dan does something stupid but survives

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

We all chuckled quite a bit when Wildest Bill explained how he was pulled over by nine cops. Or was it seven? Or six? Who knows? And we marvelled at how dopey Bill was, didn’t we?

[hangs head]

So this morning, I’m driving to the Metro station in College Park, Maryland. There’s a good stretch of highway from here to there - it’s three lanes each way, and traffic moves pretty quickly, especially at 6:45 a.m. So there I am, zipping along, free as a bird, wheeeeeeeeeee look at me go! I can’t wait to get to work!

And then I notice there’s a car directly behind me. My rear defroster’s still working on completely clearing the window, but I can tell there’s a car. And sometimes, of course, when you’re moving along in the left lane (as I was) and see a car right up against you, it’s because they either want to pass you or want you to go faster. So I’m thinking, “Hm, what’s his beef? I’m moving fast enough as it is.” And I don’t look at the speedometer; I’m not zooming past all the traffic. I’m more or less keeping up with the flow.

Except, of course, for this one car. And I can’t easily get over into the right lane. What could he want?

So I look in my driver’s-side mirror.

Oh.

There’s bubble lights on his roof. Whoops!

So I scoot on over to the right lane. And as SOON as I do that, his lights go on. No siren, thank goodness.

I say to myself, but out loud: “He’s got me!” And I pull over.

And MAN can those guys move quickly! He’s out of his car faster than a Mod closing down a drug thread! :wink: I’m ready, of course. I’ve been down this avenue before. I have the car off, the window down, and both hands very, very visible. (I’m from New Jersey, you see…)

And he says he had been following me for about 1.5 miles. And that I was doing about 70. In a 40. Whoops! He asks for my registration and license. He asks me where I live, whose car it is (it’s leased), etc.

Now, as I said, I’m from NJ. They hand out tickets like candy in some spots up there. Not a state to speed in, from my experience. So I’m expecting the worst. And this guy tells me the fine would be about $250. And I figure I’m dead meat.

And he hands me back my stuff and tells me to slow down. Then walks back to his car.

I don’t know what to think. I expect him to come out with cuffs or something. But no, he just drove off. Quickly, I might add.

So I have survived! Whew!

For I have tempted Fate again and live on… hehe

2

No crying?
No tit flashing?
What’s with our police now-a-days?

3

You ain’t shittin’, dan. Do not speed in New Jersey! Especially going into or out of PA.

You’re lucky. I had the same thing happen to me about a month ago. It seems these cops, especially in unmarked cars, like to get right on your bumper if you’re in the left lane, and try to intimidate you into speeding. I had one do it to me in a 70 zone…I got up to 78 to pass a car next to me, then moved right 2 lanes. The (unknown to me) cop stays right on my ass! I’m now doing the speed limit, but I made sure I properly signaled each lane change, and drove safely. He stayed with me for several miles, right on my bumper, then hit his blue light. Shit!

Just like you, I was ready for a ticket. He gets out and says, “I thought you saw me back there.” (I’m thinking, uh, yeah, I did, and I thought you were just another asshole on the road) He gives me a warning to “please be careful, and slow down”, then takes off. Whew!

4

This is where the military ID comes in handy. I always leave it on top of my wallet in the little ID window so I have to flash it and dig around behind it to get my license out.

A state trooper will pull me over and the conversation goes something like this:

“You’re in the military?”

“Yes sir, I am.”

“What branch?”

“Air Force.”

“How 'bout that! So was I!” -or- “I was in the Army/Marines/Navy myself.” -or- “My son is in the military.”

Then he hands me back my stuff, tells me to slow it down a bit and have a nice day, and that’s the end of that. :slight_smile:

This has happened three times now, and in one of the instances I was hitting about 92 in a 65 on my way home for Christmas. One of the perks of being military I guess… I wonder when my luck is going to run out…

5

[sup]Had to click on this thread because my name is Dan also![/sup]

You got lucky, dude! I was in a pack of three cars going north on I-5 in Washington a few years ago… all of us were going about 85 MPH, and 2 cop cars came out of nowhere and pulled all three of us over! I couldn’t help but be impressed at the choreography. And yes, I got a ticket!:frowning:

6

Glad to see petty corruption is still alive and well. Next time we’re invaded, would it help if I slipped you $10 for some covering fire?

7

No blood? No gaping injuries? No ambulances, hospital visits, stitches, blood transfusions? Not even a slight risk of paper cut?

[sub]Something stupid indeed…[/sub]

8

The first time I got pulled over I did something stupid, and survived.

I was only doing about 30, but it was in a school zone. A detective had just dropped his kid off at school, and pulled up behind me in his plainclothes car with just lights flashing behind the grill.

I jumped out of my pickup (with gun rack) and walked quickly back to the cruiser to see what was the matter.

He jumped out of the car, raincoat flying, and drew down on me like Doc Holliday. I don’t know who was more scared, me or him. Once we both regained control, he warned me never to do that again – and we both drove off.

Unforgettable. The muzzle of his gun looked HUGE!

9

Dude!!!
I had a similar thing happen to me when i was in college in Colorado. If any of you live there you know that stretch of nothingness to the north of DIA that has like a 12 mph spped limit or something ridiculous like that. Well, on night at around midnight I was coming home from picking up a friend at the airport doing about 40 (i think the actual limit is 35 or som( and this guy with his brights on starts tailgating me really bad. I’m thinkin’ ok its a two lane road and he doesn’t feel like passing me so I’ll speed up for him, maybe he’s in a hurry. This game continues for about 5 minutes and he chases me up to about 60 and then… on go the red and blues.
Gave me a big ol’ ticket, which, not really ever having time to get back down to whatever county that was, I never paid, out of laziness and under the guise of civil disobendience.
Still irks me to think about it.
CJ

10

I’m a Western Illinois University Alumnus. Western’s a big Law Enforcement Administration school and a large majority of cops here in Chicago, especially State Troopers are all fellow alumni. I make sure to have plenty of WIU stickers in the car windows along with the licence plate frames. Last time I was caught speeding was doing 85 in a 55 zone when I saw a trooper pull up next to me. He slowed down so we were zooming parallel and got my attention. He smiled, tipped his hat, waved and sped off!

Whew.

11

You may want to drive very carefully if you ever go back through CO. If you haven’t paid that ticket, and never went to court to fight it, they issued a bench warrant for your arrest and tacked on some court fees every time it came up.

They generally do not go out of their way to serve a bench warrant, but if they ever pull you over and run your name through the computer, they’ll arrest you. You’ll also be responsible for the original ticket, plus any additional fees they’ve figured out how to tack on in the mean while.

I learned about this the hard way, of course I’m originally from NJ and several others have already attested to the callousness there.

I was once pulled over for doing 47 in a 45 by a NJ State Trooper. Justice I guess for all the stupid things I got away with doing.

12

Actually, I was pulled over by a county sherrif and as such its just that county in which i must be careful. I know this cuz I lived in CO for another couple of years and was pulled over a couple of other times subsequently, in other counties, and never arrested. (not for that warrant anyway, see last month’s jail thread for more on that).
CJ