in a $1.7 million judgment against the State of Illinois. Kim Schlau also shares that her daughters were “injured so brutally that they were unrecognizable.”
See also …
The Jessica & Kelli Uhl Memorial Foundation
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Can’t speak for the speeding, but as for the cell phone use, police officers and certain emergency personnel are in fact exempt from the law when they are on duty. Trucker was wrong. Check the facts.
Police might be exempt from the law in many areas, but some police departments have policies or general orders that prohibit cell phone use while driving.