Thread: first run in with the fuzz

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This past weekend i went out for a drive out to saguaro lake. After my girlfriend and I had a picnic we got back on the road. I was cruising along and I noticed a sheriff in my rear view. He was right on my tail then hed back off then he was on my tail again and hed back off. After a few min i decided to take the next turn off to get him off my butt. So I pulled off and he followed me. As soon as i pulled into a parking space he was out of his truck and at my window " you got a speedometer in that thing" he asked. " No sir its next on my list of things to do" I replied. So he tells me "I clocked you doing 55 in a 30 going down that last hill. " I apologized and he tells me to get it fixed or keep it off the road, then he was gone. Just like that i had my first run in with the fuzz in my 1940. It could have been much worse but thankfully it wasn't

Originally Posted by croom7401

I apologized and he tells me to get it fixed or keep it off the road, then he was gone. It could have been much worse but thankfully it wasn't

You were fortunate, I rarely am. One key to not getting ticketed is to be apologetic as you were. A cop once told me that people write their own tickets with their hostility and defiance.

Sounds like you handled it just right. I've found that a lot of cops are car guys too and will cut a courteous rodder some slack if they offer a plausible explanation> Have you got the speedo fo it yet?

Pat

I don't have a speedometer either in my T, so I just go slower than traffic and kind of judge how fast I am going. It does cause me some moments of concern when a black and white moves in behind me and rides there for a while. So far, so good though.

Like Stu said, cops are just people too, sometimes you get a nice one and sometimes you get one who is just out to bust you. My Son had a playing gig on Sanibel Island for about a year, playing 4 nights a week. He had about a 10 mile drive down a two lane road with a 35 mph speed limit. Almost every night the local yocal would do a U turn and ride right on his bumper the entire distance, just waiting for him to make a mistake.

Being the buttinski I am, I called the Chief and complained, and he told me "if a car is on the road at 3 AM it is our duty to make sure the driver isn't drunk, so we follow them." I told him that the cop was so close every time that Dan couldn't even see his headlights and that he was making him so nervous it might CAUSE an accident. Right after that the cop stopped following him though.

But generally the best approach is to be polite and show the cop you are just a regular guy too who doesn't intentionally break any laws.

Don

Just for the heck of it lets see if we have any Police Officers on this site, it would be interesting. We know Police Officers like hot rods too. The biggest part of hot rodders are safe drivers and seldom cause accidents. So if we have one or more into hot rodding how about getting involved in some of our forums. You could just have a username without getting personal like what State or anything personal. we may have some already but it would be neat to know that we are all just car people. Thanks in advance

Richard

I know a few Police Officers who are on various sites I am on, but they don't generally like to advertise that for fear we rodders will not treat them the same once we find out. Some people just hate cops, but IMO who is the first person you yell for when you need help? It would be a pretty scary world if we didn't have law enforcement.

Right after we got my T and Don's T running we went to a Dennys one night for a late breakfast. While we are sitting there a Sheriff walked up and said "are those your two hot rods out there?" (Gulp, yes) Turns out his Dad has a fuel dragster and he was just wanting to shoot the breeze about cars.

Don

At our old house we had to have an Officer come over to our house about my wife hitting a Dog that ran in front of her. To make a long story short him and I got to talking about cars, I showed him my garage and I went to see his 57 Chevy. We became friends and always talked cars. If I were a Police Officer I would still be a car nut. I have got my share of breaks especially when I was in the Army, they would be decent and say take it easy.

Richard

I am new here so will keep this relatively short. I have an original 1969 Ford NASCAR Cobra that still has the original tires on it. To shorten the story, I used to drive it to work once in a while so people could come look at it. I would get off work around 11Pm and every night a CHP car would be waiting and follow me the 15 miles home and drive on by after I pulled into my driveway. The CHP station is just a couple of miles down the freeway from me so I stopped in to ask about this. Turned out several of them are car nuts and one of them had told the others about this Cobra he saw once in a while and where I lived and they would all drive by to see it. I told them to come on over and they spent quite a while in the garage looking it over and asking questions as they had never seen one before.

Ron

Good story, they are just like the rest of us that love cars. They are just trying to make a living and Police work is just their job.

Richard

When I first got my '27 running years ago I drove it to a local grocery store. As I pulled in a cop came walking out of the store and said "well, I better check this thing out to see if it's legal. (double gulp ) Turns out he was pulling my chain and owned a 40 Ford sedan. We ended up being friends through some mutual friends we had.

No matter how long I play with these things, I still get a little nervous when I see one coming up from behind. It's a great relief when they pass by.

Don

Don't know many cops where I live and don't see many either. Ones I do see are State Troopers or Townies. The Townies are mostly a PITA , but the Troopers all seem to have a fondness for old cars and rods. Two years ago I was in two accidents, one in the streetrod and the other in the 57 Olds. Both times the other guy hit me, and in both cases the Troopers who handled the accident came into the situation assuming the fault was not mine even before he had asked what happened. Not always the right answer, but they do tend to give the benefit of doubt to rodders, especially those who don't dress or act the part of a hellraiser.

Most of the cops that I know from Tampa Florida are all gearheads and owners of rods.

Here is one related to me when my dad and his friend would talk about the cobra his friend had.

it was an original at one point, then wrecked in a race so had a glass body, and a jag rearend (original 427 sideoiler though) had the side pipes and ran on race fuel. anyways, he was always getting noise tickets. he'd have to take it to CHP to get checked off. the guys at the location he went to loved the car, he'd take it in on a trailer, they'd sign him off THEN have him start it up so they could listen to and check it out.

then again there was a cop that patrolled close to where he lived, neighborhood with only one entrance, when he'd hear the cobra start up and leave he'd go and be waiting by that entrance when he came back, ready to ticket him.

you get the good and the bad, just like anything else.

here is my question, if a cop pulls you over just because they love the car and want to check it out, would you get angry?

Red

Originally Posted by Dago Red

here is my question, if a cop pulls you over just because they love the car and want to check it out, would you get angry?

Red

No, I'd probably be relieved !!

When I lived in Orlando the Chief of Police had this brilliant idea that his Officers were going to stop people and handing out Thank You tickets because the person was spotted driving safely. That didn't last a very long time because they were flooded with complaints from drivers who did not see the humor in it and were scared to death when they got pulled over.

The idea looked good on paper!

Don

I’m like you Don, first I would be relieved, and they could look as long as they want. You just may need his help one day and he would be on your side for sure. Even if I'm doing everything right I still get nervous. One day I was driving my 67 Nova home after having ball joints put in. A nice straight piece of black top out of town, my wife was behind me in the Monte Carlo SS, and a State Trooper behind her all three cars were white. I would run the Nova up 85 to 90 then back off; it felt so good I kept doing it all the time only seeing the white Monte carlo behind me. When I was getting close to our first right turn I saw two white cars behind turning the same way. That road was 2 1/2 miles I was shaking like crazy. Then another right turn getting close to home I turn right my wife turns, and it was my lucky day the Trooper turned left. I thought all of these years without a ticket and just for being stupid I was going to get one now.

Richard

I agree they are just people like we are.A lot of the Police Officers in Austin own Rods and Classics. The Officer that patrols my area stopped in often with his fellow officers while I was building the 34.He saw the build from beginning to end.He always wanted to know what I had done and what I was going to do next.I would start it up and he would say wow.I was having a problem calabrating the speedometer when he came by once and he volunteered to have the motor cycle squad come by and with their radar guns take a reading as I drove by. I told him I would keep it in mind and appreciated the offer.I SAY THUMBS TO THOSE GUYS AND GALS WHO DO A GREAT SERVICE TO OUR CITIES.