Well I run a dealer tag because we can have one personal car listed under the dealerships insurance policy... anyway, my boyfriend and I were in the Atlanta area (Forest Park) and on our way to the NOPI Nationals at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. We had actually stayed in College Park (off of I-85) and missed our turn onto (I-75) so we got off in Forest Park (on a 4 lane road with traffic flying by us) and headed back towards the speedway. It was about 7:15 a.m. on a Saturday morning (VERY early for me to even be awake on a Saturday) and I was driving. I stopped at a store because I had a migrane headache and so my boyfried (at the time and YES I am a female) said he wanted to drive the rest of the way. We pull out of the store (cars continuing to pass us constantly...) top and hill and I see this cop make a quick, sharp u-turn and I am like
- I look over at the speedometer and it's somewhere between 45-50 - next thing I know the cop is behind us with his lights on... then before we get pulled over good another cop is there with his lights on. The cop walks up to door (we slide the window back)... and here it goes... (keep me mind we are only up this early because we needed to be at the speedway by about 8:00 a.m.)
COP: "excuse me sir... do you know how fast you were going"
BOYFRIEND: "about 46... maybe 47"
COP: "try 56"
ME: "do what? I know we were not going over 50 because I looked over at the speedometer"
COP: "would you like me to re-check my radar gun... it was just checked this morning and I know its accurate"
ME: "well... no I don't guess you should then"
COP: "sir may I have your drivers license and registration please"
BOYFRIED: "sure" and hands over all the info
COP: "remain here" and then leaves and goes back to his car
NO LIE... I TIMED IT BY THE CLOCK IN THE CAR... IT TOOK 46 MINUTES FOR THE COP TO COME BACK UP TO THE CAR (also keep in mind that because the car is listed under the dealership as a personal car and has a dealer tag, it is also covered by the dealerships insurance)
COP: "I believe this car is stolen" (this is when I become super
off)
ME: "stolen? what are talking about... I gave you all of the registration"
(also note that on a fleet insurance policy its listed as tag # *** 101 - *** 104... depending on how many dealer tags you are issued and in this case I had like tag # *** 102)
COP: "yes... the tag on the registration does not match with the tag on the car"
ME: "sure it does... we were issued tag #'s *** 101 - *** 104"
AT THIS TIME HE KIND OF LEANS IN AS IF TO LOOK AT ME AND I HEAR THIS SOUND ON THE DOOR OF MY CAR AS IF A BUCKLE OR SOMETHING IS RUBBING UP AGAINST IT
ME: "I really hope you didn't just scratch my car... because if it is scratched I will be contacting your department about damages"
COP: after he backs up a little "well the only way I will not tow the car is if you (referring to me) drives because I just revoked his license
BOYFRIEND: "okay... well whatever" (keep in mind we have been here almost an hour by now) and goes to open door
COP: "remain in the vehicle" and slams the door shut
ME: "you have to be kidding me... this is ridiculus"
the cop leaves again and finally comes back after about 15 more minutes and tells us we can go
THIS STOP TOOK OVER 1 HOUR!!!!!
#1) He gave us three tickets... Speeding (56 in a 40), improper use of tag, and no proof of insurance
#2) He took my boyfriend's license and stated that they would not be released until a copy of the title, etc was faxed to the police station
#3) He made me drive again (even though I was complaining of blurred vision due to my headache)
IN CONCLUSION:
The tickets together we over $500. We ended up paying a $150 fine for the speeding ticket and my boyfriend was without his license for 2 days - they ended up dropping all of the other charges when the dealership got involved and we didn't even have to go to court to do it... the captain was very apologetic... I'm not sure if the cop got written up or not
I did think it was funny that about 30 pages were faxed from the dealership to prove that the car did belong to us... but honestly, if the cop REALLY thought the car was stolen and that we didn't have insurance or a legal tag then why did he let us go as long as I was driving??????
Legally we found out that of course the tag was legal and we actually had double insurance coverage
Anyway... we get the ticket and I look at it and it states:
Joyriding (again this is about 7:15 a.m. and we just passed over 2 interstates) by going 56 in a 45
When we went back to pick up my boyfriends license (with the Viper trailer behind us this time) the cop was standing outside... the cop inside the window just kind of shook his head (in a sense as I'm sorry... he's just a
)