[mitchntx]

I am cruising, putting easy miles on my new motor when the DPS trooper I meet hooks a U and lights me up. When I saw him, I knew it was gonna happen ... 2 lane hiway, no traffic ...

I immediately pull over, right tires just off the pavement in some weeds. Gonna make it tough if he wants to look at the exhaust.

He walks up and sees me sitting, hands on the wheel and seat belt still on.

<not exact words, but close enough>

He says,
DPS trooper, sir, do you know why I've pulled you over?

I respond,
Well, I wasn't speeding, no traffic to follow too close to, I know my lights all work because I just replaced a couple of lamps and I had my seat belt on. It must be the front plate that you didn't see.

Him,
Yes, you must display a license plate on the front and rear of the car.

Me,
It's up there, just really low. (I have it attached to the air dam)

He walks about 15' in front of the car and says,
It needs to be visible.

Me,
Standing, 15' in front of the car it isn't visible, I understand. But sitting in your car 50' in front of me, it's perfectly visible.

Him,
But I can't read it.

Me,
Really? You should be able to read 4" tall letters from 50', sir. And you also said visible, not legible.

Him,
I'm just gonna issue you a warning, no violation citation.

Me,
Thanks. I've read very closely that statute with an attorney and it is so loosely written, it can be interpretted many ways.

Him,
It sure can

Me,
And I realize driving a car like this, I'm a target. And anything questionable will give you an excuse to pull me over.

Him,
That is true.

Me,
So when you profiled the car, did you expect an old man to be driving it?

Him,
<silent>

Me,
<silent> (I figured I had pressed my luck far enough)

He asked me a few more qustions about where I was headed and why I needed a roll cage in the car ...

I took the warning, said be carefull and have a nice day and then drove away.

Oh well ... it was 3 minutes out of my life and maybe it will cause him to think a little next time. That makes 4 times in a year. Does anyone else keep a file of the warnings received?

Now, the funny thing is, as I was sitting there and the trooper running my 28/29, an Eclipse w/ the typical coffee can out back came by and revved me and the trooper. I snickered.

I laughed out loud when I saw the Eclipse pulled over about 3 miles down the road. It was hard, but I resisted a rev back at him ....

So, in the grand scheme of things, everything worked out just fine!
:gruffy:

[RedHardSupra]

I am yet to get pulled over in the f-body, but a red Supra is a cop magnet of gigantic proportions. To get to my mechanic I gotta go through Wheaton, which is this little town, which is known for large number of churches and Wheaton College, which is HARDCORE christian, to the point where they finally abolished the ban on boy-girl dances (IN COLLEGE!) after 140yrs! Short version: very conservative/repressed little community.
Every single time I drive through there (speed limits are like 15mph in some places, which I obey, no matter how hard it is, as the Supra idles at about 35mph in 6th) I get pulled over. They never have a radar gun, they just check my licence/registration/insurance and try to annoy me. I even put the front plate on, so they'd have nothing to go on, but that is yet to stop them. I guess they have heathen detectors instead of speed guns, and of course a red Supra at midnight with a young guy with 3ft of mad hair, driving through their Constipationville, sets off every member of the GodSquad, 'scuse me, the police.
If they only knew the speed I was doing on the highway right before I got to their little town...

sorry, had to vent.

Mitch, you wanna make me move to texas, I hear the roads are nice, cops are sparse, and there's plenty of tech jobs in Austin. I don't know what's worse, hardcore fundies, or hicks with guns in one hand and bad beer in the other. hmm...the kingdom of Canadia starting to look good all of the sudden... (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)