Well, I have a confession to make:( This morning I was pulled over by the state patrol. I was on my way to work and he got me. I wasn’t running late, I didn’t roll through the stop sign, I hadn’t been drinking. I went around a barrier posted on a road that for no reason should be closed.
They are doing construction on the main highway and have decided to block off other alternate routes to force everyone to use the detour which brings you way out and around to come back into town. There is nothing wrong with the road. No hazardous driving conditions, no construction, nothing. So then why is it closed??? It is 2 miles away from the construction sight! You don’t go anywhere NEAR the sight when you take this side road.
I didn’t argue, I didn’t snap. I was polite and he was polite and thankfully he gave me a warning. He did tell me that it is a misdemeanor in MN to go around a barrier (so that’s what he got me on). He asked if I had any questions and I said no because I was too irritated to ask why the damn road was closed in the first place. I feel like writing a letter to the editor and asking if they can find info on any laws that we may have about closing roads because I couldn’t find anything except closing them during the winter during “hazardous driving conditions”. How can they close a public road for no other reason than they don’t want people on it? If that’s the case I want my road closed and I’m sure everyone else does too. Oh, did I mention that he followed me for a good 4 miles before pulling me over???
Anyone else have any great police stories? Anyone know anything about road laws? I wasn’t able to find much, but didn’t have a lot of time to look either. Come on, share with the group because I’m pretty sure we’ve all had some type of run in with the law!!!
Us Girls..Our Views 
I am not sure, but I am guessing two main reasons for the road being blocked. The first reason is it was through a residential section. Residential sections are sometimes avoided because the heavy traffic would disrupt the neighborhoods, and in wealthy, or politically active neighborhoods they do not want the hassle.
The second reason would be weight restrictions on the road you wanted to take. While the road may have been fine for automobile traffic, heavier vehicles could sink in the street or tear up the pavement.
As for stories, some years ago I was traveling through nowhere Kansas on a back road between cornfields. There was little traffic and less to look at. I had a CB radio turned on in my pickup.
A loud male voice came over the CB that said, “Slow Down!”
A few seconds later it said, “You can’t see me can you?”
Followed a few seconds later by, “But I can see youuuuuu”
Needless to say, I slowed down to the posted speed limit.
A few seconds later the voice, “That’s much better…”
I never did see a highway patrol car, so I am guessing it was a plane overhead clocking my speed.
I have too many cop stories to recall. Most of them involve arrogant men trying unsuccessfully to intimidate me. One time I was driving on the freeway where the speed limit was 65, and I saw a cop so I was very careful not to go over 64. Well, the cop was in the fast lane going 60. Most of the cars in the slow lane slowed down to 60 too, because they were afraid to pass the cop. Well, I needed to be somewhere and 60 wasn’t going to get me there on time, so as soon as I got a chance, I passed the cop. He pulled me over and tried to say I was speeding. I spoke toward where I figured he was wearing a microphone and told him off for slowing down the whole interstate by driving under the speed limit in the fast lane. I also swore on both of my deceased grandmothers that I had not been speeding and vowed to challenge such an allegation all the way to the supreme court. He backed off.
Another time I got stopped because supposedly my car looked like another car that might have been stolen. My registration tag on my license plate was expired, but I had the new tag in my glove compartment. I explained that I hadn’t had a chance to put it on yet because they had not mailed it to me on time, even though I ordered and paid for it way early. I had called three times to fix the problem, and when the tag finally came we had nasty winter weather (I park outside), and then I went on an overseas trip for three weeks, so yeah, I didn’t get the tag on my car on time. Well, the cop was hearing none of it so I had to take off work and go to court to challenge the ticket. I brought all my proof of when I paid and when they mailed me the sticker, and I convinced the judge I was not guilty, but he said I should pay court costs, which were about half of the cost of the ticket. Then the court reporter spoke up. She said that since none of this was my fault, I shouldn’t have to pay anything. So the judge finally let me off with only a missed day of work and a lot of aggravation.
As far as roads being off limits. I don’t know the laws, but we have a road like that near my house. It’s a road full of huge new houses, obviously inhabited by rich/extravagant people. There is a permanent sign that says no thru traffic is allowed, although this is my shortest route to the freeway. I ignore the sign. I figure if a cop stops me, I am going to ask whether or not any tax money went toward building, maintaining, and/or policing that road. And if the answer is yes, then I want to know why I, a taxpayer, should not be allowed to drive on it. I live at the end of a cul-de-sac and there’s no sign on my street restricting any traffic. (And yes, we get confused people driving up and turning around in front of my house all the time.) Why should hoity-toity people get special treatment at my expense?
I’ll write you a book…………………. rule breaker!!!!!!!!
LOL funny Jason she’s such a little rebel huh??!!
I don’t know anything about road construction or detours except that they’re annoying. I have kind of a “bored cop” story. I’ve been pulled over not once but twice by the same “bored cop” and got tickets both times for my TINT!! I’ve even been told that if a cop pulls you over for tint they’re a**holes and that came from a cop!! You might have had a bored cop with nothing better to do. There are a lot where I live!!!
What is really amazing is that until the road construction started, you were lucky to see a local cop or state patrol on this busy highway. Now that the detour is up, it looks like they have 2 state patrols on duty to catch anybody using the roads. The road I took is a gravel road with 3 houses on it 2 miles outside of town. By the time I passed the cop I was already well past the detour route so I thought “screw it” he’ll get me for something. I’m not saying he was wrong, I’m not covering up what I did. I freely admit that I went around the barrier. I just think the barrier is a bunch of crap!
I was pulled over one time at 3 am because I was going 2 mph over the speed limit.. Yes seriously. It was a DPS officer. He wanted to know where I had been and where I was going and why I was out at 3 am.. (I was 17 at the time). Turns out he knew my father and then asked me if he should give my dad a call.. I was so pissed.. I’ve been pulled over 2 times since then. ONce for a yellow light I went through. (It was blinking yellow and doesnt turn red!) The cop wrote me a ticket for that one. The judge listened to my case and dropped the ticket and said it was ridiculous. And then another time for my tags being out.
It is a bunch of crap Sue!!!!!! I would’ve done the same thing.
I was on this road last week going to have supper with Sue on an “on call” night. I can’t for the life of me see why they would close it. There are only a few farm type places on it. I did remember thinking they were going to hate the dust it created and one house had the grease stuff in front of the house so it wouldn’t generate dust. But come on. I’m not even sure we saw another car on it. We were on it for under 10 minutes and it’s much easier than going in a circle. This is one messed up deal. There really aren’t enough people to complain to close this road. In my opinion. They weren’t “mansions” by any stretch.
I’ve been lucky, *knocking on wood* with keeping on the right side of the law. I got pulled over once for not having new tabs on my car. He asked me if I knew why he was pulling me over and I had no idea. It was a residential road and I wasn’t speeding. I yelled at him telling him it was my husbands job to take care of the vehicles and he didn’t give me a ticket. I think he was afraid for my “poor” husband because I was furious. I’ve had one speeding ticket which I deserved. I was talking to my cousin and was going 80 without even knowing it and we had kids in the car so that was a real no-no.
How will you go to work on Mon Sue?? Let’s see how much of a rebel she is!!!
You going 80mph Joy!! I don’t believe it!!
Honestly the only time I’ve been pulled over was the one time I didn’t wear my seatbelt and one of those “Traffic enforcement” cars, AKA revenue generators, got me. The night before I’d had some physical abuse inflicted on me by my then-boyfriend, and I was understandably feeling a little suicidal, hence the lack of a seatbelt. Other than that, I was obeying every law. My first instinct upon being pulled over was to burst into tears and tell the officer the whole horrible story, and if I could do it again I would have, just to have a better story to tell. As it was, I sucked it up, got my ticket, and have continued my previous-to-that-incident perfect seatbelt wearing streak.
My husband tends to operate like you, not letting the authorities dictate common sense when the situation seems like it can be easily handled by a bit of intelligence. I am more in the “I’ll just follow along with whatever asinine rule is being enforced so as not to make any waves” category.
Sue you should check with your aunt too see if some good old boys don’t live on this road.That will tell you whats going on.You know how that works in a small town.
I haven’t had a ticket in probably 15 years or so. But in the last 6 months I’ve been pulled over twice for no reason other than it was at night. I was driving home from work I work the night shift it was 11:30 and I was about 4 or 5 feet away from a four way stop sign and saw a car just sitting there I came to the stop sign and sure enough it was Fridley’s finest, He wiped a u turn and followed me for about 2 or 3 blocks and when the lights came on another cop also came flying down a side road. To me it seemed like an ambush. He asked do you know why I pulled you over and my response was I have no idea he said It was for window tint BUT I CANT CHECK IT, can you get pulled over for something they can’t check? He asked if I was drinking, the real reason I got pulled over I said no and I was on my way with no ticket. The next time leaving work at 3 am I got pulled over because I looked suspicious coming out of the parking lot of my work because “he said” people were getting things stolen and we are the only shop with material outside and nothing has been stolen from us, also my same car has been sitting in the parking lot AT NIGHT for over 6 years so If they drove through the parking lot they would have seen it there. He ran my license and I was on my way again. And this is the best one yet, I was at work and the door was open, in walks a Ramsey policeman he says I saw the door was open and wanted to make sure we were not getting ripped off. I was running my machine and my coworker the same, we both had uniforms on and hats with our company logos on them then he says GOT ID and I thought he was kidding but no he wasn’t! What the hell is that about? Great topic Sue, now I feel better “THANKS”
A recent comment reminds me of when I was about 20 and my sister and I had a used-book shop in our tiny town. There were six cops on the payroll of the town – two for each shift. At night they would go around and check to see if the stores had locked their doors. Well, one night my sister and I were in the back room sorting some used books some folks had given us. I found one that was raunchy and had a nasty title. It was my first encounter with such a book, so I thought it was kinda funny and I started reading the cover off to my sister. Well, I looked up and there was this cop standing in the doorway of my back room. I about had a heart attack, shoved the book in a drawer and slammed it loudly shut, and involuntarily said WHAT THE H ARE YOU DOING HERE? Well, he was checking doors and ours was unlocked so he wanted to see if any foul play was going on. Yeah, we get lots of armed robberies in our used book shop!! I will never know how much of our conversation he heard about the nasty book. But, after that he kept coming around and telling my sister that he had a crush on me. Ugh.
Despite myself, that made me laugh SKL!!!
I’ve done the same thing–when you can see that only 1/2 a mile of dirt road is blocked for no good reason, folks living in that 1/2 mile are allowed to drive on it, and the ‘alternative’ takes people several miles out of the way? Pffft! GO AROUND! lol!