Don't sweat the small stuff
Wow!
A nightmare come true!
It could have been worse. Had you both behaved with crappy attitudes, it could have been much worse. I have a cop friend who explained the procedure to me. “You can beat the rap, but you can’t beat the ride”
He was referring to people who get violent at an incident, whether they win or not in front of a judge, they lose a couple of days of their lives, and are terribly inconvenienced. Before everybody goes nuts about the previous statement, guys, he’s talking about violent behaviour, not verbal abuse. Verbal abuse is part of every cop’s life, he’s not going to taze you because of it, but I almost guarantee that the ticket you might have got, you will now get.
A lot of people talk about winning in court, have any of you actually challenged something in court? Those of you who have understand that it’s a pain in the arse and it’s quite expensive. Sometimes if you are really objective, you’ll realize that it’s just not worth the time and money involved. You swallow your pride and move on with your life. Then again, sometimes it is worth the effort. Especially if you are going to have something on the record that will haunt you further down the road.
You know what I think?
The vast majority of guys on this list are law abiding citizens. But I also think that most of you do not ‘Suffer fools gladly”, in other words, if you see something wrong or just plain dumb, you are going to speak up against it.
Bravo! That’s one of the reasons I joined this list, not just for the MV’s, but also to be amongst like minded people.
Okay, now for Sarge’s personal experiences with LEO’s driving his MV’s across this great nation.
I have driven coast to coast, no exaggeration, and logged many thousands of miles with MV’s, usually with no licence plates. That’s quite legal if it’s registered in Texas. I have talked to dozens of cops along the way. Usually at ‘Stop and Robs’ (7-elevens). Sometimes when brewing coffee at the side of the road cops will stop to chat. I have never had an ‘incident’ with rude or offensive cops. Why is that?
Is it because of my appearance? I’m obviously (ex)military, flat top, bearing, clothing.
Is it because of my attitude? Friendly, always polite.
Is it because I’m not a bad guy? Well, not anymore.
Is it because of my age? Gray hair.
Is it because I never met a cop with an attitude? That’s a two way street.
Whatever the reasons are for never having a problem with a nasty cop, I don’t know.
I do know that every single cop I’ve met on the road has been curious about the whole private citizen owning a military vehicle thing. It’s not your normal run of the mill situation. So take the time, explain who you are, why you’re driving an MV and be courteous! Why not? “Hello, I’m so and so, this is a privately owned MV and I’m in a club that uses them for parades, air shows and the like. I transport Boy Scouts and similar groups. I am not connected with any kind of private militia, etc.”
What’s wrong with that? Satisfy their curiosity.
Everybody, group hug.
Readyman, your experience with a negative traffic stop was very unusual. Also, the cops behaving so obtusely about your data plate weight was not normal. Please do not judge all cops just by the behavior of these few.
What happened to you was not normal, it was an exception. If you wish to take the incident further, well, that’s up to you. Is it worth it? Well, only you know the answer to that.
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, 99% of cops are good guys, never forget that.
-Sarge