Summer Travel Tip time ...

The WSP is going farther undercover - in addition to the couple of dark blue unmarked Ford Explorers they use, you can now start watching for a fleet of unmarked white Volvo Station Wagons !

Be carful who you pass out there ... as MG used to say: "Safety Fast" ...

They have white Aerostar type vans too :mad:

And Vancouver has a Blaze Yellow WRX that they try to goat people into racing against. Beware.

R

>>And Vancouver has a Blaze Yellow WRX that they try to goat people into racing against. Beware.
>>
>>R

I lived in Vanc for nearly 6 years back in the 90's. I can believe it! :eek:

They’ve done up some PT cruisers her in the Ft Walton Beach, Fl area. White with the fake wood paneling. Saw one pull over someone the other day. Just one more reason I never speed through town.

Here's the catch - you are not required to pull over for just anyone with a PA system and a flashing light. There have been a few incidents with persons imitating as cops to pull people over and do 'bad things' to them. The Highway Patrol has actually said that if you feel that the person trying to pull you over is not a real patrolman, you can do the following:

- Call 911 and report the incident
- Drive to your nearest police station with said "pissed-off cop" in tow
- Pull over but require him to ask for an identifiable police cruiser to show up before you roll down your window

...not just the cops can play dirty :wink:

I've actually always wanted such a stealth cop to try and pull me over for JUST that reason! :lol:

R

I have lived in New York, Connecticut, Ohio, Michigan and Washington.
More than any of those states the state of Washington Law Enforcement is as Gestapo as they get in the USA!

Can't speak personally about the Northwest, but have folks noticed that in general there is A LOT more "enforcement" on both interstates and local roads? I'm not sure if this is just a time of year thing (getting ready for the summer driving season) or if they're using some of their new-found homeland security funds to generate more revenue...but over the past month I've found that the roads are absolutely crawing with cops. :eek:

The unmarked cars they use may also have tinted windows all the way around including the front. I am collecting the pictures of the unmarked cars with tinted windows in case I am stopped I will take my collection of patrol cars and the Governors limo to court and ask the judge if it is legal why can the state patrol and governor have them.

As the old song says, " I fought the law and the law won" They are being paid to get you.

The "Law" is all too often more interested in collecting revenue than in improving safety. If they were interested in safety the would start pulling over drivers who think they own the fast lane. These folks are the rude, inconsiderate dolts that cause road rage. If the law would enforce slower traffic to keep right, then we would have less road rage and traffic would flow better.

In Washington you can expect speed traps and unmarked vehicles particularly on the interstates. If you want to avoid tickets, then be very careful not to go over 10 mph above the limit and try not to be the fastest in the pack.

Have also seen a Caddy Fleetwood, Toyota Celica in the Olympia area

In Dallas I heard they sorta gave up on pulling people over on certain roads....so instead they now drive several cruisers all lined up side by side across all lanes and drive the speed limit spot on....causes a huge slew of pissed off drivers behind them.

We can attest to the recent "onslaught" of WSP cars lately..on our drive up to Seattle & back we must have seen 30 cars on the way there & 1/2 as many on the way back. One was an unmarked beige Dodge Intrepid. Most of them of course had people pulled over..only about 3 did not. It was a GOOD revenue day for the state of Washington!

Careful in WA even if you have a radar detector. I drove from PDX to Vancouver a couple of weeks ago and got hit 4 times by Laser with ZERO warning. Luckily every time I was a few car lengths behind someone else and only going about 80 (in a 70 zone).

-- bill

OK, a little point of reference here...i'm an ex-cop. i HATED doing traffic enforcement, but since i spent my last three years on a bicycle in a downtown urban area, i didn't have to do much.

There is a great deal of misinformation about what cars various law enforcement agencies use for traffic enforcement. (i have the list of all the cars that WSP usues, statewide, with assingments, if anyone is interested.) they simply do NOT use "seizure cars" as many people think. WSP will only use very specific vehicles.

That being said, give me a new laser SMD and i can nail ANYONE out to 1000 yards. from virtually ANY car. a crown vic, an intrepid, a VW golf....whatever. take the roof lights off and all the graphics on the car hardly make any difference. i've had people sit at stoplights next to me in MARKED prowl cars and take a toke from their MJ pipe while drinking a beer.

the bottom line here is that "sneaky" vehicles are rarely used solely for speed enforcement. they are in virtually all cases, used for agressive driver enforcement. i(the volvo and the yellow cab the WSP uses in seeattle are dedicated to this task.

i agree however, that if for any reason you doubt that the car attempting to pull you over is actually a legit cop.....DON'T pull over until you're in a very well lit and populated area.....get on your cell phone and ask specificallyfor dispatch in the area you are driving. (many times it will defualt to WSP on the highways). tell the dispatcher that you are being followed by a ehicle you cannot identify as a police vehicle, give your exact location and ask that they verify the vehicle is legit. they will be more than happy to do so. it's simply too easy to obtain emergency equipment these dasy to risk it. flashing blue lights simply aren't enough.

sorry for the long missive, but i'm happy to take any questions about what it's really like out there.

Slinate!

Ron[img]null[/img]

Thanks, MiniRally! ... and Welcome to MCO! ... your real-world perspectives should prove to be of great value to all of us that let our mini's rev a bit too high :razz:

... i got nailed for the first time in years as i enthusiastically came over a crest of a hill on the other side of snoqualmie pass a few weeks ago - shoulda known! ... the end of the 4th of july weekend and a fleet-o-cruisers was sitting out there, casting their nets and pulling a bunch of us in!
Coming back from that trip two weeks later, aftre hitting 20 states, i must say i was embarrased to see that Washington State had by far, the most cars and the most 'diligent' officers on the road of any state i'd seen ...

So anyway, Ron ... gotta mini yet??

While at the Woodward Dream Cruise, I spotted these full dressed patrol vehicles passing out tickets:

Jaguar coupe, Vette Z06, Hummer H2, Chevy SSR, Viper coupe, and probably a few others I didn't catch.

I live in the Seattle area and the fuzz has been EVERYWHERE lately!! :evil: :roll: :roll: ).

>>They’ve done up some PT cruisers her in the Ft Walton Beach, Fl area. White with the fake wood paneling. Saw one pull over someone the other day. Just one more reason I never speed through town.
>>
>>


Update: Ft Walton Beach, Fl

They are now using silver Mustang GT. The guy speeds up fast behind someone he thinks will want to race – when the unsuspecting person steps on it and on go the flashing lights.

I watched the guy do this for a half hour last week. He bagged 4 people.

Meanwhile, in Ohio, compulsive speeders have resorted to MC and MCS vehicles in the hope of evading laser and radar detection under the thought that these cars will be too small for the police to get an accurate reading on.

OK, sorry...let me make something abundantly clear....

I speed. virtually ALL the time. if i get a ticket, i PAY it. i was speeding, therefore i deserve the ticket. fighting a ticket for breaking a law that you actually broke is infantile.

If the speed limit in a place is set artificially low simply to generate revenue, that's one thing, but if i get nailed by WSP for doing 85 in a 70 on my way down The Pass (which i did last winter, at 1500 yards even....i wanted to shake the troopers hand!) i deserve the ticket. That's part of being a responsible citizen.

I agree that speed enforcement is for the sole purpose of revenue-generation, as every single traffic enforcement study, including the NHTSA one finished last april shows that speed enforcement has NO long-term effect on average speed, is stupid. if you wonder why speeds are set the way they are, call the traffic planner in your specific city and ask why the speed in such-and-such road is set the way it is. (traffic planning is where all the math-club geeks from your high school ended up), they'll be happy to explain it to you. (noone else ever talks to them, so they'll welcome the attention.)

also, i and i STRONGLY encourage this for every last one of you. go do a ride-along with a trooper or any other cop. you will get an awakening that you never imagined. call you local cop shop and ask how you can do a civilian ride-along. it will change your perspective about what cops are and what they do.

(god, will you guys post something i can respond to without writing a novel, please?)

?

_________________
Any fool can drive fast in a straight line....

yeah! ... any chanch you ordered the Tartan red??