Stories of Getting Pulled Over

I had no idea those shows were on YouTube. Awesome! They were great. Will be watching them as soon as the Bulls get eliminated and after the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup!
--- merged: May 13, 2013 at 2:45 PM ---

Not too many moons ago I had the same thing happen to me driving from Bloomington IL to Champaign IL. And I was slowing down also. My boss was behind me and we were flying, I had it above 115 but was caught under 90 in a 55. A few more mph and I would have been arrested, impounded, etc. Had to appear in court at 8 am on a Monday morning in Champaign, 3 hours away. Had to take the day off, spend the night in a hotel and pay a heavy fine. But I did learn my lesson.

 

I have a similar story I sorta witnessed. Back 11-12ish years or so I was driving from Woodburn to Portland area on I-5 in the middle lane. This Mustang blows by me doing well over the speed limit, does a smooth move changing from the fast lane to the slow lane and vice versa with literally feet to spare between cars. It was straight out of a Fast and Furious type of film.
Not surprisingly a state trooper flew by in the fast lane not long after that, and the car was pulled over a a few miles ahead with the driver in handcuffs behind it.

 

I can give a more personal one. Back in my ITT Tech days I was driving 120+ miles any given day between working 0300-0800 at the UPS hub in Tualatin , school from 1800-2200 in north Portland not far from the airport, and getting 3-4 hours of sleep at most a typical day. I lived in Woodburn at the time. I suspect that snowy can appreciate those distance without looking at google earth.
My headlight conveniently burned out on the way home from school one night at 2300 (nearly hour drive without traffic) and I of course could not change it until the morning. I had to get up for work three hours later at 0200 and chose to drive through Hubbard where the one cop sits all night. This is the kind of place and time where they will pull you over for doing 2 over the limit or things like burned out headlights. Sure enough they showed me some pretty flashing lights.
The funny part is that when he saw my red blood shot eyes he had get out my car and do a field sobriety test; this was the first and last time I have experienced this. I have literally had 16 oz of alcohol in my life counting two wine coolers and no desire for anything else in the next 40-50 years. As I recall he got the short polite explanation of how I had something like 16 hours of sleep per week and that was probably why my eyes looked like that.

 

I can believe it.

 

I'd be really careful about telling an officer you were extremely tried in Oregon. Oregon's "driving while impaired" laws are being tested more and more. Police may cite you for being impaired due to just about anything. You could be impaired due to lack of concentration due to distractions such as cell phones, conversations with passengers, even misbehaving children and, yes, simply being tried. It's not specifically written into traffic laws.. yet. But it has been successfully used in at least three Oregon counties last I heard. Oregon and several other states- New York, Kentucky and I think Tennessee have zero tolerance laws regarding driving while impaired. Basically you, as the driver of a vehicle, are responsible to be free from any impairment. So if you're on the LEO's dash cam driving recklessly or just failing to maintain your vehicle within it's lane you can be stopped and just about any excuse you give could be used to make a case you were impaired. I think most defense attorneys advise clients to simply answer questions and not provide any unrequested information. I certainly wouldn't respond to a question like "do you have any idea why you were crossing the lane lines erratically?" With "well I haven't sleep in three days and I'm tried as hell." You just might find yourself being asked if you "thought it was a good idea to operate your vehicle while you were admittedly impaired due to lack of sleep?" If it were me I'd remain as quiet as possible and simply respond with vague answers to open ended questions. Red eyes? Umm, no idea- allergies? I wasn't in my lane? This might not be a vehicle I drive regularly or I don't usually drive I-5 etc... Of course make it clear, when asked,you have not been drinking and are not under the influence of any legal or illegal substances. Basically be nice, be polite, be respectful but don't volunteer information that's not directly asked.

 

You got out of a ticket from an Oregon State Trooper? Nice work. Only time I've ever gotten out of a ticket from a trooper is when he saw my badge and ID. I didn't flash it or shove it in his face, State Troopers in Oregon were at the time known for hating other LEO's trying to obtain a special break. But while getting my license out he could clearly see the outline of a badge, it was under a well worn suede leather flap in my wallet. He asked where I worked and I told him. He made me wait, I assumed he was running my info through the system. He wasn't. He was phoning my supervisor. I ended up with a letter of reprimand in my personnel record. The letter was removed after a year with no other driving infractions. A couple of my co-workers found out about it and they were pissed off that he called my supervisor rather than "extending a professional courtesy." As far as I was concerned he would have been right to cite me, I was speeding and he was patrolling for speeders. It was on Hwy 26 just west of Mt. Hood summit and I think I was doing about 87. I'm certain he cited everyone else on that stretch of Hwy, why should I be treated any different?

I was stopped and cited several years later on Hwy 26 by a Oregon State Trooper, a man I played golf with on a regular basis. He informed me he'd written Al Gore a citation the week before (a fact myself and everyone else in the area was well aware of) and I was getting the same treatment he got. I told him "completely understandable." I was doing under 65 in a 55. I went to court, got chewed out my the judge, royally chewed out and was fined $15. Per regulations I had to write an incident report to my supervisor. I never heard anything more about it at work. I saw that Trooper at an inter-agency meeting the next month and he basically said they were under orders to cite anyone they stopped. I told it him wasn't an issue for me at all and we ended up having lunch.

 

Sorry my bad. I didn't see where you mentioned "Vancouver."
Maybe the OSP has lightened up. In years past, 85-90 that I know of for sure, I seriously doubt an OSP trooper would have not cited you had they stopped you. I absolutely am not questioning you or saying it didn't happen. Just that they used to have a zero tolerance policy- once they stopped you they wrote the citation. In fact they used to begin filling out the citation, your vehicle info etc..., prior to leaving their cruiser.

 

I don't have an exciting speeding story as I've been pulled over a couple times for going over a very low limit (25-30 mph) while driving a stick. Anyone that knows how to drive a stick knows that it it difficult to cruise along comfortably at 25 mph. What? 2nd gear, 3rd?
Both times I got caught here in Illinois, being a girl got me out of it. The first time I was in my mid-20's in the summer wearing a tank top and shorts and the cop was leering as he lectured me and let me go with a verbal warning. The second time was about 15 years later, driving home from work after a really stressful day and I broke into tears. Again, verbal warning.

I agree with Tully Mars about not trying to engage the cop with convo and giving short, non-incriminating replies. Also, be very, very sincerely polite.

 

Fortunately I was fully alert that morning and driving nearly five under the limit with zero swerving, etc. I was fully expecting to be pulled over for that simple reason and explained instantly that I was buying a new bulb when the stores were open.
Now there were way too many other days then when I was so damn tired and not very alert.

 

You got off with a verbal warning. Is that like a good tongue lashing?

signed
TFPDOM

 

Geez, I could write a book from my youth. However, age does have some advantages. I got pulled over a couple years ago for doing 125mph in a 65 on my Honda Valkyrie. I explained to the officer that the road was dead flat with no crosswind and that I just rebuilt the bike and wanted to see what it would do. I handed him the dyno readings with my license and registration. He came back a few minutes later with my ticket; a warning for 5mph over and admitted he would have done the same thing.

Had I been 21, I'd still be trying to get my license back.