I once got stopped in Utah by a state trooper there because he was coming at me with his hi-beams on. So naturally I flashed up to get the “other driver” dim down and this prick stopped me and wrote me a ticket! Then he made me follow him to next weigh station and pay the $125 fine!
Then I got stopped traveling down Lolo Pass. This is a very winding highway and more deer than you can shake a stick at. Anyway there was another car coming up the pass and when we would come around the curves we would both have our hi-beams on and see each other and dim down and then flip them back on when we lost sight of each other. This on for about a few curves until we passed each other. On the last time I dimmed down one of my low beams burned out and then the other car turned out to be an Idaho trooper and he turned around and lit me up so I pulled over. He told me my low beam was out and I told him that I had a problem with light and how it was constantly doing that so much so that I kept a couple of spares behind the seat and even showed that.
Then he said that it had been working each time I dimmed down but the last time he seen it burn out. So he wrote me a $25 ticket and said I had 15 days to pay it. I told him that I only had another 50 miles to go before I got into Washington and that I’ll never pay the ticket. He went in his way and so did and I never paid that one!
With the attitude today, that was in the mid 80’s, I probably would have been shot for attempted murder of a cop by driving unsafe in their presence and endangering their lives!
Today, they would simple have your license suspended in the state you are from for non-payment. Then, the next time you are stopped or try to renew your license, voila!. “Sir, this license is suspended...”
They’ll get their money.
Revenue. He even saw that you had a good light and while on the road it went out. What a jerk.
Meanwhile, where I live I blew through a stop sign at night trying to beat an approaching car. The car was a cop. Sure, he lit me up but we are both adults and know that what I did, though technically illegal, was not the least bit dangerous.
He gave me a “friendly” verbal warning with a wink and I was on my way.
It’s one reason I love it here. In my 42 years driving in the Seattle area I learned to watch for radar copes every second I was driving. I still got pulled over a couple of times a year and averaged about 2 tickets every three years. I’ve been in KY for almost three years now and that was the only time I ever got stopped by a cop. My driving record is squeaky clean for the first time in a LONG time.