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Maybe. It's clear to you that you have found a correlation. Have you explored many other causes to see what their impact might be? When you are pulled over,

Maybe. It's clear to you that you have found a correlation. Have you explored many other causes to see what their impact might be? When you are pulled over, what is commonly the reason/excuse the officers give? How do your driving habits compare to your wife? Do you drive at similar times of day? Are you both really cautious drivers? When I was a kid I was always told that it was the people in fancy sports cars that got pulled over all the time, so by driving a modest cheap car you were taking yourself off the radar. But that's the problem with anecdotal experience. It's hard to extrapolate trends without proper science and analysis. EDIT: I didn't mean to target this only at the parent. The article suffers a lot of the same issues. They base a large part of their argument over a single statistic (amount of people being pulled over vs. race) and then fail to dive any deeper into the data.

tyingq 9y ago
Sure. I acknowledge it's anecdotal. The sobreity tests, though, when I'm stone cold sober, seemed odd. No reason for pulling me over is ever offered.
- mikeash 9y ago
  Maybe you should ask. Police aren’t allowed to stop people at random. They have to at least suspect some sort of violation.
  - shanev 9y ago
    Sometimes the violation is driving 5 miles above the speed limit on a highway.
    - mikeash 9y ago
      Sure. Selective enforcement is a huge problem. But not giving a reason at all is nuts.
    - Washuu 9y ago
      "Driving too close to the white line."
      - eric_b 9y ago
        Or my personal favorite: "Driving erratically"
  - tyingq 9y ago
    Find some documented case where a US police officer was punished, in any way, for pulling someone over arbitrarily. There are too many loopholes. "Crossed center line", "erradic manuevers", "tint seemed dark", "appeared to see open alcohol container", "did not come to a full and complete stop", and so on. We even have full on Stasi style checkpoints occasionally, where everyone is pulled over.
whatshisface 9y ago
Hot rods and beaters both get pulled over, expensive but slow-looking cars like Lexus minivans go under the radar. That's been the anecdote passed down to me, and it includes both of the cases we're discussing.
- Feniks 9y ago
  As if criminals are stupid. A drug smuggler is more likely to drive a van than an Audi. Probably hire some white college kid to drive it.
- icantdrive55 9y ago
  1. It's time it stops. 2. In my county, hell it's Marin County; cops are nothing more than Revenue Collectors. It's all gotten so old. 3. I'm a white dude, but have seen first hand the harassement first hand. 4. I have lost all respect for the boys in blue. It's time clean up the profession, or at least make them keep those cameras on 24/7. 5. Oh yea, and by chance you are caught violating one of the cornucopia of laws out there; we need to tie that fee to rectify the incident to income. It's just not right that a rich boy casually tells the wifey, over dinner, that he owes the government $500 for some dubious rule violation. The poor boy gets a $500 ticket, and it could be the last straw. It's all just wrong. I have seen first hand, what my black friends have had to endure for years, and it's embarrassing! Sorry for going on, but this has been my hot button since I got my license--way too many years ago.
- Gibbon1 9y ago
  I owned a tan Ford Aerostar for ten years, never got pulled over once.

tyingq 9y ago

Sure. I acknowledge it's anecdotal. The sobreity tests, though, when I'm stone cold sober, seemed odd. No reason for pulling me over is ever offered.

mikeash 9y ago
Maybe you should ask. Police aren’t allowed to stop people at random. They have to at least suspect some sort of violation.
- shanev 9y ago
  Sometimes the violation is driving 5 miles above the speed limit on a highway.
  - mikeash 9y ago
    Sure. Selective enforcement is a huge problem. But not giving a reason at all is nuts.
  - Washuu 9y ago
    "Driving too close to the white line."
    - eric_b 9y ago
      Or my personal favorite: "Driving erratically"
- tyingq 9y ago
  Find some documented case where a US police officer was punished, in any way, for pulling someone over arbitrarily. There are too many loopholes. "Crossed center line", "erradic manuevers", "tint seemed dark", "appeared to see open alcohol container", "did not come to a full and complete stop", and so on. We even have full on Stasi style checkpoints occasionally, where everyone is pulled over.

whatshisface 9y ago

Hot rods and beaters both get pulled over, expensive but slow-looking cars like Lexus minivans go under the radar. That's been the anecdote passed down to me, and it includes both of the cases we're discussing.

Feniks 9y ago
As if criminals are stupid. A drug smuggler is more likely to drive a van than an Audi. Probably hire some white college kid to drive it.
icantdrive55 9y ago
1. It's time it stops. 2. In my county, hell it's Marin County; cops are nothing more than Revenue Collectors. It's all gotten so old. 3. I'm a white dude, but have seen first hand the harassement first hand. 4. I have lost all respect for the boys in blue. It's time clean up the profession, or at least make them keep those cameras on 24/7. 5. Oh yea, and by chance you are caught violating one of the cornucopia of laws out there; we need to tie that fee to rectify the incident to income. It's just not right that a rich boy casually tells the wifey, over dinner, that he owes the government $500 for some dubious rule violation. The poor boy gets a $500 ticket, and it could be the last straw. It's all just wrong. I have seen first hand, what my black friends have had to endure for years, and it's embarrassing! Sorry for going on, but this has been my hot button since I got my license--way too many years ago.
Gibbon1 9y ago
I owned a tan Ford Aerostar for ten years, never got pulled over once.