A couple of weeks ago I was on the Florida Turnpike with my new GS 430 and there were two gravel trucks side by side with gravel falling off the trucks. I beeped my horn a bunch of times after about 8 minutes of this and the other truck not passing so I could get around. Behind me was a red ford car. After the gravel truck finally passed the other one my adrenalin was going. I floored my GS430 and passed them up and when I looked down at my speedometer I was doing about 115 miles an hour! Just then the Red Ford behind me turned on its blue lights. It was an unmarked Florida Highway Patrol car! :eek:
I pulled over and he yelled out move your car away from the road Now! I moved the car and thought it was okay then to get out of my car and head over to the Officer. I was expecting a phone call on my cell but the way he was acting I thought it would not be a good idea to reach for it and put it in my pocket. When I approached the Officer he said loud "DO YOU NO WHAT ROAD RAGE IS! He then grabbed my arm so hard that my Kenneth Cole Stretch shirt tore at the seams. He then pulled out his gun and he said I was only going to give you speeding ticket. So happens I carry around a real fat wallet and he thought it was a gun. That's what he said anyway. He said that I should have stayed in my car because he was about to shoot me. He said he had been shot twice in stops such as this and my car looked like a drug dealers. To my relief he said I was only going 85 mph
I said I was sorry that he got shot and that the reason I was speeding was because I wanted to get around the two gravel trucks that gravel was coming off the back of as quick as possible. He said he had problems with gravel damage from these type of trucks to when he was off duty. We shaked hands. He did not give me a ticket.

The next day I could see a black and blue mark which was his hand print on my arm. I maybe could have brought him up on charges for police brutality but since he let me off I let it go.

 

He should have apologized for messing with the Ken Cole's baby!

 

I brought the shirt back to the store I bought it from the week before and they just exchanged it. But this shirt is advertised to be able to be really stretched without any damage. I am glad I did not try and put my cell phone in my pocket when I was exiting my car he might have shot me! :eek:
I still think I got off lucky

 

Catch 22!!!

 

After somewhat of a similar experience long ago, I asked a "blue" friend of mine how best to handle being pulled over: stay in the car, both hands up on the wheel in plain sight, let the officer approach the car, and follow all his/her directions slowly. Getting out of the car and (esp) strolling towards the police car makes policemen VERY nervous.

Considering he's had his Kevlar tested twice in traffic stops and his (admittedly in error) perceptions of you, I'd have to think this officer showed some restraint. I give both of you a "thumbs up": you, for being calm and rational enough not to have escalated the situation and him for having the grace to explain his hair-trigger response AND not ticket you.

Hope your Lex didn't get chipped!!!

Let's be careful out there.

 

That's a really fascinating story. I'm really glad that everything (for the most part) turned out alright. It's understandable for him to have acted as cautiously as he did. Kudos to you for keeping your wits about you.

 

i was under the impression that unmarked cars cant give you speeding tickets. or maybe its just in cali. or maybe im just under the wrong impression. i think they could just take you down to the station for really bad stuff..like shooting someone, or drug dealing, etc etc.. a friend of mine was under the same situation..he didnt get a ticket either..they always give the same excuse. "i thought u were a drug dealer", or "your car looks like a certain suspects car". this is why i think they cant give u speeding ticket..because they never use speeding as the excuse of initially pulling u over. and theres a rule how speed traps are illegal. to get a valid speeding ticket, the car has to be marked and in clear view..or something like that.. so if this is the case, the police dude was just bluffing about the ticket, and just wanted to harrass you a little, and let you off while he ended up lookin like the good guy. anyone know for sure how these laws work?

but you handled the situation well, and it was wise you didnt pull out that cell phone!! -=) ..

 

I don't know about California, but here in Illinois it is certainly legal for a cop in an unmarked car to give you a speeding ticket.

 

I don't know about CA either but I've lived in a few states and unmarked cars are USED to give out tickets. And they don't have to have radar or laser out in the open either. The blues can basically use whatever means they wish to get you speeding.

And, according to a cop friend's advice from years ago, if they want to pull you over all they have to do is follow you for 10-15 minutes and eventually you'll break one traffic law or another and they'll have a reason to stop you.

I agree with Mooretorque (once again). I've always heard if you're stopped to stay in the car with your hands in plain site. Getting out of the car or walking towards the police is a definite way to get their guard up.

fierce gs, note that ceoart was initially stopped after doing 115 and all he got was a ticket for 85. Under the circumstances he got away easy.

 

marty he didnt get the speeding ticket at all. so he did get off easy =)

i just dont like cops sometimes. sometimes they are reeeeaaaly nice, but sometimes they are nothing but ******** that abuse their power.

if youre bored and want to read two stories regarding cops, read on...


piece of **** cop:

A cop wanted to pull a friend of mine over for some reason (guess he was jealous of his car?). He was very determined and followed him for 10 minutes. He tailgated him the whole distance trying to catch him slip somehow... You dont know how badly my friend wanted to slam on breaks and watch the cop hit him from behind..The ******* was 1 centimeter away the whole time. after about 10 minutes the cop turned on his sirens and his super high beam lights that blind the living **** out of you, and left them on forever. Since the cop could not get anything on him, he wrote him up a ticket for not having on his seat belt.. He claimed that he saw the metal buckle of the seat belt loosely hanging. But my friend had his belt on the whole time..now my friend was calm and spoke nicely to the officer. He told the officer that his belt is on now, and there was no way he could have gotten it on from the time he got pulled over (with those bright *** lights you would see him pull for the belt). not to mention he would be too blind to even see where the seat belt was. The cop said he was sure he didnt have the seat belt on..so my friend asked him if he could take off the belt. the officer agreed. My friend took off his belt, and the metal buckle sank all the way to the floor. He then asked the officer how he was able to see the metal buckle if its on the floor? The officer tried everything he could get the buckle to stand up next to the window..He tried for at least 5 minutes and was unsuccessful. He had just proved himself wrong. Just think what kind of idiot this made the officer look like. He still gave the ticket, and went on saying how he saved his life, because my friend would have gotten in an accident and died in the future if it wasnt for him. idiotness


nice cop:

i was in my gs. I was going 65 in a residential. I was honking the whole time. I passed a stop sign at this speed (i had clear view of intersecting traffic and saw nobody b4 i did this). I was on the wrong side of the road (i was on opposing traffic). I had lotsa minor things i could have gotten fix it tickets for. Cop pulled me over, hastled me for 30 minutes, scared the **** out of me. treated me like a criminal in those 30 minutes. and at the end, said "goodnite" and let me go. nice cop =)

 

You're right. My bad.

Damn, he did get off easy.

 

hey fierce, cool story, but can i ask why you were driving on the wrong side of the road and also not stopping for stop signs? or is this something a nice cop would do?

 

MooreTorque's advice is right-on!! Remember that I do the Ride Along Program & getting out of the car to head toward the cop is the WORST thing U can do because it shows aggression to the officer. Let me add this - since most of our members have tinted windows ( legal or not ), it would be a good idea to roll down your window & rest both hands slightly out of the door to let the officer see them. I lost a good friend ( the first Louisiana State Trooper killed in the line of duty! ) a number of years back because he pulled over someone with limo tint & when they rolled down the window for him, he was looking straight into the barrel of a .357!! Needless to say, he was dead before his body hit the ground!! Also, if U're ever stopped at night, please turn on your interior lights to make it easier for the officer to see you. This has even gotten me out of 2 tickets in Texas because the officer was grateful for what he called a "considerate gesture!". In Louisiana, all cops can give tickets whether they're unmarked or not; plus, at 25 mph or greater over the posted limit, U can be taken directly to jail!! Do not pass "Go" or collect $200 - your fine will be MUCH greater than that!:eek:

 

Guy driving GS at 115 pulled in by cop...
Cop: Licence please sir.
Driver: Don`t have one,
Cop: Is this your car,
Driver: Nope, I stole it,
Cop: Who owns the car,
Driver: The owner is a lady who I have tied up in the boot (trunk). I hijacked her with the gun that I have in the glovebox.
Cop: Just hold it right there.
Cop radios in for help - back up quickly arrives in the shape of the local Captain.
Captain: Licence please sir,
Driver: Here it is Captain,
Captain: Who owns the car,
Driver: It`s mine,
Captain: Whats in the glovebox,
Driver: Just some CDs
Captain: What`s in the boot,
Driver: Nothing, it,s empty.
Captain: Just a minute - my patrolman says that you said that you hijacked this car with a gun from a lady who you have tied up in the trunk.
Driver: spose he told you that I was speeding too.

 

mikey...hahahahahahahahaha..nice story..i was laughing so damn hard when I read that.

about why i was on the wrong side of the road, and not stoping at the stop sign..i was racing some guy. it was a bet that i could make it to the end 2 minutes before him (his friend was in my car to time it). since it was towards the end of the race and i was probably ahead by about 1-3 minutes the cop only saw me.
As i approached the stop sign, there was a car in front of me slowing down getting ready to stop. I looked at the intersection, saw that there was no point to stop, got into the oppossing traffic lane and ran the stop sign. The end mark of the race was very close, so I began honkin to celebrate my victory (I knew I was definately 2 minutes ahead), and was thinkin of the nice 100 bucks i made -=)...next thing u know sirens and we called it a draw.

i practically street race everyday, although its not usually for money. Just friendly races with strangers driving down the street. After a while you learn the handling of you car, and double the speed limit is everyday stuff to you. Its not like the first day I got my car, I started driving crazy. Its a slow process. As I learned more about my car, its handling, and as my reaction time and awareness increased, I increased my speed and the quickness of my turns, etc etc.. And I always investigate accidents, so that I could learn from them and try not to make the same mistake. Like a major way newbe drivers get in accidents is doing a quick turn and breaking half way into it because they feel theyre going too fast.. The breaking during the turn causes the skid out..Thing learned from this is to do your breaking before the turn, get at the proper speed, then get into the turn..etc etc...I could be on the freeway racing, and if u pause everything and blindfold me, I could tell you the position of every car around me (incase i need to make emegergency lane changes/etc)..I love racing, but i still try to play it as safely as possible. I agree that doing what I do without the experience would be plain dumb. No accidents for the 2 years ive been driving....some people just say im one lucky son of *. and others just think Im a really good driver and I know what Im doing...its all opinions.. -=)

anyone in la up for a street race? hehehehe...

anyways, i do agree with all of you about the advice of what to do when you get pulled over..I think they should teach that stuff in drivers ed. I dont blame the cops for the precautions they take...You treat the cops nicely and they treat u nice in return (well most of the time..hehe)


take care