I got a ticket today, doh!

[Mr 5 0]

RED92LX50:

Personally, I've had little problem with police giving me a hassle over tickets. I drive a red Mustang ('90 LX) that you can 'hear' yet I've never been pulled over on some pretense by a cop. Like you, I've had charges reduced and I once got off with a written warning when I was caught - on radar - doing 46 in a 25 zone, so I have no personal animus toward police traffic enforcement or cops in general.

However, when I see statements that start with the phrase: 'If you don't do anything wrong..." I cringe a bit. Based on my own youthful experiences and those of many of our members that have related them here, police - especially the 'local' police - tend to notice - and focus attention - on young guys with loud or fast cars (or both).

Since there are a few hundred (or thousand) traffic laws, a determined, hard-assed cop can give you a ticket for just about anything, like 'unsafe start' or 'illegal lane change' and it's going to be his word against yours. Guess who wins?

I have a black aquaintance who gets stopped a few times a year for 'DWB' - Driving While Black - as he calls it. Some cop hassles him for a crooked license plate or some other bogus 'violation' and he strongly suspects that his race has something to do with it. This is a guy in his 30's, a suit and tie type who drives econocars, not a Mustang or a 'pimpmobile'. I think he's on to something, here.

I only mention this because it highlights my point about being stopped for 'nothing' and simply not breaking any laws doesn't automatically protect anyone from police harrassment.

I agree that a snotty attitude will almost guarantee a ticket during any traffic stop but I maintain that young guys in performance cars - like Mustangs - are often 'targeted' - no matter how well they obey the traffic laws. I believe this is simply police prejudice, possibly based on experience, possibly just handed-down bias from other cops.

So while your experience and even my experience with police and ticketing may be mostly positive, to assume that if you're a 'good boy' nothing bad can happen to you at the hands of traffic police is just, well, naive.

The real world isn't quite that simple or that kind and while obeying the law is certainly a good idea, it doesn't guarantee you won't be hassled for other reasons, including the car you drive, by traffic cops.