# Might have accidentally evaded a cop trying to pull me over. What's going to happen? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 27, 2021, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-have-accidentally-evaded-a-cop-trying-to-pull-me-over-whats-going-to-happen/956696 "2021-12-27T00:58:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-have-accidentally-evaded-a-cop-trying-to-pull-me-over-whats-going-to-happen/956696/1 "2021-12-27T00:58:46Z")
So, today I was at a green light at an intersection and a cop car behind me squealed with his siren, flashed lights and said something over the loudspeaker that I couldn’t clearly hear. I thought he might be telling me to get out of his way and I took a left turn, but he kept driving straight (perhaps due to traffic pressure at the intersection) and we went our separate ways. In the offhand chance that he was trying to pull me over but I accidentally dodged him by left-turning, what might happen? (Or not just in this real scenario, but in any hypothetical scenario where someone accidentally loses a cop on his tail.) I’m in Texas, for whatever it matters. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-have-accidentally-evaded-a-cop-trying-to-pull-me-over-whats-going-to-happen/956696/2 "2021-12-27T01:03:17Z")
Nothing. If he wanted you, he would have got you. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-have-accidentally-evaded-a-cop-trying-to-pull-me-over-whats-going-to-happen/956696/3 "2021-12-27T01:07:14Z")
If you were able to take a left turn, so was he. But he didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-have-accidentally-evaded-a-cop-trying-to-pull-me-over-whats-going-to-happen/956696/4 "2021-12-27T01:15:13Z")
Pretty good username/thread title combo, though. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-have-accidentally-evaded-a-cop-trying-to-pull-me-over-whats-going-to-happen/956696/5 "2021-12-27T02:58:01Z")
_“I am sorry, Sarge, but I was SO close, right behind the suspect…”_ “And how, pray tell, did he evade capture?” _“He, ummm, well, he took…”_ “Took what? Took a gun out? Took a hostage?” _“He, ummm, well, he took… a left turn.”_ “And when you pursued?” _“Well, I didn’t, exactly…”_ “Care to explain that?” _“Well, see, as he was turning, the green arrow turned into a red arrow, and you know how much respect I have for the rule of law. I mean, if a member of the local citizenry had seen me treating our city’s traffic code with the cavalier attitude of a common scofflaw…”_ “Badge and gun, on my desk! Now we’ll never catch that master criminal **Velocity**! I need a drink…” ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-have-accidentally-evaded-a-cop-trying-to-pull-me-over-whats-going-to-happen/956696/6 "2021-12-27T03:08:51Z")
> [@digs](#): > > “He, ummm, well, he took… a left turn.” Hey, it worked for the Millennium Falcon… [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/2UDeZ-H8QOU/hqdefault.jpg "Family Guy Ship Maneuvers") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UDeZ-H8QOU) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-have-accidentally-evaded-a-cop-trying-to-pull-me-over-whats-going-to-happen/956696/7 "2021-12-27T03:18:14Z")
No bona fide Texas lawman could ever have held his head up again if he’d allowed a desperado to escape that way. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-have-accidentally-evaded-a-cop-trying-to-pull-me-over-whats-going-to-happen/956696/8 "2021-12-27T03:19:27Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > If he wanted you, he would have got you. > [@panache45](#): > > If you were able to take a left turn, so was he. The cop screamed “left, left, left” indicating his intention to turn left, but in the heat of the moment made a mistake and went straight ahead. ---
**Author:** ![Mesquite-oh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@Mesquite-oh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mesquite-oh)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-have-accidentally-evaded-a-cop-trying-to-pull-me-over-whats-going-to-happen/956696/9 "2021-12-27T06:42:03Z")
A long time ago, when I had a low to the ground sportscar and a loud stereo system, I got pulled over by a screaming cop that had pulled up to my left. He told me that he had been following me for a while and wanted to know why I didn’t pull over earlier. I explained I didn’t see or hear him and he gave me a lecture about stopping for school buses and making sure I was aware of my surroundings (there was a school bus that stopped on the opposite side of a very busy 4 lane road in Texas). I didn’t get a ticket. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-have-accidentally-evaded-a-cop-trying-to-pull-me-over-whats-going-to-happen/956696/10 "2021-12-27T15:45:33Z")
I did have something like this happen to me in Indiana. A cop was in the opposite lane when I crested a hill, speeding 15+ over, and I just kept going straight. There was no other traffic, so my inference should have been that he was out to pull me over, but I just waited and kept going until I saw him pull a U-turn just before he was almost out of sight. Still in denial, I just kept the posted speed until he caught up to me and it was clear I was the one he wanted. Then I pulled over. The another cop from the front came out of nowhere and pulled in front of my vehicle. Then a third cop showed up behind the first. Then a fourth from the front. I rolled down the window, put my hands on the steering wheel as he approached. He looked genuinely confused. “Didn’t you see me put my lights on back there?” I said, “yes, but you were in the other lane and I thought you were on a call elsewhere.” “Why didn’t you slow down when I got behind you?” “I was just waiting to make sure you were pulling me over.” He asks me for my license and asks me to step into the passenger seat of his car while he runs my info. At this time, a sherif pulls up and starts asking my passengers questions and asks for their IDs. Meanwhile, I’m bullshitting with this cop, and I find out they’re a bit touchy after a chase the other day that banged up one of their cars. My info comes up clear and he writes me a ticket for the minimum, five over, even though he clocked me at 17 over. It was … odd. The other squads minus the sheriff had left in this time. This was also the first time I had ever been pulled over and, obviously, the first ticket I ever got. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-have-accidentally-evaded-a-cop-trying-to-pull-me-over-whats-going-to-happen/956696/11 "2021-12-27T16:02:19Z")
There is a semi-famous evading cop spot in NYC, I believe it is in Brooklyn, coming from Queens where cars coming over a (relatively non-descript) bridge are hit by radar. It’s an easy spot to speed apparently as the city speed limit is set for city streets with intersections and crosswalks, not a mini-highway devoid of such things for the bridge approach. The police have a nice safe spot to hit the drivers as they crest the bridge, however there is a legal left turn before this spot that the cops like to hang out at. Police will rarely go after a person if they chose to take this left before the get to the cop car, and many have taken it and avoided getting nabbed. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-have-accidentally-evaded-a-cop-trying-to-pull-me-over-whats-going-to-happen/956696/12 "2021-12-27T16:03:58Z")
In the extremely unlikely event that he _was_ after you, we can safely assume that we know where your parents’ recent windfall of cash will go. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-have-accidentally-evaded-a-cop-trying-to-pull-me-over-whats-going-to-happen/956696/13 "2021-12-27T16:14:01Z")
At worst, you did something that annoyed the cops so they got on their loud speaker to profess their displeasure with you. (I’ve seen this happen before riding in the backs of cop cars.) But I’m not convinced it was even that. I think your initial thought was correct. They just wanted you out of the way. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-have-accidentally-evaded-a-cop-trying-to-pull-me-over-whats-going-to-happen/956696/14 "2021-12-27T17:31:35Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > He looked genuinely confused. > [@pulykamell](#): > > My info comes up clear and he writes me a ticket for the minimum, five over, even though he clocked me at 17 over. It was … odd. The other squads minus the sheriff had left in this time. Sounds to me like he called for a bunch of backup because he thought you were running, then when you weren’t and were reasonable about the whole thing, he decided to be nice too. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-have-accidentally-evaded-a-cop-trying-to-pull-me-over-whats-going-to-happen/956696/15 "2021-12-27T17:37:02Z")
Yeah, that is exactly what happened, I assume. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-have-accidentally-evaded-a-cop-trying-to-pull-me-over-whats-going-to-happen/956696/16 "2021-12-27T18:17:17Z")
I met someone who (supposedly; I wasn’t there), when he was young and crazy, successfully evaded a cop trying to pull him over. Assuming the story is true, nothing happened to him, because he got away! ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-have-accidentally-evaded-a-cop-trying-to-pull-me-over-whats-going-to-happen/956696/17 "2021-12-27T18:24:16Z")
About 25 years ago, I was traveling back from Columbus on I-71. It’s just flat and barren for miles and miles and miles. I was in my old Honda Accord, doing about 120, when I came around a corner on the highway and saw a cop in the median. I don’t know if he saw me, but I was around the next bend before he made any motion or turned on his lights. I got off at the next exit and backroaded the rest of the way home. Is it evasion if I never even saw him light up? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-have-accidentally-evaded-a-cop-trying-to-pull-me-over-whats-going-to-happen/956696/18 "2021-12-27T21:15:49Z")
The statute of limitations may have expired, but the sin has not been expiated. As the I-71 billboard between Columbus and Cincinnati warns, your mortal soul is in danger. > **[hell is real columbus where will you spend eternity - Bing](https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=zxSxMWOb&id=643951AA2AE054E279F05DA8433F38A344E5F9F8&thid=OIP.zxSxMWObmadqoPC3xVv50wHaFI&mediaurl=https:%2F%2F78.media.tumblr.com%2Faf9f8a5369af0b223436c49fa22df193%2Ftumblr_ooittwfIBe1spnyg9o1_500.jpg&cdnurl=https:%2F%2Fth.bing.com%2Fth%2Fid%2FR.cf14b131639b99a76aa0f0b7c55bf9d3?rik=%2bPnlRKM4P0OoXQ&pid=ImgRaw&r=0&exph=347&expw=500&q=hell%2Bis%2Breal%2Bcolumbus%2Bwhere%2Bwill%2Byou%2Bspend%2Beternity)** > > Intelligent search from Bing makes it easier to quickly find what you’re looking for and rewards you. &simid=607990953514895033&form=IRPRST&ck=D8488091636751BCACE8E84709AC8D92&selectedindex=0&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0&vt=1&sim=11&adlt=demote&shtp=GetUrl&shid=b515d98a-183f-4ce8-ae26-2ed7e2696391&shtk=ZXRlcm5pdHkgb24gVHVtYmxy&shdk=Rm91bmQgb24gQmluZyBmcm9tIHd3dy50dW1ibHIuY29t&shhk=ul%2Fj%2BJHxgpJVX%2BmqWwhAebxGNxR8p2dr5w0IvX7ntcI%3D&shth=OIP.zxSxMWObmadqoPC3xVv50wHaFI ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-have-accidentally-evaded-a-cop-trying-to-pull-me-over-whats-going-to-happen/956696/19 "2021-12-27T21:39:54Z")
Something that has happened to me, that could have occurred- they were thinking about pulling you over for an infraction, but got a more important call. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-have-accidentally-evaded-a-cop-trying-to-pull-me-over-whats-going-to-happen/956696/20 "2021-12-27T21:50:24Z")
I’ve had exactly that happen. Wasn’t going _too_ fast, probably 15ish over. Cop pulled up and turned on its lights behind me. I pulled over and waited a couple minutes, then the cop pulled up along me and said I was lucky because he got another call and drove off. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-have-accidentally-evaded-a-cop-trying-to-pull-me-over-whats-going-to-happen/956696.md?page=2)