but officer, I swear, I was only going 79!
oh, if only that had been the case lol!
I sit here today to tell you the tale of what happened to me just the other day as I was on my way to a consult. I decided to cross from one main route to the other on this horrible road that is 35 the entire stretch, even though it's like a serious back road.
Just as I started out, a cop pulled out of the fire station and was behind me. Not because i had done anything wrong... yet.
I was going all of about 40 (in the 35 mind you) and the cop was tailing me. and i got nervous, because i have in fact had cops pass me in situations like that. this was my line of thinking (wrong as it may be) "maybe since he's TAIL-GATING me, he isn't concerned about the speed and has somewhere to go."
At this point, I eased up to 45, thinking very conciously, I will not go faster than this!
Well, dontcha know, his lights came on. I pulled over and instead of pulling up behind me, he pulled up next to me. he rolled down his window and said to me, "are you aware this is a 35 and not a 55."
I chose my words carefully so as not be come across as rude or anything and said yes, I'm sorry about that, i know i was going 45...
and with that, he says this, "well! i was on my way somewhere, but if you're going to argue with me like that, I'll just pull over and give you a ticket!" (feel free to insert an attitude in that tone of voice)
He came up to my window and asked for license/reg etc and I apologized saying that I was not trying to argue and I'm sorry that it came across disrespectful, that was not my intent.
He continued to speak with a raised voice at me and state that if i had just said ok, and chosen not to argue with him, he wouldn't even need to be standing here right now. But since I was looking for a fight, he was gonna make me pay the price (meaning the ticket)
He very rudely suggested that i "put my car in park" as I had forgotten to do so and was sitting there with just my foot on the brake...
It was about this point that I realized he was indeed about to write me a ticket. So I wanted to clarify what exactly he was writing it for. If he was claiming that I was going 55, I was not going to take that without a fight. So i asked sir, are you going to put 55 on the ticket? He stated YES.
I said, i'm sorry sir, I'm honestly not trying to be argumentative, but I have to disagree with that claim. I was going 45 at the most and I can't see how you could catch me going 55 since I just wasn't going that fast. (fyi, I'm pretty sure that 15 over in nys is a misdemeanor, so i woulda been in a wholelottatrouble for a 20 over ticket)
He said i was going 55 because he was going at least that to catch up to me. riiiiiiiight. and anyone who has any brains in their head knows that you have to go faster than the person in front of you to catch up. HELLO?!
Anyways, it was so odd. I could not for the life of me figure out why he was being so rude to me. I've personally found cops to be very formal and non-personal, but i felt very attacked. In fact, had i now known better, I would have probably gotten out of my car just so that I could stand up because he was making me feel so puny.
Finally, after a minute or two of exchange like this, where I am apologizing etc and him calling me argumentative and belligerent he decided not to give me a ticket but suggested that i DRIVE SAFE TODAY (in a very patronizing tone)
ugh. I wish i could look back on this post and say, "now amanda, really. you don't have to exagerrate in this way to get your point across"... but honestly, this is not an exagerration. He followed me for awhile before I finally turned into one of the school's to just get rid of him already having thought of a legit reason to go in there in case he wanted to follow me further.
I was thinking about this all day and wondering if maybe that cop never intended to give me a ticket to begin with. That the whole thing was a show to intimidate me? I wonder if cops use this kind of "warning tactic" to just scare people into driving safer without having to hassle with tickets and courts etc.
Has this kind of thing happened to anyone else?
5 extraordinary comments:
Oh goodness yes! I've been pulled over 4 times, 2 for completely stupid reasons and never given a ticket.
Stupid reason 1-in my parents neighborhood, a 30 zone, coasting at 32. The cop followed me to the place I was currently working and pulled up behind me as I pulled in and threw his lights on, in the parking lot at work, and began to lecture me about the towbar on the front of my Jeep (my dad towed my car behind his motorhome in the winter and I drove his because mine was lighter) saying it covered 1/2" of my plate, not the 1/4" it's supposed to and threatened to ticket me for driving an illegal vehicle. Can't remember the conversation word for word, but no ticket. He started following me back and forth to work and my dad got him suspended for stalking. (I was just barely 18 at the time-freaky!)
Stupid reason 2- Coasted down the hill faster than the cop in the next lane. 4 lane road, my car weighed more than his, my back door was even with his nose, he slammed on the brakes and pulled in behind me threw on his lights and threatened to ticket me for an "unsafe acceleration and aggressive driving". Seriously, is unsafe acceleration even a real term? The cop was about 5'3" and trying to intimidate me, but he was making me late for work and I was mad so I talked back and he backed down. I may have mentioned I was on my way to open the golf shop for the chief of police's morning golf league. :) Which was actually true.
Ah Amanda you poor thing. I'm sorry but what a JERK and it certainly sounds to me like he needed to feel superior. I'm sure the reason you did not get a ticket is because in fact he did NOT clock you at 55. I've always been told that if you get pulled over for speading and you know you weren't (or at least not as fast as they say) you should always ask to see what they clocked you at. If they can not provide the information, then they can not write you a ticket.
It's so sad that we have to be afraid of police officers. They are supposed to protect US, but they make us feel like we need protection from THEM.
I've had a few experiences that were not very nice..and one GREAT experience with a cop who went above and beyond when he did not need to.
Hugs to you...and good job for standing your ground.
Sounds like he was in need of an ego boost that day and was bound and determined he was going to "get" someone. I think he was looking for a fight and it really is unfortunate that there are cops out there that abuse their authority.
yea i have had many a run in with cops, as you well know, and none of them have been THAT ridiculous.
This was the post I was talking about...
I can just picture your interaction with this policeman. Somehow, I can see your expression just perfectly. Sounds like he was a Loser with a capital L! Glad he didn't give you a ticket!
Post a Comment