The 5 police stop incidents depicted here had positive outcomes (3 no-tickets, 2 dodging a trap). Before I go into the stories, I'll put forth some common sense guidelines to have a good outcome, and avoid unnecessary trouble.
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Accept that you are being detained and that police officer is in command. Resist any urge to hurry things along, or trying to blab your way out of trouble.
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Produce the documentation requested (driver license, registration, etc) in a slow, deliberate manner, always telegraphing your move. ( "Here's my license, I'll get the registration from glove compartment."). Being mindful that numerous LEO's have been killed while conducting "routine" stops, and putting officer at ease is a good starting point. I don't mean to suggest that doing these things will help you too much if you were doing triple digits down the freeway, or drank enough to smell like a distillery, but not a bad idea for lesser offenses. Without further ado...
5 MPH OVER ???? I was in a rental car starting out on a short road trip. I was going slightly fast by a shopping mall when I saw the blinking lights in my rear view mirror. I pulled over, thinking "crap, what a way to start out my club visit a ways down the road."
Turns out that officer was pulling me over for expired tags. (What a way to start out a new month). When asked where I picked up car, told him the airport 20 miles back. He let me slide, but I wasn't going to let it slide with rental car company. I went back to airport, and insisted on an exchange for a car with current plates. Lessons learned: When doing pre-rental inspection, be sure that sticker on plates or windshield hasn't expired. Also, don't try to guess what officer is stopping you for.
HARMLESS JACKRABBIT
Several years later driving my own Corvette, "nailed it" pulling away from a stop light at night, followed shortly by being pulled over by a cop. Thinking "oh shit, I've been nailed for doing a stupid thing not being mindful of my surroundings." Nope, I was being pulled over for no front plates. Some background: Many people are aware that Corvettes are essentially fiberglass bodies. The Corvette emblem on front is loved by many enthusiasts who hate to mess it up with a front plate in the states that require it. Myself not being that die hard, I put the front plate kit on my 2 prior Vettes. However, this latest model didn't have the screw in assemblies to the front bumper, but instead relied upon gluing plate frame to front bumper. That arrangement sucked since the front plate kept falling off. I finally said "to hell with this", and put framed plate behind the passenger seat. So I requested officer to shine his flashlight behind the passenger seat, pointing out that I had front plates there, but that they kept falling off, and I didn't know of any mods that would address the glue on issue. He was satisfied with my explanation, and even asked me a few questions about the car, including the new heads up display, and how it worked. (Cops can be car guys too.) Again let the cop do the initial talking. I could say a few things about not getting the 1st model year of a new design version, but I'll save that for another time.
STOPLIGHT TRAP In just about every locale but NYC, right turns on red are allowed except when sign specifically prohibits it.
Those of you familiar with the old Baby Dolls (Looking Kool for the real old timers) in Medway OH probably recall the single stoplight in town having such a restriction. Taking a right led straight to 675 half loop around Dayton. Like many people, I believe that life is too short to waste sitting at a red light, especially one in a podunk town at 1 am. So I ignored the sign, until one night that I saw a cop pull out of nearby parking lot, and ticket a guy ahead of me. I changed my habit after that as I saw several more drivers being nailed for right turn on red.
NO BLOW WHITE BALLS
Anyone following the Dayton club scene the last few years probably know that some clubs located on Dixie Drive north of town had their dancers busted for drugs and other things. Leaving the Harem one night, noticed a cop finishing up with a traffic stop while turning left onto Needmore Dr, then short distance to I75. I hadn't gone far on I75 when I saw the dreaded colored flashing lights behind me. He (cop) said that I was being stopped for not signaling for a lane change (left to right). Whatever..... After boilerplate "LRI" credentials check, he asked me if I had any drinks. Yes, I nursed a couple over an hour. (I didn't tell him anything past the "yes"). Whereupon, he asked me to step outside for a field sobriety test. The touch ones nose, stand on 1 foot, etc, culminating in Barney Fife having me follow his rapid finger motions with my eyes, concluding with his stopping fingers in my peripheral extremities of my vision range. He held that position for at least a 5 count, then I was free to go with a verbal warning. The later test was clearly designed to have a good look at my eyeballs for bloodshot eyes. I'm guessing he either didn't have a working breathalyzer, or was also interested in screening me for drug use.
DOUBLE JEOPARDY? Over the course of a quarter century, I've made the ~ 2 hour drive from SW Ohio to Indianapolis to visit their clubs on numerous occasions. One hazard of extensive interstate freeway driving is getting nailed with a speeding ticket. It sucks enough getting a speeding ticket. On this particular night, Indiana's Finest was VERY DETERMINED to nail me with 2 speeding tickets.
The stop halfway to state line started out being routine enough. After handing over "LRI" credentials, officer went back to his car. After 5 minutes or so, I saw a second police car pull out and head east. After another 5 - 10 minutes elapsed with nothing happening, I considered getting out of my car to ask remaining officer if anything was wrong. I thought the better of it, and just stayed put. A few minutes later, officer returned with my credentials, and a citation. After signing the citation, I was free to go. Not so fast, ace. The second cop car and excessive time interval smelled fishy to me. To cure my lead foot, I set cruise control to 64mph (speed limit was 65 back then, it's 70 today). Sure enough, after 5 miles I spot a blacked out police cruiser in the center median turnaround. A minute or so later, I spot a pair of headlights rapidly passing a truck, and then slowly fall in line behind me. He proceeded to "jazz" the throttle a few times to goad me into speeding, but I wasn't taking the bait. After a few minutes of this foolishness, he tired of the game, and passed me. There was still several miles to go to state line, I was still leaving cruise control on original setting. Which was a good thing, because this cop wasn't through with me yet. About 2/3 mile short of the state line (~40 seconds driving time), I spot a pair of headlights shining out of the center median, then turn west bound. Yep, police cruiser headed the other way. Seeing that it was ~ 30 miles from traffic stop to state line, and the ~ 26 second differential in driving time at 64 mph vs 65 mph, I'm convinced that I was being timed practically all the way to the state line. Does anybody know the penalty for 2 consecutive speeding tickets ? Would it be too much of a pun to say that I dodged one bullet that night ?
That's it from me for now, saving remaining bandwidth for others to share police encounter anecdotes during their drives to and from club.
