I just thought of this: If he really thought I was dangerous, why would he have run up to my car and started pounding on the window? Wouldn’t that put him at risk for getting shot?
What an asshole.
The cop, not you.
Why were you scared? You were doing nothing illegal. I am in PA, where phone use is currently still legal. If I see a cop while I’m on the phone it would not bother me at all.
Almost the same thing happened to me as well, a few years ago. Only thing is, I wasn’t sure whether I should pull over immediately or try to find someplace out of traffic, and I just couldn’t make that decision.
You can see where this is going, right? I’d stop, inch forward a dozen or so yards, stop again, forward another dozen yards, and so on.
I finally stop for real, the cop comes over: “Sir, when the lights go on, it means stop, not that stop-and-go-and-stop-and-go!”
Fortunately, I was quite clearly terrified - I think that helped convince the cop that I really was just an idiot, not just playing games with him.
It happens, man. 
Because glaring cops are scary? My depression meds are even working, I’m much less of a speeder or scofflaw than the average around here (we get lots of Masshole* tourists on our roads), and simply having a cop driving immediately behind me makes me feel a little shaky.
- Masshole: Asshole aggressive, speeding, non-signaling driver with Massachusetts plates. Not all Mass drivers are Massholes (thank goodness).
Once again…human error/bad decision…ever done that yourself? I have.
Well, because cops have certain powers that the rest of us don’t have. Like the power to fine or arrest someone. In my case, the stop was ostensibly for my not wearing a seat belt. I’m never sure of anything these days, but I would bet the life of every person I know that it was on at the time the cop says that he saw me with it off. I think he:
1). Saw the cell phone
2). Got angry because of his pet dislike of cellphone use while driving.
3). Decided to make up an excuse to stop me, without the intention of actually fining me.
I realize that it’s pretty bold of me to accuse a cop of lying. But it wouldn’t be the first time one has lied. And besides, if I said my belt was on, and he says it was off, how in the world am I supposed to argue against that?
Sure. I once took off some points on a student’s paper because I didn’t see something specific that I was looking for that turned out to be there after all. It happens. The student pointed this out to me, and I corrected the error.
I don’t have arrest powers or carry a firearm. Cops can and should be held to a higher standard. When I have a bad day, no one gets shot, Tasered, or taken to jail by mistake.
I am one of the most law abiding drivers around (and very law abiding in general for that matter).
I still GET NERVOUS when pulled over.
Why?
Because of** ASSHOLE **cops, which in my experience (and my close friends) is in the 5 to 10 percent range.
As for the OP. Fuck the cop if he wants me to pull over in a bad spot. If he/she is stupid enough to end up as a blood stain on the highway because of their power trip ego thingy, thats their problem. Buttt…I sure as hell aint pulling over in a bad spot so I can get to witness the carnage or worse yet, have my ass rear ended at 50 to 70 mph.
I’ll bet he didn’t. Wow.
I agree. Twenty years ago I was a staunch defender of the police. However, just in the past few years I have been pulled over twice with manufactured probable cause. I also have a friend who used to come visit from time to time. She will not venture into my area anymore after she got pulled over on back to back visits for “driving while black”.
I remember when my kids were little, teaching them to trust the police. That changed. They now are instructed to contact dad by cellphone instead.
Hang up the damn phone and drive. It’s dangerous, and you should know better. I’m not trying to berate you, but just last week, I saw a girl in a parking lot, on the phone, trying to back her car out. She hit both a pedestrian and the parked car behind her.
I feel in fairness I should follow up. I’ve been pulled over a few other times and I always find a safe spot out of traffic to pull over. Usually the cop either doesn’t say anything or s/he thanks me for pulling out of traffic. That one cop was the only time I ever got hassled for considering both our safeties when pulling over.
What is this supposed to prove? I’d be more impressed if you had walked around the front of your car, ripped the plate off the screws holding it on and showed it to him. At least then you would have had the front license plate where it belongs.
As far as the course of this thread in general goes, usually I get pulled over on freeways. Only once have I been pulled over with nowhere to go, and I pulled into a parking lot as soon as I could. The cop was fine with it; I think the OP just happened to pull a cop in a bad mood.
:dubious: It’s supposed to prove that, due to my own cluelessness, I almost got fucking shot by a cop, Frank.
A COP is a person… all that have commented with a “bad” experience act as if they are robots…I too have been pulled over and felt very nervous/anxious for the fear of a ticket. But this is just a natural response. Not that I felt like I was going to jail. I dont think it is fair to profile every cop as a person with a larger than life ego.
No other bad days where something was said or done that you cant take back?
In my experience, no, not that I can think of. But, then again, they haven’t turned me loose yet (I’m just a lowly doctoral student. If a student complains to the right person, I’m easily overruled). I can only hope that my personality doesn’t completely change from what it is now, where I cannot imagine wanting to throw my weight around. Of course, that may mean that I’ll never be very successful as a professor, but so be it.
Let me also be clear: I don’t have a problem with law enforcement in general, or a general dislike of cops. I’m looking at this strictly as one guy doing something that may or may not have been justified. Where the problem comes in is that guys like this one may be mentors to other, younger officers. If these younger officers think that behaving in a brutish, overbearing manner is “just part of the job,” then we have to worry about “one guy’s bad attitude” becoming systemic.
I vaguely remember reading somewhere that if you’re being pulled over and you’re scared (a woman driving alone, you’re in a bad neighborhood, etc.), it’s recommended that you call 911, inform them you’re being pulled over so they can verify it’s an actual cop and not someone posing as such, and then tell them you’re driving to a safe area so that the dispatcher can inform the cop you’re aware of the stop.
For those of you with better memories and/or factual information, is this okay? Not okay?
Well, if you’re being pulled over for talking on the phone while driving, I can see how making another call might not help the situation.