Topic: NO! I will not pull over

[74cb750]

Ok. Has this happened to you lately:
driving in a very dark night legally, and suddenly
out of nowhere some blue lights appear.

I didn't pull over for 8 miles, until I spotted a "legal" police car on the side of the road.
The 1st guy in the car following me, with the siren, and loud speaker
extolling me to pull over, several times a minute was visibly upset with me.

Seeing as the damn 1st car had lights ONLY in the grill I refused to stop.
He gave me a ticket for refusing to obey a police officier. I know I'll have this
thrown out in court, but it's a pain in the A$$.

We have had many many cases of wierdo's putting lights in their grill, and
pulling people over, then giving them fake tickets, harassing them or in the
case of 10 local women, killing them. Didn't want to be another victim of a wierdo
because the idiots we elect will not make unmarked police cars illegal.

At a minimum, it should be illegal for unmarked cop cars to do vehicle stops. They shold
only be used for undercover drug-type busts.
peace,
michel

[peten]

dam skippy.  you can't be too careful or trusting these days.

[mick750F]

   Did he tell you why he wanted you to pull over in the first place or had he forgotten by the time you did?

Mike

[edbikerii]

Agreed!  I seem to recall some rule the troopers had in NYS that required that only marked cars do pullovers.

Might be wise to "document your intentions" by dialing 911 on the cell in a situation like that.  8 miles must have taken you at least 8 minutes at legal speeds.  That must have seemed like an eternity driving down the highway, both for you and the police officer.

[jdigga]

This has been the subject of many a forwarded mass email.  While the advice seems sound, obviously it irritates law enforcement because they think you're failing to stop, which may escalate the officer's response.

I would tend to agree that only marked vehicles should conduct vehicle stops.  There are unmarked cars for a reason, but I don't think they serve the purpose of a high-visibility LE presence.

Did you explain to him why you didn't stop immediately?  (Though he probably wasn't in the mood to hear it at that point.)  I might have just looked for the first available populated and well-lit area like a gas station, but it sounds like you were in a remote/rural area.

What did he stop you for in the first place anyway?

[Cvillechopper]

I've done that before.  I turn my hazards on so the cop knows that I've acknowledged them but drive about 5 to 10 miles under the speed limit until I find a suitable place to pull over with light and witnesses.  Haven't had a cop get too mad about it.  One actually said he understood and appreciated my hazards as an indication of intent to obey. 

[333]

Of all the tickets I've gotten over the years, none of them were issued by an unmarked.  That having been said, you can't deny the need for them.  How many times have you been passed by some idiot doing something real stoopid, only to have him see a black and white and slow down and NOT get what he deserves.  Certainly some restraint should be used an rural ares and/or at night with these cars, but we do need them.

In hearing these stories, I have contemplated what I would do if ever stopped by a "suspect" officer.  I figure that the best thing for all involved is to pull over, leaving the vehicle in gear ready to go.  When the officer approaches, politely "demand" proper ID.  Depending on his responce, do what you feel is nessecary.  If you pull off and it turns out he was legit, you did the "right" thing, and in most cases that goes a long way with a judge.  If a real cop doesn't ID himself in that situation, he is wrong.

So what did he want in the first place?

[74cb750]

Wanted to  pull me over for having loud pipes.

Everything is loud at 4 am, and my bike doesn't have 4-way lights.

There is NO legitimate reason for unmarked cars to issue moving violation tickets.
It is too dangerous for drivers.

Around here, it has happened too many times that someone was impersonating an
officer, and took advantage of drivers.
peace,
michel

[Uncle Ernie]

You're suspect just by being out at that time of night.

The pipes thing was just a pretext to pull you over and check you out. 
Not stopping really got him steamed.

I think unmrked cars are too important for revenue around here.  I know one state trooper who puts a baseball cap on the back window ledge so his car looks more civilian from the back.  Seems to work -ticket wise- pretty well.

[333]

I don't believe the revenue theory.  In my Northern Virginia suburb of Wash.D.C. the popular way to slow residential speeds is to use speed bumps instead of speed traps.  It has cleared out the traffic courts.  They seem to be done by lunchtime.  And what concerns me is that the other thing that gets slowed down is emergency traffic.  Even something as small as an ambulance has to come to a complete stop and creep over the speedbump.

Sorry, I got off on a rant.