[wagonman76]

I keep getting pulled over and I'm not doing anything wrong.

In the last 3 months I've been stopped twice for going too slow, one of which was 2 weeks ago. Was never more than 7 mph below 55 and both times were after dark and wintertime. Last I knew Michigan had a basic speed law that says to drive "a safe and prudent speed based on the conditions, which is never more than the posted speed limit". 2 weeks ago 50-60 of the people who were going to fast for conditions ended up in a pileup on the freeway.

In the last year I've been stopped for a loud exhaust that was not loud. In fact it was less than a year old and completely redone factory style, no glasspacks or anything. It's still in good shape and not loud.

Also in the last year I've been stopped for not having a back bumper. I had a carrier on the back but if you look just a little bit you can see the bumper is there.

Yesterday I saw no less than 15 state police cars so I tried to stay as proper as possible. I stayed within a few mph of 55. My exhaust is fine, all my lights work. Still, sure enough I got stopped. This time was for a broken out taillight with white showing to the rear and said I needed to fix it. I got home and checked and sure enough, THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH MY TAILLIGHTS. All the bulbs work. No cracks. Nothing loose, nothing broken. Same as they came from the factory. Backup lights and plate light are in a different location so it couldn't be those shorting out and coming on.

If I'm stopped for something legit than I don't have a problem. But I do have a problem with the police crafting reasons so they can stop me. I've gotten to where I just keep the registration and insurance right on the dash. One time I got stopped I took off the seatbelt to get the papers from the glovebox and then got accused of not having a seatbelt on. I've been stopped another time for the sole reason of not having a seatbelt on when I had it on.

When I was a teen I was one of the few who drove the speed limit and never got stopped. In fact I never got stopped in the first 10 years of driving. But these last 8 years it's started to snowball and continually keeps getting worse. There was even a time about 7 years ago when I took my kid to the park to play and they staked my car out for 2 hours and tried to say I was a kidnapper.

Has anyone else noticed this too? What's the deal? Do they want me to speed, cause a crash, injure people, and generate $$$ for the MI economy? I wonder if I got a late model car, bolted on a ski rack, and drove at least 10 mph over the limit I wouldn't be hassled anymore.

[Cliffie]

Haven't you heard? The State Bears are running scared just like everyone else in MI right now. They're laying off like crazy. One thing they can do to try to justify their salaries and look badly needed is to pull over every third car for having tinted windows, or for a missing screw on the license tag, or what have you.

[Retroit]

You need one of these bumper stickers:

[pifler]

Well it looks like i wont need to open a thread about this one here.You sure got me lol....
Nowadays its too much hassle to drive and so i am starting walking/biking...

[Bydand]

Haven't noticed any increase here. In fact I took out my old beat to hell Suburban, that the muffler got ripped off out in the woods last Spring, out and went by a couple State Troopers and a city guy on Friday. They didn't even bat an eye when my POS passed them.

[kcam213]

yeah I can remember driving in traffic on Telegraph Rd. It was crowded (rush hour) and all of us were doing about the same speed. No one was speeding because like I said it was crowded.

The police pulled out from a turn around lane and put on lights. It took a while for them to work through the traffic jam to get to their intended victim. It was the car right next to me. I was shocked. I honestly can't tell why that car and not mine since neither one of us was doing anything obviously wrong.

I think like others are saying... the cities and townships are trying to generate money. In the meantime... petty theft and home invasions are on the uprise. There is no money in that.

[allbusiness]

You didn't mention your race/ethnicty. I hate to bring it up, but could they be over-profiling?

You haven't said you've been ticketed, just stopped, so all those who claim they only trying to generate money are speculating. I've been in government and there are no quotas, folks.

[J'aimeDesVilles]

Originally Posted by allbusiness

You didn't mention your race/ethnicty. I hate to bring it up, but could they be over-profiling?

This was my inclination also. Are you non-white or muslim? You don't have to answer. It is just speculation. Although if you were, I am sure you would also be thinking "profiling" as well.

[Bhaalspawn]

Did they actually ticket you for going too slow? It's probably a combination of a need to generate revenue, drunk driving/drug checks (they can't catch the bad guys if they never pull anyone over), and perhaps quotas. I have heard of some places where the police need to make a minimum number of contacts with the public each day.

[wagonman76]

Just plain white, French Canadian background. Have lived in Michigan all of my 34 years. Been employed since I was 18 and owned a house since I was 22 so I'm paying property and income taxes so it's not like I'm a drain on the state. I've never been in jail. As I've posted before I drive a stationwagon, which is not a typical car on the high crime list. The cat is functional too, and it doesn't emit smoke or stinky fumes.

I've never had any problems with the city/county boys. It's always state boys, and is almost always when I'm going downstate and back for my daughter. It's almost always after dark when I get stopped (which is when most of my downstate trip is), so they wouldn't know what color I was just from driving by. I've never driven without valid registration or insurance or license. I've never driven drunk, in fact I don't drink alcohol at all. And they never ask me if I've been drinking, which would be my first guess whey they'd stop me for going a little below the limit. I don't hold people up in the left lane. I've never been ticketed for these phony stops, probably because then whoever wrote the ticket would have to own up to it in court.

It baffles me because if it's about the money, there is no shortage of speeders in Michigan. There is also no shortage of vehicles with burned out bulbs, many times not just one but the whole side of the car burned out. I still notice about every third car (old or new, doesn't matter) has no working plate light. Why waste the time on people that are doing nothing wrong instead of going after those where you can guarantee a legit ticket?

I did hear something about the potential cutting of state police posts, but I don't know what ever came of it. I guess if they've got nothing better to do than make up stories to pull over innocent folks, then they've got too much time on their hands and should be thinned down.

Or maybe not doing anything wrong makes me a drain on the state and they're getting tired of me. The state makes a lot of money off the things they can't write me a legit ticket for. Who knows I guess.