The other day, I was pulled over. I wasn't speeding and my car was in complete working order. I was not in violation of any vehicle codes, but the officer pulled me over.

Why was I pulled over? The officer said I looked suspicious. I didn't think I could get pulled over for looking suspicious. I don't think I look suspicious. Any how the officer then asks, "Is this your car"? I was his tone that upset me. He might have just asked me where did you steel this car or do your parents know you took their car.

"I'm sorry, you look awfully young to be driving that car", he said. "Here you go, drive safely and try not to draw too much attention", he said as he returned my my license.

Argh! It still upsets me. While sitting and reflecting in my car as he ran my plates and license I thought to myself this sucks. It seemed like it was my fault for being young and a minority.

Has this happened to anyone else? Also, on a side note, I'm curious to find the average age us S2K owners as well as youngest and oldest.

Oh well, bad things are drawn to me.

 

Sorry bud...it shouldn't be like that, but it happens all the time.

 

I don't want to show any disrespect, but to add levity to this topic,

EVERYONE looks suspicious driving this car. The car just looks so sinister, that even my grandmother looks like she's running drugs.


For an actual response, I've been only pulled over for speeding and for a cop to check out the car. In my Prelude, however, I've been pulled over a handful of times for varied reasons like:

speeding,
loud exhaust,
bright lights,
clear taillights,
car is too low,
I lookeded suspicious (basically I look brown, young, and unsually successful <--only a front, though),
under suspicion of DUI (but I NEVER drink and then drive, even after ONE drink),
and the best one of them all.....suspicion of Racing and Suspicion of speeding when I was out on the road with NO OTHER cars and he had no timed speed on me!!!

 

Assuming that you could prove the officer said what you claim, and that you were doing absolutely nothing wrong, you are well within your bounds to, at a minumum complain to the Officer's superior, and frankly you could easily sue the department. Winning would be something else completely, but you have just described a textbook case of illegal search and seizure.

 

Something similar happened to me once while driving my MR2. I was crusing along in a pack of cars, doing about 43 or so in a 45 zone, when this officer pulls out of a side street. I start watching him in my rear-view, as I'm paranoid about these things, and sure enough he wove his way through the pack of cars I was in (this included cutting off the guy behind me) and turned his lights on to pull me over.

After I stopped and he sat a few minutes in his car, he sauntered up to my car and asked to see my registration. The sticker on my plate had the car expiring that month, but I still had a few days left, so no offense there. He then walked around my car for a minute or two, trying to find something wrong, then in a flash of inspiration walked back to his trunk, rummaged around for a bit, then came back with this device he used to measure the tinting on my windows. It was too dark for the state of NY law (even though the car was registered in Florida), and he gave me a ticket which wound up costing me around $50.

Anyhow, his reason for pulling me over was the sticker on my plate, but there's no way he could have seen that from his position on the side of the road with the car following me. So why did he pull me over? Damned if I know... guess he was having a bad day...

-tim

 

Oh, forgot to mention, my mother was sitting in the seat next to me, so I hope I didn't look to suspicious (-: And, I'm white, so I don't ethnicity had anything to do with it.

Also, it's perfectly legal in NY law for an officer to pull someone over on a complete whim. I'm sure other states are similar.

-tim

 

DWB, its all there is to it dude. Driving while
brown-black. The lady I used to work for had a cop boyfriend for awhile and she went on a ride in his cruiser once. While she was there, he pulled some guy over to search his car. When she asked him why he pulled that guy over he said, "Simple, DWB (Driving while black)." I also had a black friend who lives in a pretty exclusive, very rich neighborhood with affluent caucasion people as the majority and he used to get pulled over all the time while driving home at night. Once or twice, maybe he was doing something wrong, but after awhile, it seemed like the only thing he was doing wrong was looking like he didn't belong in that neighborhood because of his skin. Its 2001 and shit like this happens all the time still...

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by itsjustme
[B]Assuming that you could prove the officer said what you claim, and that you were doing absolutely nothing wrong, you are well within your bounds to, at a minumum complain to the Officer's superior, and frankly you could easily sue the department.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by S2K Fan
[B]The other day, I was pulled over.

 

Actually, it is absolutely NOT legal for an officer to pull someone over on a complete whim. It is not legal in NY and it is not legal anywhere in the US. It is an absolutely violation of the Constiution. The officer MUST have a reasonable suspicion to stop you and probable cause to detain you further. Additionally, you are never required to consent to a search of your vehicle for any reasons unless the police have a warrant (the exception to this being an area within the reach of the driver-- this is a Supreme Court carved exception that is designed to protect the officer during a traffic stop).

Now, whether you can prove that the officer didn't have reasonable suspicion and later, probable cause is another matter entirely. The reality is that this sort of thing happens all the time. But realize that it is utterly illegal and abhorent to the constitution and that if you are so inclined, you absolutely have grounds to sue. Is it worth it in every case? No. But don't go around thinking that the cops are jack booted thugs who can do as they please.

And now back to your regularly scheduled programming (Getting of my soapbox)

And if you couldn't tell, I am actually an attorney with some experience in these matters.