Following a run in with a San Francisco policeman while trying to recreate Steve McQueen’s scene in Bullitt, I asked readers to share some of their own experiences with the boys in blue.
Back in the days of early “in car” mobile phones; on leave in the company Commodore with wife in the front seat and the young daughter in the back. We were driving on the Boulder Road half way between Kalgoorlie and Boulder when a khaki clad traffic cop leaps out from the shadows holding up a “police stop” sign. ??He sticks his head in the window& introduces himself “Constable J___s, Boulder Traffic”. Before either of us could say anything, the speaker phone gave one ring & switched through with husky female saying “hello big boy what are you up to”. The copper was looking me straight in the eye with a very slight smirk which implied “let’s see how you get out of this one”. The missus was staring straight ahead at nothing in particular & the daughter was looking puzzled.
I started mumbling “who is this” as I didn’t have clue but she kept responding “you know who it is big boy”. The cop, figuring that I was in enough trouble, did not bother with the usual lecture on speeding in their fair city & tossed the ticket through the window, he was smiling the last time I saw him.
It turns out it was one of the wife’s friends who set me up. My wife later got her own back when she spotted her mate’s VW unlocked in the Coles car park; she chained the clutch & brake together with the bike lock for revenge.??Rod – Lesmurdie
In 1977 having brought a nice Moto Guzzi in Italy I had returned to England and on to Birmingham where I met up and lodged with some locals.Anyway the story is that vegemite was available from Aus house in London so I said I would go and get some for the Brummies to taste. They didn’t go that far on hols so they thought me mad.
On the trip down I was a bit naughty and sitting nicely in the outside lane on my bike at about 140kmh I noticed one of those small police cars they use there behind me very close, with one of them inside pointing for me to get over. So I moved over one lane and beckoned them to pass – I don’t know why I did that. Anyway they came behind me again and the little car was struggling a bit. They pointed again, so I moved over to the slow lane but kept up my cruising speed. They followed and still pointing I pulled over onto the verge and off the road a bit. The little car was very hot as it pulled up with steam coming out. I was still on the bike and up came a lady cop and said to me “do you speak English?”.
Well why you do things is sometimes a puzzle but in that second I realised why they had not gone ballistic at me on the road. It was the Italian rego. so quick as a flash I said “a leeeetle”. They hadn’t noticed the AUS sticker on the side of the pannier. So then a most remarkable thing happened -she returned from the car with plastic speedos and he lifted the bonnet briefly. With MPH and one with KMH they showed patience with me, explaining the KMH does not convert to MPH by doubling the sign posted speed limit figures to match my KPH speedo, as I demonstrated on the plastic speedo my understanding of MPH was faulty and 70mph (motorway speed limit) did not mean 140kph. My quickly thought out ruse worked and they let me go.
Regards
Nick – Tasmania
It was in my stock carting days, back in the 1970s. The boss was with me and we’d gone up to Merredin to pick up a load of pigs to bring back to Perth. It was summer time, pigs are very delicate creatures and we’d waited until nightfall to make the journey. It was great fast rig, White Road Commander, Cummins engine and a 13 speed Road Ranger gearbox, you could make a mile. Somewhere around the dark, dark bends of Hinds Hill, red and blue lights began to flash as I drove through. I pulled up and the cop car pulled in behind me. I stayed in the driver’s seat – as a truckie I knew damn well he was going to give me a ticket no matter what, then it hit me.
Funny thing is, my boss knew me better than I knew myself – as I began to speak , the boss was yelling out, “No, No!” I was looking down at the cop, saying, “Shit, how did you get out?” A month or two later, the magistrate was seen to smirk as he admonished me and administered the speeding ticket.
Greg – Dowerin
Hi John, Arrived in Bali from Nusa Lembongan by the local ferry with just enough money to hire a car and a bit left over. We are cruising through Kuta enjoying the sights and not so much the smells. Driving along the main beach road checking the surf and the beach culture laying on the sand as we round the corner and into Legian main road. We come to the main intersection which now has traffic lights and most locals seem to ignore the red light and continue on. I decided to play it safe and stop when I noticed the police hut at the intersection. Within moments a policeman asked me to drive around behind the hut where he told me I was a very bad driver and would have to pay a fine! He said for 200,000 rupiah I could fix this problem. Well I open up the wallet and it had 10,000 which was about $1.50 aus. He just laughed and so I laughed and gave him the 10,000 for my driving lesson. ??Cheers Wayne
It was the Festive Season 1997 or ‘98 and I was driving a red 1997 VS Series 2 Commodore V6, S pack, ute.I had ordered it with twin airbags, Getrag 5 speed manual, LSD and it was an absolutely sweet unit with loads of, seemingly, linear torque.As was becoming our practice my ex wife and I had taken separate cars to a Saturday night end of year Xmas drinks function held by members of her Women’s Studies academic staff group. It was a back yard gathering, in an adjacent suburb, attended with our young children.As it was a humid summer’s evening with the discussion possibly centering on the deconstruction of French feminist literature between the wars I tended to readily sip on cold bubbly and feigned only a cursory interest in the issues concerning my kids’ mother and her fellow travellers.
After quite enough ( no, not the bubbly ) I suggested to my equally bored 11 or 12 year old son, and his mother, that we might head off home….possibly using the excuse that we both didn’t want to miss “ The Bill “ ( and this was when The Bill was worth watching because it was kiddy friendly but also had great car chases, which my son loved )……no problem here, and as the ute only sat two, my son’s younger sister would come home with her mother…..so it was just the boys on their own.
On the way home via a well lit roundabout and an off, to a long steep spur up to a ridge road, I thought I’d show off a bit to my young mate…. and floored it. Everything fine, we weren’t even out a second when I saw headlights filling my rear vision mirror and guessed it was either neighbourhood lads wanting a play or it was….. the cops….but where had they come from.?
I hung a right to check out the following car’s profile and sure enough it was a Falcon with some style of non illuminated light pod on the roof. I pulled over ….he didn’t even need to put the siren or lights on, and I hopped out of the car leaving my wide eyed son to wonder about the antics of his middle aged father.
I met the policeman face to face in front of his car. He was a highway patrol type with tan leather boots, lace up below the knees style, and he was on his own and in a pretty gruff mood.The Falcon was the type that sat a bit lower and squatter than a Falcon taxi and the conversation went like this.
Me :….”You’re wanting to know why I did that, aren’t you.?”
He : ..” Yes, what’s your reason.? ”
Me: … “Quite frankly, I was bored. ” and quick as a flash he replied,
He : ….”You were bored.?….let me tell you something sonny….we’ll give you board ! “
He let me go without so much as a blow in the bag and no breach….and to this day I still say to my son…” always tell the truth “
John – Chapel Hill
The story, apparently true, is told of the eminent medico in Toledo, Ohio, during the prohibition period of the 1930s. As told by Dr Geoffrey Kaye, after visiting there in 1939.
The doctor, who was stopped by a traffic policeman, held out his hand with a $10 bill in it and said “I’ll bet you a ten this is an arrest”, and the policeman said “You lose, drive on”!
Regards
Rod – Kew
Dear John,
My favorite police interaction, whoops, the only time Ive been pulled over , was for changing lanes without indicating. I’m a bit oc by nature and I was quite sure that, not only had I indicated, but the gas taps at home were well and truly off.
I decided that the officer didn’t look likely to be interested in either of these absolute facts and so I tried to be meek and wait my inheritance. He gave me a speech about the evils of unheralded weaving, I agreed (as I am, as noted, a devout signaler) and he started to fill in the violation notice.
He then went up to the bonnet of my car and bent to within a few inches of the badge, then said ” what sort of car is this, I can’t see a thing without my glasses”
I said it was an Alfa and that his vision must cause him problems in his job.
He agreed ,and just as I was going to ask him how many fingers I was holding up, he said he’d just give me a warning this time.
Always enjoy your articles
Cheers
Michael
