Cruising cops cause traffic stops.
Yes indeedy, the rest of us law-aspiring citizens immediately slow to a speed limit cruise when we spot cops silently swerving behind our bumpers. We’re the jittery school of fish with jumpy eyes and they’re the silent shark swimming over to our lane.
With our hearts drum-thumping and our white-knuckled hands gripping the wheel we temporarily become Super Drivers – using our signals, leaving space, and checking our mirrors every two seconds.
We don’t know if the cop is eyeballing us, about to flick its flashers, or typing our license plate into its computer, so we’re in a heightened state of driving. And sometimes the cop sort of sits behind you for a while, too. Seconds tick like hours when Yourtown’s Finest stick to your heels and force questions through your brain: Was I actually speeding? Should I change lanes? Does he want me to speed up?
Everything slowly and slowly builds and builds to a bigger and bigger feeling of tension and pain…
… until he finally just zooms off into the distance, never to be heard from again.
AWESOME!
29 Comments
January 6, 2010 at 1:04 am
I always wonder if the cops are really irritated by people driving super slow in front of them. I guess it’s better than speeding, though. All I know is, when they finally move into that other lane, it’s
AWESOME.
January 6, 2010 at 1:38 am
Oh, what a relief that is, even when I’ve done nothing wrong.
January 6, 2010 at 3:23 am
my mom is a cop. she said they do it for fun.
January 6, 2010 at 3:26 am
My mom is a cop. She said they do it for fun. Not awesome!
January 6, 2010 at 3:47 am
You have no. freaking. idea. how satisfying this is. I must have inherited my mom’s fear of a cop trailing her.
Worst time? Last week: New Year’s Eve, there was a cop trailing me for about five miles. At night. In the snow/rain. On my way to my friend’s house for a party. That just happened to be down the street from the county HQ. BIG sigh of relief from me when I made that turn away from the car!
January 6, 2010 at 7:52 am
This is very nerve-wracking as a new driver, where you’re worried about every little thing even under normal conditions, making it all the more satisfying when that police car moseys on by.
January 6, 2010 at 10:23 am
Yes! I am definitely in the school of jittery fish, for sure. Awesome imagery and photos once again!
Another police-related awesome thing is when you’re driving down the highway, and some idiot screams by you swerving dangerously all over the place, and then later on you pass said idiot pulled over by the cops. Justice!
March 23, 2010 at 4:56 pm
This happened to me recently. This guy passed me and the car in front of me. I was comfortably driving five over the speed limit and was two car lengths behind this car.
Well as he passed both of us he nearly collided head on with a county cop. The guy was going 70 in a 55 mph zone. So I was so happy when the county cop cruised by me, made a U turn and turned his lights on and I happily pulled over to let the cop go by….
January 6, 2010 at 10:38 am
This is my favorite thing EVER! The other day I was driving in front of a cop for a long while and it was torture. Once s/he finally passed me it was… well… AWESOME!
January 6, 2010 at 11:45 am
I am a new driver, and that situation happened to me yesterday, for the first time. During 10 minutes, a cop followed me on the highway. I was so stressed, that it was a total relief when the cop finally decides to go somewhere else!!
January 6, 2010 at 12:03 pm
Or when your broke and can’t afford tickets and your worried about how your going to handle an added stress and… and then they change lanes.
Awesome.
January 6, 2010 at 1:04 pm
This is the antithesis of being pulled over when you didn’t even realize a cop was following you.
January 6, 2010 at 2:51 pm
That happened to me once. The officer was apparently following me (speeding heavily) for 5 miles with his lights flashing. Needless to say I was not able to charm my way out of that ticket!
January 6, 2010 at 1:57 pm
yesss, i love when they finally pass. this just happened to me today. i thought they’d never go away.
January 6, 2010 at 4:45 pm
i was lost and trying to figure out where my turn was at a local university, and i ran through a stop sign at a 4-way stop. with a cop sitting at one of the stop signs. he followed me for a while (as i was driving very slowly, trying to act more lost than i actually was), and i eventually passed the police station, and he gave up on me.
AWESOME!
January 6, 2010 at 8:41 pm
I think you are more relaxed when you did something wrong and you think for sure they are going to stop you.
But if they don´t, that is AWESOME!!!!
January 6, 2010 at 9:21 pm
I’m the person who jumps on opportunities to “legally” speed behind a cop.
All the same, the feeling is awesome when an officer finally stops tailing you.
January 7, 2010 at 12:20 am
Everyone always slows down when they see them from behind :)
January 7, 2010 at 1:00 am
This stresses me out just thinking about it! I hate when cops ride behind you.
January 7, 2010 at 9:05 am
Oh man, I do that feeling when the cop is riding your tail:
“What did I do?”
“What is going on?”
“Come on heart, slow down!”
Meanwhile I as carefully check my speed, mirrors and otherwise being a model driver. Then that feeling when said cop does turn or change lanes. Funny enough, with me it seems to be Utah Highway Patrolmen who does this rather than the local heat.
January 8, 2010 at 5:29 am
OMG! i HATE the police.
This has happened before, and i purposefully went 10kms slower then the speed limit, and made sure that there were other cars in the other lanes so they cant pass.
AND i absolutely HATE it when they speed around without a care in the world!! its like they can speed, whenever they want (without their sirens on) and we have to obey the law! argh! not cooL!
February 5, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Actually, it is cool that they can drive the speed they want based on conditions. If not, they would have to stay behind you forever, and that would be completely un-awesome!
January 10, 2010 at 11:14 pm
Nervous? Hell yes. I even have been known to grab my cell (on speaker phone or earphone of course) and call 911 stating some sort of emergency happening only a few blocks back….
August 7, 2010 at 9:14 pm
WTF is wrong with you?
January 20, 2010 at 6:59 pm
a huge relief!
February 1, 2010 at 8:57 am
I hate the cops and its more funnier if the cops starts chasing the car in front of you haha, makes you want to follow them
April 19, 2010 at 6:58 pm
I would just like to point out that because the majority disagree does not mean the author is incorrect. Make up your own mind. This post about the driving lesson might change your position
August 30, 2010 at 5:02 am
What are you on about? No one in the comments has said anything negating what was written as this post.
May 26, 2010 at 5:43 pm
[...] #597 When a cop finally passes you after driving behind you for a while [...]