CHP: Worst case scenario ???????

jfitzoz · 10:31 AM

Worst case scenario with the CHP or any other law enforcement types regarding traffic matters only?

August, 1997:

Eastbound Highway 50 passed Placerville in my old 911SC when busted for speeding by oncoming CHP with alledged forward and rearward radar/x-ray while moving around a bend when we visually spot each other. CHP turns around and pulls me over and cites me for speeding and no front license plate.

Fine: about $250 with traffic school.

Fast Forward to March, 2002:

Same scenario, but different day and different Porsche.

What is going on with these guys? Is it just me or do all Porsche drivers get harassed or "special attention" from the boys in blue???

Please tell me your story????

JFITZOZ

grsilvia · 03-24-2002, 04:13 PM

My wife got a speeding ticket and beat it. I posted the info in the following thread.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=61384

Hop it helps, Gary

davis911s · davis911s's Garage

Not to sound stupid, but were you speeding in those situations? And is it law for the front plate? I know tons of people who have got tickets from the boys in blue, and weren't driving Porsches. I guess what I am saying is that it may not be the car, but the way it is being driven???? Just a thought, not an accusation.

Shawn

COLDBASS · 03-24-2002, 05:29 PM

jfitzoz,

Early last year, I was at a stop light wtg for the light to turn green so that I could make a left turn. I was feeling good as I had just had my blk 76 coupe detailed the day before. A Deputy Sherriff made a left turn and came very close to me (his position was 90 degrees to my right) well needless to say, I whispered a comment and I guess the guy could read my lips (after all he was close enough) he immediatley made a u-turn and nailed me for no seat belt. Ironically he allowed me to make a left turn and I pulled into a doughnut shop parking lot. He had me wait 20 minutes until backup showed up. I guess they wanted to teach this Porsche guy a lesson in respect (I am a 44 year old, white collar professional, 5'10" far from intimidating). I am now "birddogged" at least once every 2 weeks on the way to work. Conversely, when I drive my F-150 4x4 never get a second look...

Bob

Erakad · Erakad's Garage

LOL...try having the only 911 in town full of chevys, pontiacs, and pickup trucks...to say the least, I stand out! So, learned early to mind my manners, clear the highway both ways before opening her up (you'd be surprised how many one-horse towns survive on speeding tickets!) and contribute to the local law associations (you get a star and everything...lol) Only thing now,....update my radar detector.

Be safe, be silent, be....invisable

RoninLB · 03-24-2002, 07:10 PM

Perhaps low self esteem and a small pee pee caused a tension that causes anger that causes hate.

Zeke · 03-24-2002, 08:56 PM

How about this one jfitziz? My wife is in her Targa in SoCal traffic jam and wants to get off at the next freeway exit. Nearing the offramp, she moves over with right side wheels over the white line. Doesn't pass anyone on the right, just moves over too far. Result? $253.00 ticket by CHP in line several cars back. (She knew he was there). The Targa was Guards Red.

claptrap · 03-24-2002, 10:11 PM

I used to live in Placerville and commute to work in Folsom. This stretch of freeway is the most heavily patrolled in the state. At times I've seen as many as seven patrol cruisers lined up at an onramp waiting for a signal from a CHP aircraft. Look at the shoulder of the freeway and you'll see the markings they use to measure speed of traffic from the air. There is a CHP office (academy?) near Placerville, and a CHP training area in south Sac. This stretch of freeway is probably where they train junior officers in traffic control. The odds are heavily against speeders here.

Jack Olsen · 10:41 PM

It's odd. We're complaining that we're unfairly characterized as a group (because we own Porsches), and yet some of the posters in the same thread feel free to ascribe common traits and failings to another group (police officers) with impunity.

I know getting tickets is a b*tch -- I got another speeding ticket at 12:15 this afternoon, in fact -- but you guys may want to bear in mind that some of the people who regularly post here are also police officers, and probably aren't won over by your characterization of them as cowardly blowhards with a chip on their shoulders for 911 drivers.

We drive extremely conspicuous cars. We like them that way. Of course they're going to get more attention. We don't mind when that comes from other car guys and leggy 19-year-olds with daddy issues. But a lot of guys on this board get all bent out of shape when their hey-look-at-me sportscars also get noticed by law enforcement.

And then people imply that they drive in the same manner as any other cars on the road. Uh, did I hear you right? Go to the "redline" thread, and count the number of guys who say they hit their rev limiter every time they take their car out. The same probably couldn't be said of Plymouth minivan owners.

I'm not generally one to rant, but I believe that if you knowingly speed, or break the law in any way, you ought to be willing to own up to what you've done when you're caught, no matter how many other drivers you may think are getting away with it at the same time. I know this doesn't apply to everyone posting in this thread -- but I do know it applies to me. I was speeding today, and I got caught doing it. It's happened to me in every car I own at least once. The old Jaguar gets it the worst of all, for some reason.

But my point is pretty simple. And I may even go on to try and fight the ticket I got today. But I won't try to claim any moral high ground or unfair persecution while I'm doing it (at least, not on this board). I sped. I got busted. That's how it works.

And honestly, I'm thankful that the guy wasn't there to point the gun at me a block earlier, when I was at redline. I'd be in a jail cell right now.

All right. End of rant. But here's my request. Let's try to behave like gentlemen -- even if all the cops in the world don't happen to also do the same. It's very easy to throw stones from the safety of the internet. But that kind of easy courage leads to a lot of bluster, sometimes, which can discourage other 911 owners from participating on this board.

RoninLB · 03-24-2002, 11:03 PM

Holy mackerel Andy...I write about human nature that applies to everyone and I get attacked. I don't get it. I was not being specific to any group or individual. And please don't label me as a Porsche mechanic. I know one 911, period..... I try to be amoral on everyone's views. Dam...I wonder if Big Mike's view point is specific to only him. And Big Mike, who else have I disturbed besides you? Have you found anything on my past threads to back up your attack?? Please prove your position, show some credibility...If your interpertation was so specific, why didn't you ask/write me to be more specific??

Jack Olsen · 03-25-2002, 12:01 AM

Ron, I didn't mean to make it sound like I was ragging on you. And this particular anti-cop thread isn't really all that bad. But there have been a number of them in the past, and it ends up making us sound like a bunch of cry-babies running to mom because the police are picking on us.

However, I think your post is referring to the slam delivered by "Big Mike." I deleted that, because it was the first post by the "user," and it was loaded with profanity -- and didn't have anything to do with 911's or even the subject of the thread. It was just an attack on RoninLB. It struck me as pure troll material, so it went.

There's a balance you've got to strike (as a moderator) between free expression and 911-technical-related content, here. I don't like deleting posts, but I also want to protect the quality of the board, so "Big Mike's" post went. I wouldn't delete Ron's, since he's expressing an opinion that pertains to the thread topic.

john70t · 03-25-2002, 01:57 AM

I agree Jack. Just because someone is driving a porsche/policecar/harley/bicycle doesnt make them a good person or bad.
I've gotten tickets for not wearing a seatbelt "properly" while a passenger in a 7 mph over vehicle, and I've had an officer help push my broken down car far off the road and give me a lift to my house. He used to have a Targa. You take the bad with the good. If you treat police with the respect they deserve, they might worry less about what you smell like when they sniff you.

We are also very conspicous and its not smart to drive that way in traffic on a daily route. The same guy will be there tommorow, and it does give the drivers of classic a bad Karma.

Better to do the side streets late at night or the crack of dawn on a weekend. Better political correctness and faster lap times.

Unless of course that Honda reeeally p*sses you off

expat · 03-25-2002, 03:09 AM

How are you thinking of fighting the ticket Jack?

Interested

Cheers
Mark

RoninLB · 03-25-2002, 05:45 AM

Mark...IMO, there is a game to play, a political game. The game depends on where your court system is set up. To start an education with this I would visit the Nat'l Motorists Ass. www.motorists.com and follow the leads to info. In NY metro you can get a 50/50 chance of a dismissal by only pleading not guilty and following a basic game acording to some stats. I read. When it goes further than that you have to know more about the game to maintain the favorable odds. I have never been pulled over without being asked "do you know what speed you were driving at". IMO, the question is the rope around your neck. When you say you know you were speeding but bla, bla, bla you tightened the rope yourself, you confessed. I got pulled over and was asked that question after getting hit w/instant radar. I replied that because of the truck I was following and the other cars close by that I was more concerned for safety at the moment. The cop looks 2-3 miles down the big road and turns away and laughs with his hand over his jaw. The truck and cars were no where near me. He ONLY wrote me up for 10 mph over the limit. A truck used to be the main hit on the radar if you were close to it, don't know now. The beat goes on........Ron

Don Wohlfarth · 03-25-2002, 05:46 AM

Jack, I agree with your comments about owning up to a ticket.
Realistically, some of us would still be in jail if we ever received 10% of the tickets we deserve.

What is aggravating is some of the dumb things we do to get a ticket. Couple years ago I was driving in DC and it is raining hard. I'm 2nd in line to make a left hand turn, traffic clears and the 2 of us make our turn. There's a motorcycle cop standing at the side of the road and he flags us down. 1st car gets a ticket and pulls away and then it's my turn. Ticket is for making a left turn after 4:30 PM. Since it's only 4:40 the cop must have had his stopwatch out.
The cop fills out his ticket and asks me to sign it. I politely refuse and ask him to take me to the station house so I can pay the ticket. Off we go with me following this motorcycle in the pouring rain. Takes us about 20 minutes because of rush hour traffic. When we got inside I almost felt sorry for the cop because every step he took you could hear a squish.
I've often wondered if he still stands in the rain giving tickets for no left turn after 4:30.

MMARSH · MMARSH's Garage

HMMM, Sounds like I missed an interesting post by "BIG MIKE" while I was at the track legally driving the crap out of my car.

As some of you know, I'm a police officer and frankly I'm bored to death of these type of posts. I sometimes read them and then almost always exercise my option of "switching the channel " without getting involved. Some of the things I've read in the past are pretty offensive, such of lack of intelligence and/or education of the officer or simply stupid such as the officer being jealous of your 15 or 20 year old car. I'm going to continue not getting involved in these type of posts in the future, so that those of you who want to whine and cry about being picked on or harrassed for driving a Porsche or for those of you who like to belittle my chosen profession can do so undisturbed, But I just wanted to say "Thanks" to Jack for his post.

cstreit · cstreit's Garage

I've had as many good experiences as bad. Cops are people and have good and bad days as well. No one can tell me that they are always consistent, fair, impartial on their jobs...

However I have ALWAYS been treated professionally by the police which is more than I can say for many professions. (Doctors, lawyers, customer service, etc...)

You break the law, you get caught, that's life... I've GOTTEN AWAY with stuff because of the Porsche as many times and i've GOTTEN BUSTED...

Karma, balance, whatever... It boils down to attention... If I didn't want some attention, I'd drive a Camry...

mwbaum · mwbaum's Garage

I have never had a ticket in my Porsches yet (knock on wood) but after I bought my new Yukon XL I got tagged twice in the first couple weeks of ownership...sheesh..go figure.

724doorE · 03-25-2002, 09:12 AM

I must say, I've been let off the hook completely twice, once by CHP and once by Florida sheriff's deputies, while driving a P-car. Both times I probably could'of been carted off to jail.... but they were goood guys and let me off. The Fla one... I was doing over 100 on state 4-lane H-ways (US 27) stoplights and all at 3 AM. When "THEY" ran me down they had clocked me at 75 in a 40 and paced me at 96 in a 55---this was after I had slowed down. Oh yea, I was driving on a suspended License at the time, only had a piece of paper from the judge saying I could drive while on leave!

And that was probably my luck I was in the Navy at the time.

So, cops are good guys too, don't forget some went down with the firemen in the 9/11 stuff.

Just rember, every car they walk up to day or night could be the last steps they take! A good friend of mine in high school had a little brother who was murdered buy a guy in a stolen car, the little brother was an FHP rookie.

Give em a break...
D.

72 911E

Kmatts · 03-25-2002, 09:18 AM

If you guys think you get a lot of attention driving ripping around in a P-Car, try a Ducati. Ask FreeFly or Doug Z about it.
I've had several policeman pull U-turns just to follow me and see if I do something illegal. I've been followed home more times than I can count. The Porsche may as well be Volks Rabbit when compared to my bike, or any bike for that matter.
Kyle.