It's ok to flip off Cops now!!

Arresting someone for flipping a bird sounds like an abuse of power to me. Cops are there to protect the public, not to look for any reason to arrest people.

BTW, I think I can beat this. This summer, at UF, a football player was arrested for saying "woof woof" as he walked by a parked K9 cop car, and the dog inside barked at him. The cop claims he was interfering with a police dog. The charges were dropped and the DA wrote at somewhat aggressive letter criticizing the cops.

I have a buddy who was walking home because he was a bit inebriated. He found a cop asleep in his cruiser and thought it would be a good idea to wake him. He was held overnight.

They are just cops. Be civil, respectful and polite; they are always better friends than enemies.

Agreed. Taunting a policeman is a stupid act. If they have nothing better to do, they can make your life hell for an interminable period. If and when you NEED help, you'll be happy when they show up. Be respectful and stay out of their way; it's a really crummy job, and they never know when some idiot has a grudge and a gun.

Most cops wouldn't arrest you for that.

They'd just give you tickets for going 2 mph over the limit, crossing the yellow line, having a dead license plate light, having obstructed vision (due to the coffee cup in a holder atop the dash), and whatever else they could think of.

No it is not OK. But it is not against the law. Neither is cussing them or calling them bad names.

However if there is a civilian present who objects to your language or gestures, you can be arrested for disorderly conduct/disturbing the peace, whatever the local charge is named.

Learned that about 35 years ago while in a local police academy.B-)

I don't recommend doing it. Are you going to pull out your copy of the published Opinion when the officer is at your window on the side of the road?

I don't even flip off adult drivers who flip me off, I consider it a very juvenile gesture. One time I saw two drivers side by side alternately flipping each other off for several hundred feet like a couple of 12 year olds. They looked to be middle aged men acting like immature idiots. Some people go nuts if another driver makes a mistake.

I drive a big work truck with a huge blind spot on the right (steel shell). I have a blind spot mirror which helps but for some reason other drivers insist on being in my blind spot. They honk if I change in front of me and I yell "OH RELAX!" although they can't hear me. The other thing I have noticed is as soon as I activate my right hand signal they will move up into my blind spot and honk when I change in front of them, knuckleheads. People are competitive a lot more than courteous. I have to check mirror, see gap and activate signal simultaneously with beginning to change, can't hesitate.

blind spots

If you turn your right side-mirror out until you catch all the traffic that is past what you can see in your center-rear-view you can catch a lot more of your blind spot if not all. You turn it out so that you don't see down the side of your truck. It's discombobulating to drive that way at first, but you can use your center-rear-view to see cars farther back and if you get it adjusted just right as they disappear off the right side of your center-rear-view mirror, they start to appear in your right-rear-view mirror. You can do the same thing with your left mirror.

instructions from "Car Talk" website

Sorry for the "hijack" (which I wouldn't say on an airplane, any more than I would flip-off a cop) 😉

blind spots

If you turn your right side-mirror out until you catch all the traffic that is past what you can see in your center-rear-view you can catch a lot more of your blind spot if not all.

If you leave your mirrors adjusted to where you can see the side of your vehicle, but lean forward a couple of inches while looking in your mirror, you can see the blind spot the same as if you turned your mirrors out. The difference is that if you turn out your mirrors to see the blind spot, you can't lean back far enough to see the sides of your vehicle when you need to.

blind spots

> If you leave your mirrors adjusted to where you can see the side of your vehicle, but lean forward a couple of inches while looking in your mirror, you can see the blind spot the same as if you turned your mirrors out. The difference is that if you turn out your mirrors to see the blind spot, you can't lean back far enough to see the sides of your vehicle when you need to.

True. (but) If you adjust the mirrors out, you have to move a couple of inches to the right to see the right side of your car, and to your left to see the left side. I don't think it's necessary to see the side as often.

Turning the mirrors out might help Mr. Karoly, and I find it beneficial as well (although it still feels funny not seeing the side of the car at a glance.)