#597 When a cop finally passes you after driving behind you for a while

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!

Photos from: here and here

40 thoughts to “#597 When a cop finally passes you after driving behind you for a while”

  1. 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.

  2. 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!

  3. 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.

  4. 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!

    1. 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….

  5. 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!!

  6. 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.

    1. 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!

  7. yesss, i love when they finally pass. this just happened to me today. i thought they’d never go away.

  8. 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!

  9. 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.

  10. 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.

  11. 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!

    1. 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!

  12. 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….

  13. 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

    1. What are you on about? No one in the comments has said anything negating what was written as this post.

  14. I agree with Neil, jdurley, Amy; Megan, jdurley again; oh nearly everyone and even laughed a little at Richard Duck’s clever idea.

    The Coquihala was just opened-I was heading home from a wedding with a friend. I see a cop driving “beside me”- he waves, I wave and smile. My eyes return to the road, “like a good driver”. He falls back behind.
    Then pulls aside again; I assume he’s about to take off, but is hover-flirting, right there? Then he turns the lights on and I say to still drunk/ hung-over friend, “I guess he got a call”; look over and he’s wafting at me-I waft back. Friend slurs, “I think he wants YOU to pull over.”
    “Me?! What was I doing?!” I slow to the shoulder; pretend to unbuckle my lap belt and I get out of the car. He’s walking towards me with furrowed brow, (not flirty at all); intimidatingly holding his gun; in a stern tone says, “Get back in the car; your to stay in your car.” I didn’t know you’re supposed to stay in the car, but now I do and comply.
    He asks for the usual legal information, which he takes to his car…
    Tick-tock-tick-tock…friend is of no use to me, as I natter nervously.
    Cop returns, asks where from/heading, etc. I excitedly tell him all about being in the wedding; now heading home to my children, I’d never left before last night. He asks how much I drank; I hadn’t and say,”No alcohol officer, he drank enough for the two of us,” pointing at furry incoherent/incapacitated sloth friend; giving the officer a genuine big dimply, star-shine smile-he never reciprocated; I thought,”I’m aging.”
    He says, “Do you know how long I was following you?”
    I explained the music was loud. He says, “Several miles! Do you know ever check your mirrors? Your speedometer? Do you know how fast you were going? Do you know…???”
    I want to say, “Whoa, do you know how many questions you just asked me? My head is spinning to comprehend. Slow down would ya’ please?!”
    I answer, “No.”
    He tells, “98.6 miles per hour!” I say, “Whoa, I just got new tires and shocks and the car felt like it was floating on the new black top.”
    He tells me about all the fines he can give me and they could amount to alot! Then says, I’m going to give you a break today with 3 points, but you have to promise me to slow down!” I am so grateful!

  15. Personally, I think its rude when people only slow down when the police are around. If you only go the speed limit 1/100th of the time, how safe are our roads?

  16. Haha, this is the best ever. I’m
    On a road trip right now, this just made my day! It’s funny cause even if you still go the speed limit after you see them you still slow down.

  17. I don’t understand this app why r they just stating obvious stuff can somebody answer me?!

  18. Yeah my dad is a cop and he says that they do it for fun because they think it’s funny.I think it’s awesome.

  19. I will immediately grab your rss as I can’t find your e-mail subscription link or newsletter service. Do you’ve any? Please let me know in order that I could subscribe. Thanks.

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