(You're late for work! You're speeding down the expressway... right past a
state trooper! He's at a complete stop as you breeze by, and you know he
won't be able to catch you unless you let him.)

(do you pull over anyway?)

33 responses total.

Does he try to pull me over, or is this just a completely voluntary thing?
Of course I'll pull over if he tries to, since he will have my license
number and can make things much worse for me if I don't, but if he makes
no effort than I will feel no more obligation to go turn myself in than if
there had been no cop there (and anybody who's been in a car I was driving
on the highway knows how I feel about speed limits).  The situation carson
describes happened to me a little more than a month ago.  I was up north,
where I am not used to how well the police cars are able to hide, and
ended up going right through a speed trap going somewhere between 85 and
90.  I noticed the police car as I wa sdirectly in front of it, and
instinctively put on the brakes.  The cop gave me this really strange
look, as if he was saying "that's pathetic," but made no effort to pull me
over.  Rather than turning around and turning myself in, I was just really
thankful trhat he was probably going for the 100+ mph people (which there
are some of up there) and slowed down for a few minutes before resuming my
previous speed.

I go for a chase scene as in the blues brothers...  :)

 I have done this. I would stop at the earliest opportunity, and hope
that pulling over without him making me, will somehow go easier when
he writes the ticket. 
 As far as defending myself against the ticket, I would not if I was
in my opinion clearly speeding. I firmly believe that pleading "not guilty"
when you know you are is equal to lying, and should be punished as perjury
plus the penalty for the crime involved.

If I thought he were going to pull me over, for example, if he started to
pull out of the parking space and into traffic, I would make it as easy
for him as possible.  What I wouldn't do is pull over what it was obvious
that he had no intention of pullin gme over, and encourage him to pull me
over.  (BTW, I say "he" in the most gender neutral way possible).

Anytime I pass a cop I naturally slow down, even if I'm not speeding.  So,
I'd do that, but no, I'd never pull over and wait.  (Well, ok, I did once,
but my father--an ex-chief of police--was driving his corvette with the 
speedometer buried at 125mph, so we pulled over and waited.  No ticket though,
which is a whole other topic!)

  If you KNOW you are speeding, I think it only wise and prudent to
pull over. Maybe I'm a little to moral for some people but that's the way
I am.

If I pull over I get a ticket.  If I keep going the cop will go for the
worse offenders and absolutely nothing happens to me.

I got stopped at a speed trap once, late at night, when no one else was on
the road.  I had been goind 50, and hadn't realized it when the limit
changed to 35.  I've always regretted not pointing out to the officer that
I really wasn't doing anything dangerous, and anyway I'd been driving 55
all day on the highway, and couldn't he please give me a break?  But I
took omni's attitude and said nothing.

I'm confused... Just because I SEE a police officer and am speeding (which
I do 5 -15 mph as a matter of course) I am supposed to pull over?!?!?!?
No way in heck!  I am far too paranoid of police.  I get nervous when I
even see a cop car, even though I never speed fast enough for them to want
to stop me.  On the other hand, if he does come after you, youre not going
to get away unless you can get off the freeway right away and lose him.
Those cop engines are monstrous.  And yes, when I fear that I'm being
followed (I don't think I really am though) I've been known to get off
the freeway and take a little detour down some side streets or something.

 They tend to give you 5-10 miles plus or minus depending on the officer,
but those who do take thier driving seriously, seldom exceed the limit.

(No, I wouldn't pull over at first. I would *DEFINITELY* slow down, though.)

(The item was inspired by a conversation I'd overheard during a bus ride.
One of the people was riding the bus because he had lost his license. He
was dragracing another car down a highway late at night, trying to prove
his engine was more powerful. He did "win", but he happened to blow by a
cop car while doing this. The cop turned on his lights, and the guy pulled
over. The cop said something to him along the lines of, "Why did you pull
over? You were going 240 mph. I was at a complete stop. I couldn't have
caught you if I had tried. I just turned on my lights to see if you would
pull over." As a result of the incident, the guy had his license revoked.)

  Obeying the law is a pain, sometimes. I want you all to know that I 
am not projecting a holier, cleaner than thou attitude. I have been there.
I have paid out a lot of tickets, and served a suspension for 6 months
for having 2 accidents and speeding. 12 points and $1500 bucks worth.
 I vowed that I would incur the wrath of the law again. I have only 1
ticket since the suspension, and that was for going through a yellow light
 little too late. I did it, I was clearly in the wrong, so I just paid
the 75 dollar tocket. I have dedicated myself to be the best driver on the
road, and to obey all the traffic laws, no matter what.
  When you go before a judge in traffic court, you can explain your trans
gression, and hopefully the ticket will be tossed out. But have you ever
wondered-- Were you *really* innocent? Why did that officer stop you? 
Certainly it is not for a quota, they don't exist. Certainly it is not
because he has nothing to do, he does. It is because you were alleged to
be doing something that caused him to notice you. This is why I feel the
way I feel. There is very little room for error in traffic offenses,
you either know you are guilty in your heart or you're not guilty of anything.
 
 The verdict does not lie with a judge, but between you and God.
.,

uh omni... i believe you vowed you would *NEVER* incur the wrath of the
law again.  if you vowed what you said, you're doing a lousy job...  :)

I made that pledge in 1986, just after I lost my job at Yellow Cab.
Since that day, I have had 1 ticket, the one mentioned in 12. Since
that day I have logged close to 200,000 miles. I don't call that
doing a lousy job.

 I don't speed
I dont drink
I try not to go through yellows, but sometimes it is better to go through
a yellow than to stop and possibly cause an accident.

In short , dang, I take my driving extremly serious.

yes, but what you said, if you read it again, was that you vowed to
incur the wrath of the law again.  i was commenting that, if that was
what you meant, you were doing a bad job.  that's a great record, hope
i can match it.  :)

 Well, I didn't plan on the cop being there, but such is life.

I've been in three accidents in my entire driving career.  In each case,
I *was* obeying the law.  In one case, I stopped at a stop light.  The van
behind me rammed my little Geo out intop traffic.  His excuse?  "It looked
like you weren't going to stop".  So, me breaking the law entitles him to
break the law??  That's cute.

In another case, I was turning left off the Mich Ave exit of '94 about
dusk.  I never saw the car that side-swiped me.  He didn't have his lights
on.  He was over the sped limit.  I got a failure to yield.  *sigh*  (Well,
he was ticketed, too.)

Finally, I was driving down Main toward where it becomes the expressway.
You know, no curb -- high speed limit.  A fool stopped dead, without her
blinkers, to let out a passenger who wanted to go across the street.  I
saw her and stopped well back.  Good thing.  The fellow behind me didn't see
her and rammed my poor little car almost into her back.  Damage to his car,
damage to mine.  She drove off oblivious.  (Grrrr!)

This response has been erased.

I agree with #1.

if he pulled out but didn't have his lights on i would put that peddal to the
boards and look for the nearest off ramp .  because if he doesn't have his
lights on it's not considered fleeing and eluding

But if he doesn't have his lights on he probably isn't trying to pull you
over.  If you floor it, as if you are desperately trying to get away, it
will make the cop very suspicious, and if you weren't already going to be
pulled over, you would then.

I agree.  That's a very risky maneuver, both legally and physically.  He 
might not get you for resisting arrest, but he could certainly change the
speed he clocked you at on the ticket.  I've only gotten a few tickets (so
far), but the officers have almost universally cut a few mph off the speed
written on the ticket.  You think they would do that for you if you tried
to pull away?

As I would not, in my current vehicle, greatly exceed *any* speed limit,
I don't think I'll have to worry about it, but I am paranoid of cops
for reasons best left secret for now.

Depends...if he tries to pull me over of course I'm gonna stop.  Otherwise I'm
not stopping...

###
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Reduce speed to posted maximum and continue driving; if he wants me he will
catch up and let me know but in general take the scenario as a personal
warning.

Reegarding the real life story that inspired this item (described in #11, I
think):  The cop who said "I wouldn't have caught you was only telling parat
of the truth...depending on your jurisdiction, of course.  They have radios.
There are often other cops  ahead on freeways... together, they can get you.
Here's another real life story to make you think:

A guy in a bright red Porsche with personalized license plates is driving
through rural Virginia mountains at an excessive speed.  Roads are empty, but
he's still doing about 120 and more.  Cop turns on lights but Porsche speeds
away down the highway.  Breezing through the next 3 townships, the Porsche
burns out the engines of the police cars.   Courtesy of a radio, the cops call
ahead, and cops all over the area are on the lookout for the car.  All they
know is a couple of the letters in the license tag and it's a red Porsche.
They find the guy on a side street.  His engine is *cool*!  Court fines him
big bucks and suspends his license.  He appeals based on lack of evidence.
Appeal court decides there aren't any other Porsches in that part of the
state, and certainly it would be unlikely to find another with any of the tag
numbers matching.   The cool engine?  Court decided that well, it *is* a
Porsche.  On appeal the court let the suspension stand, increased the fine,
and added jail time.

If I were speeding and saw a cop, I'd slow down, but not ppull over unless
the cop signalled me.

I can't drive yet so I'll just keep my mouth shut.

and me too..........huhu

You can't drive or you don't have a license? (there is a big difference,
believe me...)

I floor it, while popping _Born To Be Wild_ into the tapedeck.

Judgement call all the way...if I can hit the gas and not get a ticket, I will
if I think the cop will catch me, i'll hit the breaks right away...many times
they will ignore you if you fhow them this respect. If I know that they are
going to give me a ticket, they can earn their money and catch up to me...I
am under no obligation to assist law inforcement in their efforts to prosecute
me for a crime, regardless of the level of crime.

I pull over only when being ordered to. 
As for omni's comment about pleading not guilty when you know you are,
actually, the Constitution makes it clear one cannot be made to testify
against themself. Besides, you can sometimes get a smaller fine if you plead
guilty.

Ok, well.. the question was "If he could only catch you if you let him"
implied a great deal of ease in getting away.  So, my answer is that I'd speed
up and get away easy... who cares if I'm guilty of "speeding" it's not like
speeding is actually a crime, by definition.. nobody gets hurt by going a bit
over the speed limit.  So, it's not a moral issue... it's just SPEEDING.  I
would definitely choose to keep going. Often, I'll drive past a state trooper
going the speed limit at a half-a-mile-an-hour over the limit.. and once I
get up the road a bit, I haul going 80.. and they haven't bothered me yet..
it's not a big deal unless you're careless... going 20 miles an hour faster
in traffic... or something stupid like that.

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