Getting pulled over because of the trailer

[Steveo R]

I'd prefer if they just said they were pulling you over for a routine check and have the laws allow them to do it. You never know what is going on in the area you are driving through.

By the time I hit Toronto, the news reported that the Police were looking for an escaped convict in the area and time I was pulled over. If I had been carjacked, I would have been grateful the cop pulled me over.

No offence taken, I quite agree with you on most of your points as if they had the power to pull you over for a routine check, I could live with that as long as they were upfront about it. I suppose my real issue is that I have been pulled over for "speeding" quite similar to the situation you described. I know I was not speeding, but was pulled over under that guise. I really don't have any problem if an officer is civil and upfront about what they are pulling me over for. I do find it annoying that they lie to your face about speeding and then ask to search your vehicle. Though, on further thought the "speeding" is the only lawful way to pull you over. Either way, i suppose i am a bit jaded with my dealings with the police as I have been arrested at gun point for fitting the description of "mid 20's, wearing jeans a black jacket," then accused of committing a crime based on no evidence. The real cake topper is that they wouldn't tell me what i was being arrested for.

I guess I feel that police are expecting a double standard, lie to the citezen but expect truthful answers. And i too would be glad if they pulled me over after having been car jacked.

[Steveo R]

Steve, I don't think April was saying that they singled her out just because she owned a fiberglass egg. I think it's trailers/rv's in general.

I am definitely new to the RV world, so I am not familiar with the profiling that comes with it. I guess I had better get used to the idea of being pulled over, especially because I am still in my mid 20's and own a trailer. I have a feeling that I will be profiled with more prejudice than any older folks towing trailers. Maybe I should be less harsh in my criticism of police officers as they are only doing what they feel is in the best interest of the general public.

[JenPB]

We traveled a LOT of miles this summer, through 17 states and across the US/Canada border twice. The only time I got pulled over was when I missed a "school zone" sign about 3 miles from the only school I saw. (Never saw the sign - was lost in strange city.) The officer was friendly. "Oh, I'm not going to give you a ticket. I just wanted to let you know..."

Our trailer was covered in mud at the time, and the license plate had fallen off so I'd written the plate number in magic marker right on the shell (under where the plate HAD been). We couldn't have looked more hokey.

His only question about the trailer referred to our map of states visited: "So, have you been all those places on THIS trip?" And he wanted to hear more about it.

Maybe that's really why he pulled us over.

[Pete Dumbleton]

I am definitely new to the RV world, so I am not familiar with the profiling that comes with it. I guess I had better get used to the idea of being pulled over, especially because I am still in my mid 20's and own a trailer. I have a feeling that I will be profiled with more prejudice than any older folks towing trailers. Maybe I should be less harsh in my criticism of police officers as they are only doing what they feel is in the best interest of the general public.

Steveo, don't take this one thread out of context, this 'RV profiling' stuf is uncommon at best and this is the first I had ever heard of it (and I've been RVing since '96, with nine of those years as a Full Timer -- Never stopped except once for actual traffic violation, not counting borders. Profiling happens at the borders, but not for RVs; reportedly for RV's with Texas tags (Wild West folks *must* be carrying handguns, right? <g>).

Lots of 'profiling' existed on the I-95 corridor Maine to Miami, because it is a drug transport route from Florida, but was more likely to be vans than trailers, however, as a young person driving something that could be hauling out-of-view cargo you might be prepared to be stopped.

[Roy in TO]

I can't believe I have not seen even a chuckle over my earlier post in this thread joking about the officer apologizing for incontinence and requesting to use the port a potti as a reason to enter a trailer.

Did I touch on a sensitive topic with the members?

I've been just about peeing myself in belly roll laughter every time I thought about it today.

[Pete Dumbleton]

I chuckled but didn't bother to reply...

[Raya]

I laughed out loud - had been too "polite" to joke about it previously

It was a funny mistake, especially when you think about an officer saying it with a straight face, in a real life situation, and how you'd have to try to stay serious.

Raya

[Frederick L. Simson]

I can't believe I have not seen even a chuckle over my earlier post in this thread joking about the officer apologizing for incontinence and requesting to use the port a potti as a reason to enter a trailer.

Did I touch on a sensitive topic with the members?

Would you believe, in my haste reading it, the joke went right over my head?

[April Wilcox]

Well, I think we just got caught up in a task force at work on I-40 between Memphis and Nashville. We got pulled over again on the way back home, just outside of Memphis. The entire stretch of HWY had at least a dozen unmarked cars scattered along every few miles. The second time being pulled over was not nearly as big of a shock as I sort of expected it to happen again. The officer claimed we were speeding around 72 even though we kept our top speed between 60 -65 max. Once again, I can not complain about the way we were treated, they were friendly enough and respectful, but then again, so were we. We greeted them with a smile, and had all our documents ready. There were no dogs on the second stop, and he basically just wanted to get a good look at us and our rig. We even mentioned getting stopped on our way in. I imagine this was an isolated situation based on location and profile. I just wish the first officers had not let the dogs scratch up our door and side panel, we openly offered to let them in the trailer. Well, chock it all up to experience..... we are back in Houston now.In both situations, we were not ticketed, just checked out and sent on our way.

[Roy in TO]

It was a funny mistake, especially when you think about an officer saying it with a straight face, in a real life situation, and how you'd have to try to stay serious.

I know Patrick was implying the officer apologizing for the restraint (i.e. continence), yet all I could imagine was the cop coming up the side of the car with that funny fast paced walk we all know too well. For some reason, I just can't get that picture out of my mind. Maybe it was all the comments about coffee and donuts earlier in the thread.

Patrick, I feel for you sitting there waiting in a room full of people waiting to possibly be called up to Jury Duty. Been there, done that too many times. IMHO the biggest waste of human resources our governments have ever devised. In this day and age, the least they could do would be provide everyone with a cubicle, power and internet access. That way we could either get some work done, educate or entertain ourselves rather than wasting time waiting for the possible honour of serving.

April, glad to hear it went better the second time around. FYI the cops up here do blitzes too. One week it is checking for unsafe vehicles, the next for speeding, the next for improper turns at intersections. They usually announce what they are doing ahead of time. Every long weekend we expect them out for speeding, unsafe vehicles and unsafe loads. The stats proves it saves lives yet the people never seem to learn.

[Raya]

Here I thought he meant to say "inconvenience" and just inadvertently typed the other.

April: Glad you had a good trip overall, and the house looks neat. I bet it was great to just pull in with your egg and not feel like you had to make a place to live right when you got there.

I'm really sorry to hear that a police dog scratched your trailer - that part of it seems pretty inexcusable, for a routine stop with no particular probable cause (I may be using that term wrong - I mean that April and rig were not doing anything to cause them to be pulled over except traveling with a trailer). Ooh, I would be mad if that happened to me! I wonder if there is any responsibility taken for that? Or is it just allowed as part of doing business?

Raya

[April Wilcox]

I hope this thread is not pushing the line on politics, as it was trailer related. Had we been traveling in just our car, I expect we would not have had the same experience, and I would not have posted about it here. We were being careful to drive safely, so we did not provoke the stops. If anything it can be a warning to anyone on this list who plan to travel through that area any time soon pulling their trailer, to be aware of what might happen to them. I also imagine the "traps" are moved from one place to another so I guess it might prove pointless to say just that corridor of I-40 is being patrolled in such a way.
As far as the dog scratches, we just have to live with it until we can afford to do the paint job. I guess we are lucky we had not already paid for a new paint job. I suppose we could issue some kind of a complaint, but in the long run I don't think anything would be done about it, and we would just be wasting our time. It did get me thinking though, when they do cause property damage, and do not find what they are searching for, who is responsible? I am just counting my blessings that we did not have a worse experience and that now we know what to expect when we go back up there to work on the house again. Might just have to leave our trailer at home next time. I think I grew a few more gray hairs on this trip...

[Patrick Mc]

Patrick, I feel for you sitting there waiting in a room full of people waiting to possibly be called up to Jury Duty. Been there, done that too many times. IMHO the biggest waste of human resources our governments have ever devised. In this day and age, the least they could do would be provide everyone with a cubicle, power and internet access. That way we could either get some work done, educate or entertain ourselves rather than wasting time waiting for the possible honour of serving.

Roy,

In California, now, it's one day or one trial. They didn't call a single panel and we were released at 3:00.

They did have four cubicles with desktops and excellent wifi for everyone else.

It was [b]almost painless. I did lose a small Swiss Army Knife. In the morning I took my car and sterilized my key chain. We had 2 1/2 hours for lunch so I came home. My son was home from school and didn't have to work so I took his SUV for the afternoon session. I forgot to remove the knife I had on that key ring. To avoid the traffic after court hours, I had parked further away than usual. When they caught me trying to sneak a 1 1/2" blade past security I had to take it back to the truck. I was just going to cache it someplace so I could retrieve it later, but when I saw the "characters" hanging around outside, I decided just to toss it in the trash.

They don't pay for the first day, so my duty cost me $20 plus gas.

Pat

[Faith]

While visiting Arizona during the last two weeks we found five of the border patrol check points. Three with the Scamp and two without. We had NO difficulty at all.
Let me remind all of us that in the days following 9-11 we were all in favor of "The Patriot Act." This is the federal law that is designed to protect us from ourselves. It also goes beyond the state and local laws. Kind of like catching fish with dynamite. I figure that the guys we met were doing their job, even though I don't agree with it. It is still the law. Make the best of it, Smile.
Then go home and contact your congressmen and senators and tell them that you want this modified.
Faith
77S13

[Roy in TO]

In California, now, it's one day or one trial.
They don't pay for the first day, so my duty cost me $20 plus gas.

That's reasonable, in Ontario it's a week, no pay till after 2 weeks and that does not cover transit and lunch. Somewhere after that it bumps up to barely cover your expenses. Who ever coined the phrase "Crime doesn't pay" must have been a juror at one time.

[JenPB]

It did get me thinking though, when they do cause property damage, and do not find what they are searching for, who is responsible?

Around here (Central Coast of Cal.) if a city employee "allegedly" ('cause that's how the city sees the claim) causes damage to personal property, the damaged party files a complaint with the city, the city denies it and sends it back to damaged party to seek their OWN insurance coverage. The city MAY send the REMAINING cost to their own insurer.

[Raya]

On the other hand, I once drove through this sharp, "square" pothole (which the city had obviously just made that day since it was my regular route) and broke off one of my shock mounts. There were no cones or other warning devices, and the deep square covered one whole lane.

I called the city and spoke with them about it and they reimbursed my cost to have the mount welded back together. This was in the upper Midwest.

Raya

[Steveo R]

Steveo, don't take this one thread out of context, this 'RV profiling' stuf is uncommon at best and this is the first I had ever heard of it (and I've been RVing since '96, with nine of those years as a Full Timer -- Never stopped except once for actual traffic violation, not counting borders. Profiling happens at the borders, but not for RVs; reportedly for RV's with Texas tags (Wild West folks *must* be carrying handguns, right? <g>).

I have to admit that this thread was putting me on edge a little bit, thinking to myself "what did i get into?!" I'm glad this isn't a common occurrence, but I will say that this has been a good educational discussion for me. Now at least when I do head to the states (and even around home) I will have an idea what to expect at these checkpoints if I do happen to run into one.

[Alan Weinel]

Ya, our system isn't TOO bad. And the whole thing is on a phone in basis too... call in the day before and find out if you have to show up or not. TYPICALLY, though, it is only 1/2 in advence... gotta call in again in the morning to see about reporting in the afternoon. Don't remember the last time I had to sit in the "bull pen" and just kill a day.

That's reasonable, in Ontario it's a week, no pay till after 2 weeks and that does not cover transit and lunch. Somewhere after that it bumps up to barely cover your expenses. Who ever coined the phrase "Crime doesn't pay" must have been a juror at one time.

[April Wilcox]

I have to admit that this thread was putting me on edge a little bit, thinking to myself "what did i get into?!" I'm glad this isn't a common occurrence, but I will say that this has been a good educational discussion for me. Now at least when I do head to the states (and even around home) I will have an idea what to expect at these checkpoints if I do happen to run into one.

I hope I didn't scare anyone with this thread, I know it is not a regular occurrence, I have traveled in a single vehicle for many years all over the central and NW regions and never once got pulled over. I guess that is why I felt such a shock when we did get stopped in TN. I feel I must repeat the fact that they were friendly and did not treat us poorly. I imagine that if you don't have something to hide, you will have a similar experience. Just have to sit and let them do their thing.