Cameras catch a lot on American roads, including bouts of dangerous, even embarrassing road rage. One such helmet camera captured an interaction between a police officer in an unmarked car and a motorcycle rider. The officer claims the rider’s actions were road rage, but the video shows a different story. 

Road rage isn’t just for commuters– it turns out that cops in unmarked police cars can flip out with the best of them

A popular social media video shows a motorcyclist pulling up behind a Ford SUV at an intersection. The driver in the SUV is on their phone. The motorcyclist loses his patience with the driver, and honks his horn at the SUV. A moment later, a police officer emerged from the SUV. It was an unmarked police car.

The motorcyclist then told the police officer that he honked because he saw a person in a SUV sitting at an intersection on their phone. “Sometimes I’m required to be on that phone. I was on that phone because I was making a police-related phone call,” the police officer responded. 

“Beeping a horn at a vehicle is called road rage!” the officer shouted at the rider. “I could give you a ticket for that!” Admittedly, the motorcyclist’s responses were snarky at best. “Fine, I’ll cede to your power,” he responded sarcastically. “I apologize.” As you might expect, the officer in the unmarked police SUV was less than enthused. “I’m going to write you a ticket!” He yelled at the rider. “We’re going to subpoena your camera.”

The internet response was, well, less than supportive of the officer in the unmarked police car. “Complete clown response from the cop,” one Instagram-goer posted. Interestingly enough, another social media user posted, “As a former police officer, this officer is wrong.”

The motorcycle rider is far from the only person to get into trouble for his horn

Your vehicle’s horn is there as an emergency implement. As it suggests, it’s there to grab attention at a moment where not gaining someone’s attention could result in a potentially dangerous collision. However, drivers can get into trouble for tapping that little horn button in the center of their steering wheels.

For instance, excessively honking in a road rage context might land you a ticket for the noisy display beyond the hostile driving. On the other hand, excessive honking in a celebratory manner may also land you in hot water with the police. In 2023, a California woman took a challenge to the state’s honking laws all the way to the Supreme Court after she received a ticket from a police officer for her “supportive” honking.

Check out the video of the road-raging police officer in the unmarked police car below!