Almost Got a ticket last night

[i_am_socket]

Bravo on defending your right to not break the law. The profiling does make sense as far as driving under the speed limit, but the lack of swerving and reaction to the tailgate should have been a clue.

A similar incident happened to a friend of mine that ended very differently. He was all alone on a 3 lane highway late at night doing the speed limit. A random car comes out of nowhere and tailgates him hardcore. My friend starts to freak out: clearly there's room to pass, so this guy is there for a reason; he's in a fairly customized Monte Carlo (not by him but the previous owner) and figures the guy on his tail might be after a car-jack. My friend speeds up to try to get away, tailgater matches all the way up to 95 before the lights come on.

Unfortunately the cop falsified the records (took the report in pencil, erased the original comments, and re-wrote it), repeatedly delayed the court date, and my friend tried to defend himself in court with an entrapment defense. It did not end well.

[ebacherville]

Originally Posted by ttoyoda

trikkonceptz
I don't mean you any disrespect, but I have to disagree with what you did. It would have been very easy for the cop to put meth in your car, or just shoot you. Poking at a cop is like poking at a rattlesnake. It may be amusing, but it can be fatal.
Making a complaint thru channels is a good idea.

WOW, your so whipped by society, this dillweed pulled him over for minding the laws of the road.. then harassed him about it and threatened him with tickets.. this cop is a schmuck that deserves what he gets.. a majority of cops are like this it seems.. I'v heard and seen way to many horror stories of these over zelous cops on power trips..

Know your rights.. and use them!!!

[ebacherville]

Originally Posted by Arminius

This is why you need a sticker on the car that explains your speed. Seriously.

I say good ide but then the drunks will all get "I'm hypermiling" or "Hypermiler Onboard" stickers..

Were a odd bunch.. were driving at or below the limit, that must mean were doing something wrong?.. the nail that sticks up gets the hammer. However going to slow doesn't in any way constitute a traffic stop..

I still have not gotten stopped in the modded out crx, but im waiting for the time when i do.. but at least i just look crazy to others, I think they say , oh they must be kind of crazy, ill leave them alone.. lol

Wonder if Basjoos has gotten stopped? hes got a lot more miles on his oddity on wheels..

[Arminius]

Originally Posted by ebacherville

I say good ide but then the drunks will all get "I'm hypermiling" or "Hypermiler Onboard" stickers..

Were a odd bunch.. were driving at or below the limit, that must mean were doing something wrong?.. the nail that sticks up gets the hammer. However going to slow doesn't in any way constitute a traffic stop..

I still have not gotten stopped in the modded out crx, but im waiting for the time when i do.. but at least i just look crazy to others, I think they say , oh they must be kind of crazy, ill leave them alone.. lol

Wonder if Basjoos has gotten stopped? hes got a lot more miles on his oddity on wheels..

The cops where I live are almost always really cool. In fact, most of the times I've deserved a ticket (when I have clearly broken the law) they have let me off, without me asking. Usually, when I'm just driving slowly, they pull up behind me and follow me for a few miles and then drop off. A sticker would probably shorten the distance quite a bit.

As for the habitual drunks, I suspect one of their problems is their lack of planning, so I'm not too worried about them slapping a geek's sticker on their car.

[ebacherville]

Originally Posted by Arminius

As for the habitual drunks, I suspect one of their problems is their lack of planning, so I'm not too worried about them slapping a geek's sticker on their car.

I know some habitual drunks that go through many lenghts to avoid getting busted.. quite interesting actually, most consist of either walking home, getting a ride, and some even carry a bike in there truck bed to ride home on.. However they are pretty good about not driving , but for you know how that goesafter a few to many.. "OHH , I'm fffineee to drivvve"..

[trikkonceptz]

Originally Posted by Arminius

This is why you need a sticker on the car that explains your speed. Seriously.

Not a bad Idea, I had already thought of using dry erase vinyl to make a panel on my hatch that indicated the last tank mpg, plus gallons saved over time, with a statement saying, "Achieved by adjusting the nut behind the wheel."

I may go ahead and do it now ...

[wagonman76]

Dont know about your area, but here tourists are king, and they know it. By mass majority theyre the ones who drive 20 mph over the speed limit, pass into oncoming traffic, run stop signs, drive cars/boats/snowmobiles drunk, etc. They charge down the roads like packs of wild animals. For whatever asinine reason, Michigan decided to rely on tourist dollars to run the economy instead of building a strong local economic base. And anything that discourages tourism is not allowed. That includes making tourists responsible for their own actions. They come up here to party and blow their money and go home with no strings attached. The police could make a killing by ticketing them and make the roads a LOT safer, but they wont touch it. Instead they would rather pick on locals for doing 5 over, 10 under, tailipipe that sticks out too far, and other things like try to accuse me of kidnapping my own daughter because I dont look like the typical yuppie golfer. With prices of everything going up and jobs being sent overseas, the tourism business is becoming more fragile and they dont want to discourage it.

The more wasteful you are the better you are treated. This is true for the receiving end of every business. And big business is what runs this country. Back in the older days, it was always taught to drive like youve got an egg under your foot. And anticipate traffic ahead and drive accordingly. Things that saved gas and were considered safe. That was back when people cared. These days its all about oil and money. We are expected to cater to those who pump more dollars into the system with their wasteful and many times illegal behavior.

Hypermilers tend to do less for the ecomomy because we save money on gas and usually other things as well. As we become more well known we are going to get picked on more and more.

Thats my soapbox.

[cfg83]

trikkonceptz -

Originally Posted by trikkonceptz

...

He says that the way we drive, (Safe and under speed), does mimic that of drunk drivers, the differnece being that we do not swerve all over the place. He advised me to be a bit more tolerant of law enforcement because they operate under suspicion at all times. He did not condone the treatment I recieved, just asked that I be more patient when approached at night by police until this becomes more mainstream.

...

That's pretty much what I thought. My car has the "Big E" in the rear window, so I think I am communicating what I am all about in terms of how I drive.

CarloSW2

[MazdaMatt]

Just be happy that you guys aren't the modder/tuner crowd. That kind of response to a cop pulling over someone with a perfectly legal but flashy car would land them many many bogus tickets and days in court. Now in Ontario if a cop feels like accusing you of doing a burnout, screaching around a corner or driving 50km/h over the limit, he can have your car impounded with no due process and send you walking home.

[ajax_6531]

Sweet!!!

I don't have any super cop stories. I do, however, love the movie Super Troopers.

[mhmitszach]

Only story i have is...

I was driving 45 down a country road, which is normal speed limit. However it was actually city limits and speed limit was 30. Cop pulled me over, but I just explained I really didn't know it was city limits and he let me go. Cops don't have a reputation for letting you off for that in my town.

Also, first month into having license. Got pulled over for going 50, what every sign I saw said 45. The same speed everyone else was going too. I've even been down that road since and have not seen any sign saying 30 mph. Only got a warning though.

Its a good thing I've slowed down to 55 mph during the day and 50 at night if I'm in the mood.

[NoCO2]

Reading all these stories makes me really happy that I ride my bicycle...screw motor vehicle law, a cop, 99% of the time, will ignore a bicyclist unless they are endangering themselves or others by doing something stupid...I've been pulled over in my care twice, once for my tail light going out (on the way to the store to buy a new bulb) and once for speeding at night while I was the only one on the road for at least 5 miles in both directions. But never for anything I've done on my bike, and I'll admit, I've done some pretty stupid things on my bike and some of them were actually in front of cops.

My personal opinion on police has already been stated, there are good and there are bad. However, the bad ones can be REALLY bad and there aren't enough good ones (at least that I've met) to make up for the idiocy of the really bad ones...I understand that law enforcement is necessary, but the distribution of power in the law enforcement system is very very centralized and is a prime example of why we have a system of government over top of them that supersedes anything that they do, like we have...but like any system, there are loopholes, and some of those loopholes when found by the wrong (or right actually) bad cop, can really mean a world of hurt for whoever happened to fall victim to their trap.

[93hatchDX]

good cop/bad cop aside.....

I do feel that the practice of speeding up behind you quickly and riding your bumper is unsafe....this technique should be abolished for obvious safety reasons.

Kudos for standing up for yourself.

[cfg83]

NoCO2 -

Originally Posted by NoCO2

...

My personal opinion on police has already been stated, there are good and there are bad. However, the bad ones can be REALLY bad and there aren't enough good ones (at least that I've met) to make up for the idiocy of the really bad ones...I understand that law enforcement is necessary, but the distribution of power in the law enforcement system is very very centralized and is a prime example of why we have a system of government over top of them that supersedes anything that they do, like we have...but like any system, there are loopholes, and some of those loopholes when found by the wrong (or right actually) bad cop, can really mean a world of hurt for whoever happened to fall victim to their trap.

I take the stance that 90-95% of cops are good. The failing of that 90-95%, however, is that they protect the other 5-10% that are bad, because of the fraternity/culture. A bad cop has a judicial system and a prison system at their disposal. Protecting "one's own" is typical in any family/gang culture, but with cops, it is so much more dangerous to the innocent victim.

Internally I assume that all cops I meet are bad cops until I can ascertain their behavior. Externally I treat them with lots of respect, which generally works for good and bad cops.

CarloSW2

[dremd]

awesome !
i only have big balls with cops when there are cameras in my car. oh man was i bad then.

i do have a big issue with these cops. i saw my dad get pulled over by such a cop a while back. he had 3 people from out of town with him looking to move down, cop was very rude and stupid (they didn't move) told him that he needed to replace the factory headlights because his were to blue. what a moron. car was 2 week old vibe totally un-modified. complained heartily about that one.
just sharing the story so we know that cops pull everyone over for no / stupid reason, not just us hypermilers.

[dcb]

Those blue headlights do suck though. I'm sure they are out of wavelength spec in many jurisdictions despite the fact that they came that way.

[dremd]

Originally Posted by dcb

Those blue headlights do suck though. I'm sure they are out of wavelength spec in many jurisdictions despite the fact that they came that way.

i take it that you are joking.
these are not hid's just standard halogen bulbs.

[BBsGarage]

How's this for a sticker?

***CAUTION***
Angry Hypermiler on Board

[dcb]

Originally Posted by dremd

i take it that you are joking.
these are not hid's just standard halogen bulbs.

I wasn't joking, I've seen the regulations. So if they were the blue ones then yah, they are awful for everyone elses night vision. A shift towards red would be preferrable.

[ALS]

I have no problems driving any way I want. All the local Police around me wave or acknowledge me when I go by. Must be that front plate, solid aluminum with a Mil-Dot Sniper reticle cut out of the center and the BLACKWATER license plate frame on the rear. Alizée singing in french usually coming from the open windows.
There are no hand jesters or horn honks from other drivers when I'm hypermiling around town.
Although at lights I do notice very few cars will pull up beside me. They stay back by my back bumper.