An Encounter - why not?
 

I was going into town at 8:00 Saturday night to check on my business. Turned off the main drag into an empty light-industrial area. It is a long block posted at 30mph and I was doing 65 by the end of it. Full stop at the sign and turn right at the T-junction; nobody anywhere. The PSA nanny is off on my 987S Boxster and the tires squeal loudly but it doesn't slide an inch. I coast to the next corner and come to a full stop. No traffic and I note the law-abiding, 69-year-old manner of getting to the next corner and full stop. (After 50 years of watching my subconscious work and trying to heed it's warnings, it's hard to believe I can still miss such an obvious message.)

This is why I come this way. I'm on a uphill and will be turning right onto a three lanes one-way thoroughfare. The only way to get this damn car to slide is to do something radical - like launching at 5000 RPM and pulling a hard right while going up a hill. The hill helps get the back end up enough that it'll slide. This is where I practice my launch and recovery technique. Ideally it will slide but I'll get it back in the lane without any shilly-shallying. I nail it at 5000 rpm; a personal best.

Then come the red and blue flashing lights. Seems he's been following me since I turned off the main drag. He says "Why are you driving like a teenager?" I'm playing guilty, contrite, embarrassed, but I think "Cause I've got the car for it, duh." He lectures me and tells me what penalties he could give me, including reckless endangerment. I think "Nobody there to endanger" but say nothing.

And then he gives me a warning, but no ticket!

My question is "Why not?"

Keep trying.

Should have invited him to the Policeman's Ball........

Some gray hair and being polite has gotten me out of a number of possible infractions.

Why? Pure luck. I'm reminded of the scene in 'Pulp Fiction' where the guy unloads his gun at close range and doesn't hit Samuel L Jackson or John Travolta.

Rather than spending a lot of time trying to figure out the parameters of pure luck, I'd suggest thinking real hard about how you can avoid a similar situation in the future. And if you don't know what I mean - TONE IT DOWN. Your high school antics have many serious outcomes that could tragically harm some innocent bystander.

If you need to prove your driver prowess, take it to the track.

+1 Well said.

+2.... Auto Crossing is the best way to test your limits like that. Not the street.

join your local PCA and do a DE event or AX

Also. Turn off PSM.

+1 ;)

we should be grateful, that it does NOT behave like a short wheel base 911 :D

A couple of years ago I was driving from Tucson to Las Vegas in my 2012 Audi Q5. There is a couple hundred mile stretch between Wickenburg and Kingman which is almost completely straight and flat, but has a 65mph speed limit.

At one point, a Dodge Charger goes blasting past me, and I decide that I'll go ahead and follow behind him. In my brain I was thinking I could argue I was going "the flow of traffic" if I got pulled over.

The driver of the Dodge understands what I'm doing, and for the next 50 miles, we trade off being the "lead car" doing over 90mph in a 65.

At one point we crest a small hill and boom, highway patrol. He gets behind me with lights on, and the Dodge also pulls over even though he easily could have "escaped". The patrolman could have only pulled one of us over and would have lost sight of the other.

At this point I remember that speeding greater than 25 over is considered criminal speeding. The patrolman would have been well within his rights to arrest me, impound my vehicle, etc.

He comes to my car first and asks for my license etc. The encounter is very brief and I could tell the patrolman was pissed.

He then goes to the Dodge and spends a long time talking to the driver. After he is done with the Dodge, he comes back to my car and says "Yeah, that other guy is active duty Marines and I'm ex-Marines. I let him off with a warning. It wouldn't be fair to ticket you and not him, so I'm going to give you a warning as well. Be careful". Patrolman drives away and that's it.

Moral of the story: It's dumb stupid luck whether you get ticketed or not.

Being a ex-Marine has gotten me out of more tickets than any other stategy. I need to carry my I.D. card with me at all times.

"It's dumb stupid luck whether you get ticketed or not"

So true. So very very true.

BTW, I've not been ticketed in 10+ years despite my antics. I'm way overdue.

He said he was in an industrial area that was empty and at 8 pm on a Saturday night.

I'm all for driving safety but if there is a 100% chance of not harming anybody else - I'm all for having fun at my own risk.

I'm usually very polite and respectful....
Many years ago I was out on a Sunday morning in my 84 Alfa Spider. It was off season in our small tourist town and I was out looking at a couple of vacation homes I'd seen for sale in the newspaper.
I am well familiar with the area but looking for a particular side street as the highway speed limit changed from 55 to 45 and I get pulled over by a young local city police officer. There is no chance for small talk as I get "liscense and registration please" and off he goes. He comes back with a citation (doesn't hand it to me right away) and starts to lecture me about slowing down.

I politely interrupt and ask "Are you giving me a ticket?" He replies "Yes" and I say "Then I have no desire to listen to your lecture". He hads me the ticket and goes back to his car.

In our town, tourists are allowed lots of leeway. I understand it competely but still don't get why locals are not handles with the same rules. We have Thunder Beach, where motorcycles can drive around all week with straight pipes blaring. We have spring break with sex, drugs and hippity hop..nuff said about that.

Its only been 20+ years...guess I'm still pissed.

Where exactly do I find the sex and drugs? I'm asking for a friend.

100% chance? It's a public road and at any time anyone could pop out of no where. Yes, the odds are very low....but not 100% safe.

This crap is for the track.

better not have sex anymore either ;)

True Story
 

A few years ago a friend of mine, who was a Captain in the U.S. Air Force, was driving us to a pre-season baseball game. He was extremely excited to get to the game and to gather some autographs from some of the players. He was so talkative about the players and stats that he didn’t realize how fast he was driving. As we passed by a Motorcycle Cop (that was going 70), I asked my friend, “Didn’t you see that Cop?” He said, “What Cop?” (Fast forward to the getting pulled-over part) My friend hands the Cop his driver’s license and military ID card. The Cop asks, “Captain? … Captain of what?” My friend replies, “Air Force”. The Cop stood there silent for about 15 seconds and then says, “Marines are the best huh?” My friend with a puzzled look on his face says, “Excuse me?” (This is where I punched my friend in the arm) The Cop repeats, “Marines are the best huh?” My friend says, “Oh yes sir!” The Cop continues with, “Then the Navy huh?” My friend replies, “Yes sir!” Cop then says, “Then the Coast Guard” My friend replies, “Yes Sir!” Cop (starting to get a smile on his face), “Then the Army huh” My friend says, “Yes sir!” Then the Cop says, “The Air Force is on the bottom of the list huh?” My friend replies, “Oh yes sir, I couldn’t agree more!” The Cop let my friend go without a warning.

Sex would involve 2 consenting adults, whereas running someone over - I'm guessing one wouldn't be consenting!