Racial profiling is a law-enforcement no-no, but “automotive profiling” is a going concern in every state across the land.
Drive a bright-colored car, or an obviously sporty/performance car, and you dramatically increase your chances of being issued a piece of payin’ paper - because your car stands out from the crowd.
It’s not fair – but it is reality. Here’s why:
Most speed traps involve a stationary patrol car and a radar gun. And radar (unlike laser detection) can’t single out a particular car in a pack of fast-moving vehicles. It’s up to the cop to choose which vehicle he’s going to go after. Nine times out of ten, it isn’t going to be the off-white minivan to your left or the silver pick-up on your right. It’s gonna be you, amigo – if you’re the pilot of a cherry red Mustang GT or glistening black Escalade with chromed to the max 20-inch ree-uhms.
Visibility is key.
And not only are you more likely to be pulled over if you’re driving a high-visibility car, you’re also more likely to feel the full extent of the law as well. The family-looking dude doing 64 in a 55 in his schleprock-looking Camry stands a decent chance of getting off with just a warning. Or the cop maybe knocks the ticket down to 60. But the young kid in the winged-up, fart-can equipped EVO doing exactly the same thing can expect to be written up for every single MPH the cop can throw at him – with maybe a seatbelt violation tossed in for good measure.
The cop is going to assume you’re a Regular Violator – and use this opportunity to chew on you a bit. It’s not unlike the difference in treatment you know you’ll get if you apply for a loan dressed like Bob Marley vs. one of the suits from “Mad Men.”
Run silent, run deep.
Which means:
* Avoid driving a car with a big wing on the trunk – or an oversized/overload exhaust.
They draw the attention of cops like a Night Train sale at 7-11 draws winos. On cars like the Mustang GT, you can “delete option” the rear spoiler. Or just delete it yourself. Most unbolt in minutes and the truth is they serve no meaningful function on a street car anyhow. It’s just for show – and if you’re smart and want to actually use your machine, showing is the last thing you should want to do.
* Avoid bright colors.
They make you more visible – especially when moving fast relative to traffic. Silvers, greys and dark greens help you fade into the pack. There is a reason why unmarked cop cars are typically painted one of those color. It’s camouflage. If you don’t get noticed – or don’t get noticed first – the chances of getting tagged with a ticket drop significantly.
* Avoid coupes.
Two-door cars say “I’m a fast driver” to a cop; they also tend to cost more to insure – because insurance companies assume (based on accident statistics) that people who own two-door cars tend to drive faster than people who own four-door cars. Cops just don’t pay as much attention to a bland-colored, nothing-special-looking four door – even if happens to a 150-mph capable four door.
You may feel older driving a car with less obvious attitude – but you’ll be hassled less by the Man.
I used to drive a Red 1986 Mercury Capri 5.0 and got stopped several times for speeding(so the cop said) or cops would run my tags on their computers while sitting at traffic lights(mostly in Fairfax County, Va.). Cops would follow me for miles just to see if i was going to do anything. I now drive a Dark Green 1998 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP and cops hardly look at it. I’ve been stopped only twice while driving the Grand Prix.
Each week for the past 15 years I have driven around in a different new car. This has helped me to see the difference in noticeability (as well as treatment if I do get stopped) that comes with different types/colors of cars. If you are driving a Corvette or Porsche or anything like that – most especially if it’s bright colored – the cops will focus on you rather than other cars around you. And if you are the only car around, you sill stand out more. And being noticed is the first step in the process of being caught.
PS: I used to live in Fairfax, so ah feeeel your pain!
“Or just delete it yourself. Most unbolt in minutes and the truth is they serve no meaningful function on a street car anyhow. It’s just for show” Really, why bother even buying the car then? If you’re not allowed to look good AND have the performance, you might as well just get some piece of crap and rig it up to the same specs as the vehicle you want to drive. Or better yet, get a Camry and be bored your entire commute. Ah well, I agree though that you’ll get pulled over just for that reason. Even so, I wouldn’t take a spoiler off any modern car, have yet to see one that does justice to at all.
There are many subtle performance cars out there; “car people” know what they are but most people don’t – and (more important) they don’t immediately call attention to themselves. There is a middle ground between looking good and having a ride that everyone (cops especially) looks at. A fast car you can use, which doesn’t get you hassled all the time, is a lot more fun (long-term, especially) than one every cop immediately draws a bead on (for example, a winged-up EVO in bright yellow or red), which will get you pulled over every time for doing even 5 over the limit. I say this based on years of experience test driving a different new car every week. In something like that EVO, with its big wing and loud paint and all the rest of it, the cops focus on you – even when you’re in a pack of 15 other cars and you’re all doing about the same speed. It gets old. So does paying $2,000 a year for insurance (or more).
PS: A current Camry is quicker 0-60 and in the quarter-mile than a stock late-70s Corvette! An Altima V-6 w/six-speed is a great car to haul ass in. It has about as much real-world performance capability as anyone can realistically use in most areas of the country. It’s fine to BS about 140-plus top speeds, but I doubt even 2 percent of the population has ever driven that fast, even once – let alone for more than a few seconds. And the handling capabilities of almost any modern sport sedan/coupe are already well beyond the driving abilities of probably 90 percent of the people on the road – and thus, not real-world useable (again, by most people, on public roads). Most people are in way over their heads in a modern performance car. Even more absurd is the spectacle of all these hausefraus puttering along to the mall in their 300 hp crossovers (and 400 hp SmooVees), or old people in their 340 hp luxury sport sedans, who wouldn’t drive the thing faster than 80 on a dare!