Got pulled over today...by the Forestry Service!?!

[täun]

So I was riding up from Wentworth Springs to Ice House Road, when I came across a caravan of cars and trucks. As many of my fellow Sacramento riders know, these lanes are mostly solid double lines where you're not supposed to pass. Of course, many of us do so anyways because hey, it sucks to stay behind a slow cager. Anyhow, I came to a section where the road was straight, the visibility was great, and there were no oncoming cars. I proceeded to pass when suddenly, I hear the sound of sirens blaring and lights flashing. I look back and the woman in the forestry service truck is waving me to the side of the road. Momentarily dumbfounded, I proceeded to a point where it was safe to park, when she stepped out and asked for my license and began taking down my info (i.e. make, model, plate, etcs...) She eventually let me off with a warning, citing that it was a $250 fine normally. Moral of the story? I guess just watch it out there, as many of us tend to pass cars/trucks when there are double solids.

As an afterthought, can the Forestry Service even do what she did? Issue tickets and pull people over?

[erkishhorde]

I'm no expert but I don't think she can write you a ticket for traffic violations. I think she can pull you over but she can only give you tickets for forestry related things like littering. I could be wrong though.

[HermanTheTemp]

was/ is the road on forest land? was it even an LEO (law enforcement officer?) FS LEO's have full authority within their jurisdiction, and next to none outside of it.

watch out for NPS rangers though (National Park Service) they have super authority of some kind. they can make life hard

[Grio]

Yes,
In National Forest lands the rangers can pull you over and issue tickets. The area you were in has been a target area this year. You got lucky. This particular individual has given others in our group tickets for crossing the double yellow.

Chill out on that stretch till you think you can out run her. [thumbsup] [cheeky]

[täun]

Yeah, I got lucky. The strange thing being, she didn't look like a law enforcement officer. It didn't appear that she had a book to make citations as she wrote most of my info down on a notepad. She was also in one of those fire trucks and dressed like she was going out to the fires we've been having around here lately. Anyhow, lesson learned [cheeky]