I think I almost got arrested...

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I was driving home from the university today when I noticed the dreaded flashing lights behind me. I was in the left lane of a 5 lane street. That left lane eventually turns into the university, so I continued along hoping the officer would see that I was trying to pull out of traffic and onto the university street. When I came to the stoplight, he ran up to my door, pounded on it, and yelled for me to stop. He looked like he was about to blow.

He told me that I need to immediately pull over when an officer flags me down. I told him that I didn’t think it was safe to pull all the way over to the right, so I wanted to pull in. He would have none of it. He looked ready to pull me out of the car and arrest me right there, but he eventually only asked for my license and insurance. The original reason for the stop was unfounded. The claim was that my seat belt was unbuckled, but it was most certainly not. I think the real reason he stopped me was that he saw me talking on my cell phone, and that just got his goat.

After what seemed like forever, he came back, much calmer, and told me that I need to immediately pull over from now on. The original reason for the stop, an unbuckled seat belt, was bogus, but I didn’t dare tell him that. Luckily, I have never had any brushes with the law, so he let me go with a warning!

I’m already dealing with anxiety and depression that seems somewhat resistant to my current levels of medication. I’m still shaking as I’m writing this. I feel panicky and scared. I barely was able to keep it together to drive home.

Heh. Ironically, the cop probably made it much more dangerous for everyone else on the road by stopping me the way he did.

ETA: For those who want to disembowel me for even thinking about talking on a cell phone when driving, please, don’t berate me. I will never do it again. It’s not illegal in West Texas, yet, but maybe it should be. I’m so sorry for being a careless douche. I learned my lesson. I will no longer answer my phone in the car for any reason. I’m sorry.:frowning:

2

I saw a cop do the same thing in heavy traffic the other day. The guy in the truck finally pulled into a jewelry store because there was no shoulder. He didn’t have a rag tied to some 2x4’s hanging out of his truck was all I could think he did wrong? It could have caused an accident.

Try and not worry about it. He was probably having a bad day.

3

I remember a self-defense instructor who came to my high school citing Ted Bundy and telling kids (okay, the girls) not to stop for a cop in a dark area, but to wait and pull into a well-lit area like a gas station. He refused to believe that any decent cop would have a problem with it. Right.

4

Emotional response: “Your instructor was correct. Any **decent **cop would have some sense.”

Rational response: “Maybe he thought I was trying to evade him? Maybe he thought I had a weapon?”

5

A cop once caught me putting on my seat belt on the freeway. I got the flashing lights and pulled over to the right. However, I pulled to the little ‘V’ spot where an offramp seperates from the main highway. I guess he didn’t want to walk out into what is essentially traffic, so he told me to get off the freeway and pull into a parking lot.

Did you slow down and flash your hazard lights or put your turn signal on? I think that if a cop sees you slow down and is looking for a place to pull over, he may be a little nicer about it. That’s what I do in the 3 times I’ve been pulled over because I don’t always have room to just stop and go right.

6

Maybe talking on your cell traveling in the far left lane set him off, especially if you weren’t paying attention and driving poorly as a result. I find that most of the clueless drivers these days are on cell phones, and it can be very frustrating. That said, if you weren’t breaking any laws–and obviously you weren’t–there’s no excuse for the cop pulling you over in the first place.

As for your failure to pull over in a timely manner, just know for future reference that cops don’t care at all about traffic flow or oublic safety. When the lights go on, you stop the car. If you can’t get over to the right and there’s no shoulder, just slow down and stop right there in the left lane. The cop might then direct you to drive to a safer place, but it’s not your call to make.

Here again, though, your minor failing should not have provoked such an extreme and unprofessional reaction. I’ve been pulled over lots of times, including a lot of bogus stops where the cop was being an asshole, but I’ve never seen one go off like that for really no good reason. I don’t blame you for being shaken up.

7

I was actually off the cell phone by the time I had pulled into traffic. Sorry, I think I left out some details. I was pulling out of the campus parking garage and onto a little access street that leads to a major street (19th Street). Before I got onto the major street, I was off the phone.

The cop and I exchanged glances as he was driving into the garage and I was driving out. I saw him glaring at me while I was on the phone. I got scared and put the phone down. Then I pulled onto the little access street, drove up to the intersection of that street and 19th, and got off the phone. I made a left turn onto 19th, and shortly thereafter the flashing lights went on.

Don’t know why I feel compelled to do this, but here is a map of where it all went down. I turned out of the Parking Garage (middle of the map) and was yelled at by Boston Avenue.

8

I was pulled over and given a speeding ticket before I even had a license.

I was flying down an empty highway doing 81mph (the speed limit was 70) through Baton Rouge Louisiana. I had driven a car for the very first time the day before. A cop was hiding behind a bridge and peeled out after me and put up his lights. Didn’t tell me what I was pulled over for, didn’t ask for proof of insurance, nothing. Just took my permit, gave me a ticket (200 dollars) and I was on my way.

The point is, even after that really tame incident, I too was shaking. Pulled over a few miles down the highway and let my girlfriend drive. I feel your pain.

9

Sounds like a crappy time. I hope you are starting to feel better. I know depression and anxiety can take an incident like this and magnify it out of proportion. Just try to get some rest, take care of yourself and think of it as a lesson learned.

10

I got a similar thing a few years ago. Unbeknownst to me, my license plate light was out.

I was driving through a not great part of town when the cop lit me up. I drove on another half block or so, he was actually on the PA system at that point, and pulled into the first parking lot, dropped the window, killed the engine, etc.

He came storming up and said, “Why didn’t you immediately pull over when I activated my lights?!”

I responded with, “Because in his guest column in the paper last week Chief Brown (chief of the same department this guy worked for) said to never just pull over on the street as it puts both the officer and yourself at risk in a collision. I pulled into the first safe spot, officer. Can you tell me what the problem is?”

He was pissed, but he gave me a warning and headed on his way.

11

Ha! I wish I could have had a cool head like that. I tried to stammer out something to that effect, but he said if that if people don’t immediately pull over, cops begin to think the driver has something to hide.

I guess I looked real menacing.

12

In my experience (I’ve been pulled over many times), if you stop somewhere unsafe, they will tell you on their bullhorn (or whatever it’s called) to drive forward to the next street so that you’re out of the flow of traffic. But they do want you to pull over right away. Who knows? They could be chasing someone else - you hope! - and go right past you.

Also, I always thought that the police expect you to pull over specifically to the right-hand side of the road.

for example

13

I was told in defensive driving that as long as you acknowledge the cop (generally with a wave, hazard lights, whatever he can see) you have every right to find a safe place to pull over; it’s for the officer’s safety and your own.

A friend of mine once outraged a cop by leading him so far down the road that he was basically out of his “area” by the time she stopped; the city had been having issues with guys putting police-type lights on their cars and pulling women over and attacking them.

It was the middle of the night so she drove til she found a well-lit 24 hour service station.

When she explained to the cop why she took so long to pull over and stop, his outrage plummeted; he told her he has a daughter and would want her to do the same. She was doing fairly serious speeding and he let her off with a warning.

The cop in the OP was a jerk; you do NOT have to pull over “immediately” when a cop lights up behind you.

14

QTF. I was pulled over once (expired tags), and stopped promptly - as it turns out, in a not-so-safe spot. The cop got on his PA system and asked me to find a better spot to pull over. However, I have on other occasions tried to find safe places to stop, and not gotten any flak from the cop.

To the OP, sorry you encountered a dick-in-uniform. They’re generally good people, but they’re trained to be the one in charge of a situation, and some of them get really bent out of shape if they feel you’re not bowing to their authority - even if it’s just you trying to be safe.

FWIW I’ve repeatedly seen advice to people concerned about their safety to not stop until they reach a well-lit public location, like a gas station or something. As has been noted by others here, if you’re going to delay stopping for any reason, it’s best to at least get out of the main flow of traffic (in case the cop is simply trying to get past you), and also to acknowledge the cop. In your case, I think this didn’t happen; you stayed in the left lane and “continued along hoping the officer would see” that you were looking for safe haven. Unfortunately, hope doesn’t communicate much; from behind it probably looked like you were just driving along as if he wasn’t there. Hope ain’t enough: when the lights come on, you need to give the cop something to get him to believe you are complying, even if you aren’t immediately stopping. In your case, pulling into the right-most lanes would work nicely, even if you take a couple of blocks to do it. Once you’re off to the right and the cop now knows you are working to comply, either come to a stop or - if it’s a high-speed road with no shoulder - look for a place to turn off like a parking lot or side road.

Having watched more episodes of “Cops” than I probably should, I can tell you that they do get suspicious when someone takes a long time to pull over (by “long time” I mean driving past numerous opportunities for a safe stop), because it usually means they’re trying to hide some contraband before stopping; however, when this is the case, the driver or passengers can usually be seen reaching all over the place. You just got a grumpy cop.

Here’s some free advice on how to conduct yourself so as to make the best of a roadside traffic stop. The author is a friend of mine and a former border patrol agent, so he knows a thing or two about law enforcement and the perspective of arresting officers. FWIW during my last two traffic stops I followed all those rules (e.g. being very courteous/deferential, and requesting permission before reaching anywhere), and both times I only ended up with verbal warnings. They probably wouldn’t have made much difference in your case, since he was angry before you even rolled down your window, but it can’t hurt.

15

I had the same thing happen to me a few days after I got my license at 16. I was on a bridge in a construction zone when I got the flashing lights. I put on my right turn signal to indicate I’d pull over, but there literally was no place to pull over – cones on both sides. If I stopped, I would have stopped heavy, congested, barely moving traffic. So, I went with traffic (about 5mph) for about 100 yards then took the immediate first pulloff. This took maybe 3 or so minutes.

The cop came over to me screaming in rage that he was going to arrest me for starting a chase. Being 16 and intimidated by a large, angry cop screaming in my face, I started to cry. I tried to explain and he said “WHAT DO RED LIGHTS MEAN? WHAT DO RED LIGHTS MEAN?” (meaning the red lights on his cruiser). I said “stop… but I did stop as soon as I could.” He literally screamed that HE would decide when the best place to stop was, and it was when he turned the lights on.

He went back to his car when I started crying really hard, and came back. He told me he pulled me over because I “didn’t make eye contact” when passing him coming from the other direction and that is a “bad sign”. Also I was apparently going 27 in a 25, but it wasn’t marked and appeared to be a 35. (Note, I was a cautious new driver, and going about 5-10mph less than everyone else.)

Anyway, he let me go with a verbal warning. No writeup or anything. He was still a douchebag and I avoided his small town from then on (and its associated businesses which I liked - they can thank their aggressive macho cops who scream at young girls).

16

I’ve been in similar situations before. If there doesn’t appear to be a place to pull over I put my turn signal on to acknowledge the request. I’ve always pulled over to a place of safety for the officer if possible and usually they appreciate it but not always.

I once pulled over to a center lane (neutral turn lane) and angled my car slightly to the left so that the officer was protected from traffic. Got a lecture on why I should have pulled over to the right on a road with no shoulder. Fine. Get your sorry stupid ass run over by 2 lanes of heavy traffic.

On a related note. We had an officer and fire fighter killed on a highway after responding to an accident where someone slid off the road due to ice. Logic would dictate that they place their emergency vehicle(s) between themselves and traffic but they didn’t do it. The next person who hit the same patch of ice slid off the road in the same spot and killed them. The solution: enact a law requiring people to give way to emergency vehicles.:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: like the patch of ice cared. It was a Darwin Award moment.

17

Also, I had just finished driver’s ed about two weeks before this happened. There aren’t any traffic rules or suggestions about ‘acknowledging the cop’ in addition to signaling, and we were told to pull over in a safe location. If there should be some special protocol taken in these cases, then the police departments need to work with the DOT to get them placed in the curriculum. It’s not reasonable to expect that I’d know some hidden protocol that means “yes, I’m pulling over” when apparently going 5mph and using your turn signal doesn’t count.

18

Think about it this way. You dont know what the officer has experienced in the past while doing his job. They encounter the worst in people and are the first person your gonna call if something bad is happening (this comment is for you answer #6) because their job is public safety. I understand there are some assholes, but they are human and at times make poor decisions like anyone else. That being said, I know I have made an ass out of myself when angry, especially at work…:smack:

19

I was once pulled over for not having a front license plate. After the officer told me this, without a word I reached down under my seat to pull out the plate to show it to him.

He did not like that one bit.

20

I got a lecture about that as well. “Did you learn in driver’s ed that you pull over to the right IMMEDIATELY?” Um, no, I didn’t. I didn’t take driver’s ed in Texas, but in NM, back in 1997. Maybe Texas is a whole lot better at it.