For example, what does the law say about starting and finishing turns? How many people do you regularly see (including law enforcement) who make left turns into the left-most lane and right turns into the right-most lane. Nobody seems to know about the rule, and that includes the police.

I'd say the place to start is making the police follow their own rules, then start rigorously applying them to others. Only after that, should new rules be applied.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Roger Martin

I'm all for rigorous new rules, but Martin has a good point. The state of police driving in Maryland is fairly abysmal, and a good place to start with any crackdown on highway offenses is with a rigorous review of the driving practices within the state's police departments.

Like it or not, citizens look to the police to be examples as drivers. Certainly, the apologists for bad driving -- and there are many -- are quick to point to the conduct of officers as an excuse for their own behavior.

All too often they have a point about how police drive, though I don't buy the argument that it justifies their own bad driving.  If you're a regular speeder, you're a bad driver. Not super-skilled. Not a free spirit. Just a menace.

But that's true whether a driver carries a badge or not, and there is a sub-group of officers who appear to believe their profession gives them a pass from the laws of physics as well as the law of the state of Maryland. And it's an open secret that many  bad drivers with badges are protected by a code of "professional courtesy" under which officers let other officers off the hook for even serious traffic offenses.

That really has to stop. It undermines respect for traffic law and compromises highway safety.

It's really up to the police chiefs to turn it around. It won't be easy. A culture has developed over decades under which some law enforcement officers believe the laws don't apply  to them. And it's been known to carry over into how seriously they take their traffic enforcement responsibilities. My guess is that part of it  has  to do with a police recruiting pool that draws heavily on the same population of young men -- and to a lesser extent women -- who are fascinated with fast cars.

But the chiefs really do need to change that culture. It might just make sense for departments -- or parts of departments -- to stand down for a time to address the full spectrum of issues involved in enforcing traffic laws. That would include:

1. A zero-tolerance policy for any extension of "professional courtesy" toward law enforcement officers or other favored groups.

2. Perceptions that traffic enforcement is a low-prestige assignment that impedes career progress. Would it be presumptuous to suggest that all officer should pull at least  an occasional traffic enforcement shift and that command of a traffic patrol would be one of the expected career steps for any officer who aspires to top command. For citizens, it is a priority right up there with violent crime. Most of us face a greater risk to life and health from bad driving than from handguns.

3. A reinforcement of the message that it is every officer's job to be a model for other drivers both on-duty and off-duty. Officers should be proud of enforcing traffic laws well and should be professionally recognized for doing so.

4. A determined effort to overcome any "front-seat" bias under which officers see issues from the point of drivers at the expense of bicyclists and pedestrians.

5. Clean and consistent standards on when a warning is appropriate and when a citation is called for. Leaving it solely to the officer's discretion is an invitation for bias to seep in.

6. A clear and consistent message that even in an emergency, an officer must take care to protect his or her own life and that of people along the route -- even if that means taking a few extra seconds to get there. Also part of that is to ensure that emergencies that have been defused are called off just as quickly as they are called.

7. Transparent, unsparing and timely investigations of police-involved crashes.

8. Improved training for police in acting as witnesses in traffic cases.

Those are just some  of the ideas I'd throw on the  table. I'd be interested in hearing from the public -- especially police officers -- to see what you think.