# Speeding in one state, the police are after you, you cross the state line... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 1, 2008, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speeding-in-one-state-the-police-are-after-you-you-cross-the-state-line/431875 "2008-01-01T07:42:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speeding-in-one-state-the-police-are-after-you-you-cross-the-state-line/431875/21 "2008-01-03T17:51:50Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] Isn’t this the exact question posted in the OP? [/QUOTE] Not really. I thought he was asking why they could not just cross as private citizens and RETURN them to their home state. He also seems to mistakenly believe cops cannot cross state borders but that is another issue. I guess if I try hard enough I can find/add nuance to anything… ---
**Author:** ![Saratoga\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Saratoga\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saratoga_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speeding-in-one-state-the-police-are-after-you-you-cross-the-state-line/431875/22 "2008-01-04T16:02:41Z")
I think the right of hot pursuit stems from something called _hot trod_ in the 1500’s, which was meant to curb “border reivers”. They were part-time bandits along the border between Scotland and England, who simply dodged into the other country when the law of one nation came looking for them. Both the Scottish and English authorities eventually recognized the right of each other’s posse to cross the border in hot pursuit. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speeding-in-one-state-the-police-are-after-you-you-cross-the-state-line/431875/23 "2008-01-04T16:32:04Z")
[QUOTE=ChrisBooth12] The thing i never got is how cops arent supposed to cross the border..Why cant they just cross as private citizens and make a citizens arrest? [/QUOTE] I grew up in a tiny town on the Louisiana/Texas border that had a key feature that would be good for movies. Main street led straight to a two-lane bridge across the Sabine River into Texas. There were no other crossing within 15 miles. The Texas side had no local law enforcement of its own. It was fairly common for people to try to make it across the border and many succeeded. For traffic offenses, the police usually stopped at the border and waited some time for the person to come back across the same bridge. The police station was right there anyway. For suspected felony stops, the police turned off their lights in the middle of the bridge and switched into citizen’s arrest mode. They many followed until the Texas State Troopers could catch up or arrive on the scene. In practice, many people evading traffic stops were simply forgotten about. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speeding-in-one-state-the-police-are-after-you-you-cross-the-state-line/431875/24 "2008-01-04T18:26:24Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] In Dukes of Hazard, I believe it was the county line. Which jibes even less with reality. [/QUOTE] Not so much if you consider a corrupt local government, wanting revenue for traffic violations, and wanting to run people into kangaroo courts. Crossing a county line would involve another juristiction or the state, both which may shed light on the corruption. So not a law so much, but a position that such a corrupt government has forced itself into. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speeding-in-one-state-the-police-are-after-you-you-cross-the-state-line/431875/25 "2008-01-05T06:31:05Z")
[QUOTE=askeptic] He also seems to mistakenly believe cops cannot cross state borders but that is another issue. [/QUOTE] I did not know whether they could or not, that’s why I asked the question. Thanks for the replies folks. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speeding-in-one-state-the-police-are-after-you-you-cross-the-state-line/431875/26 "2008-01-05T08:54:44Z")
I will point out that local cops generally can’t cross into a Military base, hot pursuit or no. My Dad used to work at one, and some of the dudes based there would run from the local speed trap onto the base. Any local cop trying to follow would find several men armed with much bigger guns telling them to stop. The base was limited to Top Secret Clearances only. The base commander was tolerant of this _to a point_- the speed trap was notorious. But one dude took it to extremes and found himself up before the Commander. Worse than a ticket by far. ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speeding-in-one-state-the-police-are-after-you-you-cross-the-state-line/431875/27 "2008-01-05T10:55:22Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] In _Dukes of Hazard_, I believe it was the _county_ line. Which jibes even less with reality. [/QUOTE] I suspect the fact that so often the bridge crossing the county line was out may have helped Bo & Luke somewhat. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speeding-in-one-state-the-police-are-after-you-you-cross-the-state-line/431875/28 "2008-01-05T12:30:23Z")
[QUOTE=ticker] I suspect the fact that so often the bridge crossing the county line was out may have helped Bo & Luke somewhat. [/QUOTE] Suspension be damned! ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speeding-in-one-state-the-police-are-after-you-you-cross-the-state-line/431875/29 "2008-01-05T14:24:57Z")
[QUOTE=An Gadaí] I did not know whether they could or not, that’s why I asked the question. Thanks for the replies folks. [/QUOTE] If you look closely, the “He” in my post was referring to ChrisBooth12. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speeding-in-one-state-the-police-are-after-you-you-cross-the-state-line/431875/30 "2008-01-05T21:16:57Z")
[QUOTE=Uncommon Sense] Suspension be damned! [/QUOTE] I’ll hazard that that could refer to: 1) the dramatic convention called “suspension of disbelief”; 2) the suspension bridge in question; or 3) the suspension system on the General Lee. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speeding-in-one-state-the-police-are-after-you-you-cross-the-state-line/431875/31 "2008-01-05T21:34:28Z")
[QUOTE=askeptic] If you look closely, the “He” in my post was referring to ChrisBooth12. [/QUOTE] Ah, gotcha now, thanks for the clarification. ---
**Author:** ![jagnon1991\_gmail.com](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@jagnon1991\_gmail.com](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jagnon1991_gmail.com)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2013, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speeding-in-one-state-the-police-are-after-you-you-cross-the-state-line/431875/32 "2013-07-05T03:42:04Z")
He is absolutely right to a degree. Say I blow past a New Hampshire cop doing 60 MPH in a 40 and I am just about to the line in MA, but the New Hampshire cop fails to Light up before I make it to the line, he has no right to do anything at all. Now if I were to blow past a NH cop , see him, slow down, wait for him to light up, and then fly across the border the cop has every legal right to pursue seeing how I just evaded the police. Come on people its common sense. ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2013, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speeding-in-one-state-the-police-are-after-you-you-cross-the-state-line/431875/33 "2013-07-05T04:54:50Z")
Just an anecdote, not evidence, but years ago, I lived in Pharr, Texas, along the border with Mexico. I remember a TV news story of a City of McAllen pursuing a stolen car across the bridge into Reynosa, Tamaulipas. The stolen car stormed across the bridge with the police car chasing behind. Once into Mexico, the Reynosa police stopped the pursuit and seized the officer and car for the crime of illegally importing a vehicle into Mexico. The let the cop walk back to Texas and re-purposed his fancy and expensive police car for use by Reynosa’s finest. Oops. ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2013, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speeding-in-one-state-the-police-are-after-you-you-cross-the-state-line/431875/34 "2013-07-05T05:29:08Z")
> [@jagnon1991\_gmail.com](#): > > He is absolutely right to a degree. Say I blow past a New Hampshire cop doing 60 MPH in a 40 and I am just about to the line in MA, but the New Hampshire cop fails to Light up before I make it to the line, he has no right to do anything at all. > > Now if I were to blow past a NH cop , see him, slow down, wait for him to light up, and then fly across the border the cop has every legal right to pursue seeing how I just evaded the police. Come on people its common sense. Could you clarify how the use of tobacco or marijuana products by the police officer affects their ability to pursue a suspect into another state? ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2013, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speeding-in-one-state-the-police-are-after-you-you-cross-the-state-line/431875/35 "2013-07-05T05:33:40Z")
Zombie thread hot pursuit! Legal in all states and in all countries. ---
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2013, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speeding-in-one-state-the-police-are-after-you-you-cross-the-state-line/431875/36 "2013-07-05T15:04:10Z")
> [@jagnon1991\_gmail.com](#): > > He is absolutely right to a degree. Say I blow past a New Hampshire cop doing 60 MPH in a 40 and I am just about to the line in MA, but the New Hampshire cop fails to Light up before I make it to the line, he has no right to do anything at all. > > Now if I were to blow past a NH cop , see him, slow down, wait for him to light up, and then fly across the border the cop has every legal right to pursue seeing how I just evaded the police. Come on people its common sense. Common sense plays a part in it, but the LAW controls. In Ohio; 2935.30 Authority of foreign police. Any member of an organized state, county, or municipal peace unit of another state of the United States who enters this state in fresh pursuit, and continues within this state in such fresh pursuit, of a person in order to arrest him on the ground that he is believed to have committed a felony in such other state has the same authority to arrest and hold such person in custody as has any member of any organized state, county, or municipal peace unit of this state to arrest and hold in custody a person on the ground that he is believed to have committed a felony in this state. This section does not make unlawful any arrest in this state which would otherwise be lawful. If fleeing police is not a felony, for argument purposes, then common sense does not supercede the law, so you can cite NH/MA for us. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speeding-in-one-state-the-police-are-after-you-you-cross-the-state-line/431875.md?page=1)