Got pulled over today, amusing story

So I was coming home from work this morning and there's a Sherriff cruiser behind me. He's following me for a few miles, I'm at or alittle over the speed limit, keeping up with traffic.

he then pulls me over and asks if I know why he pulled me over. I say no I do not. I'm told my registration is indeed valid since he ran it but my blue colored 2019 year-validation sticker is missing and my blue 2012 is showing. I put the current sticker on last weekend so I know it is not missing or it was vandalized. So he proceeds to tell me that a lot of people want to avoid paying registration so they scrape off the prior year stickers and since 2012 was blue, they expose the old 2012 sticker to give the appearance of the 2019 blue sticker.

so I confirm, "you ran my registration and it is current". He's a very pleasant fellow so I just keep playing along with him. "and my 2012 sticker is now showing?" So as more info for him, I hand him my current registration for my 2017 Mustang. he looks at it and says it's a misdemeanor and may require a court date. so at this point, I ask to get out and look at the sticker with him. He says no, check it when you get home - I'm sure an officer safety protocol. So about 10 minutes go by while I'm trying to clue him in on the fact my 2017 mustang would NOT have a 2012 sticker on it. THEN finally you see the light bulb go on.

He goes back and rechecks the sticker, sure enough a blue 2019. We both started laughing and he admitted it was all on him and he really wasn't just trying to harass me for being in tarted up sports car. He started giving me his full name and badge info. I just told him to be safe and have a happy thanksgiving.

Sometimes they don't catch it. My dad had a DPS trooper pull him over for an expired sticker but he misread it. Let him go on the spot.

Its probably more common than not. Just the first time it happened to me in 30 years of driving, I thought it was funny.

Can't get mad at that stuff. For what the LEOs do for the community on a daily basis, you gotta let them have a few oopsies here and there.

I told the story here of smoking down a toll road in Austin about 115 mph then taking an exit to a stop light. A motorcycle cop pulled up next to me and motioned me to roll my window down. Needless to say I was absolutely crapping myself then he says "nice car, how much are these?"

whew.....

How the hell could he read the date on the tiny sticker while driving behind you?

Yeah, we all make mistakes. No harm, no foul...just a minor inconvenience.

LEOs are *greatly* underappreciated, imo. Those people put their lives in danger every time they pull someone over. As a teenager, I had a terrible attitude toward LEOs, and by the time I was 22 my ticket history was as long as my arm. It took me a long time to figure out what I was doing wrong :frusty:

I told my son what to do and how to behave when he gets pulled over. Hopefully he won't be a jackass and learn a lot faster than I did.

Someone stole my sticker back in like 2014 and so it was showing an older year. I talked to a guy at work and for some stupid reason I believed what he said when he told me it happened to his dad and he had to re-register his car. I didn't have money to burn so I said F that and drove with the old sticker on there and figured the cops wouldn't give a shit.

That's apparently not true.

One week I got pulled over 4 times and was let go with warnings each time. In my experience with Mustangs and cops, because it's happening now with this car, is you get a hell of a lot more attention from them and it's easier to get pulled over but they are far more lenient. Pretty much every time I was pulled over I was told they liked my car.

My favorite incident, I was speeding bad, and didn't realize it. I was in a city I had never been to and pulled out of a round about. The road was big and straight and I ran it up to 45 (which seemed appropriate for the road), clicked it into 5th and looked up. I saw a cop and a speed limit of 25. I watched the officer throw it into drive before I even got to him. I told my girlfriend I was getting a speeding ticket.

Cop walks up and says "do you know why I pulled you over?" I paused, took a deep breath and said "yeah, I was.." he interrupted me quickly "Yeah your tags are expired!"

I sat there for a second with a stupid look on my face and tried to gather the words to explain that it the sticker was stolen, which apparently was confusing. He told me he liked my car, ran some shit, came back, asked if I had a gun in my car which I wasn't sure of (I had gone shooting with my .22 and kept it in my trunk). He didn't care, told me again that he liked my car and that only a state trooper would write a ticket for something so stupid and left.

very nice to hear he admitted fault and even offered his name and badge number to you . He sounds like a stand up guy as do you. Great job to you for staying respectful as well with a situation that could be really frustrating.

I'm not sure how it works with each state but cant you have a plate transferred from another car when you buy (depending on state)? Then you could have had an older sticker on the plate? idk lol

S550Josh said:

I'm not sure how it works with each state but cant you have a plate transferred from another car when you buy (depending on state)? Then you could have had an older sticker on the plate? idk lol

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Depends on how old the plate is and if the sticker is expired.

Lessons Learned Long Ago ...

Always be nice to police officers no matter what. Just smile follow directions, don't give them a attitude and be honest and apologetic for anything you may
or may have not done. 99.9% of the time if you have a good record you can catch a break if you accidentally broke the law. ;)

Remember they are there to do a job like everyone else, the only difference is they carry a badge and a gun - so not the person you want to piss off for any reason. ;)

and Yes I support local law enforcement - long story.

Police officers are in so much scrutiny now than before. Those making the good ones look bad is awful. I used to be a jerk when I was young and driving a 5.0 in the late 80's. After being caught with a suspended license 3 times, I had to do community work before being 18. Since then I've become a much better person. I sincerely sympathize with an officer because they are dealing with scum all day. It's hard for them to switch over to civilian mode with nice people while on the job. Good job OP for what you did today.

As an LEO I get why people can be pissed when they get pulled over. Sometimes you just gotta vent and trust me as I have been on the end of some serious venting lol. At the end of the day tickets where the last thing I wrote. I was always looking for the bigger stuff. Can't say I've done what this officer has been I'm sure he was telling some of his partners what happened as well over a few beers and getting laughed at. I'm positive as well he appreciated you being a good sport!

MIRROR CAMERA AND COPS...

I have had a camera on my mirror since I bought my EB. But the camera was fixed permanently forward. I just bought one that can be easily swiveled to any angle. I plan on swinging it towards the driver's window if I ever get pulled over.

FranzVonHoffer said:

... A motorcycle cop pulled up next to me and motioned me to roll my window down. Needless to say I was absolutely crapping myself then he says "nice car, how much are these?"

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"depends, before a ticket or after a ticket? :shrug: