The best way to not get what is blandly styled a “ticket” – i.e., a demand note for money backed by the implicit threat of violence for non-payment – is to avoid getting one. And the best way to achieve that purpose is to recognize the armed government workers who issue them before they recognize you.
Some will bleat, just obey traffic laws!
The problem there is there are so many traffic laws that it is practically impossible to obey all of them all of the time. And even if you do, it still doesn’t matter – if an AGW decides he wants to “pull you over” – i.e., threaten to beat/manacle/murder you if you don’t. There are so many basis for what are styled “pretextual stops” – i.e., some discretionary arcana that can be used as an excuse to “pull you over,” such as the AGW claiming he saw your tire wander onto the double yellow, or that he saw you texting or that your license plate is partially obscured – that obeying the laws is at best a partially effective countermeasure. 
A more effective one is to suss out the swine.
To know one when you see one. So that he (or she) doesn’t see you.
This is much easier to do in the United States than in many other countries, where any car (or truck or crossover/SUV) could be hiding an AGW.
An older Subaru – or a brand-new minivan. You never know, until it’s too late.
Here, one of the few remaining fumes of freedom still lingering is a prohibition on the use by AGWs of “civilian” vehicles for traffic enforcement. That is not to say that vehicles used by AGWs aren’t also used by “civilians” – an odd term used by AGWs to denote us vs. them, even though they are also civilians, just like us, since AGWs aren’t the military – at least not formally and not yet.
AGWs do use some of the same types of vehicles that we do. But AGWs aren’t allowed to use any vehicle – and there are certain kinds of vehicles they never use, so you can know you are safe when you’re around these.
These include all foreign-brand vehicles. You don’t have to worry about any Japanese, Korean, German, Indian (Jaguar/Land Rover are owned by Tata Motors of India) or Chinese (Volvo is owned by Geely Motors of China) vehicle being an AGW-mobile-in-mufti. This eliminates easily half of the cars on the road at any given time.
More can be eliminated from the roster of potential threats, including all luxury-brand cars. Cadillacs, Lincolns – even Buicks.
Minivans are always safe.
As a general rule, you can exclude coupes/sports cars, too – though it’s important to be careful around some, because there are few gangs of AGWs who prowl the streets using unmarked Ford Mustangs and Camaros. However, nine-plus times out of ten, these will not be threats.
You can increase those odds – in your favor – by looking for the usual tells, such as heavily tinted glass, the outline of “wig wag” lights visible in the grill up front or behind the rear glass, in back. Small/unusual antennas. Check the plates; those affixed to AGW-mobiles often look different than “civilian plates.” If you see “for official use only,” it’s a swine. And yes, it is swinish to earn your keep by seizing other people’s earnings on behalf of the government.
A good radar detector is also essential as it can identify a porker in mufti your eyes may have missed. Listen for the tell-tale beep.
It’d be fun if they oinked.
Miatas, Porsches, Honda Civic coupes/Subaru sporty cars like the WRX and BRZ (remember, Japanese) are always safe.
This leaves a relative handful of makes/models to be on alert for – and careful around – whenever you see one. Once you become familiar with their silhouettes – in the manner of World War II sailors learning to recognize the silhouettes of enemy battleships at a distance – you will be able to greatly reduce your chances of being “pulled over.”
Here’s the roster:
Ford Explorer and Chevy Tahoe –
The Ford seems to be the preferred model but both should be regarded with suspicion until known to be safe. Any color is possible, but AGWs seem to prefer fleet white, dark blue and black. Both marked and unmarked examples are out there, snuffling the ground.
Other SUVs (and all pick-up trucks) are generally safe.
All crossovers are generally safe, too. AGWs like the Explorer and Tahoe SUVs because they are rear-wheel-drive and heavier duty than car-based/FWD-AWD crossovers.
Dodge Charger and Ford Taurus/Ford Fusion –
These are the preferred cars of “law enforcement,” especially the Charger – because it’s rear-drive and is available with a V8. Can’t blame the AGWs for liking that. Sometimes, you will see an AGW driving a Chevy Malibu but these are much less common than the Charger and Taurus – and the Malibu and Taurus have the virtue of being easier to suss out because other than AGWs, almost no one who isn’t elderly drives either of them. If you see an old person driving one, it’s almost always safe. If you see a younger guy driving one, it may not be.
If you do see one, ease your speed back and fade away into the crowd; let other cars sidle beside the AGW at traffic lights. Avoid letting one get on your “six” – i.e., behind you. If you’re driving with dead tags, an out-of-date “safety” sticker or anything else that could draw unwanted attention, discreetly/nonchalantly turn off the road and let the AGW cruise on by.
If you’re not noticed, you can’t be “ticketed.”
. . .
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Another way to avoid the “fuzzies” is to know where most of the speed traps are. Unfortunately, of course, this is not exactly foolproof, as they can simply relocate to catch us daily commuters off guard.
Nearly all the cops in my area drive Chargers or SUVs, mostly marked. But I did get stopped by a dark blue Tahoe one time. I passed in, apparently in an “unsafe manner” bereft of turn signals and exceeding the speed limit. I was fortunate to get away with only a $20 seatbelt ticket.
There’s a state trooper who has a black pickup who lurks on a 4 lane state road I take to go to my mom’s house and used to take to work. Fortunately, it’s in an area where the citizenry is neighborly. You always get the light flash from oncoming cars if he’s around. My fellow travelers have saved me from numerous tickets on that road.
I dated an AGW about 20 years ago. He let me borrow his car after mine broke down. It was his private car, but had most of the cop paraphernalia on it, except for the seals and the bubble lights. I was driving north on that state road, pushing the limit a bit but not too bad in the right lane and not really paying attention to the other cars, since there weren’t any, which I finally noticed as odd. When I looked in the rearview, I saw there were about 100 cars in two long lines behind me … No one would pass. I really felt awkward about it and had to resist the urge to stick my hand out the window and wave them on. No tickets from me! And I was also tempted to speed up but I didn’t want to get him in trouble.
I still see impalas and caprice ppv’s too. I miss the 90s caprices I loves those cars. I wish ford would stop selling Exploders to civilians, at least in black or white.
Hi Anon,
I miss the Vic and (the old, RWD) Impala, too. They were the last full-size/six-passenger traditional American sedans. I got to drive the specialty versions, too – the Corvette-powered Impala SS and the Mercury Marauder. Laid rubber all over Northern Va in them!
Cops around here have taken to grey or black (usually explorers) that have the flashy lights inside & the “POLICE” insignia is the same color as the vehicle, so you can’t see it.
Why do the cops hide from us? To catch us.
They catch us to keep us afraid since they can’t harass all of us, they have taken to a type of psychological warfare to make us always in fear that they are following us or just around the next bend.
This is the most blatant of all the forms of control “our” government exercises.
What government “of the people” spends so much time watching, questioning, and fining those same people?
With all the different models being used today and often the regular non-cop ones being outfitted with the same style grills, wheels etc, what I look for is the spot light on the driver’s side A pillar. The cops do try to fold it in so it’s harder to spot.
Wheels and grills used to be dead giveaways in the crown vic days. The cop versions had black grills and steel wheels with mere center caps or dog dish. now it seems automakers offer regular folks a police dress up package, especially the explorer that has the cop wheels etc. Sometimes even the all black look so many unmarked police cruisers have.
I once was pulled over for not turning down my brights. It was about 10pm after practice, all the kids in the car and I forgot to turn down the brights. He pulled a U-E in the middle of an S curve and flicked his lights. I stopped right away at the apex of the curve and he asked for my license. Now I keep my purse in the trunk so I asked if he wanted me to get it. He said he would just look me up and went back to his cruiser. Pretty soon he came back and said he couldnt find me (I told you so, I thought to myself) so I got out my license. My license was issued in AZ and does not expire until 2038, no way will I exchange that for a NY license and I maintain property in AZ. I explained all this, and answered questions about drinking, blah blah… When he came back he said he would only issue a warning (thanks a lot pal) since there were no other infractions and went back to the cruiser. I did not drive away because he still had my license! I waited for a while then I went back to the cruiser. He rolled down the window and asked what I wanted. He looked so peevish but he handed it back. Ridiculous.
When I was living in NYC (2004-2011, roughly), NYPD was using Nissan Altimas. They also had several cars done-up like NYC taxi cabs.
The Connecticut State Police used VW Rabbits back then, would see them frequently when driving down to visit family in NJ.
I don’t like the dark blue or black color vehicles. They look like terrorist mobiles. They should be white or yellow with big smiley-face stickers & flower stickers on them. They should look nice instead of trying to look menacing. What is up with the whole mean/tough imagery anyways? They’re supposed to be helping us, not terrorists. They are purporting the wrong image to the public.
I’d be careful around any government vehicles. A few years ago the FCC forced all the land-mobile radio user to upgrade their repeater system to “narrowband” to increase the number of available channels at the expense of existing equipment. Many municipalities upgraded to digital systems which have several sub-channels on the same repeater. Depending on how they are set up, the town maintenance crew might be able to contact police dispatch by changing channels. Probably useful if they come across a stray dog, but also could be used to alert the local fuzz that someone is driving poorly.
Also, don’t be so sure you can jump over to the next county and not get caught. Many of these systems are tied into a statewide network, that’s just another channel programmed into the radio. Can make coordinated apprehending easy.
Then there’s FirstNET. Part of the 600MHz cellular band (made possible by the transition of over the air television to HD digital) this is a federally funded network, run by AT&T that prioritizes first responder cellular traffic over mere civilian chatter. There are apps being developed, some of which came out of DARPA, to better coordinate activity across departments.
You can’t outrun Motorola, and pretty soon you won’t be able to hide either.
Hey Mr. Kilowatt,
I was wondering about police/fire scanners. Do the old ones still work anywhere, like the used-to-be ubiquitous Bearcat 210? Or are they now just paperweights? Are new ones worth it, or are things digital and encrypted and whatnot? Just curious.
Some will decode digital radio, but depends on the system in use and if they’re encrypted or not. There are some PDs that explicitly do not encrypt by law so that the media can monitor communication. But that’s not universal, and a few have encrypted then given mainstream media outlets receivers. While thing stinks IMHO. But even back when it was still analog just about all commas were calling in to dispatch and asking them to call on the officer cell phone.
That’s about what I figured, RK. :p
One of the most infuriating things I saw the bastards doing in recent years was a local campaign in Fargo where they were putting several pigs in a SCHOOL BUS and running around looking down for us seat belt refuseniks and texters. They would radio to a fellow enforcer to then stop the victim of the scam.
They seem to have stopped this crap for now, I personally had fantasies of stepping inside the bus and locking the door behind me, then performing an exorcism of the evil spirits inside the thing. In the fantasy I wasn’t exorcising with holy water…
But do note the crowing in the propaganda streams about the awful increase in traffic deaths and calling for more enforcement.
Several posters note that they quit enforcing traffic laws for the last couple years. I like to think they are realizing that preying on the non-BLM, non Antifa public leaves them unlimited enemies and only a thin shell of tyrannical courts to hide behind. Things have cooled off for a couple years, but the enemies of humanity are trying to make driving unpleasant and expensive, so there will be new campaigns coming.
A few years ago I passed a school bus as he put his lights on. The driver honked and I could see him motioning at the lights. When I got to work there was a sheriff vehicle at the office. He told me what I had done, but because there were other company vehicles and the bus driver wasn’t specific enough he couldn’t ticket me. I mentioned that yes, I did see the bus had the lights on when I looked in the rear view mirror and acknowledged that I heard him hook the horn but I was already more than halfway past the bus, doing the speed limit, and how was I supposed to see the lights that are on the front and back of the bus when I was beside it? “Well, just be careful around school buses”
To your point, you can’t know all the laws, about 1974 I was driving my dads 1973 Oldsmobile Toronado and from a dead stop I pressed the gas hard and the tires squealed, I got pulled over by a small town police and he gave me a ticket for “improper starting of a stopped vehicle”, I said that is not a law and he proceeded to ask if I wanted to see it in the book, I said yes and went into police station where he pulled out a book about 4″ thick and showed me the line with the law. I figured with that many laws one can get pulled over for anything if the officer decides he want to check you out. How many more laws are on the books now compared to 48 years ago.
By the way, I saw the officer a few weeks later and he too was driving an Olds Toronado…
Good stuff Eric. It has certainly gotten harder lately mainly with the light bar being put inside the F&R windows. And colors too. My local force just got their first black tahoe, no distinguishing markings and it almost got me, but now I know. Of course I would not have gotten a ticket from my locals, never have. But that’s not to say the other towns aren’t getting similar vehicles.
And radar detectors are a must, period.
On those tahoes look for lots of antennas on the roof
Excellent advice, Eric, and quite an informative article. Thanks!
The More You Know! ==*
Thanks, BaDnOn!
PS: How goes the recovery? Practically everyone I know came down with the Moronicon/whatever-it-was over the past month. Including me. About ten days of feeling “off,” coughing and general tiredness/soreness. All kopacetic now.
Eric,
Yes, it appears the Moronicon variant was much milder than what I had. My GF had it, and I successfully stayed away from being infected. In my normal condition, I wouldn’t have been worried in the least, but these days, I don’t want ANY compounding factors.
I have recovered to a minor degree. I haven’t felt completely incapacitated for a few weeks. I can do some crunches and push-ups here and there, and it actually seems to make me feel better. I still can’t run yet. As a fellow runner, you might understand how crushing that might be. My breathing still isn’t right, though I don’t think it’s my lungs that are damaged. During my entire experience during and after the ‘Rona, my lungs have felt clear, corroborated by what doctors tell me.
Issues with gastritis and gastric reflux continue, though some days seems fine, and others are not. I’m trying to control this with D-limonene. Not sure how successful I’ve been just yet.
I got my echocardiogram results yesterday. I won’t know for certain what they all mean until I return to the cardiologist in a couple weeks, but it appears there are no major issues. No myocarditis or anything, which I’m glad to see.
I cannot say for certain if I am experiencing “Long COVID”, though I’ve read that people have had similar experiences with both COVID and the vaccines, strangely enough. Also, some other viruses bring on longer-term illnesses, such as this.
In short, it sucks, and I’d like to be done, now. Luckily, I’d say these effects are, at least, fairly rare, though perhaps not as rare as one might think. As I said before, my cardiologist said that the first 3 patients of the day, before me, told her my exact story. She indicated that it could last months. I guess I’m finding out how many months. :p
The South Dakota Highway Patrol has a marked Mustang GT that I saw when I was driving by the courthouse in my town
Eric, I know you live in Virginia, the only state in the union where radar detectors are illegal, but my radar detector helps quite a bit just to let me know that there is a cop nearby. Most of them drive around with the thing blasting out at all times and I’ve come to the conclusion that the ones who don’t have it turned on are off duty or whatever and aren’t stopping for anything, regardless.
I am also amazed at the other people who insist on being in front of every other car, even in known swine-infested areas. I’m usually inclined to let them get in front and then turn on my distance-cruise control and follow them and let them be the bait while I drive just as fast.
One other thing that my lawyer grandfather taught me waaaaaay back in the day is that a cop who is behind you on the road is usually actively looking for a reason to pull you over. If I ever accidentally end up in front of one, and I try not to, but it does happen occasionally, I look for the very next spot to make a right turn: parking lot, driveway, road, whatever, and get out from behind him. If it is available, you can also slow down and slide into the center turn lane, but don’t ever make an actual LEFT turn because that’s something – illegal left turns – they also look for as a pretext.
A friend has a very fast 911, he has a radar jamming system he says it works well. It isn’t cheap, close to $2000 for the jammer.
Those are illegal. In order to work they have to be on frequencies reserved by the FCC for pubic safety use. Don’t get caught with one.
They do in fact, work well.
He hasn’t been caught yet, it is all hidden the way it is installed.
Can I get some information on this? Not that I would EVER do anything like this. I have too much respect for speed limits.
Occasionally, I watch COP videos and how people handle themselves interacting with the former peace officers. It appears a dash cam has actually saved some lives and convicted some bad cops in the act. With a dash cam it is no longer their word against yours if you think you have done nothing wrong.
You would think the rank and file cops would be protesting the “defund the police” city governments by *not* writing tickets and maybe actually joining the anti-jab protests (they did in France last week) but no. In Canada they went full Hut-Hut on all the truckers and coffee shop owners and laughed about it later. The cops have been weeded down to a dangerous bunch of regime enforcers, ready to knock some heads to the unjabbed and mask refuseniks.
Most cops choose that line of work because they are bullies and being a cop is legalized bullying.
My experience with cops have been different than many on here. I don’t know if it is because I have boobs, am honest, or just an old lady, but I have been able to talk my way out of every pull over in the last 10 years. I have gotten several warnings, but no tickets. I think cops feel bad for giving someone who could be their mom a ticket.
It could be either the boob discount, or the granny discount. I’ve found that the grandpa discount is also a thing, as most of the little commie enforcer bastards realize that older men have had enough of their BS and have less to lose.
This is a very good thing as I’ve had enough of their BS and am disinclined to take it and have little left to lose…
Hi Ernie,
I will take either discount. 🙂 I can see how they let old guys off, too, hence the “dad” discount. They seem to prefer to torture the younger generation. I had a hell of time not getting ticketed between 16-25 years of age and had to visit “Driver’s Reeducation” once or twice to reduce the points on my record. At eighteen years of age, I was uneasy around cops, now I don’t give a shit. Most of them are younger than me so I think the fearless factor kicks in after a certain age.
the best one for me was very high speed in a 55. late for a wedding and i was best man. took him many miles to catch me, but I pulled over, he was fuming. Smiling, dressed nice, “I’ve been driving this road for years, many times going that fast, that’s the best dam hiding spot you have ever done!”
Once he smiled I knew it was over. ‘I’m just concerned that if you hit a deer, you’d be in trouble. “your right, never thought about that.
warning. i couldn’t believe it, thought I could have lost my license or worse. maybe he knew that too. Cool dude.
Hi Chris,
I hope you are doing well.
Compliments go a long way in getting one out of a ticket. 🙂
I remember a jerk of a town cop that I had to deal with about 12 years ago. I was late for a meeting in Chantilly, had two little kids in the back seat (no car seats only seat belts) and I “yielded” at a stop sign going through town. Of course, I wasn’t wearing a seat belt (but I snapped that on quick enough). The town cop decided to read me the riot act that morning.
Cop: “Was there a reason that you did not stop?”
Me: “Yes, I am late for work and saw no cars coming.”
Cop: “You do realize that you must come to a complete stop at all times, not when you want to?”
Me: “I understand.”
I had hoped seeing a working mom of two little kids he would just give me a warning…nope, I sat there for twenty minutes as he checked my license, my insurance, my registration and took his sweet precious time ticketing me…$96 later and I was finally on the road. Fortunately, he said nothing about a five and a three-year-old in the back with no car seats.
unfortunately, most of the time they give ya a ticket for something mundane, it’s just a money grab from above them.
back in the day I got lots of tickets and the points were always up against me losing my license. I lived on the road, 30-50K miles a year, and my livelihood depended on it. Once they checked my points, realized I would lose my license and my job, I never got a points ticket. Maybe a light out or something.
Had lots of practice to get it right on how to talk, does and don’ts, etc….haha.
Hi RG,
My encounter with the local fuzz was years ago, for a “crosswalk violation”. Some idiot jogger ran in front of my car without even looking and caused me to jack on the brakes; there happened to be an AGW across the street who took great pleasure in pulling me over and taking his sweet time running my plates, license, etc., knowing he was making me late for work. I’m sure he’s retired now with a cushy retirement paid for with my tax dollars, adding insult to injury.
Hi Mike!
My last encounter with an AGW was extremely brief. I was on my ZRX doing about 70 on the straightaway (55 MPH limit) you get to after coming up Bent Mountain (a fantastic series of S curves) when I noticed a white SUV in the rearview, gaining on me. I sensed something was up as I had been having my usual fun coming up the mountain and this white SUV just radiated the smell of bacon. In a situation such as this, you have seconds to decide. Let him catch up, run the risk of an AGW Encounter of the Third Kind? My prior experience has been that AGWs are often – usually – especially Hut! Hut! Hutty! to motorcycle riders. VA has a “reckless driving” cite that can be applied for driving (or riding) faster than 20 MPH over the limit or just because the AGW wants to. This is a big deal “ticket” with a mandatory court appearance and (if convicted) likely suspension of license and major fines/insurance mafia payouts. Screw all that!
I dropped down to third and gave it full twist. Lucky for me and bad for him, I had about a mile of straight open road to work with. In the blink of an eye I was far beyond the top speed of that white SUV which was just a white speck by the time I got to the first/next curve – also lucky for me as a sport bike can take these a whole lot faster than an SUV. That was all I needed. To get out of his sight, to break contact. Once that happens, it’s over – for the oinker. Unless he got your plates – and this one never got close enough, even if he had an ALPR. Once I’d broken contact, the next step was to choose an exit. You want to get off the road you’re on. But you do not want to take the first right (or left). Take the next one – or the one after that. Then just vanish. If close to home and you can get there using side roads, use them. If not close, the best policy s to ditch and hide for awhile until the swine give up looking for you.
In the “great” state of Minnesota the cop can decide you’re speeding if you’re driving to fast “for the conditions”. I know they meant snow storms but this effectively means you’re speeding whenever the cop decides you are.
Hi Anon,
Of course. It’s always the AGW’s word (taken as legal gospel) vs. yours (which is considered “hearsay”).
4 years ago I got pulled over by 2 female cops near my hometown dong 27 km over the limit. 25 k over is instant loss of licence. They found on their computer a 2.5 year old citation I was contesting. They did everything to get me to talk. Meanwhile, I kept silent. I was asked why I was driving so fast. I replied No comment. Twice. They let me go with a verbal warning. That felt really great.
Morning, to5!
I’ve yet to be “pulled over” – i.e.m threatened with murderous violence – by a female AGW. I am grateful for this as I believe that – as a rule – female AGWs are worse than male AGWs. What normal woman would want to be an AGW? And those who are have to rely on their guns and Tazers since very few women are physically capable of intimidating or subduing even an average man – let alone one who’s bigger or stronger than average.
‘The cops have been weeded down to a dangerous bunch of regime enforcers.’ — Hans Gruber
And so (not coincidentally) have the courts, which adjudicate claims against police misbehavior. Consider “Biden’s” latest Supreme Court nominee, Ketanji Brown Jackson:
“I come from a background of public service. My parents were in public service [in government schools], my brother was a police officer and (was) in the military,” she said at the time, “and being in the public defenders’ office felt very much like the opportunity to help with my skills and talents.”
So her whole family were tax feeders. Really inspires confidence, don’t it?
Not to mention that she graduated from that cathedral of gov worship which gave us Saint Obama: Hahhhhhvid Law. So it’s ‘all legal’! 🙂
Another “dirty trick” that the pigs use is “subdued graphics”. It is relatively common to see flat black graphics on a shiny black car. Along with flashers mounted inside the car (not on the roof) it can be difficult to spot them if you are not aware of these dirty “tricks”.
One has to give European police departments credit for the fact that police vehicles are required to be identifiable to the extreme. From purposely gaudy colors to plainly visible light bars, they have the right idea.
Not too long ago, a Michigan State Police “surveillance team” ran a stop sign and “t-boned” a driver who had the right-of-way. The first thing they did was to handcuff the driver of the vehicle they just hit (without having any concern or regard to injuries he may have sustained). Thankfully, there was a video camera that recorded the whole thing. Absent the video, the driver of the t-boned vehicle would have been arrested and charged with something–dirty pig bastards. The pigs were not cited or punished for their crimes.
Ontario Provincial Police is notorious for those black on black cars, trucks and their shiny new black 2dr p/u trucks with civilian plates and hidden lights. You can only see the lights when they are on. So sneaky.
Here in NY a sheriffs deputy ran a stop sign, tboned a sedan with a pair of grandparents and their grandkids. Both grandparents died, kids injured and the deputy got a slap on the hand. He left the sheriffs office and a local town hired him. No real penalties or discipline, just handed off to another department.
I don’t understand the inside light bars and the subdued colors/graphics. I was taught that cop cars were black and white so they were easily seen- for safety. Ditto the light bars. Seems to me safety should come first…
Revenue.
Plain and simple.
With the old light bars on the roof they would aim their headlamps up so you couldn’t see them due to the glare. This is how I used to spot cops coming up from behind at night. It was an idiotic practice not only because it was unsafe but once in the know it made it easier to spot them.
Our swine use Ford Explorers and Dodge Chargers. They’re often seen in the board of education parking lot driver’s side window to driver’s side window shootin’ the shit while their taxpayer funded gas guzzlers are guzzlin’ taxpayer funded gas. Just yesterday one of our intrepid was hiding behind a church which is in a school zone. He completely ignored the folks going way over 35. Guess there was something more interesting on the iphone.
I’m not so sure the fuzz doesn’t use pickup trucks – https://www.ford.com/police-vehicles/f150-police-truck/.
I appreciate some of the tips and will definitely take them to heart (such as foreign vehicles are safe), though I still like to look for other tells like the light arrays or antennas that you mentioned. Something that helps avoid the porkers is to simply blend in, be “gray” as survivalists like to call it. That’s another reason I’ll never drive a sports car again. I used to own a Mustang convertible some years back – while it was nice and moved well, it stands out too much now. Don’t want to paint a target on my back.
Some places are using unmarked Ford F150 pickup trucks in various colors, you have to look for the laptop computer mounted on the dash, the lights are hidden too.
In the west coast they use black & white pickups mostly for pulling over CDL trucks or around recreational areas. I’ve seen them towing boats too. There might have been an excursion.
It’s rare but I still see crown vics in rural places
> I’m not so sure the fuzz doesn’t use pickup trucks – https://www.ford.com/police-vehicles/f150-police-truck/.
You might be more likely to find these out west. I live in Las Vegas. LVMPD has some of those in its fleet, mainly in outlying areas (they mostly roll in Explorers otherwise). I’ve also seen pickups with NHP markings pulled over behind big rigs (theirs might be Dodg^H^H^H^HRam instead of Ford, as their preferred vehicle otherwise is the Charger).
You’ll find pickups here in the South in my state of Jawja. They are used across many LEO agencies. But the common denominator is that they are usually full sized, crew cabbed, Fords.
In Utah, you will see county mounties, some local cops, and UHP in pickups of all kinds (but usually Fords) and Dodge Durangos as well. It’s pretty rare to be pulled over by an unmarked vehicle unless you’re on I-15, I-70, or I-80. In the case of those three, a lot of the county mounties that have those interstates have undercover rodded Mustangs, Corvettes, Camaros, Chargers, and Challengers for the express purpose of catching speeders that like to race on the freeway.
If these revenuers have unmarked cars, how does one know if he is being pulled over by one of these guys or a robber? What does one do? Turn on his hazards until he can get to a well lighted, populated area (pretty tough between I15 and Green River). One would have to be an idiot to pull over for an unmarked car in Mexico. Maybe with my Mexican plates, the cop would understand?
Massive Two Shits State Police have pickups. Seems like they’re used to bust trucker’s balls on the Massive Two Shits Turnpike (I-90). I’ve yet to seen one pull a car over.
The law around here will pull over a nice car for any minor infraction such as a headlight or taillight out but ignore a jelopy that is on the road falling apart. The main reason would be who can afford to be fleeced. Got to pull over the paying victims to keep up the monthly quotas!
Usually they just give warnings for ded lights. They know that the owner knows his shitbox is all messed up. And most true shitboxes are used by Mexican/south American Nationals who have diplomatic immunity or blacks who are now off limit.
Eric,
Thanks for the update on enemy recognition! I have a little story to tell about that…
Back in the late 2000s, I had my ZRX1100. One day, I was out on one of the back roads enjoying the ride. I was doing 70 in 35-40 mph zone. I saw what appeared to be a white, Ford Crown Victoria in my mirrors. The first thought was: I wonder if that was a cop? If you’ll remember, until recent years, the Crown Vic was the swine mobile of choice. My second thought was, “If I let that SOB get close enough to tell for sure he is a cop, he’ll zoom in on my plate with his dash cam and nail me!” At that point, I took off, found the main highway, then discreetly made my way home… 🙂
Marky mark. You don’t see geezers hitting 70 mph on the back roads very often. The percentage of crown vics owned by enthusiastic drivers was pretty low. In part because any time someone sees them in proximity they drop speed. I’ve idled through the 70mph zone at 70 passing everyone just to find out there’s a electric utility vehicle and then open roads in front of it
In my local area, the swine simply don’t enforce traffic laws much anymore. Not sure why that is, but seeing one of the state approved thieves cruising the highway is a rare sight. A neighboring county contains a college town, and went all in on the COVID psyop, so perhaps they are short of funding. In my county the Sheriff has the proper “call us if you need us” philosophy. They don’t go out hunting down new marks for the con.
Agreed. Most moving violations are not ticketed around here – as it should be. All they enforce now is speeding on the freeways, which is probably the safest place to go fast. The reason they do it is because that’s where people go the fastest over the limit so that’s where the largest fines are. It’s ridiculous.
Not sure what Eric thinks about this, I get the feeling we might disagree… One thing I do wish they would enforce more is illegal lighting, which can be flat out dangerous to other drivers. Specifically, lots of people nowadays drive at night with really bright blindingly after market light bars turned on. Others drive with colored lights on the front of their car, probably because it they think looks cool. Doing that with red lights is especially dangerous, which I’m starting to see more and more often. I don’t think they do it because they know its dangerous. I think they do it because they are ignorant and have never been taught, either in a classroom or via enforcement, that red lights.
Used to be, cops would pull you over for driving with fog lights on or ground effects or whatever. Now they just ignore it.
Some places are going after the young crowd with modified cars, lowered, loud exhausts, etc., they would go to cars and coffee meets and give out lots of tickets, that would be the end of that cars and coffee meet location.
In Germany they are very strict about mods to cars. In Japan they are very strict with testing, if your car isn’t perfect, no licence/insurance, you go and buy a new car, the defective ones are exported to Africa.