Every been pulled over by the cops??

It occurs to me that in all my travels I've never seen an RV pulled over by the police. Perhaps it's just that RV owners in general represent a superior class of the population of drivers and religiously obey any/all rules of the road, or...  (?)

Yeah, I was once. Totally my fault. Nothing to do but suck it up and be humble. I would have expected nothing less if it were me doing the traffic stop.

I have often wondered what would be best to do if I did.. kind of awkward with a cop at the drivers window.. and trying to get the registration out of the overhead cabinet.. and maybe drivers license on cabinet next to bed.  One thing the cop would not have to worry about is you deciding to spin the tires and race away    Maybe if you have GM auto park, hand him a chock block and ask him to stick it under the wheels

There was this time....


I was on my way to the Reno Air Races from Phoenix about 3 years ago. I'm in the middle of Nevada, not a town within 20 miles (or more). You could see both directions on the road for at least a mile. I was departing a pullover following a semi, and I knew I would be stuck behind him for miles and miles on the two lane road as there weren't likely any places were it would be safe passing him in a motorhome pulling a truck. (I'm not a fast driver, but I'd already been following him for some time and he was running about 10mph less than the modest speed I wanted to run. (Coincidentally we both pulled in to the same pullover for a break, and he pulled out first.)


So we pull out together, me behind him. He slows slightly, I believe to let me get around him, and I pass him over a painted median in front of a small rest area. As I was completing the passing maneuver, probably still not going more than 35mph, I drive right past a parked trooper. I lifted my foot and turned on my turn signal before he'd even gotten his flashing lights turned on.


I explained that yes I knew I crossed the median but that the semi was slowing to let me by and the officer agreed that it did appear he was slowing but the pass was illegal. After letting me know the ticket would have been over $400, he gave me a warning and said "enjoy the races".


One benefit of getting older, you don't appear to be much of a threat to society 

Bjwinspect said:

I have often wondered what would be best to do if I did.. kind of awkward with a cop at the drivers window..

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In my case the officer came to the curbside entrance door

Got pulled over in the MH on an Air Force Base  while pulling a trailer loaded with my aerobatic plane (wings were removed for the trip). The Sgt. said he would like to know about the plane since he remembered seeing it last year at Tyndall's air show. Nope not stolen, just taking it for a new paint job in south Florida. Second cop car showed up and we traded war stories for almost an hour. Obviously they just wanted a closer look at a crazy pilot and his horse.

As a side note, the difference between war stories and fairy tails? Fairy tail always begins with "once upon a time..."  War stories begin with "now fellows this ain't no sh$t!"

Cheers

I was pulled over once on I-81 in PA, but it was just to alert me that the toad tail lights were blinking on and off on the bumps. A shot of contact cleaner in the cord socket took care of it. The officer was pleasant and professional, and stayed behind me with his lights on while I pulled back into traffic and got up to speed as he said he would.

I was pulled over for not moving left with an emergency vehicle on the shoulder on I 75 S in FL. i tried to move into the left lane, but I was too long and traffic was heavy and no room. I was doing 60 and took my foot off the gas and slowed down to 50 by the time I passed the officer. Speed limit is 70mph. He came to the drivers side door and was very nasty. Didn?t care or want to hear what I had to say about slowing down to 20 mph below the speed limit which is legal. Kept my mouth shut and took the ticket.

I got pulled over in Virginia by DEA because apparently I was on a common route for trafficking drugs from Mexico to NY and they often do it in RVs with no plates. I was in a motorhome with no plates because I bought it in Florida and was bringing it back to NY. I didn't yet know how to open my driver side window and I had just turned the air conditioner because we were going to stop about a mile ahead for a nap, so I opened the door and asked him if he could come in, I didn't know if it was allowed. He said he knew at that point I wasn't hiding drugs ?

Speaking of hiding drugs... several years ago our motorhome was broken down on the interstate shoulder after a blowout, and an officer pulled up behind me to check on things. He had his trusty K9 partner in the squad car as well. He asked some probing (but appropriate) questions about where I was from & going, which I recognized as screening me as a possible drug runner. A solo, younger male is certainly not the typical demographic for RV travel (I had unloaded our toad and sent my famiily on ahead while I waited for the tow)... plus I knew that a motorhome had recently been seized in that area after being found to be carrying several dozen kilos of cocaine hidden throughout the living area. The officer checked my information and quickly realized my story checked out, and was very friendly in standing by for visibility until the tow arrived.

I had a similar friendly experience in Niagara Falls, NY after breaking down in rush hour traffic one day after buying that same motorhome.   (There's a thread elsewhere telling that whole story!) A couple officers showed up to help divert traffic, until a small tow truck arrived to pull me around the corner onto a side road. They granted permission for me to stay parked there overnight until a larger tow was available the next morning. The officers were pretty excited that I was from Illinois, which is apparently a prime location to visit during deer hunting season for guys from upstate New York!

jymbee said:

It occurs to me that in all my travels I've never seen an RV pulled over by the police. Perhaps it's just that RV owners in general represent a superior class of the population of drivers and religiously obey any/all rules of the road, or...  (?)

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While I would like to think we're a superior class of drivers, the reality is that most of us are ambling along in the right lane at or below the speed limit and not attracting a great deal of attention.

Dragginourbedaround said:

I was pulled over for not moving left with an emergency vehicle on the shoulder on I 75 S in FL. i tried to move into the left lane, but I was too long and traffic was heavy and no room. I was doing 60 and took my foot off the gas and slowed down to 50 by the time I passed the officer. Speed limit is 70mph. He came to the drivers side door and was very nasty. Didn?t care or want to hear what I had to say about slowing down to 20 mph below the speed limit which is legal. Kept my mouth shut and took the ticket.

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I've been in the same situation several times. No room to move over and by the time you pass the officer I've only been able to slow down by 10 mph or so without hitting the brakes hard.
I've never been stopped, but do worry about this. BTW I've decided to drive the middle lane on I75 anytime I'm south of Gainesville. Too many folks don't understand how to merge onto an interstate. I've also try and avoid I 75 altogether by using US 41 or US 19. I 75 is accident prone in south central FL.

About 30 years ago I was driving a class C from Oregon to southern California. I got pulled over because my plates had expired while I was in Oregon. I had planned on renewing my registration when I got home. The cop was very nice. I talked to him at the side door.

I've been stopped by Border Patrol agents in AZ and NM, but no search (I guess we looked "American"). I don't recall ever getting stopped with the RV for road or traffic reasons - even got waved through a couple of police roadblocks were they checked licenses or whatever on other vehicles.

Yes plenty of times - when I was riding my motorcycles, but never pulling any of the trailers we have owned or when driving the truck alone.

The one and only time I have been pulled over was in my WGO ERA (Sprinter) in Arco, Id. On a Sunday evening. We were the only ones on the road as we made our way to Craters-of-the-Moon. We were heading west on Hwy 20 and wanted to take Hwy 26 somewhere within the big city of Arco. I had stopped for fuel as we entered town and had just pulled back out on the street and picked up speed. The one and only traffic light loomed ahead and I realized I needed to turn left to catch Hwy 26 but was in the far right lane. I quickly looked back, turned on my left signal, then swerved into the left lane and then just as quickly on into the left-turn lane. I was going roughly 25 MPH. The light was green so I made my turn. Almost immediately, the local cop (possibly the only one in the town) flicked on his lights and came tearing up behind me. I pulled over immediately then had to sit politely while this middle-aged cop in civilian clothes explained to me, who had probably driven more years than he was old, why what I had done was dangerous. Apparently just as dangerous with no other vehicles on the road as when the 4th of July parade was proceeding through town. Do you know how many people have been killed doing that in Arco? Well, I found out and it was either exaggerated or Arco is a really dangerous place. But, being polite got a warning only. Guess the guy was just bored.

jymbee said:

It occurs to me that in all my travels I've never seen an RV pulled over by the police. Perhaps it's just that RV owners in general represent a superior class of the population of drivers and religiously obey any/all rules of the road, or...  (?)

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jymbee
I've been pulled over by the police twice in 42 years, (over 300,000 miles).
Once at 2 AM on a highway in Texas...for a burnt out license plate light.
Once in in the afternoon in Folly Beach South Carolina, (by a paranoid officer with his handgun drawn), because my rear license plate had gone missing.....He explained his paranoia by telling me that a fellow officer had stopped a stolen RV the day before and they had found the bodies of the owner and his wife stuffed under the bed.

We pulled off I-80 in Dixon CA for lunch and parked in the only shady spot we could find, it was HOT!!. I took the dog for a walk, a police cruiser with the lights on was parked behind us when I returned. The officer with his hand on his gun was talking to my wife. Appparently we  had stopped too close to the intersection to suit him and he almost hit us. : DW had him laughing by the time he left. Then I had a heck of a time finding a place to get turned around.

I was pulled over in case of mistaken identity. I was out running errands and passed a cop sitting on the side of the road. I recognized that it was a friend of mine and I waved going by.

On the return trip I decided that I would wake him up, and flew by well above the posted speed limit. I was somewhat surprised when he chased me down and pulled me over. As the cop walked up to my car - it wasn?t my friend! He had moved on and someone else had replaced him.

Fortunately, the new cop had a sense of humor and just laughed it off.

RVMommaTo6 said:

I got pulled over in Virginia by DEA because apparently I was on a common route for trafficking drugs from Mexico to NY and they often do it in RVs with no plates. I was in a motorhome with no plates because I bought it in Florida and was bringing it back to NY. I didn't yet know how to open my driver side window and I had just turned the air conditioner because we were going to stop about a mile ahead for a nap, so I opened the door and asked him if he could come in, I didn't know if it was allowed. He said he knew at that point I wasn't hiding drugs ?

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Did you let the police officer off with just a warning this time. lol

Pre-RV, too many times to remember.  In the 10 years I've been RVing, once.  Not quite sure why.  It was in the middle of nowhere Nebraska.  There weren't many other vehicles on the road.  It was dark so after a long day of driving.  The officer claimed I was swerving so probably thought I was drinking.  I was not and don't believe I was swerving either.  That actually concerned me.  I was thinking this was a bogus stop and starting to get nervous.  While I was tired, I was not nodding off.  After a short talk and warning that if he had to pull me over again, he'd site me for careless driving.  Since I was tired, I had the wife drive until we got to our next stopping place.  I was glad to have passed the state line.