Details of Police Encounter
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Joined: Mar 2002
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From: Mesquite
Here is the whole story.
Tonight I was over at a friend's house. It was about 4:00 AM and her mother wanted us to run to the store to get some Dr. Peppers and we were just hanging out so we went (it came up because Bridget wanted a Pepsi or something). This was in Fort Worth...a part of town I'm not familiar with.
We drive to the Wal-Mart in Richardson Hills which is nearby my friend's house, but not the closest location to get Dr. Pepper (we were talking, so it seemed like a fine idea at the time). We get our stuff and take off.
At a light I turn left and shift in the turn causing my rear end to hike a bit. I'm still getting used to the car and I admit that I have a lot of inexperience. I know I should not be shifting in a turn, but it was a 1 to 2 and I figured no problem. This was enough to call the attention of a police officer nearby.
The officer was apparently across from me because when he pulled me over he said my lights were on bright. I have the Xenon light option and I know they are bright, but I demonstrated to him the difference between the brights and the lows and he seemed satisfied.
That's when I realized I did not have my driver's license.
I had taken the thing out when I took a shower after work that day and hadn't returned it to my back pocket when I dressed afterwards. Idiot! I haven't done that in quite a while.
The officer asked me to get out and then told me he was a Drug Interdiction Officer. He asked me if I knew what that meant and I said yes, then he proceeded to grill me on my history and if I had ever taken drugs. He actually didn't believe me when I said that I had never used pot (I haven't, I don't smoke at all). I told him that I do enjoy drinking wine and sake when I'm out with my friends, but that's it. He was very skeptical.
He then asked me a lot of questions about my passenger, who is a minor and was out past curfew. Ack! I didn't know there was a curfew. Needless to say, this whole thing had me very nervous. That fueled his suspicion that I was carrying drugs and he proceeded to ask me more questions. He asked if there were any weapons in the car, and I said that the passenger carried a knife for her own protection.
After grilling me some more he went over to the passenger and she told me she wasn't treated very well. The officer told her she was high (totally false, she is as clean as I am) and kept "forgetting" my name...I suppose to trap her in a lie. They then ran a runaway check on her.
Then they called her mom and she confirmed what we were doing (as did the two cases of Dr. Pepper!).
Meanwhile a second officer who had arrived shortly after and was watching the proceedings started asking me about my car...he had never seen one before. This relaxed me quite a bit...I think they had a good cop/bad cop kind of thing going, but from that point out I was much less freaked. I knew I was straight spittin' (heh) and if they took me in they would just confirm the truth.
They ended up calling my parents in Topeka, KS (I'm 23, by the way) and while the answering machine picked up, I had told them what my parents names were and that was enough. They let me go.
One other thing. There was road kill down the street and the cop said he thought the smell was coming from my car. He searched the trunk and then said "well, no body, I guess you'd have to fit a small body in this car." I said "dude, you have a morbid sense of humor" and he laughed and sent me on my way.
Blah! That sucked. Through the whole thing and the endless spate of questions I was very curteous and called the officer sir. I told the truth about everything. Afterwards, I believe that my name didn't go through their search because they misspelled my last name when my original license was issued. If only I had remembered that then.
The officer went through a lengthy tirade halfway through about how if I was lying any penalty would be increased. I wanted to say "I'm telling the truth" but he told me to wait until he was finished. I did and then said "on my family's honor, I am telling the absolute truth."
I actually felt bad and a little offended that the guy didn't believe me. I'm probably one of the most legal and clean dudes on the planet. I like to drink on the odd weeeknd with my friends when we go out, but I'm smart about my behavior. I'm a freaking angel compared to what these policemen usually deal with.
Now, admittedly the cops gave me more chances than I expect they would most people. I told the absolute truth and apparently enough facts coroborated that they let me go. But they didn't HAVE to. As I see it they had more than enough reason to take me in.
SO. I hope this story might help other people in the future.
My question is...what can I do about my head lamps? I really like the look and the utility of the Xenon lamps. They aren't illegal and they are low enough that they don't blind oncoming traffic. Nonetheless, I've had a couple people honk at me at night, probably because of the lamps, and I can foresee more run ins with the police.
It's very unlikely I'll not have my license and I'm going to call the DMV and get my records straightened out, but still... Should I do something about this, or operate knowing that they are a reason to be pulled over.
I suspect the police knew that the lights were Xenon based and merely used it as a reason to inspect a person out driving a sports car very late at night, but I tend to be a cynical person.
Tonight I was over at a friend's house. It was about 4:00 AM and her mother wanted us to run to the store to get some Dr. Peppers and we were just hanging out so we went (it came up because Bridget wanted a Pepsi or something). This was in Fort Worth...a part of town I'm not familiar with.
We drive to the Wal-Mart in Richardson Hills which is nearby my friend's house, but not the closest location to get Dr. Pepper (we were talking, so it seemed like a fine idea at the time). We get our stuff and take off.
At a light I turn left and shift in the turn causing my rear end to hike a bit. I'm still getting used to the car and I admit that I have a lot of inexperience. I know I should not be shifting in a turn, but it was a 1 to 2 and I figured no problem. This was enough to call the attention of a police officer nearby.
The officer was apparently across from me because when he pulled me over he said my lights were on bright. I have the Xenon light option and I know they are bright, but I demonstrated to him the difference between the brights and the lows and he seemed satisfied.
That's when I realized I did not have my driver's license.
I had taken the thing out when I took a shower after work that day and hadn't returned it to my back pocket when I dressed afterwards. Idiot! I haven't done that in quite a while.
The officer asked me to get out and then told me he was a Drug Interdiction Officer. He asked me if I knew what that meant and I said yes, then he proceeded to grill me on my history and if I had ever taken drugs. He actually didn't believe me when I said that I had never used pot (I haven't, I don't smoke at all). I told him that I do enjoy drinking wine and sake when I'm out with my friends, but that's it. He was very skeptical.
He then asked me a lot of questions about my passenger, who is a minor and was out past curfew. Ack! I didn't know there was a curfew. Needless to say, this whole thing had me very nervous. That fueled his suspicion that I was carrying drugs and he proceeded to ask me more questions. He asked if there were any weapons in the car, and I said that the passenger carried a knife for her own protection.
After grilling me some more he went over to the passenger and she told me she wasn't treated very well. The officer told her she was high (totally false, she is as clean as I am) and kept "forgetting" my name...I suppose to trap her in a lie. They then ran a runaway check on her.
Then they called her mom and she confirmed what we were doing (as did the two cases of Dr. Pepper!).
Meanwhile a second officer who had arrived shortly after and was watching the proceedings started asking me about my car...he had never seen one before. This relaxed me quite a bit...I think they had a good cop/bad cop kind of thing going, but from that point out I was much less freaked. I knew I was straight spittin' (heh) and if they took me in they would just confirm the truth.
They ended up calling my parents in Topeka, KS (I'm 23, by the way) and while the answering machine picked up, I had told them what my parents names were and that was enough. They let me go.
One other thing. There was road kill down the street and the cop said he thought the smell was coming from my car. He searched the trunk and then said "well, no body, I guess you'd have to fit a small body in this car." I said "dude, you have a morbid sense of humor" and he laughed and sent me on my way.
Blah! That sucked. Through the whole thing and the endless spate of questions I was very curteous and called the officer sir. I told the truth about everything. Afterwards, I believe that my name didn't go through their search because they misspelled my last name when my original license was issued. If only I had remembered that then.
The officer went through a lengthy tirade halfway through about how if I was lying any penalty would be increased. I wanted to say "I'm telling the truth" but he told me to wait until he was finished. I did and then said "on my family's honor, I am telling the absolute truth."
I actually felt bad and a little offended that the guy didn't believe me. I'm probably one of the most legal and clean dudes on the planet. I like to drink on the odd weeeknd with my friends when we go out, but I'm smart about my behavior. I'm a freaking angel compared to what these policemen usually deal with.
Now, admittedly the cops gave me more chances than I expect they would most people. I told the absolute truth and apparently enough facts coroborated that they let me go. But they didn't HAVE to. As I see it they had more than enough reason to take me in.
SO. I hope this story might help other people in the future.
My question is...what can I do about my head lamps? I really like the look and the utility of the Xenon lamps. They aren't illegal and they are low enough that they don't blind oncoming traffic. Nonetheless, I've had a couple people honk at me at night, probably because of the lamps, and I can foresee more run ins with the police.
It's very unlikely I'll not have my license and I'm going to call the DMV and get my records straightened out, but still... Should I do something about this, or operate knowing that they are a reason to be pulled over.
I suspect the police knew that the lights were Xenon based and merely used it as a reason to inspect a person out driving a sports car very late at night, but I tend to be a cynical person.
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 164
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From: Mesquite
Airgate...the thing about the lights...my car was purchased 3k miles used and its "fully optioned." The lights weren't something I had put on there (and I don't think all S2000s have them?). So this was my first encounter with police reaction...something I wasn't aware of before hand.
In retrospect, I should have expected it.
In retrospect, I should have expected it.
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Joined: Jan 2001
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While I am glad that everything went well, and that you were courteous and respectful of the police officer, this stop is completely bogus.
Once you demonstrated that your lights were not on bright and he acknowledged that you had no problem, he has nothing, nada, zero, zilch reason to hold you. Nor does he have the ability to even ask for your drivers license. This is not a fascist state and you are not required to carry papers. In fact, just because you don't have your drivers license on you doesn't mean that you don't have a drivers license. You do. Memorize your number. Tell the cop to go look it up. Driving without a drivers license in your possession isn't a crime. Its only a crime to drive if you don't have a drivers license.
Cops have to have reasonable suspicion to stop you. From your description, of the incident, he clearly did not. All of the questions he was asking you, complete BS. (Now this is not to say that you did the right thing and ended the evening without incident, however, for future reference, you don't have to consent to a search of anything but the passenger compartment (a safety search), nor do you have to answer their questions. Cops really burn my biscuits sometimes.
Once you demonstrated that your lights were not on bright and he acknowledged that you had no problem, he has nothing, nada, zero, zilch reason to hold you. Nor does he have the ability to even ask for your drivers license. This is not a fascist state and you are not required to carry papers. In fact, just because you don't have your drivers license on you doesn't mean that you don't have a drivers license. You do. Memorize your number. Tell the cop to go look it up. Driving without a drivers license in your possession isn't a crime. Its only a crime to drive if you don't have a drivers license.
Cops have to have reasonable suspicion to stop you. From your description, of the incident, he clearly did not. All of the questions he was asking you, complete BS. (Now this is not to say that you did the right thing and ended the evening without incident, however, for future reference, you don't have to consent to a search of anything but the passenger compartment (a safety search), nor do you have to answer their questions. Cops really burn my biscuits sometimes.
Thread Starter
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Joined: Mar 2002
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From: Mesquite
I know I don't have to consent to searches...(I'm actually a Jello Biafra spoken word fan heh)...but I figured it best to be fully compliant. If I was an ass with these guys it would just given them reason to hold me longer or take me down to the station.
I agree completely about memorizing the license number and I will definitely be doing that. When I lived in Kansas, my number was the same as my social security number, but now it's different and I haven't made the effort. That will change.
One thing they didn't mention that they could have ticketed me for was the lack of a front license plate. I am certain they noted it, they seemed observant, but they didn't mention it. If I was a punk, they could have pulled that out and written a citation (a small one, but still something).
I agree completely about memorizing the license number and I will definitely be doing that. When I lived in Kansas, my number was the same as my social security number, but now it's different and I haven't made the effort. That will change.
One thing they didn't mention that they could have ticketed me for was the lack of a front license plate. I am certain they noted it, they seemed observant, but they didn't mention it. If I was a punk, they could have pulled that out and written a citation (a small one, but still something).
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Joined: Jan 2002
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From: Los Angeles
bored cop with a god complex is what you experienced. i'm not surprised that he didn't believe you - it's part of their training to turn off their own judgement and assume everyone is scum. you or anyone else he happened to pull over is a potential criminal and therefore everyone is treated as if they were.
btw, if it's already been mentioned, i missed it, but a fully optioned S2K is basically stock - our cars come with everything standard, including the lights. i think ppl highbeam us because our lights bounce so much from the stiff ride, making it look like we're flashing them. you can spot an oncoming S2K from miles away at night because of this.
btw, if it's already been mentioned, i missed it, but a fully optioned S2K is basically stock - our cars come with everything standard, including the lights. i think ppl highbeam us because our lights bounce so much from the stiff ride, making it look like we're flashing them. you can spot an oncoming S2K from miles away at night because of this.
