Some cop out there loves me

[Tracy]

I was making deposits for my job yesterday and I get stuck on the way back behind this person going 20mph in a 30mph zone.  Yeah, it's a windy street but can ya speed it up a bit!?!?!  I get frustrated easily. I did find a chance to pass him, started going 60 and I see a cop coming towards me. Well I slow down to 50. What's the point of slowing down more, you know? He knows I'm speeding and I'm not going to fake it.  So you can imagine my BIG surprise when I see him WAVE to me and continue on. I kept looking in mirrors but he was really gone!   :huh:
And then today on my way home, I was in the breakdown lane which is the fastest lane at 3:30pm.  I'm going 70 and this idiot cuts me off and starts going 55!!!!!!  So I got to see how well my breaks work.  My lane turns into the slowest and I start tail gating really bad.  I'm not even a foot away from his car.  He actually makes a rude gesture at me which I'm sure I deserved but I was in a bad mood by now.  Not long after, I notice the car behind me is a cop, so I am trying to take the first opportunity to get out of that lane. Well the cop's lights start going off but I still go to the left...just in case.  And I was right! the cop makes the car that was going 55 pull over.  I could get back into my lane and go 70 to get to my allergy appointment on time.
I should have so many tickets right now but they were on my side this week. I think I'll start not going 10mph over the speed limit now.  Too many close calls too close together.

[Dennis]

I wish I had that luck.  I was stuck behind a guy on rt 46 who was going 1 mph UNDER the speed limit and I could see inside that he was leaning over and reaching into the glove box, glancing at his seat (reading something I assume).  So when the lane split into two lanes temporarily, I move to pass him.  A truck behind me does the same thing.  Then the truck starts riding my um...rear.  I speed up a little and move into the right lane, but by that time the lanes re-merged.  Right there at the bottom of the hill was NJ State police.  I got pulled over, not the guy tailgating me.  

[Iconoclast]

My last few encounters with traffic cops have been good ones.  I never get belligerent or try to BS them; I just treat them liek anybody else who i doing their job, keeping in mind that it's easier for them not to write me a ticket. Get chatty. Tell a joke. Smile.  You know you broke the law, you know the consequences, and you're ready to accept them.

Coming through Oregon, late at night, tired as hell. Just trying to get to a town so I can find a motel and get some sleep. Bammo. Cop lights behind me. I pull over and get the classic question: "Do you know how fast you were going?"  "Yeah, about 70, maybe 75. I've been driving all day and all night, and I just need to find a motel." Cop looks at my California license, and in the biggest hick accent, says, "Bakersfield?!?! Yer a long ways from home, boy!" I tell him I'm moving to Seattle, motion back to all the stuff piled in my back seat. He tells me to be careful, and to get some sleep as soon as possible.

Capitol Hill, Seattle, 9:30 pm.  I run a red light, and sure enough a cop sees me. Asks me if I know why he pulled me over. "Yep. I ran that red light. I thought I could make it on the yellow, and by the time it turned red, it was too late to stop."  He takes my license, and is gone for the longest time. He comes back to my car and in s very stern voice tells me, "You have 37 warrants for your arrest. I'm going to need you to.... naw, I'm just kidding. Computer was down, so it took a long time to process. Be more careful next time."

My favorite, and probably one of my bigger traffic offenses:  Some freeway in California, blazing along at about 90mph. Windows rolled up, AC on, stereo cranked. Heading out to the coast, making great time.  When they finally pulled me over, they told me they'd been chasing me for a while, and that I'd actually sped up when they hit the siren.  Pure coincidence - I couldn't have heard the siren. They asked if they could have a look through my car. Well, I was driving at go-directly-to-jail speed, so if I refused, they'd just arrest me and dig through my car anyway.  Making conversation to pass the time, I learned that I was on a fairly common route for running drugs, and driving a blue car also made me suspect (blue isn't an attention-getting car color, so a blue car always gets the attention of the police).  After a half hour or so of rooting around through the tons of junk I carried in my trunk (and finding no drugs harder than caffeine and nicotine), they thanked me for being cooperative, and sent me on my way.

[zenith931]

Iconoclast -- I envy you.    I've only had two encounters with police and both times I got a ticket.  I figure I just don't make myself beliigerent or anything and it'll all be cool.  Maybe next time I should try the cool and easy "Iconoclast" approach.  Do you give lessons?

[KimbearlySue]

I've had my driver's license for 3 years, and I've never gotten pulled over. I should probably knock on wood. This is very surprising because the cops in our town are jerks. I am not exaggerating. If they don't like the way your car looks, or the way you look, they will pull you over.

My 17 year old brother, who has had his D.L. for a year, has been pulled over more times than I can count. He's gotten a speeding ticket twice, an then he got a non-moving violation for having his front license plate sitting on the dash board. He drives this stupid looking red Chevy S10, an "Extreme"   He blares rap music, wants to tint his windows, and has bleached the top of his head. He might as well put a sticker on his window that says "Please pull me over, I'm a little punk." He makes himself an easy target for traffic cops. He's driven our innocuous ZX2 before, driving like a maniac, and never even been pulled over.

How is this for "smart cops"? One time, when I was about 10-11 years old, my mom and dad and two brothers were coming back from my grandma's house. It was late, and my parents had to stop by the bank. As we were pulling up, this van is pulling away. We think nothing of it, and my dad walks up and puts his deposit in the night drop. Just as he is about to get back into the car, about 2 cops pull up, light flashing, sirens blazing. Apparently someone had tried to break into the bank just moments before we got there. They tell my mom and dad to get out of the car, and put their hands on the hood. Well, my brothers and I just start wailing. We're scared, we're tired, and this is just nuts. I mean, seriously, who goes to rob a bank and brings their three children along? "C'mon kids, time for another family outing."   Finally my parents convince them that they have the wrong people, and we get to go home. I don't remember if they filed any complaints or anything after that, but I do remember being thoroughly traumatized.

Let's give a round of applause for St. Charles County's finest. </sarcasm>

[the_flamingo]

I am lucky Dave's dad is a cop. So even if I do get a ticket (I've never had one so far) I don't have to pay it, LOL.  Well in most cases, depends who gave me the ticket.

[Iconoclast]

Iconoclast -- I envy you.    I've only had two encounters with police and both times I got a ticket.  I figure I just don't make myself beliigerent or anything and it'll all be cool.  Maybe next time I should try the cool and easy "Iconoclast" approach.  Do you give lessons?

Just be smooth about it. There's always that moment of panic when you realize you're caught, you're going to get slapped with a fine, your insurance rates might go up, and so on. By the time I'm pulled over to the side of the road I've fast-forwarded through all that and realized it's not going to make a big dent in my life. Roll down the window, turn the stereo down (not off, just very low - stay casual and relaxed; don't go formal). Keep in mind that the cop who pulled you over has been doing this all day, every day, 40 hours a week, for God knows how long. There's a good chance he hates his job.

It's routine now - pull 'em over, listen to their excuses, write 'em a ticket, drive around until you find the next one. Think back to your last boring job, and the special treatment you gave the customers who broke up that routine. You are his customer, and you know what kind of day he's probably having. You can relate. You share a common bond with your fellow working man person. You're like family. Would he give his sister a speeding ticket? I think not.

It's a game - your goal is to speed and not get caught, and his job is to catch you speeding. Don't be a sore loser if he's just won a round. Respect that win, and the difficulty of achieving it. After all, you just won the last 50 rounds, and he knows it.  If you try to deny him this small victory, he has a radar gun and a little booklet to prove to the world that he got this one. You don't want that, and it's extra work for him anyway. Let his catching you be satisfaction enough.

[Scarlet]

Oh yeah, you're right there Iconoclast.
A friend of mine parked on a double-yellow line (no parking at ANY time) outside a bakery. He was only popping in for a loaf, he was wearing a thin shirt and it was POURING with rain. He made his purchase and got back in his car but as he went to start the engine a policeman knocked on the window.
"Would you mind getting out of the car sir?" said the policeman.
"What do you want, my papers? Here they are", said my stupid friend.
"I asked you to get out of your car sir", said the policeman, he was getting rather wet now.
"It's raining" said my ever-more-stupid friend "I'm only wearing a shirt, why can't I stay in here and hand you my papers?".
"I'm aware that it's raining sir, I'm standing in it " the policeman's sense of humour was now drier than he was "are you refusing to get out of your car?".
"No, no" my friend emerged from his car into the rain "I was only parked for a second, now you're wasting my time and making me get soaked. What's wrong with you people? Can't you go and catch real criminals? No, you can't can you? The unsolved crime-rate shows that!"

Strangely, my totally dumb-assed friend still got his ticket. In fact the policeman kept him in and out of the rain for quite a while, checking his car over, testing his lights etc.....Goodness, it was lucky, because my friend had a dodgy brake-light, that he wouldn't have known about if the policman hadn't found it and written it on a piece of paper to remind him.
Classic display of stupidity. Empathy would have been a much better tack to take.

[Ravyn]

Ah, the first time I got pulled over.

I had just been driving ten hours with a load of friends in the car, and my younger sister. We'd been visiting the rain forest all afternoon. All friends were from out of state, and two were actually from out of country. We had been driving on a windy highway for the last two hours where the speed limit was 55. I just got into a little hick town where the speed dropped to about 35. I was a little slow on the brake and of course there was a cop car sitting right behind the sign.

I was so tired I wasn't even nervous. I thought the whole thing was funny. Cop came over and I unrolled my window, and he asked to see my license, blah blah blah. I told him my purse was under my seat (cuz you don't want to go suddenly reaching under things when a cop is standing next to you ).

I got it out, fetched out my license, passed it to him, and started rifling through the mass of papers in my glove box for my registration and insurance, which I just could NOT find.

Anyway, cop suddenly asks everyone to get out of the car. We all pile out, my friends and sister lined up like fugitives on the side of the road, and me still chatting away amiably at the trunk of my car, still rifling through papers. Cop asks me if I have any drugs in my car. I told him no and go ahead and look if he wants. I didn't even give it a thought.

Next thing I hear is 'got some'.

My jaw totally drops and I look at my friends, wondering which one of them had hidden the drugs. Each of them is pointing at the other one, mostly laughing cause they knew each other like I knew them and none of them would ever so much as know what real weed looked like, let alone have hidden it.

Cop comes over with this little bundle of green in his hand, his buddy shines a flashlight on it, they poke around it a bit, and one shakes his head. "That ain't weed."

I looked at it, realized what it was, and about wet myself laughing. I pointed at my younger sister and said 'THERE IS THE DRUG LORD!"

When she got over sputtering and I assured her I was teasing, I explained to the cops that we had just got back from the rainforest and what he had was a handful of Spanish moss my sister had taken as a souvenier. The cops were laughing so hard they just handed me back my license, told me to slow down, and let us go on our way.

They never did get to see my registration

[ruthiechan]

This past Monday night, very late, Robert and I were driving down from  Yuba City to San Jose. I was in the back seat with the baby. It's a three hour drive, and Robert was rather tired seeing as how we left my mother's house a lot later than planned.

Robert sees the flashing colorful lights and pulls over.
Cop asks what's the hurry?
Robert replied, "I wasn't going all that fast."
Cop: "You were going 78."
Robert: "Oh."
Cop: "I've been following you for 2 miles now."
Robert: "You were?"
Cop: "Didn't you see me make a U-turn and follow you?"
Robert: "What? No, if I had I would've pulled over."
Cop: "License and registration please."
Robert hands over license and explains that this is a rental car and hands over the rental car paper, and tells him that we're coming from my mothers to go to his mother's and then back home to Vegas.
The cop pauses a moment and hands back the info and says, "Have a nice night and drive safely."

[midnightsky]

in seattle during the peace protest.  i was returinging from a debate tournament.  we ahd some interesting ppl following us   but thats another story.  mst of us where in the van w/ our coach driving, but a couple ppl had driven themsleves dwn (which is illegal, btw to do at a "school activity").   anyways, this one guy drives a yellow truck  thats hideous.  he says hell meet us at the restaruant and we leave.  when we get to seattle we are impressed w/ the amount of cops (and of course, being anti war and anti gov, we wanted to go to the protest ) we get to the restaurant and we are waiting for the guy to get there,  when he comes in we ask him where hes parked.  he replies...."well, im going to have to move, i just wanted to make sure you guys were here"....so were like...ok...but where are you parked?  so he tells us nonchalantly that hes parked in the british consoles spot   .  and with all of these police around none the less!

[AmeliaKeeper]

First time I was pulled over, I had my mother and one of my best friends in the car with me. Highway speed limit is 55 - except in the construction zone - but it was evening, no construction going on, and I hadn't actually seen a speed limit sign.

I was terribly nervous, being Miss Goody Two-Shoes at that point, and I did cry a few completely honest tears. He still gave me a ticket, but told me I could appeal it since it was on a highway, and my first offense.

Fast forward two months to my court date. Kid on the docket ahead of me had been caught going 130 m.p.h. in a 35 mile an hour zone. He also swore and laughed at the judge.  The judge was furious.

I got up to the front of the courtroom and explained what the young cop had told me.  The judge scowled and said: Route 1 isn't a highway, it's just a secondary road.  The yound cop stood up in the back of the courtroom and said "Please, your honor, she was the only person I've pulled over this year who was polite and didn't argue with me."

The judge grudgingly wrote off the ticket.

[Ensie]

This past Monday night, very late, Robert and I were driving down from  Yuba City to San Jose. I was in the back seat with the baby. It's a three hour drive, and Robert was rather tired seeing as how we left my mother's house a lot later than planned.

Robert sees the flashing colorful lights and pulls over.
Cop asks what's the hurry?
Robert replied, "I wasn't going all that fast."
Cop: "You were going 78."
Robert: "Oh."
Cop: "I've been following you for 2 miles now."
Robert: "You were?"
Cop: "Didn't you see me make a U-turn and follow you?"
Robert: "What? No, if I had I would've pulled over."
Cop: "License and registration please."
Robert hands over license and explains that this is a rental car and hands over the rental car paper, and tells him that we're coming from my mothers to go to his mother's and then back home to Vegas.
The cop pauses a moment and hands back the info and says, "Have a nice night and drive safely."

I have found that cops in northern California are pretty cool. I've been pulled over twice in the past year, once for tailing somebody (what do you expect . . . they were going 40 in a 65 mph zone) and once for not having a front license (my old car). Both times, I just stayed calm, gave them the paperwork (DL, insurance, registration), and explained my reasons. And both times, the cops just said not to do it anymore and let me go. No ticket.

[Tracy]

Someone in my neighborhood complained about the speed and reckless driving last summer.  This is a total lie since I live in a place infested by small children who don't know the difference between the street and sidewalk.  I have never seen anyone go over 40 (certainly not between 4-7pm) and I drive by at all times of the day. When he takes my license to check, I get a call from my mom warning me about not going over 30.  I thanked her for the "early" warning.  Apparently my dad was stopped at 31!!
I was pulled over by the cop who tells me I was going 32 in a residential area and got a lecture about kids and safety while I saw my friend pass by under 30 and waving at me.  

[ruthiechan]

The police in the Los Gatos area of CA are horrible. They will mark you for the biggest thing they can get away with! One time Robert didn't come to a complete stop when turning right, and BAM, ticket of like $500 or some ludicrous amount. The jerk cop made me late for my final and I almost got screwed over because of that.
Oh yeah, there was no one else at that intersection besides us.  
I think we appealed that one though.