[Zaqwert6]

Not to often but,


Sportbike- Stopped BEFORE speeding because it looked like I was going to speed. He walked out in the middle of the road about a half a block down the road, 30 seconds from my house.



Chevelle (Was Blown at the time)- Stopped me for a picture.

[conall]

I was driving on a rural highway with no cruise control on.
I must have gone 5mph over the speed limit for about 5 seconds before I noticed.
Highway patrolman pulled me over anyway. Maybe he was bored.
I think he just wanted to look at the car.
This was in my older modified bi-turbo Audi S4, though.

He gave me a warning and asked if I was going to pull over for the night soon, because I seemed tired.
I noticed he was staring at how high the speedometer went, though (170mph).

[crosive]

The reason for mine isn't stupid per se, but the show of force was.

It was new years night, about 3am a few years back. I still don't know the reasoning initially, but he lit me up maybe 500 yards from my driveway. I tapped brakes and put turn signal on.

here's where it gets interesting, I know my road, massive drop off on both sides, there's no even pulling onto the shoulder unless you want to need a crane to get your car back.

So I slow down, brakes on (brake lights more like it, I'm already slowed to about 35), turn signal on, and I pull into my driveway, giving him just enough room to pull in behind me. Then here comes 3 state troopers and 4 sheriff cars right after because "I was running".

turns out he was after me for a bit longer than the 500 yards but forgot his lights. I was just pissed someone was tailgating me so hard on a back country road at 3 in the morning, so I kept cruising.

[Altered Carbon]

Originally Posted by crosive

The reason for mine isn't stupid per se, but the show of force was.

It was new years night, about 3am a few years back. I still don't know the reasoning initially, but he lit me up maybe 500 yards from my driveway. I tapped brakes and put turn signal on.

here's where it gets interesting, I know my road, massive drop off on both sides, there's no even pulling onto the shoulder unless you want to need a crane to get your car back.

So I slow down, brakes on (brake lights more like it, I'm already slowed to about 35), turn signal on, and I pull into my driveway, giving him just enough room to pull in behind me. Then here comes 3 state troopers and 4 sheriff cars right after because "I was running".

turns out he was after me for a bit longer than the 500 yards but forgot his lights. I was just pissed someone was tailgating me so hard on a back country road at 3 in the morning, so I kept cruising.

I hope he didn't ticket you due to him forgetting to use lights or a siren. Whether you can tell it's a trooper/sheriff or not (being it was 3am). Did he think you should just pull over simply because he was behind you and in a patrol car? I would say that's on the dumb side on his part.

[slimjim2525]

Coming out of the casino at 2AM. Pull onto the road, and within a 1/4 mile he pulls behind me and follows me. 1/2 mile later flips the lights on. Comes to the window, and first thing says "have you been drinking". I don't drink. So he was fishing for sure. I told him "I don't answer questions". He asked a bunch of questions, each time I said, "I don't answer questions". Then I said to get a supervisor here. Supervisor came, was very respectful. I told him the officer was just fishing to see if I was drinking, told him I don't drink. He said have a good night. I don't suggest you say you don't answer question unless you have big balls, and are recording the event.

[crosive]

Originally Posted by Altered Carbon

I hope he didn't ticket you due to him forgetting to use lights or a siren. Whether you can tell it's a trooper/sheriff or not (being it was 3am). Did he think you should just pull over simply because he was behind you and in a patrol car? I would say that's on the dumb side on his part.

he came to my car flustered, got my license and insurance and said "hang out for me for a bit", then a state trooper came to my window and asked why I was running. I told him what was going on and how he just hit his lights right over the hill (about 500 yards away), and he said he called it in (original cop) that I was running and then he asked where I was going. I said "right here, this is my house", he busted out laughing and said "made it to home base didn't you?" and walked off.

original cop came back and tried to make it sound like he was just being nice and going to let me go with a warning, and he couldn't ticket me for speeding because he couldn't get a read on me). I simply said I was getting a speeding ticket because I wasn't speeding.

it was a shit show, I got nothing out of it but laughs. I'm sure he was just hoping I was drunk and that's why he pulled me over.

I got to park my car in the driveway, and watch them pull off eventually.

[17Blk1LE]

I was pulled over last night in Seattle for having Blue Lives Matter sticker in my back window, but never received a ticket because there wasn't a cop available to write me one

[JamesNoBrakes]

last time: Out of state plates, no other reason, was renting a minivan and the AZ cops were obviously looking for smugglers/coyotes. Reason given was made-up: "following too close", to what, I have no idea. With no evidence, they have to sit there and give a speech about it...

time before that: They didn't like that I was in the left lane going the speed limit while their lane was slow, so I "looked fast".

[Roostie]

In 1989, I had a California-licensed car in Michigan, with custom plates. California has front and back license plates, Michigan only has (or at the time only had) the back plate. Someone stole my front plate, and to order a new one, I needed a police report stating it was stolen. So I made a report, and ordered my new front plate from California. However, Michigan mistakenly categorized the plate as stolen. Two interesting incidents followed.

A friend borrowed my car to take his date to a Pistons game. On the way there, he decided to open my car up on the freeway, and drove into a speed trap at over 120 mph. He pulled right over, and the stop quickly shifted from a speeding stop to suspicion of GTA. He was handcuffed, held along the road for about 30 minutes until the police determined the car wasn't stolen. Once GTA was ruled out, he didn't get any ticket at all, and made it to the game with his date just in time.


I tried to clear up the Michigan record on my plates to no avail. When returning from Windsor, Canada, I got sent into secondary at border control. This time in addition to suspicion that the car was stolen, Border Patrol thought my bolted-in roll cage might be stuffed with drugs. They partially disassembled the cage. About two hours later, I was cleared to proceed. That was a boring and frustrating 2 hours for me and my two passengers.

[Roostie]

My most frustrating stop was in 1989, in Stanislaus County, Northern California. I was on I-5 South, returning from a 3-day Bob Bondurant school, which then was at Sears Point (now Sonoma raceway). I was going about 5 over, which was below the speed of traffic, and never in my life has 5 over been enforced by CHP or even local PD in California. Right after I was passed by two sedans going considerably faster than me, I saw a CHP Mustang turning from the median into the northbound lanes. I lifted and proceeded at the speed limit. The two sedans that passed me didn't slow down. As soon as the Mustang came along side me going in the opposite direction, he turned into the median for a U-turn, went to the southbound lanes, and pulled me right over. I was really surprised.


My car was a bright red hatchback with factory wings on it, lowered with wide wheels. The car probably stood out in that rural area, and being on the I-5 he could guess I lived far away. When the officer came up to my window, he said, "boy, son, looked like you were doing at least 80 back there." He asked for my license, I protested that I wasn't speeding and wasn't going anywhere close to 80. He held up my license, looked at its San Diego address (350 miles to the south), smiled at me and said sarcastically, "why don't you come up here and tell it to the judge?" He wrote me up for 80 mph, knowing I wouldn't want to make a 700 mile round trip to fight a ticket. It was totally corrupt, and he knew it. I should have filed a complaint with the CHP, but was young and not confident enough to do that. I paid the ticket and did traffic school to keep it off my record.

[The Manalishi]

I was pulled over in high school for having a black friend in my car. I quote the officer here: "Don't let the sun set on the ni**ers ass or you both will see what happens." This was in Kansas in the 80s. To this day it blows my mind. It was the first and only time I experienced blatant racism like that but it has kept me mindful that not all people look at people like I do. You breath, bleed and have the basic human needs, you are human deserving of the same respect I expect. I have never encountered an alien so not sure if they breath, bleed and want the same things, though I would approach them with the same expectations.

[Red Chief]

Anytime the sticker on my license plates have been the wrong color.

Having to regularly re-register a vehicle is a complete joke. Having to wait in a slow line with indifferent, impatient, short-tempered tellers makes it even worse.

It's so outdated it feels like a historical re-enactment. I feel like there should be a place to hang your tricorn hat and musket rifle. Seriously not worth the staffing fees to keep that side of the DMV open.

[ember1205]

Originally Posted by gpskinzhut

Coming back to TN from east TX at 5:00 a.m. and going through Louisiana. Dark, highway completely empty, cruise set at 5 over in the left lane. Pulled over. "You're supposed to surrender the left lane when not passing." Uh... oookay...

In your specific circumstance, it's kind of a bogus reason to stop someone. Still, I genuinely wish more states would actively enforce this. New England drivers seem to be some of the absolute worst when it comes to being "entitled" to staying in the left lane.

Originally Posted by slimjim2525

Coming out of the casino at 2AM. Pull onto the road, and within a 1/4 mile he pulls behind me and follows me. 1/2 mile later flips the lights on. Comes to the window, and first thing says "have you been drinking". I don't drink. So he was fishing for sure. I told him "I don't answer questions". He asked a bunch of questions, each time I said, "I don't answer questions". Then I said to get a supervisor here. Supervisor came, was very respectful. I told him the officer was just fishing to see if I was drinking, told him I don't drink. He said have a good night. I don't suggest you say you don't answer question unless you have big balls, and are recording the event.

They sit waiting for patrons to leave after shows and similar events. It's like shooting fish in a barrel to find someone driving stupid. Fortunately, they haven't had reason to tag me leaving Mohegan at any point as of yet.

Originally Posted by Red Chief

Anytime the sticker on my license plates have been the wrong color.

Having to regularly re-register a vehicle is a complete joke. Having to wait in a slow line with indifferent, impatient, short-tempered tellers makes it even worse.

It's so outdated it feels like a historical re-enactment. I feel like there should be a place to hang your tricorn hat and musket rifle. Seriously not worth the staffing fees to keep that side of the DMV open.

In the mid-90's, MA implemented a self-renewing registration with no fees. So long as there were no outstanding violations on your vehicle or you, the registration would simply automatically renew and you had to do absolutely nothing nor pay any fees.

That lasted some small number of months before the DMV workers' unions protested that it would result in lost jobs (which it would have because the staff would have been unnecessary).

[ember1205]

I've had a number of out-of-the-ordinary encounters with police while driving. I don't believe any of them would truly fit the category of being stopped for a dumb reason as intended, but here are some funny anecdotes that I recall...

- Flew home from a two-week vacation into Boston, landed somewhere around midnight. Loaded everyone up in the minivan and got on the MA Pike to head back to CT. While driving through the Ted Williams tunnel, a trooper stepped out into the roadway and with both arms signaled me over (put his arms straight out, made two fists with palms up, and "yanked" his arms inward toward his body sort of like catching a football). He didn't move the cruiser but rather walked the 150' to the van. Asked if I knew what the speed limit was and I said "honestly, I don't". He somewhat snarkily pointed out that there was a sign over each lane, roughly the size of the my minivan, showing 45MPH and that I was going closer to 60. Told me to slow it down and get home safe.

- Super Bowl Sunday in 2001, I drove down to the local Domino's to pick up some wings and pizza. Leaving the parking lot, I misjudged the traffic light and my front tires hit the main road just as the light turned red. Made my left turn only to realize in about 3 seconds that the lead car waiting at the [formerly] red light was a town cop. Pulled me over. He pulled up tight behind me, then backed away, then just sat there. Approached, asked me for docs, and then asked if I had ever been to Washington, NH (I was living in southern NH at the time). I mentioned I had been to Mt. Washington and asked if it was the same place (genuinely didn't know). He left.

Another car showed up about 3-4 minutes later, and the next thing I know there's a different officer at my window and I can see a second cop in my passenger rear-view standing off of the back bumper with his hand on his pistol (still holstered). Cop at my window asks if I have any additional docs for the vehicle. I proceeded to hand him title application, reg application, LOAN application, odometer disclosure, odometer disclosure from vehicle traded in, temp tag slip from original purchase date, and then unfolded the window sticker to show him my name in the corner (I had ordered the truck). He stated "There has obviously been some sort of mix-up here, sir. We'll get this sorted and get you on your way as soon as we can."

When they ran the tag at the time of the original stop, dispatch told them that tag was reported stolen (hence all of the ensuing antics). What they eventually figured out was that the dispatcher had not noticed that the tag number of my truck matched a Recreational Vehicle tag number, and THAT was reported stolen out of Washington, NH. Basically, I had the same tag number as a quad.

Original officer returned and issued a written warning, stating that the stop was originally going to result in a citation, but he decided to issue only the warning as a level of appreciation for how calmly I conducted myself throughout.

- Early 90's, I was driving my sporty little toy car from my parents' house in western MA back to my apartment in southern NH. The northern route through MA (Route 2) opens up into a multi-lane, divided highway near Athol. As I hit this section around 2AM, I sped up to about 70MPH (speed limit 55MPH) and basically just held it at that speed in the right lane. Car gains on my from behind at a reasonable rate (not "flying"), pulls up alongside, and then turns on the interior light. I notice and look left. State trooper. He looks at me, looks down at his speedo, looks back at me, looks at his watch, looks back at me (this all took about 6-8 seconds), then just pulled away. I never slowed down until much further down the road when I saw some actual traffic on the road.

- Mid-90's. I had gotten a flat with my car, so I took my parents' Parisienne (land yacht) to drive my ex home. Late at night, had just had a short burst of a shower, and the roads were still coated with a bit of water. I hit a stretch of main road where the speed limit is 45 but the person in front of me is going anywhere from 25-40 (mostly on the lower end). I know the road very well and know there's a passing area coming. I drop back and then use the gap of space to build speed so I can pass when the lane opens. I time it perfect and pull out to pass going just over the speed limit. Just as this happens, at the next bend, oncoming cars appear. PLENTY of room left, so I continue and pull back in. Lead car is a state trooper and he whips around and pulls me over.

As he is getting out of his car to approach, another car pulls in behind him. Guy gets out of his car (not a cop) and gets the officer's attention. I have my window down and I hear him telling the cop that the car I was passing is some certain woman that is known to be a terrible driver and is constantly the cause of frustration for drivers in that area because she drives so slow. He states he would be happy to vouch for me in that regard (he was actually the car behind the cop when they went the other way and HE turned around when he was the cop was pulling me over).

Cop basically spent enough time talking to me to realize I wasn't drinking or doing anything stupid and let me off with a verbal warning.