That is absolutely fucking hilarious.
To contribute something helpful: I’ve been in the car when the driver has given an honest ‘no’, and he got an explanation, a patronising lecture about road safety, and then a walk around the complex series of junctions to show exactly where he’d gone through a red. What had actually happened was we were collecting a sick family member, and had stopped in between two sets of lights, blocking another part of the junction…so to get out of the way, he’d inadvertently gone through a red :smack:
Another one from a friend was being stopped by an officer checking speeds in a 30 limit. Turned out they were doing ‘educational work’, which probably means they were training somebody to use the speed gun properly and/or they weren’t using correct and fully-calibrated equipment, and just lecturing drivers instead. I wonder, though, what would happen if the conversation started: “Do you know why we’ve stopped you?” “Because I was doing about 45”…
I’ve known quite a few cops in my time (went out with one for ten years) and every cop gets the ha-ha answers
Cause you are an idiot/asshole, etc."
“To meet your quota?” Like they haven’t heard that one a million times before you.
“Did you notice the body in the trunk/the drugs on my windshield?”
This was a constant problem for me. My tags renewed at the end of December. 95% of cars had switched to the new tag color before mine even got in the mail. If I was out of town over the holidays when it arrived, I’d get a ticket in January re-entering the state.
The last time I got pulled over was about 4 years ago, at about 11 P.M. on Highway 401. My car at the time had automatic headlights, meaning they came on when it got dark. This option could be shut off, and had been, by my mechanic earlier in the day. I hadn’t noticed.
Officer: Do you know why I pulled you over?
Dante: I’m going to take speeding for about 120, Alex!
He actually thought that was pretty funny, luckily. He advised me that my lights were off, and I figured out pretty quickly what had happened. He asked where I had been, and I told him I was over at a friend’s house playing Rifts (a role playing game). Turns out he played as well. Got off with a warning.
Yep. I have gotten stopped twice in the last month as a matter of fact. One was for expired registration and an expired inspection sticker. The other was an expired inspection sticker and a burned out brake light. It has mainly been for stuff like that. I have only rarely been stopped for speeding or other moving violations although it has happened. There have been other infractions of various types as well like trespassing and some other stuff we won’t go into. I don’t know why but they always just let me go. It is probably false confidence but I just assume that I won’t get in any legal trouble at all when these things happen. I mentioned in another thread that the problems with my registration were pretty serious. The officer said right away that he wasn’t going to give me a ticket but I had to leave my car at the police station until I got it registered. I absolutely had to pick up my kids that afternoon and, although he swore that I couldn’t drive it until I got it registered, he finally called the chief of police and they declared a police emergency so that I could go get them. That is what I call service. I don’t think I am expecially bad driver but keeping everything registered, inspected, and legal has always been a bit of a challenge for me.
What I wanted to say when I was pulled over, right after the 55mph speed limit went into effect. A bunch of us were driving our usual speed–say 70–I was just going with the prevailing speed in a whole clump of cars. When I saw lights behind me I pulled over. Nobody else did.
And when I pointed that out, I did not get a ticket. So, in effect, I did say it, just not in those words.
Sine moving to Maryland in 2002, I’ve been pulled over six or seven times but never ticketed. I answer truthfully when I know why I’ve been pulled over.
To counter Shagnasty’s experience, I was pulled over while driving myself to the emergency room with a broken ring finger on my right hand. I had injured it in a home repair, well, let’s call it an incident. I had it wrapped in a rag, was holding it vertically, and blood was running down my forearm and dripping off my elbow. On the way to the hospital I realized that a sewer construction project had blocked my access, and did a U-turn in a gas station parking lot to take another route.
I got a ticket for avoiding a traffic control device.
I cannot believe this would really happen. I know from talking with cops when they have stopped people driving themselves to the hospital because of an emergency, they are supposed to give them a police escort. One I knew told me of stopping a woman going over 100 mph, only to find her driving with a five month old expelled fetus between her legs. :eek: Needless to say, he got her to the hospital in a hurry.
Reg Chefguy, I had a friend who fell asleep in Hyde Park, London, long ago, and was awaken by a couple of bobbies.
“You can’t sleep here”, they said.
“Piss off, fascist pigs”, he said.
He got beaten of course, but anyways.
Oh man for the Troubles again, then all you had to do was wind down your window and a soldier would ask you for some form of identification, where you’re coming from and where you’re going to.
Now the buggers have every opportunity to go over your car with a fine tooth comb and speak all “polite” to you :rolleyes:
I can’t help but wonder if you’re being profiled for some reason. Race would be one obvious thing, but I think you’re white (correct me I’m wrong). Do/Did you live in a predominately black or latino neighborhood? White people are often stopped in neighborhoods where police think they’re unlikely to live. Do you drive an unusual car? Do you have plates from a southern or southwestern state? Those cars are often stopped on suspicion of drug trafficking. Do you know what kind of cops have pulled you over mostly (i.e. traffic cops, marked or unmarked, etc.)?
The situation you described certainly warranted help. However – I’ve been told that if there’s a true emergency you should call 911 or equivalent rather than doing the driving yourself.
Person I used to work with was en route to the hospital to deliver her first baby (husband driving) and they were delayed by a DWI checkpoint, waited in line for what seemed to the laboring mother-to-be about a million years. Upon finally arriving at the front of the line, they explained the situation. The officer shone the flashlight into the car to confirm her “situation” and said they could continue. They asked for a police escort, since things were getting somewhat urgent, and were told, “No, we have to stay here at the checkpoint.”
Here, it’s usually, “Good afternoon driver. Are you aware that you just…?” or “Are you aware that it is an offence to…” At least they don’t muck about with mind games so much - you know why you’re being booked.