Saturday afternoon I was stopped at a light, and had not noticed a black and white sitting right behind me, so when the light turned green I made a "spirited" take off (as I often do) right up to about 35-40mph. No, I didn't peel out or anything, but I did accelerate quickly up to speed. Anyhow, at the next light they pull up next to me and I'm thinking "here we go".

"You need to slow down, buddy."

"I never passed 35 or so".

"I was up to over 40 behind you (uh huh)."

"Ok".

We start rolling again and I know they're gonna notice I haven't mounted my front plate yet, so again they pull up next and tell me
"You need a front plate on there".

I tell 'em, "Yeah, I know, I'm just waiting for the mounting bracket". He looks at me and he's like "ok".

I have a feeling if I had been in a Corolla, rather than a hot-looking 05 black mustang with silver stripes, we wouldn't have even had this exchange. As far as I know, there is no law against accelerating quickly up to speed, as long as you don't exceed the speed limit. And even if I did exceed it by a negligable 3-5 mph, again, 80% of the cars on this street do this, so I couldn't help but feel picked on.
At least they didn't pull me over.

Anyone else ever felt picked on for driving this car?

 

No there isn't a law how fast you can get up to the speed limit but I've had the experience that if the cops are looking for something to pull you over for they'll call it "reckless driving" :nono: and write you out a ticket for that.

 

I was stopped for this same thing a while back.. No ticket but been told that it falls into that vague law of exhibition of speed. I will continue to do this until I get a ticket then see what the judge says before I change my driving habits.

 

Yeah, that "exhibition of speed" is so vague that they can get you for just about anything. I think it should be saved for when you get caught doing a burnout though.

 

Unlawful exhibition of speed... ie Speeding up fast with or without peeling out.
You can get a ticket for it.
To each his own, but if there's a cop around, I can control my urge until the next light to avoid the hassel.
No, you didn't get pulled over and picked on for driving the car. You got picked on because the officer viewed what you did as disrespect.
Not saying you did anything wrong, just my .02.

 

I agree 100%, but the burnout can fall under reckless op.

Makes me wonder, what do they consider pulling wheelies! (?)

 

Yeah, I've heard of this law, but again, there was no peeling out, tire screeching, etc. This "exhibition of speed" law sounds like a vague excuse for cops to pull you over.

An example, I live by the Pasadena Fwy here in Los Angeles. I believe it is the oldest fwy in the country with VERY SHORT onramps and blind curves. If you don't get up to speed quickly on here, you could get whacked. If I get on this fwy and use my Mustangs acceleration to quickly catch up to traffic flow, is this an "exhibition of speed"? No, it's necessary to prevent a potential accident.

 

Wear a bikini and you will get attention. Good and bad, wanted and unwanted. Drive a brown corolla if you dont want the police to look at you. Its gonna happen when you wrap that gorgeous hunk of Mustang around you. Dont lose any sleep over it.

 

Hey, I agree with you. As I stated, I hadn't noticed the cops til it was too late. I'm normally pretty good about looking for them, but I guess I was kind of out of it this time.

 

??? I must've read it wrong, I was under the impression you saw them. I think it's because we've seen other posts when people have done it deliberately, "baiting" the cop. My bad.

 

No Corolla for me, thanks! Just sharing my experience with fellow enthusiasts. I'll just deal with the results of driving one of the hottest cars around!

 

Please re-read my initial post. I hadn't noticed them. I'm not into "bating" police for anything.

 

yea you can get a ticket for spining the wheels...they call it breaking traction here ...what b.s..

 

Cops have been pretty cool to me with this car. One time a cop pulled up next to me and said my car was illegal and he would have to confiscate it.

 

General info for people in California: http://www.ticketassassin.com/

I have a buddy that has used them an astounding 8 times with 100% success. If I ever manage to hit the pedal a bit too hard infront of an officer, I'll be trying them out too.

 

Back in the 70's it was called "excessive acceleration".
Ticketed too many times for it. It was like a $10.00 fine back then.

The fact that he said he was up to 40 behind you is irrelevant.
He could have been up to 80. Point A to point B he can go as fast as he wants to. I don't see what point he was trying to make. Logic makes him look silly.

 

Back in the early 80's, I was ticketed twice for:

"IMPROPER START FROM A STOPPED POSITION"

It actually said that on the ticket and I had to go to court and pay fines on both occasions.

Tom

 

Get a quality radar detector like the Escort Passport 8500 X50 or the Valentine 1. Get a quality laser JAMMER (laser detectors are useless - just ticket notifiers) like the Blinder Extreme or Escort Shifter.

All is legal unless you live in VA.

Be sure to give each and every cop you see at the speed trap you were alerted to 2.5 miles down the road by your Escort or Valentine a friendly wave as you cruise past them 5 under the speed limit. I do it all the time. Man, do they hate that! lol...

 

I say get over it or get use to it. You are in a mustang and a lot of people like to street race in a mustang. Cops will always be keeping a watchful eye on you and that is why I don't fly around town. I can't count the number of times I have seen a cop whip through traffic just to get behind me, hoping I do something wrong. It has been like this with all of my mustangs. Never was followed with any of my other cars.

 

I agree with this 100%. Part of having these cars is the attention they draw. Remember that we're not the only ones that like them. There are lots of people (cops included) that like them and either don't/can't have them. They notice them more, the exhaust note is there and usually they look nice and shiny.

You're just bound to get more attention both welcome and not.

The nature of the beast.