Getting Pulled Over in the Driveway

I've heard all the stories before. A very old friend of mine was pulled over in her mom's van when she was 15. Because she was 15, she had nothing- no license or anything to show the cop. The cop let her go and just told her to head on home. A cop pulled a friend of mine over for doing 28 in a 25 and because he was concerned for our safety, as there were a lot of us kids in the car. A friend of mine tossed a large Wendy's cup out his window as he was driving at night and guess who it hit? A cop. So, the cop ticketed him for littering and for having bumper stickers on his back window, claiming my friend couldn't see behind him at all while driving. My bro was pulled over one time for doing 46 in a 45. I was pulled over and ticketed for doing 58 in a 55. My friend's father was pulled over for doing 56 in a 55. A friend of mine's uncle got pulled over for doing exactly the speed limit on the interstate, but he was slowing down traffic, so says the copper. I've heard of cops searching cars out for drugs and alcohol. I've even heard of some stories where a cop will pull a kid over and the kid is obviously intoxicated, but if he lives somewhere close to where he was pulled over, the cop will let him go unscathed. Why do I bring this up? Well, because I had an odd experience last night with a cop.

Last night, at around 12:15-12:30, I was cruising down the street I live on, doing about 22. There was a police car about twenty yards in front of me, going around 25, and a car in front of him going about the same. This cop was bored and on a mission to ticket somebody, anybody. So, he was following the car in front of him. The car put their right turn signal on, and just as they did, the cop did likewise. But, just as I pulled into my driveway, I turned my headlights off, so I didn't wake anyone up at home with my bright lights. The cop obviously saw this and right when I was getting out of my car, locking my doors up, and making sure they were locked after I shut the door, the cop was in my driveway. He asked me why I turned my lights off. I said, "Because you see that window up there? That's where my father sleeps and I don't want to wake him up with my lights being on." He then said, "Well, what about my lights? You think those will wake him up?" At this point, I thought this guy might've been a George W. Bush clone, and I responded with, "Yeah, if was up there sleeping, they probably woke him up." He then told me never to do that again and that he'd ticket me for driving without my headlights on if I did such a thing again.

Don't cops have anything better to do on a Saturday night? Drug busts? Robberies? Murders? MIPs? DWIs? But no, let's follow around every car in the area, in hope that one of them will mess up ever so slightly that we can give them a ticket. Ooh, let's pull that one over in his driveway. We can ticket him for not driving with his headlights for a foot. Yesssssssss! I should've just started throwing donuts at him. Although, that would've kept him busy for hours on my driveway, and the sooner he leaves the better, so forget the donut idea. Although, I could run inside, grab a gift certificate for a place like Krispy Kreme and that might get him off the driveway immediately.

So, what kind of tickets do cops give to people trying to be courteous to family, friends, and/or neighbors? I'm curious of this. I also turned the music down in my car as I entered the neighborhood. Could the cop pull me over for that too? "I'm sorry son, but I noticed you turned your music down and that made me very suspicious, so I'm going to have to give you a ticket." Alrighty then. I even asked a cop about the situation and he responded with, "That guy sounds like a total d**khead." There you go, the inside information with a cop's perspective on this particular cop.

Moral of this story? For those out there who constantly do twenty over the speed limit, go through red lights, don't stop at stop signs, don't use your turn signals, and don't obey many traffic laws, you don't have much to worry about. The cops seem to stray away from your group. But, for those of you that are a little more cautious while driving and tend to obey the traffic laws, keep your eyes open, from the time you leave for your destination until you get there and until you get back into you driveway.