Be careful, everybody!

In some locations, you can be tagged for "Driving While Impaired", even if you haven't been drinking. Some medications can have similar, if not to the same magnitude, as alcohol, and those places that have such laws make no distinction between impaired because of alcohol, or because of something else.

F the pigs. They'll pull you over for nothing and make a federal case out of it.

If a cop gives you the Inquisition because he "thinks" you have been drinking & you DON'T have alcohol in you, I'd ask for his name & badge number & report him to his Superiors.

Got hassled at a DWI stop in CA about a year ago. I had imbibed two drinks over 5 hours. My GF had a bit more, but I was driving. The cops interrogated me and did a quick sobriety check (the pencil thing). On my GF's side of the car, they ordered her to put out her cigarette while she was seated in our car. I suppose they wanted to try to smell for other things. However, they were just plain rude and seemed really disappointed when I passed the test.

There is a donut shop open down the street from Kahoots. I have seen cops on my visits to kahoots at night. Not sure if it is because they are trying to make DUI busts or if it is because of the nearby donut shop.

I'm going to take the cop's side of this-not the interrogation tactics, but patrolling high DUI areas. The best car I had was destroyed because a DUI driver going 100 hit me from behind. If you had seen the car, you wouldn't believe that I walked away with a sprained wrist, two broken ribs, and a major concussion.

It is far harder to prosecute someone for DUI than it is for murder. Even with video evidence, blood draw, and the judgement of a highly trained veteran Officer, Judges and Juries side with drunk drivers. States don't take DUI serious, and neither does the average citizen, until they lose a close friend or relative to a drunk driver.

Luckily, the number of alcohol involved fatalities has been decreasing. I've seen veteran drunks work the system to drive again. My stepfather, a GREAT man, was once of those veteran drunks, but luckily he dried up after marrying my mother.

It is my sincere feeling that penalties for drunk driving need to be such a deterrant that people won't drink and drive. First offense needs a 2k fine and a week in jail. Second offense, a 100,000.00 fine plus lifetime revocation of driving privileges. Third offense and higher, 200k fine + ten years in the pen. Each subsequent offense adds another decade in the pen.

i was out of town on business today. while driving before sunrise this morning on an interstate i saw a cop sitting on the center median soft shoulder with his lights off. i thought that there was a rule/law against that and when i arrived at my destination i mentioned that to an associate who happens to be a retired cop and his answer was.. the cops can do whatever they want.
that's not 100% correct but that pretty much sums it up.

"I AM the Law!" was supposed to be Judge Dredd's line, but these days it seems a lot of cops think that they're the law, and can do what they damn well please. I got no problem with cops going after criminals (and definitely no problem with them nailing drunk drivers, having been re-ended by a drunk college kid once), but some of the crap they pull is not to be believed. sad thing is, they end up in front of a jury, more often than not, the jury's going to have to have a ton of evidence before they don't side with the cop. needs to fucking stop.

The next time I am in Iowa I will remember that.

I avoid alcohol but one should always be careful for sneaky cops when leaving SC's. Another danger to the SC Player is leaving with a girl who has drugs in her purse. They pull you over and find them on her your going to jail too and kiss your car goodbye.

I remember an interrogation pull over. What did I do wrong to deserve all that? Nothing. I did swerve my car briefly but stayed in my lane when someone started easing into my lane and almost hit me because I was already in the turn lane. I would have let the other driver in front of me but they did not signal so why should I let someone in front of me who doesn't turn on their turn signal? The next thing I knew I thought oh no, someone has road rage, I was nervous over who that could be. I saw a car racing down the road shortly after I turned. It turned out to be the cops.

I was slightly relieved until I got the interrogation treatment. I did not forget though that the most aggressive drivers on the road are cops. They'll follow you up close without passing you for miles, stay on your tail, and race after you in the dark without lights on. That's before they pull you over. I only tell them what they ask. I was not drinking at all but I was accused of drinking too. He said he smelled alcohol in my car. I think their standard procedure must be to lie and make accusations. On top of it all he said I seemed to be excited or nervous. Yeah, I think they did that. After giving me an interrogation treatment that would have frightened most people, they figured out that I did not do anything wrong and let me go.

meant to say without blue lights on, their headlights were on.

You know when a car races after you in the dark and you wonder if that driver suspects he was cut off from turning, it means trouble. Important lesson, watch out for drivers who don't signal before they change lanes even if it is the police. They could be in an unmarked vehicle and don't bother to signal like most drivers around here. I actually imagined two guys pissed off at me with shotguns racing down the road. I was trying to figure out how to get away. I wasn't far from it. It was 4 guys in swat outfits.

Turn signals???

"i thought that there was a rule/law against that and when i arrived at my destination i mentioned that to an associate who happens to be a retired cop and his answer was.. the cops can do whatever they want.
that's not 100% correct but that pretty much sums it up."

Why would there will be "a rule/aw" against that? Cops sit on the side of the road looking for moving violations all the time. It sucks, but that's part of their job.

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"They pull you over and find them on her your going to jail too and kiss your car goodbye."

I dunno about that, but this is an excellent example of why you should never willingly consent to a search of your car or yourself. If the cops have probable cause to do a search, they will just do the search & get it over with.

^
to answer your question, all through the years when i've seen a cop on the side of the road when it was dark, they had their parking lights on. i always believed it was for safety reasons such as they could be seen so that someone wouldn't run into them or maybe so someone looking for help could see them.
this cop that i saw saturday was sitting on the center soft shoulder with his lights off within a couple feet of the highway with vehicles going by at around 65mph. it seems to me that it was a very unsafe thing to do.

It also seems to me that he was well within his right (and most likely the law) to do so.