This hasn’t happened to me, but as I was driving from MD to NJ, the thought struck me.
What if a group of cars were traveling in a sort of convoy, and one of them got pulled over by the police for speeding?
Should the other cars follow suit, or would that be a bad idea? I ask this because more and more often, officers are very leery about roadside issues; they don’t know if the dude they’re pulling over is a psycho, or what. And adding more cars to the mix can’t make them feel any better.
And since these are cars, rather than a line of semis, the policeman might not be able to tell that they’re all together. He pulls over the one car, and the others follow.
I’ve put this in GQ because I’m wondering if there’s an actual police protocol for this. I suspect there is.
Some friends of mine were once pulled over for speeding in 2 separate cars. The officer pulled ofer the first car and motioned for them to stay put. Then he took off after the second car and pulled it over too.
I wasn’t there so I don’t know all the deals about this siutation. I don’t know if the officer took care of the whole situation himself, or if he called backup to take care of the first car that was waiting for him to come back. What I do know, is that both vehicles were ticketed for speeding.
A trick I used in my days of lawlessness.!!
I had lost my DL because of points for a 3-month period. I still however would take my ritualistic motorcycle ride with the boys on weekends. We were all tearing it up, speeding past a concealed black and white on the side of the roadway. He pulled out and indicated that he wanted all of us to pull over (there were 7 of us). I pulled over right away as the others drove off. Instinctively the fuzz chased the unresponsive bikers down the road thus leaving my unlicensed ass all alone on the shoulder. I simply turned around and hi-tailed it out of there! I doubt that there is a [i[viable* protocal for a situation like that!
Had this happen in a group I was in once. The lead car of the “convoy” got pulled over. The following two vehicles, one of which was a van, another a station wagon, simply pulled up behind the cop car. In total, we had a dozen or so people. It was a Methodist Church sponsored thing, and the driver of the lead car was the minister. He got off with a warning - I don’t know whether it was because of adroit wielding of his clergy card, or because the cop didn’t feel like hassling some church-run student outing.
(Note - I’m not Methodist, actually. I just sort of on/off used the Methodists as a social club while a student.)
A police officer friend of mine refers to the practice of pulling one car out of a line of speeders as freeway fishing. His response when someone complains he tells his story about fishing.
One day on a lake, a single fisherman goes fishing. He has but one piece of bait and will catch just one fish that day. Which fish gets caught depends on where the fisherman decides to fish. Today, the fisherman is fishing in your part of the lake and you are that one fish.
He says if you are the first car (easiest to see) or the last car (easiest to stop) you odds of getting pulled over go up significantly. Unless back up help is in the immediate area, the logistics of trying to pull over more than one car can be a hassle.
Ok, in blunt’s case, how did the officer know the cars were together? Come to think of it, I guess it doesn’t matter, since they were both speeding.
Let’s forget the speeding aspect (since, as you guys are pointing out, if one car in the caravan is speeding, they all are) for a moment. Let’s assume that one car is weaving a little; perhaps the officer thinks the driver might be intoxicated. Now, the car is part of a caravan, but the other cars are being driven by sober drivers.
When the officer pulls over the weaving car, should the other cars in the party follow suit?
A little over a year ago, about 8:45a.m. one morning, I was driving from one branch of work to another.Opting for the backroads instead of the freeway, I was following another motorist down the road. I did not know him.
I am usually a pretty laid back driver. When I am more laid back I will just follow the car in front of me, or go with the flow of traffic.
Between branches is a little Houston suburb. An older one well within the city limits named Bellaire. They are known to look for traffic violations.
To conclude. I was following a guy going about 30. He missed the school zone sign, I followed. He made it through, I did not.
We both went through. I was the easier fish to catch.
I thought the OP was referring to if you were traveling with people in other cars and one of the cars got pulled over.
Assuming one person was following the other and they didn’t want to lose the other car, and assuming that one was speeding and only one was pulled over by the cop, should the 2nd car pull over and wait for their friend, or will that just piss the cop off?
I’ve seen this happen on numerous occasions. Usually the other cars in the convoy pull over as well, but they pull over well ahead of the stopped car. When the stopped car is free to go, the other cars pull back on the roadway to reform the convoy.
Well if they must pull over to wait for you, the first words outta my mouth to the cop would be “They’re with me. We’re going to gramma’s house for her 97th birthday”. Or hell, for that matter just tell him the truth (which really never hurts unless you’re planning to attend some kind of rally… heh, any kind of rally). That should get him to ease off a bit on the sidearm. However, that opens your lead driver to a nice little ticket, and possibly the rest of your crew.
If I were in this situation, and I knew I’d be following hell-on-wheels, i’d tell 'em to keep on going without me. Might be able to institute the age-old “flow-of-traffic” excuse.
But I’d still try to make sure I was 2nd or 3rd in the convoy. Nothing sucks more than being first or last in that situation.
