Court Shoots Down Cop's Assertion: Driving Without Breaking Any Laws Is Suspicious

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:woman_facepalming::woman_facepalming::woman_facepalming:

I was once stopped because “you seem to be having a little difficulty staying in the middle of your lane”
 REALLY?! I was 100% IN my lane the whole time. I was never in danger of being OUT of my lane, and I wasn’t weaving. Pretty sure there’s no law about having to stay in the MIDDLE of my lane.

No Officer I haven’t been drinking or doing drugs
 I simply drive a 1990’s vintage pickup after midnight. Guess what
 the steering isn’t as tight as a new car’s. :woman_facepalming:

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I love the police and I’m glad that they’re around. Once, when on the Blue Ridge Parkway with riding buddies who came in from all over the country, we got pulled over as a group. When asked why they said (and I’m not kidding), “you looked like you might be about to do something wrong.” Gotta love them. We all had a good laugh and they let us take a photo.

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My sons know the police between my house and their dad’s house very well. They’ve been pulled over for going 2 under the speed limit, their car was “too low”, their tires were “too wide”, speeding (that one I believe), and illegal passing. And they’ve been accused of being “too polite” and the officer offered to find a reason to give him a ticket.

They’re very respectful to the police because I insist on it. They’ve also had police officers voluntarily write notes to the judge on the ticket about how respectful they were and they got out of a speeding ticket because of it (well, reduced, so not technically completely out of it).

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When I was 19, I was pulled over by the same Fond du lac county officer 3 different times (technically only twice, once I was in the ditch because of a snow storm). This was not the county in which I lived or worked.

The first one (the snow storm) he let us go and helped get a tow truck for us.

The second one (speeding about a month later) we talked and he let me off with a warning.

The third and final time I was on a divided highway (yes @Dawn 41) doing about 90mph north bound round 4 in the morning. He was on the other side of the divide and drove through the center ditch to pull me over.

As soon as I saw his lights and knowing I could not out run him or hide I pulled over and waited for him to get to me. We had a long talk in which he asked me why I spent so much time in his county. I told him (truthfully) my girlfriend lived near Milwaukee and I lived in Berlin (over 100 miles away). I was on my way home and didn’t want to be later for work.

He told me he felt bad for me but he had to give me a ticket, he called it in as my car matched a description of a vehicle used in a robbery earlier that morning. I think he really did feel bad for me because he wrote the ticket for 8 miles over the speed limit (at the time I think it was 65).

It pays to be polite and honest with law enforcement.

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When I was growing up in Lansdowne, a suburb of Philly, the local PD were always watching me. Funny thing is I NEVER did anything wrong [in Lansdowne]. I’d be driving down the street and a they would pass me, turn around and follow me. I’d listen to them running my tags which they already knew by heart. It was either the fact that my brother and sister had history with the police as juvies or that I was driving a pretty black custom Dodge Warlock pickup. I wasn’t a saint, except in Lansdowne where everyone knew everyone.

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In my area, the some cops specifically watch for the ones doing “everything exactly right.” Their opinion m is the guys they see not breaking any rules, have something to hide. And, more often than not, it is the case. I57 Illinois is a hotbed of drug and human trafficking. Those guys don’t give the police any reason to stop them. When they do screw up, it’s a car that the plate was run on, numerous times in a short time frame.

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@Brad. Yeah that ‘gang’ looks like they’re really up to no good. Harley Hogs and flashing gang signs. What cop wouldn’t take these guys for up to no good??
:scream::scream::flushed::flushed::wink::wink:

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Because of all the negative press that law enforcement gets I think most people get nervous when they see a police car and try to drive extra careful

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The general rule for vehicle stops is that if you follow a car for a mile you are likely to observe 5-10 reasons for pulling the vehicle over. But not breaking any laws is ridiculous as a reason to be suspicious.

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I got pulled over when I was 17 for going the speed limit. The cop said he thought I might be smoking weed because I was driving too well.
#truestory

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I understand how you feel and I know how the officer mistreatments. I have been there, but their stories did not hold water.

P.S. Print very small and I could not read my hand writing. thank you

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Early 2000’s I was a Regional Director for a Retail Company. We had stores in, South Carolina. I could never find good solid people to work those stores, because everyone who worked there, that didn’t have that counties plates would get tickets. I even got 3 tickets. I finally got a copy of every single employees tickets, made an appointment with the County and Sheriff. Met with them, brought our Corporate Attorney, and a copy of our tax records, and employee records. Showed them that every single non county resident had gotten tickets, while all the county residents had not.

Then pointed out "you are getting about $100,000 a year in taxes from my stores in this area. I’m making decisions on what stores are worth keeping open and which ones are not. The fact that I am taking time out of my day supervising my 300 stores to be here and to bring my attorney, should tell you that I am tired of the hassle.

Your county has had multiple complaints on targeting out of county drivers. It’s literally, not worth the time and effort, I am having to put in to bring in workers to staff my stores, because no one wants to work here, because of the harassment.

I really think you need to review your departmental policies or you are going to be losing businesses, because it’s not worth the effort.

Told them I was going to be reviewing this market and if the targeting did not stop I would close the stores. Got up and told them they could review with my attorney the information I had brought, that I had a business to run and left. County wide we paid about $100,000 in taxes, and about $20,000 to the Municipalities in taxes.

I’m not talking big discrepancy tickets, I am talking 2mph over speed limit, which is within margin of error just due to tire size and guage error. I almost lost my license due to that 1 county. They did choose to stop targeting out of county tags, or at least the Mickey Mouse tickets stopped. After my 3rd ticket I had a dash cam installed that remained focused on my speedometer.

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Way to do it! :clap: :clap: :clap: @Zavier_D

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I was stopped one night because ‘when I made my turn, I was closer to the outside line than I should’ve been’, said the officer. I saw the surprise on his face when he scanned inside the car and saw my two young children. The real reason for the stop was my car, a 1972 Road Runner, vintage muscle and built to the hilt- he thought he was gonna find a couple of young guys, probably drinking and possibly with drugs to boot. Much to his surprise, a family going home after dinner out on a Sat night :slight_smile: I laughed when I told him my theory, he grinned and we went our separate ways.

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It sounds like we all have some funny stories about being pulled over.

I remember being taught that perfect driving was suspicious. I never took that to heart, but the point was that someone up to no good will drive extra careful to avoid a traffic stop. For example, someone driving under the speed limit might be intoxicated. It’s not a reason to pull someone over by itself, just one indicator that something may not be right.

I was reminded of that when I saw the headline. :grin: I’m glad the court ruled as it did.

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