In the town where I grew up the police had a favorite spot to hide. It was on a curve heading out of town with a downward slope so people tended to speed up as they headed down the hill but the speed limit didn't change until about a 1/4 mile ahead. The police would back their cars in amongst some evergreen trees and were hard to spot. One day I was approaching the curve and then started to laugh when I noticed the patrol car tucked into the evergreens but the officer had forgotten to turn off his flashing lights! He was easy to spot hiding there in the trees.
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Randy -
Hide...you betcha! When I was in high school, there was a food hangout nearby with a large "U" shape parking lot around the building. The kids used to back their cars in on both sides of this "drive around" and waitresses would come out to the cars. It was great. You could see the parade all night with people driving around acting cool.
Across the street was a bank on the corner, and the cops used to park on the far side of it (like it was a big secret) and just watch the entry and exit of the parking lot. If somebody drove wild or "burned out" for an exit, they would pounce. Well, one night, a guy did his thing and blasted down the road, and the cop at the bank put on his overheads, and his car wouldn't start. You had to be there.
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July 2006. Moving cross country from San Diego to DC with my car so
loaded down the tops of the tires disappeared into the wheel wells. It was
around 9am about an hour east of El Paso when I passed a lone 18-wheeler
right when the sheriff was pulling onto the interstate.
I think I was going 72 in a 65. Tall, skinny, older guy with a curly mustache, cowboy boots, cowboy hat, dark sunglasses, slow walk, and hand on his belt appears. "Where'd you sleep last night?" El Paso. "You know you were
speeding?" Well, I was passing that truck. "Well, son, the speed limit in
Texas is 65." I'm sorry officer. "I'm giving you a warning but slow down.
Have a nice day."Comment
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I think the last was "speeding" in this little section of road where the speed limit changes literall 4 times in a 1/4 mile. It was in my company vehicle with my boss. My boss told the cop that worse than the ticket was the fact we would be driving to a meeting two hours away and I'd have to listen to him all the way there and back.
The cop gave me a ticket for not obeying a traffic sign.
I manage a traffic signal construction company and we put up signs and signals for a living. Worst ticket I ever got.
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May of 2005. My wife and I had gone back to Virginia Tech to see a good friend graduate, and had gotten rooms for graduation in one of the dorms. As we pulled into our parking spot around midnight, a police officer pulled up behind us to block us in, turned on his lights, and ordered me over the loudspeaker to stay in the car.
The officer starts to ask for my license, shines a light in my eyes and instead says:
"Do you know who I am?"
"Uhhh....."
"DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM!!??"
At this point I'm getting a bit worried and LOML is starting to freak out - he's shining his maglight in my eyes, I can't see anything and have no clue who he is. This is so irregular that I'm not even sure he's a cop - I have no clue what the right answer is here.
I finally stammered out that I couldn't see anything past his light.
He says "You're Bryan Thorne!" I hand him my license and he says "I knew it!" It turned out that we went to the same elementary school for ONE YEAR almost 20 years before.
We talked for a few minutes before he decided he had to address why he'd pulled me. He told me my left tail light was out, and didn't believe me when I said I thought I'd fixed it. I wish I could have seen the look on his face when LOML pulled out the receipt from the mechanic that very morning showing that they'd fixed a short in the left rear wiring harness and replaced the bulb. He ran my license, wished me a good evening and left.
Definitely one of the most surreal experiences of my life.--
BryanComment
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I was pulled over because the trooper needed intel on exactly where the fire was...
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Hope I'm not jinxing myself by saying this, but I have never been pulled over or gotten a ticket. I'm just careful when I drive and don't break the law.--------------------------------------------------
Electrical Engineer by day, Woodworker by nightComment
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I've had one ticket in my life in 1998. The ticket was for going 89 in a 65. This was written up by a VERY nice trooper who saved me a bundle by writing down 89 and not what his equipment should have said.
I generally don't drive over 85 on freeways these days (and have never really sped on surface streets), but learning the observational tricks to avoid tickets has worked well for me in the meantime (knock on wood) despite several trips to/through Wisconsin and their crazy interstate speed enforcement levels.Comment
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Geez, I hate to jinx myself, but the last time I got stopped was in the late 90's for going 78 mph in 65 mph zone on the NYS Thruway. I thought I was only going 76 mph.
Happiness is sort of like wetting your pants....everyone can see it, but only you can feel the warmth.
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My Dad happened to know that in MD there is a little-known policy that state troopers must always be wearing their hat any time they are not in their vehicle. One time he got pulled over, the trooper asked him that very question, and my Dad replied "no, but aren't you supposed to be wearing your hat?" The cop got so flustered, he said "have a nice day" and drove off. We both figured the poor guy didn't have it with him, and didn't want to get embarrassed if my Dad took the ticket to court to fight it.Comment
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Suffice it to say that, I have Master's Degree in Traffic School.
SteveI would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong. Bertrand RussellComment
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