Better Safe Than Sorry - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

husker boxster · 08-20-2010, 09:49 PM

Just got home from a company outing - a paddle boat ride on the Missouri and dance. Things were winding down so I decided to head out. When leaving the parking lot, you turn onto an access road for a 1/4 blk, then onto another access road for a 1/4 blk, and then onto a main 4 lane street. While waiting at the light for the main street, I notice a police car pull up behind me. There were 2 officers in the car and they were laughing and looking at my car. Light turns green, I turn left.

They do too. Then the cherries come on. I pull over to the right lane thinking they'll go by. Nope, they pull over with me. There wasn't anywhere to pull over, so I stopped on that street. Turn the car off, leave my hands on top of the steering wheel. The officer walks up and says I rolled through the stop sign from the 1st access road onto the 2nd. I probably didn't come to a complete stop, but it would have been a pretty slow rolling stop.

Anyway, that wasn't the big fish they were trolling for. He asked me if I had been drinking. I said yes, I had had 1 drink (which was a bit of a fib - I had actually had 2 beers in the 2.5 hrs I was there). He wanted to do a field sobriety test on me. I've never had to do this before but I felt confident I would pass. He had me do the following:

the alphabet
count from 87 to 68
stand on 1 foot with the other 6" off the ground for 30 sec
9 steps heel to toe down and back on an imaginary straight line
tilt your head back, close your eyes, and tell him when 30 sec had passed
then lots of conversation - about the dance, work, my car
then the breathalizer

I passed the 1st two without any trouble. Standing on 1 leg was more difficult than I thought it would be - my 51 yr old legs were a bit nervous but maybe I was drunk (I'm 5'10" and 190# and not a big drinker, so who knows?). I found my stablizing point and didn't fall over. No problems on the next two and was more relaxed as we talked about everything. Did the breathalizer and he handed my license back to me. I thanked him for keeping the streets safe.

He packed up his kit and was about to get in his car. I said "out of curiosity, what did I blow?". He said .018 - about 1 drink.

I got in my car and carefully proceeded on my way. It could have been a much more interesting evening, but I'm really glad it wasn't.

Stay thirsty my friends.

vath2001 · 08-21-2010, 03:50 AM

I believe the term is "probable cause". I have figured out, that if your driving a Porsche, the cops already have probable cause to pull you over.

I'm not innocent either.

Frodo · 08-21-2010, 04:42 AM

Quote: "There were 2 officers in the car and they were laughing and looking at my car."

Posted by husker boxster.

Surely there was no connection between their two actions??

I suspect you weren't the only one pulled over following the festivities...my guess is they were parked somewhere waiting to nab unsuspecting partiers, assuming most had, at least potentially, been imbibing.

Quote: "I believe the term is "probable cause". I have figured out, that if your driving a Porsche, the cops already have probable cause to pull you over."

Posted by vath2001.

Yeah, that probable cause thing can be a real bugaboo at times. I remember working on the NJ Turnpike (collecting tolls) back in the '70s. They'd deny it, but it often seemed if you were either long-haired or were black and relatively young, driving a late model expensive vehicle (especially if outlandishly modded and/or brightly colored) they had probable cause to stop you. I'm not opposed to reasonable law enforcement (other than when I'm stopped for doing 11 over the limit but otherwise driving in a more-than-safe manner

), but I really did see some abuses of the system under the guise of "probable cause."

(If Grizzly was still hangin' out here, he might just rake me over the coals on this! But that's okay...I can take it!)

wtf · 08-21-2010, 04:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vath2001

I believe the term is "probable cause". I have figured out, that if your driving a Porsche, the cops already have probable cause to pull you over.

I'm not innocent either.

weird, in australia cops wouldnt usually give you a second look driving a porsche, because its.. err.. a porsche..

I used to get raped by cops daily when i drove japanese imports.. As soon as i got bmws and lexus, the cops just turn a blind eye unless your being a complete idiot. Generally dont just pull u over for the "random" breathtest and so forth.

to the OP, that sounds like u were copping a pretty hard time from them.. The sobriety test thing weirds me out, we dont have it here, its a breath test and thats that. The stuff you got asked to do I probs would have been struggling to do totally sober!

fatmike · 08-21-2010, 05:41 AM

"especially if outlandishly modded and/or brightly colored) they had probable cause to stop you"

Are u saying his car is "brightly colored"? I hadn't noticed.

Brucelee · 08-21-2010, 06:13 AM

Wouldn't the breath test be sufficient.

I am not sure I could do the other stuff dead sober.

wtf · 08-21-2010, 07:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brucelee

Wouldn't the breath test be sufficient.

I am not sure I could do the other stuff dead sober.

maybe you need one of these visor stickers :P

schnellman · 08-21-2010, 08:05 AM

I notice a number of you guys live in Ohio, so you might have a different point of view. But, having lived in the Buckeye State for 21 years, I have found that every piss ant little town has its own cop or cops with a used police cruiser and a radar gun. Many don't have signs telling you when you're living the village limits, nor when you might resume 55. They shoot you in the back as you're leaving town, or sometimes tailgate you. Then, whenever and wherever you start to accelerate they pull you over and tell you that you're still in the village limits. This happened to me twice in the same night. (North Hampton and Tremont City). It's nothing but an underhanded way to raise money. People complain about cops "hiding". If the speed limit is posted, it's posted. But catching people leaving town with no indication of the village limits is a real prick thing to do. When the cop tailgated me coming out of North Hampton I kept up the 25 mph for about two miles before he gave up.

clickman · 08-21-2010, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by schnellman

I kept up the 25 mph for about two miles before he gave up.

He could have given you a ticket for impeding traffic

husker boxster · 08-21-2010, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brucelee

Wouldn't the breath test be sufficient.

I am not sure I could do the other stuff dead sober.

I'm sure they were filming me while doing the test. Probably addl evidence in case something wasn't done correctly when administering the breathalizer. Good old CYA.

The officer was polite and wasn't copping an attitude (pardon the pun) because I had a Porsche. I didn't get snippy with him either because I knew the stop sign thing was PC. I think he said something to me as he handed my license back about watching my rolling stops. He could've said I could collect a million dollars, I wasn't listening too well at that point.

And I don't mind them doing their job. I am alive today because one Fri night back in 1987 I decided to drink Coke instead of liquor. On my way home, a drunk driver fell asleep on a 2 lane highway and was 2 car lengths from hitting me head on. My reactions saved a head on collision but we still collided. I'm convinced my girlfriend and I would not have survived that head on crash. Had I been drinking that night, I may not have had that extra second that I desperately needed. The guy blew a .18. So I hope the police can rid our streets and highways of drunk drivers and I support them. The 20 min I spent with them last night was OK with me.

Do I really have a brightly colored car?

Frodo · 08-21-2010, 01:35 PM

Quote: "Do I really have a brightly colored car?"

Posted by husker boxster.

...is the Pope Catholic? do bears sh** in the woods? is a pumpkin really orange?

Lil bastard · 08-21-2010, 03:48 PM

A word to the wise; there is a nation-wide national drunk driving awareness initiative, called “Drunk driving: Over the Limit, Under Arrest,” by all local and State PDs that just kicked off this weekend and will run thru Labor Day weekend, and will include increased patrols on certain nights and sobriety check-points.

If you plan on celebrating the end of the summer in style, be sure that cab fare is part of your kit.

Cheers!

schnellman · 08-21-2010, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clickman

He could have given you a ticket for impeding traffic

I take it you've never been in piss ant Ohio. The speed limit is 25 mph!!

clickman · 08-21-2010, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by schnellman

I take it you've never been in piss ant Ohio. The speed limit is 25 mph!!

LOL, I shall make that destination a priority when I go see Jake for an IMS

vath2001 · 08-22-2010, 03:03 AM

Schnellman not kidding about the 25. When you roll into the town where I live, the 25 sign is the on bridge and the local Barney Fife is shooting everyone crossing.... this is after rolling down a hill and trying to come down from 45. What really gets me is that the 25 sign does not reflect at night.

But, to defend the State Troopers, they don't hide. They're right in the middle of the highways for all to see. The locals sneak around like thieves in the night, playing "Gottcha!"

eightsandaces · 08-22-2010, 03:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lil bastard

A word to the wise; there is a nation-wide national drunk driving awareness initiative, called “Drunk driving: Over the Limit, Under Arrest,” by all local and State PDs that just kicked off this weekend and will run thru Labor Day weekend, and will include increased patrols on certain nights and sobriety check-points.

If you plan on celebrating the end of the summer in style, be sure that cab fare is part of your kit.

Cheers!

Agreed!

I would add one benefit of being old is not needing to go comb bars. If you want to drink without timing every beer and vigilance to remaining legal try your back yard. You can wash your Porsche, grill something up, down a few and nobody will ask you the alphabet for walking back upstairs a sloppy mess as you head for just one more...

When I do go out and have an occasional brew, I make sure the ride home is as technically perfect as a road test and I never have more than the legal limit. Let's face it, that little roadside quiz would suck with one beer in ya!

Frodo · 08-22-2010, 03:52 AM

Yeah, schnellman & vath2001 definitely live in Ohio...they describe it to a tee.

Where I live, if it's not 25 mph it's usually 35 mph. That's typically true even on 2-lane roads between towns, since there are often numerous intersections and small neighborhood streets entering onto them. That's why when I get out on an interstate or the OH Turnpike I often find myself zooming up to triple-digits for short bursts---it's a means of compensating, a psychological necessity almost, for all the low-speed driving I've done since the last time I was on such a road. (It's like I'm thinking: "Dammit, I haven't had it above 3rd gear all week...I'm getting this thing into 6th come hell or high water!") It's interesting: contrary to other locations around here, there are fairly long stretches of interstate (I76 and I80---the Turnpike) where, in 14 years of living here, I've NEVER seen law enforcement running radar, even in places that would seem perfect for nabbing speeders.

fatmike · 08-24-2010, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by husker boxster

Do I really have a brightly colored car?

Looks like what the hunters wear -- I bet the deer can't see you at all.

/

jotoole · 08-24-2010, 01:43 PM

5:15 AM, doing 40+ mph in a 25 mph zone. The well hidden radar unit was already putting his car in gear by the time I spotted him. We both pulled into nearby parking lot. Officer did his radio check of my vehicle, then approached my car. He called in my drivers license info on his radio, handed back my license and said "You're a Vietnam veteran, no way am I giving you a ticket." Ohio issues war veteran plates and mine were on my car. No step out of the car, count backwards, finger on nose stand on one foot etc... Simply handed back my drivers license and said "try to be careful on this stretch of road." We were at intersect of Rt 125 in Clermont County, one of the deadliest roads in the state.

Many times police cars fall in behind me, but they seem to drop away within a block or so. Have blown right through radar several times in daylight. 85 in a 65 and such on empty highway. No problem. Plus I don't drink and drive or tailgate or road rage or that nonsense.

You war vets out there should seriously consider getting veteran plates. They might just pay for themselves. Mine have.

husker boxster · 08-25-2010, 07:34 PM

Jotoole, thank you for your service to our country.

I was telling my story to my buddies after golf tonight. One of them said the police make the test so ridiculously difficult so you'll incriminate yourself by saying you couldn't do it if you were sober. Interesting take. The "I couldn't do it if I was sober" thought has been a recurring theme throughout this thread. If you ever get pulled over, better resist the temptation to say it.

Also, someone else said the police are required to wait 15 min after they stop you before they can administer the breathalizer. Not sure if that's true or not, but the officers I dealt with did take about that long before they had me give it a whirl. So mayber there is some truth to that.

Just thought I'd pass these tidbits along.