Slightly OT: Unmarked Highway patrol cars

Over here in Oregon I saw just the other day, a plain poop brown wrapped Chevy pick-up with a very small lightbar in the back window. Had someone pulled over with lights flashing.

I try to stay under 7-8 over the max. And if I DO see one it's limit speed only, no need to dis the man ;)

Look for up-aimed headlamps. Aggressive driving for no particular reason. Tailgating. Lack of signal use. LLBing. Looking like they want to pass but when the chance comes they don't. Basically common cop driving. They almost always give themselves away.

Sounds like Mad Max

It really doesn't take much to catch most drivers. Follow one long enough and they will eventually make a mistake... especially if they know there is a cop behind them. In most cases, you can be right on their rear bumper and they won't notice the lights or siren because, they are yaking, and have the stereo blaring. The cruise control also tends to deceive them.

I suppose all know about the "pull over" laws which have gone into effect, starting with TX DPS, with other states catching the fever.

If an emergency vehicle is stopped with it's lights going, you are required to pull into the passing lane if clear, or reduce speed to (IIRC) 20mph UNDER the posted speed limit. I hear some areas are having a field day using multiple units.

I've been followed for miles at times. Usually there's enough traffic that the cop gets bored with me and focuses on someone else fairly quickly.

Yeah... chicago traffic being what it is often makes moving over impossible to do safely and 35mph in that traffic is asking to be rear ended. Thankfully there is no number under the limit specified.

Some years ago we were driving on a 2 lane road in Wisconsin when some bozo passed us at a high rate of speed, and almost ran an oncoming car off the road. The oncoming car was a black, unmarked, Wisconsin Highway Patrol mustang 5.0. The Mustang turned around, passed us, and eventually pulled bozo off the road. A big thumbs up to that trooper!

Dick in MN

In HS my driving instructor told us what happened to him in Nevada. He was driving a main highway at night and got PO'd by oncoming drivers who would not dim their lights. His car, being old, had a spotlight. He said the next driver that fails to dim his lights was gonna get it in the face. Sure enough. BLIND-O!! In his rearview mirror he noted that there were no taillights or headligfhts showing, so he cruised on. Down the road a piece he got to wondering if someone might have gone off the road and been hurt. The NV roads can be very empty. Sooooo... He wentr back and found a vehicle upside down in the drainage culvert. Seated on the underside of the rear bumper was a Nevada State Patrolman. OOPS!

I could follow someone and, as I said, sooner or later, they would make a mistake, but I'd forget them in a flash if I spotted some idiot being really brazen.... major speed, weaving in and out to get ahead of the pack, etc. Even had major idiots pass on the shoulder of either side. I loved such people. Just never figured out why they didn't just drive to th station and turn themselves in.

Texas, IIRC applies to any speed zone of 25mph or higher. The states say it's for officer safety. Personally, I think it actually creates a greater risk just like the old geezer/geezerette who enters freeway traffic at 45mph. That scares me worse than a speeder (well, a resonable speeder that is.... :0)

I get it, but

leaves me mysteryfied ...

Wouldn't it be really cool if, instead of veering to the ditch, the blinded driver went the other way... wait a minute... he would have hit your driving instructor and then he wouldn't have been around to tell the tale....

Two wrongs never make a right....

But 3 left hand turns do!

Sorry, Dick

But then I might nener have had a driving instructor to teach a driving class, so I could graduate HS and go on to lead a great life in law enforcement. :0)

I figure that the NV Bear turned his face to the right because of the glare. A normal human reaction is to "drift" in the same direction one is looking. This is why so many looie-loos at accident scenes, etc, end up plowing into patrol cars and such.

Thus spake D E Willson :

APD has four or five Chargers with tone on tone paint jobs and teeny-tiny bars in the rear window. If you see a blue, brown, red or gray charger on the side of the road with the driver's door open and some guy leaning out, STFD!!! And I thing they're using laser.

If you are discussing Austin on MoPac, yes they are. The other nasty they (APD) are doing is setting the second car after the pull over (it has to be a legal situation) running radar. Now, you see the cop with the unfortunate victim ("hey, thanks for picking up my ticket") and, of course the radar is running, cops never turn the sucker off. BUT IT'S THE CAR IN FRONT!!!!

California has used some BMWs in white or gold. Primarily used around the truck inspection stations, they are fully authorized to perform traffic patrol as well.