Pulled over by the 5 0 thread
 

I think this would be a cool thread for us to post these stories since they are interesting ... everyone loves a good ‘I got pulled over’ story

In the last 25 years I’ve been pulled over 3 times and the weird part is it has only been in my 991 ... 2 times when I first got it which was 6 yrs ago and back then I was speeding and said to myself ... heck I better slow down but 2 days ago here is what happened ...

I was heading to one of my offices which is in a small village here in Long Island where there are a lot of cops. I’m on a 2 lane road heading into the village literally driving 30 mph in a 30 mph zone and pretty much driving like a granny. I stop to let a mother with a baby and small child cross the road and as I very slowly accelerate I see a cop 2 cars behind me, next thing I see is he puts the lights on so I pull to the side at a red light to get out of his way and to my surprise he is pulling me over ... I for the life of me can’t figure out why but heck I make a right turn onto a road with no shoulder, then he follows me a block and I turn into a neighborhood and pull over (this took a good 2 minutes but I know not to pull over somewhere not safe).

Anyway I lower the tinted window so he has no worries who is in the car and he asked me for my license only, I hand him my license and my PBA card and the first thing I said is ‘What’s going on ‘ because I had no clue why he pulled me over. He said you have no front plate which I replied Yes I don’t, well why don’t you have a plate, did it fall off what happened to it, well shit I’m not going to give this guy some BS story I told him straight forward nothing happened to the front plate I never put it on the car, he asked who gave me the PBA card which I responded my brother in law who is a retired cop and then asked me his name which of course I gave him (it’s handwritten on the card with his phone number)

I text my bro in law i’m pulled over and he is going to get a phone call, a minute later the cop comes back,hands me the card and license back and said ‘have a good day’

Sounds good to me that card just saved me a couple of hundred bucks !!

Strange though because in all of my years having no front plate on some of my cars that is the first time I ever got pulled over for that reason. I was questioned about it during one of the other stops 6 yrs ago and I had the same response ... I didn’t put it on.

Meanwhile at almost 50 years old I still get very nervous when a cop pulls me over ... and this guy was probably 15 to 20 years younger than me. Why can’t I be like those you tubers who look like they could give 2 shits when they get pulled over.

I don't have any data to prove it, but my gut tells me that fancy or hot-rod looking cars are a gleeful target of police. First off, they probably feel relative safety in pulling those cars over, and then there's the "got 'em" factor.

Atlanta is very lax when it comes to any kind of traffic enforcement, so no incidents yet for the red 718s.

Despite the horrible traffic, it's kind of fun to drive down here, simply because there are no cameras or cops micro-enforcing road laws.

Edit: I've posted this before, but I once got pulled over by park police in DC while driving my E46 330i. The cop let me off because, as he said, "You have a proper transmission." I was driving a stick at the time.

I got pulled over for no front plate, got a fix it ticket.

What is pba ?

There are MANY occasions of me getting pulled over, mostly at night, for speeding and failure to stop (5-speed stick + no traffic at night + too tired after work to FULLY stop = "California Stop").

In all those times, I was in scrubs with my hospital I.D. There seems to be some sort of professional courtesy, because the LEOs let me off with just a warning.

There is a section of road on my way home from work where the speed limit changes twice in a couple of miles. Because I am coming home from work after a 10-hour shift, at 2:30 AM, with little to no vehicular traffic, I usually set my cruise control 8 mph OVER the speed limit. Pretty reasonable, imho. Anyway, the first time I got stopped in that area (about 4 miles from my house), it was by an LEO who was in a white SUV. I usually pull WAY over to ensure the cop's safety, I turn off my engine, turn on my interior lights, and put both my hands on top of the steering wheel. I was extremely polite. When he asked me for my documents, I even said, "They're in my glove box. May I get them ??". (I always make sure to say this, because I have a CCW permit, cops know this info at the time and get EXTREMELY paranoid). It is my experience that putting the cops at ease with these actions increases your chances of being let go with just a warning. We make small talk about the hospital I work at and his pleasant experience there as a patient, and lets me go a few minutes later.

Fast forward a week or two later, and I'm in that same area again. A white SUV appears out of nowhere, and I see what seems to be the same SUV, and he pulls me over. When I roll down my window, he exclaims, "YOU AGAIN ?!?!" We both laugh, but this time, he doesn't bother to check my papers and just lets me go.

About a month later, I'm in that same area again. As I'm driving home, I pass a white SUV going the other way. I look in my rearview and see that he whips his truck and follows me for about a mile. Again, I'm doing about 8 mph over the limit, or about 53 mph, which is reasonable for that road at that time of night. We are the only two vehicles on the road. All of a sudden he whips the SUV around and leaves me on my merry way home. I'm kind of laughing inside, because I'm pretty sure that it was the same LEO who stopped me the last 2 times on that road.

Here, they don’t nab you until you are 12 miles over. That is, if they even bother to enforce at all.

According to Google:

“PBA” stands for the Police Benevolent Association and nearly every police officer in the United States is a member. Friends and family members of police officers will sometimes be issued a PBA Courtesy Card.

I heard sometimes they work, and sometimes they don't.

Kind of like scrubs and hospital I.D.s, LOL.

(My sister is a nurse and got a speeding ticket....probably because she was late for work and was WAY over the speed limit).

I've heard some stories (and been yelled at) for this.

These and their equivalents in other locations make my stomach turn.

+1

Agreed. Some kind of justice, right?

In nearly 8 years of having the Atom, 35000+ miles, in just about every state in the continental US, I was pulled over... twice. The first time was in California when it had Oregon temp tags and the second time was in New Jersey quite a few years later. The California stop just wanted to know what it was and chat about the car - we had a great time until their dispatcher radioed them to "wrap it up" because the freeway was slowing down from rubberneckers. The New Jersey one was because the cop (who was a kid less than half my age) mis-read my plate. As he was walking up to me, he was apologizing profusely and saying "I shouldn't have pulled you over, sir - my fault".

I've had a number of occasions where a police car has pulled up to me at a red light and asked "is that legal?". My answer of "Got plates!" always seemed to be sufficient.

On my initial trip across the country, my official "end of the trip" point was parking in front of the Empire State Building:

http://www.atomacrossamerica.org/6F5S5567-s.jpg

There was this grumpy overweight cop (as you can see in the picture) who decided to try giving me a hard time. But since I was already parked, that doesn't count as "pulled over". And he just told me to leave or he'd claim I was creating a "security incident".

Gotta love NYC ... where else do you see an Atom pulled over in front of the empire state building !!!

Is this a trick question?

:lol:

Got pulled over today again in a Porsche... jeez these cars are too fun ... I was in the cayman and traffic came to a stop so I decided to cross the line after the 2 cars in front of me did and go into the hov lane which has only certain places you are allowed to go into it .. I was completely wrong for doing it and didn’t realize that in the hov lane the second car behind me was a cop, of course he pulled me over watching the whole thing and didn’t bother the 2 people in front of me who did it first.

I was calm and told him as soon as he approached the window I knew exactly what I did wrong, he started to tell me Alan pulled a knuckle head move doing that (yes he talked in the 3rd person) and how The Porsche is so small it I could have had an accident and the other cars that did it are big .... he also questioned my PBA card and I explained it was from my brother in law.

When he left my car to do whatever they do I immediately called my brother in law and told him I was pulled over and as i’m talking to him the cop calls him which I watching in the rear view mirror and thinking ok this a relief... because once they call the chance of a ticket is low.

The next thing I know is he comes to my window and hands me my stuff back without my PBA card and tells me how I now need to ask my brother in law for a new card and explain why knuckle head Alan made a mistake and needs a new card,

He said I could give you 5 tickets for what you did and I’m just giving you a warning. He must have mentioned the word Porsche multiple times which was weird but I find this whole thing so very weird. They all want their families protected from getting to tickets yet they take your card away when you do something wrong :dunno:

It’s a weird punishment thing they do and it is really to each other ... strange as shit :dunno: yes I need to get a new card but they are also making their fellow police officer feel shitty because the card that could save their family is now being used ... all I could say is it’s strange ....

Still pretty disgusted by the PBA card thing.

Not sure why ... is it that it gets people out of tickets ?

That you don't understand why kinda makes it worse.

There is something fundamentally wrong with a situation where law enforcement treats people differently based on who their friends and family are as opposed to how they behave.

In fact, it's fucking revolting.

I'm not pointing a finger at you or blaming you for taking advantage of something available to you. It's wrong that it exists.

I agree. It makes a segment of the population “above the law.”

If I had one, I'd use it.

I also think it's awful that it exists.

I've heard that if the violation is minor, the PBA card gets you off. If it's "major", they take it. If they cost money or are valuable in other ways (limited numbers), it has become a ticketing/revenue system for the PBA that is set up upstream of the state laws. I wouldn't be above using it if I had access but I also think it's an awful 'system'. Your ticket depends on whether you have PD in your family? WTF? Some kind of 'justice'. I wonder if it's a NY/NJ/CT area thing or if it's across the whole country...

As for AF, at least you had the card. Sounds like the "porsche" drew his attention and full desire to punish. Similar happened to me exactly once in more than ten years of driving porsches. I was very much singled out while driving like every other aggressive NJ driver that was in front of me (I hardly do so anymore) but I was in a red cayman.

I definitely agree it is a messed up system, I also find it messed up that cops break more laws driving then citizens do and they do it on a regular basis. I am always surprised when I see a cop using his turn signal or when they actual sit at a red light ... plus when they are off duty they know they can drive anyway they like and get away with it.

But I also find the way they punish their fellow police officers messed up, the whole taking the card away thing is their way of saying to their fellow PO ... f you. You should see what they do when they actually know each other, they take a sharpie and cross out the handwritten info on the card and give it back to their buddy so he can then take alcohol, clean the card and rewrite his info on it.

Also what is with the tailgate the shit out of you while pulling you over thing ... it is a complete intimidation tactic...

And that's a nice way to put it.

That cop did sound like a dick though.

ACAB

Look, here's the thing. The PBA system you're describing is entirely fucked up. It's a borderline criminal racket that subverts the rule of law. Is it the same as cops pulling over african americans and shooting them? No...but it's not unrelated to that, because it creates a culture of impunity where a cop and his buddies are above the law.

AF, you seem like a good guy. You should not participate in this system. Be thankful that the cop took that card; be thankful that it helped you out once, but be more thankful that you can learn a lesson from this. Trading in favors to evade prosecution is wrong, if not legally, than certainly morally. Don't do it. Just don't.

No. The whole point of taking the card away is to say to their fellow officer that they should really reconsider letting their friend or family member trade on their reputation for favors from other cops.

And, of course, it is absolutely insane that the whole PBA card practice is allowed.

Completely agree.

I want to agree more than I actually do. In my absolutely best self, I probably do. In my "I live in the real world" self, I'd probably say, "use it if you're okay with it, but you should feel really bad about it and do some kind of meaningful act of kindness to make up for it."

Part of what factors into that is that minor traffic infractions often lead to overly punitive actions. That part of the system is fucked up, too.

Damn dude. That's a broad statement.

Aren't 90% of court cases impacted, at least in some form, by attorneys "trading in favors"?

And are people really expected to reject a "not guilty" finding because it was for immoral reasons? Like, a having a buddy in the DA's office? Or an all-white jury? Or...

Using the card to evade a ticket or whatever strikes me as similar to using someone else's handicap placard (although one is legal and sanctioned and the other illegal, they seem equivalent in effect to me).


That said, it does sound like Alan was singled out for having the expensive-looking fast car. The officer was not applying the law fairly, and the PBA advantage is not a fair application of the law/justice either.

I would disagree with that. For law enforcement, it's about quotas/generating revenue. Alan just happened to be the most convenient target for this particular cop, at that moment.

That became crystal clear to me one time back in my 20's when I was last in a line of 3 cars going 12 MPH over the limit on a highway. Oncoming cop slammed on his brakes, turned around, and pursued. Pulled me (the caboose) over and issued a ticket, without any concern about the guy in front leading the pack. Or the guy behind him.

Depends on the day, depends on the cop. Because so much of law enforcement is subjective/discretionary, there’s no rule that you can apply to any one interaction.

Lots of different interactions, of course, do add up and you’ll generally see disparate impacts.

I can't disagree with that. My last ticket, all those years ago, was clearly biased due to my new, red, sporty-looking BMW. I was going only a couple of mph faster than a huge semi.

Related rant: As someone who had a legitimate handicap tag for a few months following an awful ankle injury, it is enraging to find no handicapped spots because they are all taken by seemingly able-bodied people. I had surgery a week ago to have the hardware removed and didn't want apply and get a tag for about a week of use. Not having one I parked in a regular spot and went to get lunch with my crutches as I walk past two people getting out of handicapped spots while having no issues.

It is so abused, it is ridiculous. I know several people who acknowledge not having any issues, but happened to know a Dr. who got them one. It really bothers me.

If you were going faster, even only a little, how was it bias from the red color? :?

:ack::ack::ack:

I guess it shouldn't surprise me that people do this. But jesus christ. :banghead:

He wasn’t really a dick, he was definitely strange and animated.


What your saying is part of it as well but it is not the full reason, you should hear the stories I been told. These guys rank on each other and give each other a lot of shit behind closed doors. Almost like high school in the locker room sort of crap.

So, essentially, people that are predisposed to become cops never really mature beyond what you'd expect from an massively paranoid, angry, middle school bully.

Be the change you want to see.

We can talk about marginal cases, and differential access to power, and differential access to money, and the impact money has the on the justice system, and lobbying more generally...there are legitimately hard cases that are tough to figure out.

This isn't one of them.

This case is about the easiest case that I can imagine. There's apparently an informal process for signaling a relationship with a police officer that is so well-established that it has its own mores and rules. My guess is that you won't see any of that written down anywhere. Schlubs who aren't related to cops won't know about it, let along be able to use it.

That's fucked up and you absolutely should not be a part of it. Come on, guys. This isn't that difficult. If you get pulled over for speeding (or breaking HOV rules), pay the fucking fine.

p=m*v and other governing physics.

Me doing 82mph is a helluva lot safer than a loaded semi doing 80mph. If safety is what they care about, that semi should have been pulled over doing 70mph before I should have been pulled over doing 82mph.

Yup. I've never argued a ticket.

Nothing wrong with anyone taking that track for themselves.

No.

First, that statement suggests admitting to being a violator whether or not you did it. Where's the line between that and "arrested for murder? Climb into the chair, strap in, and say goodbye"?

Second, if you did it, accepting state punishment for violating arbitrary rules without defense or protest is wrong.

Third, accepting a third-party's financial punishment for violating arbitrary rules when the third-party has a profit motive without defense or protest is asinine.

Fourth, if you have a legal avenue available to you that may protect you from punishments grossly disproportionate to the offense, being the change you want to see shouldn't be turning into a lamb on its way to slaughter.

A cop choosing not to incorporate vehicle weight into his speeding-badness-algorithm (for a law that doesn't mention vehicle weight) is a far cry from proof of discrimination against sporty red cars.

In what universe would a lawyer not recommend his client leverage a *perfectly legal* means to evade prosecution?

"I could get you off right now based on a technicality, but I think that law is wrong so let's go to trial and hope for the best". :?

If your kid got busted for cocaine possession and your best friend was the cop (or DA) would you not talk to them and ask them to show leniency? :?

You're pulling a string here that would unravel the entire legal system.