Flashback friday #11–Getting pulled over

You can click the pic above for previous Flashback Fridays.  Remember back when I told you about my driving record?  But I’ve got some stories about being pulled over as well.  I shall share a few here, or at least what I can remember.

• I went to New Buffalo for a softball tournament but me and a few guys went up the night before to stay at a friends house.  We decided to head up to St. Joe and hit a few bars.  The guys decided to start drinking on the way up there, while I drove.  I’m not a beer drinker so I was waiting till we got to the bar.  We were about half way there when a cop pulls out behind me and flips his lights on.  Here I am, with 4 other guys that all have open containers.  I about crapped my pants.  I pulled over, he comes up to the window and starts with his usual questions.  I take off my seatbelt to grab my wallet and hand him my license and registration.  He asks if I knew why he pulled me over.  I truly had no idea.  He says he pulled me over because I didn’t have a rear view mirror.  WTF?  It’s late night, dark, and he saw me fly by and 60 mph and noticed I didn’t have a rear view mirror.  Whatever!  He comes back from running my license and asks me if I knew my license was suspended.  Uh, no, again, I had no clue.  He puts me in the back of his car and starts asking questions.  I told him we were on our way home from drinking and I was the only sober one so I drove.  After sitting back there for half an hour, he finally let me out.  He gave me a ticket for driving while suspended and a seat belt violation.  You read that right, a seat belt violation.  I always wear my seat belt and I took it off to find my wallet.  I couldn’t argue though because he let me drive off since I was doing the right thing by being the sober driver.  We went to the bars, I drank pop the whole night and drove back to the friends house.  I never did pay the ticket because I was pissed about the seat belt violation.  Stupid Michigan cops.
• Not once, but twice, I got pulled over in the parking lot at work (2 different jobs).  The first time I was running late for work and there was just a quick drive up this road that was only 35 mph but like I said, I was running late.  I saw him pull out and I floored it hoping to get in the parking lot at work and lose him.  Didn’t happen.  He pulled me over and the first thing he said to me in an accusing manner, where are you going?  He must have figured I was trying to lose him.  I pointed at the building and said, right there.  Once he figured out I didn’t just pull into the lot to lose him, he gave me a ticket for speeding.
• The second time I got pulled over at work was right outside where I work now.  I pulled up to the last stop sign before I get to work, the cross traffic didn’t have to stop and I was turning right.  There was a car coming but I had time so I rolled through the stop sign and turned.  I floored it so the car coming wouldn’t have to slow down when I turned into work.  But just as I was getting up to speed, flashing lights.  The car I pulled out in front of was a cop.  Give me some credit, I was working 3rd shift so it was around 11 pm so it’s not like I could see anything but his headlights.  Once again, the cop pulled me over in the parking lot.  While I’m sitting out there, the bell rings and all of 2nd shift was walking out to their cars staring at me.  The cop even threatened to run me in right in front of all my friends (I had expired tags).  I was thinking, that isn’t my shift, I don’t know any of them but I kept my mouth shut.  He ended up letting me go on everything.  I think he just wanted to hold me long enough to make me late.
• The very first time I got pulled over the cop was full of crap.  I had a 1976 Chevette (It was 1989 at the time.)  I was sitting at a light, the light turned green and I go a little ways around a curb and he flashes his lights on.  I was pissed, I knew I hadn’t done anything.  He walks up to me in the car and asks if I know why he pulled me over.  Again, um, no.  He claimed he clocked me at 55 mph and the limit is only 35 mph.  In the space between the light and where he pulled me over, my car wouldn’t have made it to 55 if I had floored it.  I’d been lucky to hit 45.  I just said yes sir, no sir, blah blah blah.  He finally asked me if I knew what the worst kind of weather to drive in was (it was drizzling rain at the time), I was annoyed, I knew what he wanted me to say but I said snow.  He stumbled a bit, said, yeah, ok, I’ll give you that one.  But it’s just as bad in drizzling rain because the oil spots will sit on the water and make it slicker.  Again, yes sir, no sir, blah blah blah.  He ended up letting me go as well.  I think he saw a teenager and pulled me over just for that.  That happened a lot, age profiling.  As I got older, I got pulled over a lot less.
• Once I got pulled over because I hadn’t scraped my back window off.  The cop told me why he pulled me over, my response was I pulled over didn’t I?  I know how to use my side mirrors.  I don’t think he appreciated the answer but he didn’t say much other than running my license and then let me go.  I don’t know if that’s technically a law.

That’s about all I can remember off the top of my head.  And I’m over 1000 words so it’s a good stopping point.