Being Harassed by Highway Cops?

He pulled you over to see if you were going slow 'cause you were too stoned to drive any faster. As long as he's got you there he'll poke around a little and see if he can find anything to write up. That's just procedure, it has nothing to do with the Prius.

If you want to drive that speed and not get pulled over, get a big expensive car like a Caddy or a Buick, put an AARP and a masons sticker on the bumper, maybe an AAA sticker too, sit waaay down in the seat while wearing a hat with a flower on it. You can cross the whole country at 45 MPH in that getup and no one will bother you.

 

Driving too slowly can be just as dangerous as driving too fast. It's the speed differential that's the problem.

 

Hi All,

Not on the highway, or neccassarily directed toward my driving. I pulled into the turn lane of a secondary road, slowed to 40 mph (speed limit was 45), and was gliding the 300 yards to the turn, and a big Infinity SUV decided to tail gate. So, I did a min braking turn, and a full torque accelleration to 30 mph new road speed limit. This put 75 yards gap between me and the SUV. He zoomed right up after he finally was able to get around the turn, just in time to have a cop notice this whole thing going the other way on the road we turned on. Cop did a U-ey, and the SUV backed off to a respectable following distance.

Drunk drivers are more dangerous than 90 mph sober drivers. I just do not get where your cop thought you were drunk doing 62, when the people doing 90 weren't ? There are cautious drunks, and reckless drunks, just depends on one's brain chemistry. One would think rather than the search light BS, he would have taken advantage of being in the slow situation while the radio report came back on you, to catch anybody who wizzed by and apparently did not notice he was in a police vehicle. Not too smart, cop wize, somebody doing 90 who does not realize there is cop up ahead, is probably not operating his vehicle in a fully aware state of mind. If I was the cops, I might get a laser that compensates for the police car speed, and run a rear seat officer with it. Anybody 10 over the limit that does not slow, when they come into range, gets pulled over.

 

Speed and idiocy in general on the CA highways seem to be completely out of control. Just yesterday, while heading north on CA-85, I was wondering just what it takes to get pulled over.

Thankfully, you've now answered that question for me; seems I can now safely drive 20 over while constantly changing lanes like the rest of the drivers, safe in the knowledge that as long as I keep it well over the speed limit I'm safe from The Man.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(PriusOwner004 @ Sep 30 2007, 12:36 PM) [snapback]519449[/snapback]</div>

If a cop did that to me I'd probably have to pull over. I have good night vision but a bright light really hurts, even oncoming low beams often hurt. Would be very hard to drive with something like that in my rear views.

I've had cops zoom up on me while doing 80 in a 65 and then blow past after 30 seconds, have also had them do it to me while I was going the limit. Under the limit probably just stands out a lot more. I asked a friend who has more than a few years as a cop, both driving a cruiser then leadership about it once and he bluntly said that they sometimes approach as if they know you've broken the law in the hopes that you'll do something goofy.

 

zfgnjxfgjn

 

Yes, I've had problems here in the HOV lane on I-495 (Long Island Expressway). If you are unlucky enough to be stopped for speeding in HOV, you are GOING to get a ticket! The Highway Patrol thinks that "you think" your HOV sticker gives the right to speed. There's no talking your way out of it. So, Mr. or Mrs. Prius owner, here's your ticket just to make sure your head is not getting too big.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(KD6HDX @ Sep 30 2007, 02:35 PM) [snapback]519511[/snapback]</div>

Here in Polk County, actually Lakeland, you have to be careful about D. W. R. (driving while Randy Wilkinson). The story is going to be on Inside Edition tonight (10/1). He was running for county commissioner when he was spotted by an undercover Lakeland Police officer at a store, and then targeted and followed by a marked cruiser that saw his Prius. He was pulled over after being followed for about a mile. He was given a DWI citation for a 0% breathalyzer test, and if I remember correctly was also arrested and taken to jail. I think this happened one or two nights before the election. Of course it made the pages of the local paper, and those who didn't want to see him reelected had something to yap about. Also it kept Mr. Wilkinson from campaigning for awhile. On one of the tests for impairment he was told to say when 30 seconds had elapsed. He did at about 29 seconds, and the officer was so amazed he asked how Randy did it. That alone was a strong indication that nothing was wrong with him. Of course the drug test that confirmed his innocence was done a few days later. (And after the election if I remember correctly. But he did get reelected anyway, possibly partially as a backlash against this incident.)

At first they said he was driving his new Prius without lights at about 2 a.m., then eventually it was that he crossed a line while turning. There was also somebody else who had a very similar experience with the same officer who will be on the show too.

And my mom was stopped driving her Prius around midnight for supposedly crossing the dividing line, but not speeding. Fortunately they let her go home.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hyo silver @ Sep 30 2007, 01:09 PM) [snapback]519465[/snapback]</div>

HSliver hits it on the head, in Fl you can get stopped for speeding and / or impeading traffic (driving too slow) on the hiways they give you 13 over and 10 under....

 

Just go with the flow, not too fast, not too slow. Its kinda like a herd mentality, they pick on the weak and slow ones, and sometimes the faster ones get away.

 

I was on that highway safety corridor with my 2001 prius, driving through VA and a undercover cop kept following me for 10 miles, we were driving slower than speed limit 55 in a 60 because theres a lot of traffic and a lot of crap on the road, they end up pulling us over, and they took my dad out and brought him to the police car and questioned him and the other cop questioned me he was like "Oh wow fancy car" when he saw the gauges and stuff, they actually searched our car, i didnt know what to say, we just let them. It was the worst experience with cops ive ever had.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(subarutoo @ Oct 1 2007, 12:13 PM) [snapback]519928[/snapback]</div>

subarutoo is correct. To avoid the Highway Cops, the best thing you can do to avoid them is to just blend in with the rest of the traffic.

Keith

 

Doesn't matter what you're driving. In Oregon you drive in either the far left or the far right, because the center lane is full of semi trucks. Since when are they allowed to hog the center lane? Back in the dark ages when I started driving, they stayed to the right. Driving home on I5 south through the Terwilliger curves (uphill) the semi trucks cause all kinds of back-ups and slow-downs because they're poking up the hill in the center lane.
I hate them.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(PriusOwner004 @ Oct 1 2007, 01:03 PM) [snapback]519946[/snapback]</div>

They need probable cause, but since most people are uneducated as to their rights, they end up giving up their rights unknowingly. There's a very good video on the subject available here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqMjMPlXzdA

 

The speed limit is the maximum you're allowed to drive. But the cops, being as crooked as the system, expect and allow people to treat it as a minimum. So if you're driving slower than the limit, they may assume that you have something to hide.

On the other hand, some states do have minimum speed limits on freeways. And there's no law against a cop following you.

The job of the cops is to protect and serve: That is, to protect and serve the corporate power structure. As KD6HDX points out, driving while brown (or black, or Indian) is a good way to get pulled over. And whether driving or not, being poor is always illegal. It's called capitalism. No cop has ever busted down a door in the rich sections of Beverly Hills looking for drugs.