Who can tell me what I did right?

[foofighter20x]

This was about 30 minutes ago.

*pulled over*

*dome light on [the passenger compartment is empty save the jumper cables and the first aid kit, and my book bag], hands on wheel*

*knock on glass*

*lowered window 1/4*​

Officer: "License, registration, and proof of insurance."

*comply*

*he goes back to his cruiser, runs my info, my record is spotless*​

Officer: "You know why I pulled you over?"

Me: "No."

Officer: "You didn't signal at least 100 yards before the intersection. You got to the intersection and then signaled. You know that you're not supposed to do that, don't you?"

*trying not to look at the officer like he's an idiot for stopping me only for that*

*thinking of how to answer*​

Officer: "Well, you know that's illegal, right?"

Me: "I have no answer."

*officer gets frustrated*​

Officer: "Where you coming from?"

Me: "The university."

Officer: "What were you doing there?"

Me: "Late class."

Officer: "You been drinking?"

Me: "Nope."

*officer more frustrated i'm giving him nothing to further his investigation on*

*points at my license*​

Officer: "This still your present address?"

Me: "Yep."

Officer: "I'm going to let you go with a warning..."




You're god-damned right you will.

 

[jbrace]

You didn't shout Ron Paul mother f*cker as he walked away!! Other than that, nice!

 

[purplechoe]

Me: "I have no answer."

*officer gets frustrated*​

 

[foofighter20x]

You didn't shout Ron Paul mother f*cker as he walked away!! Other than that, nice!

Damn. I'll have to remember that for next time.

 

[purplechoe]

Damn. I'll have to remember that for next time.

Yeah, and don't forget to remind him that NWO is going down!!!! Motherf$$%r!!!

 

[Pauls' Revere]

You admitted no fault with "I have no answer" remember anything you say can and will be used against you. You complied with the minimum information needed...wish I could have been that cool headed in my younger days.

But 100 yards!?! or is it 100 feet? dam 100 yards is a long way.

 

[foofighter20x]

You admitted no fault with "I have no answer" remember anything you say can and will be used against you. You complied with the minimum information needed...wish I could have been that cool headed in my younger days.

But 100 yards!?! or is it 100 feet? dam 100 yards is a long way.

I thought he said yards... It may have been feet. Probably is feet...

 

[Uriel999]

nice dude! Way to be!

 

[foofighter20x]

I love that you guys get this!

 

[specsaregood]

Way to remember to turn that domelight on, they love that.

 

[Reason]

You did not need to tell him where you were coming from or where you were going.

 

[purplechoe]

You did not need to tell him where you were coming from or where you were going.

also true, not to incriminate yourself in case your type of car/ color was involved in a crime (accident, robbery, etc.) in the area you were coming from...

 

[foofighter20x]

Hahaha... All well and good, but I had an airtight alibi for the 5 1/2 hours before I was pulled over. I showed up for my class at 1700, an hour early, and was flirting with two of the female receptionists from 1700-1800. I was in a class from 1800-2200. And it takes a half hour drive to get to where I was...

Unless he really wants to question the word of a lawyer/instructor and several of his students (me being one among them), not to mention their building's CCTV...

I knew I'd win on that one if there was even a whiff of a hint of him trying that, so I didn't worry about it.

 

[berrybunches]

True story, a young cop pulled me over and when I said I didn't know why he said "because you have a Ron Paul bumper sticker" lol He was making a joke obviously but what was even weirder was that I didn't have my license or insurance on me and he still let me go with a broken headlight warning. I guess he liked Ron Paul!

 

[dwdollar]

Where do you live? Surely that cop had something better to do. Either you live in pleasantville or that cop has his priorities all wrong.

 

[BuddyRey]

This could have gone very badly for you, but you did four things right that decided the encounter in your favor;

1. You only partially cracked your window. This ensured that the cop couldn't stick his nosy, busybodying face into your car and see or smell something (or just claim he saw or smelled something) that could have put you away.

2. When the officer asked you, "do you know why I pulled you over", you answered no. You have no obligation to answer affirmatively when a cop asks you a question like this. To do so is to voluntarily surrender your Fifth Amendment right of refusing to incriminate yourself.

3. When the officer asked you "did you know that (so and so) was illegal", you also answered no.

4. You were respectful and didn't act in a suspicious or abrasive way, but you remained tight-lipped and didn't volunteer any information.

There are a lot more tips like these in this must-see video on surviving police encounters.

YouTube - BUSTED: The Citizen's Guide to Surviving Police Encounters

 

[purplechoe]

the "cool" way in which the OP handled the situation reminds me of... Swayze in Roadhouse...

"be nice"

YouTube - Roadhouse

...RIP

 

[nobody's_hero]

What tin-pot authoritarian third-world-country-of-a-city do you live in where they have such frivolous traffic laws?

Around here, people don't signal until they're all the way through the intersection, and you practially won't get pulled over unless you're waving a gun out the window shooting at random objects.

EDIT: Oh, Portland. lol

 

[angelatc]

Wow. It's really a pretty sad state of affairs in America when we can celebrate the fact that one of our own survived a traffic stop.

 

[Anti Federalist]

Wow. It's really a pretty sad state of affairs in America when we can celebrate the fact that one of our own survived a traffic stop.

Thread winner!

Unfortunately...