When do you call in a bad driver?

When I'm working the course if someone knocks over a cone or two, I don't think that is bad enough to call in.  But if they miss a gate or take out a cone wall, I will definitely call that  in.

One thought came to mind after all of this

Does talking on the phone while driving make you the bad driver ?

When riding a motorcycle, I notice about 1 person a day trying to kill me. I have had to stop dead in the middle of the same roundabout twice because a teenager could put their phone down enough to see a NEON PURPLE GSXR WITH HIGHBEAMS ON.

With our town, cops are looking for murderers and rapists so I just don't bother calling anymore.

I've called in a few. One of them was a driver that I was following through South Carolina. He ran off the road onto the shoulder from the left lane a couple of times at least. 

The 911 operator had me continue to follow him at a distance until they got him pulled over. They then had me stop about a half-mile back, until they figured out what they were dealing with. I was told that the driver wasn't intoxicated, he was falling asleep and they let him go. 

My overall impression was that the 911 operator and the highway patrol really had their act together.

In contrast, I had this experience in Putnam County, Florida. 

As I drove North out of Flagler County, I watched a driver in front of me run off the road onto the shoulder on both sides repeatedly. At one point, he was driving parallel to the road on the left shoulder for at least a hundred yards.

Fortunately, there was no oncoming traffic while he was in or crossing the oncoming lane. I was on the phone with the 911 operator when we reached town and he stopped at a convenience store for more beer.

When he came out of the store he was so drunk that when he put his hand out to open the car door, his weight shifted backwards and he couldn't reach the door handle. It took multiple tries for him to get into the car. 

As I'm sitting in my car, narrating all of this to the 911 operator, I watched a sheriff's car drive past.

I followed him out of the parking lot, but at that point we're getting into a traffic area, and I didn't really want to be right behind him so I dropped about a quarter mile back.

About three miles up the road, I spotted two sheriff's cars sitting in a parking lot with the two deputies chatting as the drunk drove past. They weren't even watching the road.

I pulled in, and shouted at them, "Are you looking for the white (insert make and model here)?"

When they replied that they were, I pointed up the road and said, "Well, there he goes!"

They pulled out, but after all that, I'm still not confident that they actually stopped him.

Here in the Upstate of South Carolina, we call them the norm.

Today I watched a "lady" pass the car in front of her by moving to the left and passing in the median of a 6 lane road. All while eating a burger.

Interesting fact, jackasses can drive, I see it every day.

iceracer said:

One thought came to mind after all of this

Does talking on the phone while driving make you the bad driver ?

In my DE instructor opinion it makes you additionally risky to others on the road. Get the plate, make, and model and pull over and make the call.

In my experience, it is a waste of time

I have called in two. One was a drunk on the Walt Whitman bridge going into Philly. His foot had two positions, flat on the floor on either the gas or the brake. He came up behind me at way over 100 mph and at the last second smoked the tyres in a panic brake before flying around me roasting them under acceleration. The cops got him soon after the toll.

The second was a lady going too fast and weaving in and out of her lane on the Atlantic City Expressway. She took the mirror off of my Hyundai (without touching anything else) and I gave up the chase at 100 mph. Cops were waiting for her at the rest stop.

Called in a woman WALKING down the middle of a busy 4 lane road. County Mountie showed up quickly.

Day before yesterday I called about some guy running out into traffic yelling at cars to slow down.  Did not wait to see if they responded

I call in bad drivers all the time - it gets the police away from their halfway-down-a-ditch speedtraps.