How many times have you been 'pulled over' ?

[Pieman68]

3 times

First one about 3am on the way home from a club, had a brake light out. Fair enough. Quick chat, confirmed home address where car was registered, blew 0 and on my way

Second one came out of pub at closing time after a get together with the boys. Was drinking water as had a fasting blood test the next morning. Blew 0 and on my way

Third time was a Monday morning around 8.45am. Pinged ANPR as no insurance as renewal had occurred over the weekend. Showed insurance confirmation email on phone, at which point he decided he could smell something. Blew 0 again and went to work

All reasonable encounters and no issue with any of the justifications

[Terzo123]

As a yoof, I was stopped lots, usually involving cars. To be fair, my friends driving back then attracted alot of negative attention. I was also stopped and searched a couple of times whilst loitering in the streets or parks with friends.

It was just part and parcel of growing up in an urban area.

When I had my Impreza and being a bit older I still got stopped on the odd occasion for routine document checks. Everything was always in order.

Its been 10 years since I had the Impreza, and alot longer since I stopped loitering about the streets, so I've not had any pulls in a long time.

[Ransoman]

Never, driving for 17 years.

[MitchT]

Never when I was driving but twice when I was a passenger. Once because a rear light was out and once when my mate drove down a short "bus only" street, though the way the officer was carrying on you'd have thought we were the Hatton Garden robbers!

[AJB88]

Non-Bame, once with a 1 day old car, Police said no insurance, had 2 policies (free 7 day + my other insurance).

Quick check and was let go after a few mins.

[105.4]

I clicked non-BAME and pulled over 20 times for good reason. The actual figure is likely to be easily triple that amount.

Late-teens to mid 20’s, owning a variety of hot hatches, working shifts, usually driving like I was Henri Toivonen incarnated.

Mid 20’s to mid 30’s, working shifts, sometimes driving with more than an acceptable level of enthusiasm, or running a car with no front plate.

To be fair to the police, all but one of my stops has been civil. The only one that wasn’t was when I owned an E30 318is that had previously been used in a bank robbery. I used to get pulled regularly in that. On one traffic stop, the officers proceeded to empty the entire contents of my car, including the door cards, (breaking several trim clips), on to the pavement in the pouring rain. No apology from them either when the didn’t find the handguns or stolen cash their PNC had told them to expect.

Am I bitter? Maybe a little, but you get aholes in all jobs. I did sell the car shortly after that though to buy a Seat Toledo GTI.

The rules of the game are quite simple though. If you see blue lights in the mirrors, acknowledge that you’ve seen them, find somewhere safe to pull over, smile and talk to the officer with courtesy and respect, (even if it isn’t reciprocated), and nine times out of ten you’ll be on your way after a few minutes, usually with just a few ‘words of advice’ and a vehicle defect form.

[Boosted LS1]

Once in 40 years or so when I was about 20 and did a runner. The thing's I've got away with ever since then :-) I've defo no reason to complain.

[ChocolateFrog]

5 or 6 times, mostly justified.

[Corvid-2020]

Used to get pulled pretty much every Friday and Saturday night driving to early morning shift from my Exs. She lived opposite a pub where she was barmaid and the pub let me park on their car park as GFs house drive had only one space and it was a NSL road.

Good reason to pull me.
a) Leaving pub car park 5am.
b) Driving from good estate to back estate. Good estate was where people from bad estate (100% white tykes, gurners or columbian marching powder on the way to skag addict types) went a robbing.
c) I looked a bit "dodgy". My hair make up and dress style were not those of your typical South Yorkshire 1980 Disco townie (yes, I was a Goth at the time).

Got to know the cops who hid on the look out for robbing scrotes, junkies or dealers. Only got breathalised about four times, then once they knew it was me "On your way Stan". And given that they did catch quite a few scrotes, I'm glad that was the way it was. No

Which leads me to a rant. Why do we have BAME and non-BAME as a Goth my skin was whiter than white, but my hair and make up was as black. My car was red if it matters. As David Brent said there is no I in BAME but there is in BIAME. Can we have the pastel colours addd as well and a "don't know" / "prefer not to say".

Edited by Corvid-2020 on Wednesday 8th July 18:29

[Reciprocating mass]

On my moped in the early 90’s hundreds of times
In my cars at the age of 18 hundreds of times
Over the years lots and lots of times
In the last ten years 1 or 2 times

[meatballs]

Why isn't there an option for never?

[vrtrooper]

Non-BAME. I work very odd hours, going home at 3-5 in the morning or going the opposite way. Driving through high crime areas with a lead foot. Always treated well, along with work mates that were BAME. No points or fines, but we always held our hands up admitting our speed. Always a quick chat and we'd realise they were just after criminals.
Got to say I've not been pulled for over 10 years since the Police stopped patrolling and I must admit I still have a lead foot.

[RegMolehusband]

About 27 times in 49 years of driving. Most in the first 15 years of course, though there seemed to be more police on the roads in those days. Most stops involved words of advice. I think I was ticketed just once.

I was just a typical Welsh lad who considered himself a budding rally driver in his Morris 1000, Hillman Minx, Austin Cambridge etc.

[Downward]

In a car. Never.
On a Bicycle Just once.

[hepy]

32 years, and pulled 5 times in a car. Couple of random breath tests in the morning - convenient lay by 500 metres from my home - plus two speeding, got away with a telling off.

Final one involved being pulled 5 minutes after taking delivery of a new car, apparently my car didn't exist? Luckily had all the delivery paperwork in the car and the officer looked very disappointed! Waited until I was on the motorway to pull me and I thought it would have been safer to pull me on the A road.

A few more on bikes, but always followed the engine off, helmet off and be polite rules, and never had a bad outcome.

[IJWS15]

Once in 43 years.

Pulling away from a parking space at around midnight on a Friday night with no lights. Nice and polite, put on the lights and left. Had a pint a couple of hours earlier but should have been clear.

Was in a car that was pulled over, three "students" and an instructor having just been out for a meal (about 10:30) and all he said was "aren't you a bit overloaded . . " Four adults in a Cavalier!

One of the issues here is not that I am white but I don't do the things that attract attention (blacked out windows, excess speed, modified car, out at night (much), drive on wrong side of road, fail to stop when asked. . . . . . always insured/MOT'd.) Maybe I don't do those things because I am white, middle aged anglo saxon with a bit of celt (I think) - does that make me racist?

Once in France if that counts, at about 0600 on a Sunday morning - they were breathalysing everyone. The Gendarme's face was a picture as he offered my wife the breathalyser before he realised the car was RHD.

[rlw]

Doesn't this poll simply show that BAME drivers are not big users of this forum? We need an equal number of both types for a more meaningful figure in my view.

[oblio]

rlw said:

Doesn't this poll simply show that BAME drivers are not big users of this forum?

Potentially but as we have no way of knowing the BAME/non BAME percentages the results may be accurate...probably not and you are probably right.

If the ethnic mix of readers of this thread on this website could be ascertained then the results could be factored to cater for this.

I did vote btw

[plasticman]

When I was young I had a highly modified Sunbeam alpine with massive wheels ,wild bodywork poorly finished and lots of noise from the Holbay engine . I was stopped relatively rarely . When it got smashed up I bought a standard 3L Capri and got stopped every 2 weeks . The reason given was normally because it was a car that frequently got stolen and after a while that is what happened to it.

[cmvtec]

I conservatively selected fewer than 20 but it could actually be more than that on reflection.

Also one police chase. That I didn't know was a police chase.