# Arizona tells armed drivers how to avoid deadly police stops



## BackyardCowboy (Aug 27, 2014)

Arizona tells armed drivers how to avoid deadly police stops - News - The Columbus Dispatch - Columbus, OH


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## high pockets (Apr 25, 2011)

A little bit concerning.

In the article, it says:



> It also tells drivers not to reach for anything inside the vehicle without getting permission first. And officers can take possession of guns, for safety reasons, until the stop is completed. The firearms would be returned if no crime has been committed.


I agree with the first sentence, but I think I have an issue with the second sentence.

I'm glad to see the firearm would be returned if there were no crime, but it seems to me to be a little too much gun handling during a traffic stop.
The whole advise suggestion flies in the face of AZ not being a "must inform" state.


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## paratrooper (Feb 1, 2012)

I couldn't open the link. 

But, bear in mind, it's instructional information for newly licensed drivers. Officer discretion is the rule of the day. Not each and every officer will ask if you have a firearm in the vehicle. If you volunteer the info. that you do, more-likely-than-not, the driver will be told to leave it where it is. 

Officers don't want any firearm handled any more than it needs to be.


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## tony pasley (May 6, 2006)

What I've told people for years: both hands on the wheel engine off license, permit in left hand registration and cert of insurance on visor. inform officer and tell where it is. 
After dark stop in well lighted area, if needed call HP or 911 and advise you are going to a well lighted area to stop put on flashers slow to below speed limit.


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## paratrooper (Feb 1, 2012)

It's actually a pretty sad commentary on society today. 

But, back to the subject at hand. When stopped, it's best if you just sit still with your hands on the wheel. Don't try and gather up all your info., to have handy for the officer. Day or night, excess movement within the stopped vehicle raises concern. 

Let the officer tell you what he needs to see. If your proof of insurance and registration is in the glove box, just say so. Myself, I keep my vehicle info. in a visor organizer. It's very handy, and that way, I don't have to go rummaging thru a glove box or something. 

In regards to being stopped at night, that would more-or-less depend on where you are being stopped, and if you are male or female. Myself, I don't always have my cell phone with me, and the fact that I don't feel that I would ever need to call 911 in regards to being stopped. But, that's just me. 

A lone female (or not) on a rather desolate road, then yes, sure, call 911 to ease your mind. Again, it's quite sad that it's come to this. The need to learn how to behave when stopped by the police to insure your survival. 

To be perfectly fair, I don't know what it is with some of the officers in the day & age, behaving as they are. Some of it is foreign to me. Different era, different persona I suppose.


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## win231 (Aug 5, 2015)

tony pasley said:


> What I've told people for years: both hands on the wheel engine off license, permit in left hand registration and cert of insurance on visor. inform officer and tell where it is.
> After dark stop in well lighted area, if needed call HP or 911 and advise you are going to a well lighted area to stop put on flashers slow to below speed limit.


I have to disagree. In order to have your documents in your hand, you would have to be gathering them before the cop gets out of his car. Movement like that would certainly arouse suspicion on the officers part - he would likely assume you're hiding drugs or weapons. And, although stopping in a well-lighted area is wise, you have to be prepared for the cop to be very angry at you for not stopping immediately; especially if you had to travel some distance to get to a well-lighted area; he might accuse you of attempting to flee/resisting arrest, etc. After some fake cops (and some real cops) kidnapped & raped women, the news media suggested driving to a well-lighted area when stopped & videos showed some cops going ballistic when the driver stopped.
_
"Officer George M. Gwaltney is serving a 90-year federal prison term for the 1982 kidnapping, rape and murder of a 23-year-old Van Nuys woman who was traveling home along Interstate 15 from Las Vegas."_


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## tony pasley (May 6, 2006)

I carry mine in a ID case in my front shirt pocket so I don't have to reach around for them. After dark that is the reason for calling HP or 911 to explain what you are doing and why and confirm it is a real officer. Way to many bad guys with no fear of punishment running loose. It is always better safe than sorry or dead.


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## Blackhawkman (Apr 9, 2014)

So....if you were speeding would the Police keep your gun til you pay a fine??jail? Hmmm?


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## desertman (Aug 29, 2013)

I know that it may be hard for some people but the best way to avoid getting pulled over and contact with the police is to obey all vehicle and traffic laws.


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## win231 (Aug 5, 2015)

desertman said:


> I know that it may be hard for some people but the best way to avoid getting pulled over and contact with the police is to obey all vehicle and traffic laws.


Some nerve ya got, telling people to drive safely! :anim_lol:


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## desertman (Aug 29, 2013)

win231 said:


> Some nerve ya got, telling people to drive safely! :anim_lol:


A novel concept, isn't it?


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## tony pasley (May 6, 2006)

desertman said:


> I know that it may be hard for some people but the best way to avoid getting pulled over and contact with the police is to obey all vehicle and traffic laws.


It helps but not always enough DUI checks, License checks, " similar vehicle reported" all these are reasons I have had interactions while driving. These happen several times a year mostly around the holidays but you still have to deal with them safely.


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## paratrooper (Feb 1, 2012)

desertman said:


> I know that it may be hard for some people but the best way to avoid getting pulled over and contact with the police is to obey all vehicle and traffic laws.


Way to go, now you've spilled the beans. Now everyone will be driving safely and traffic cops will be out of a job.

*NOT!! * :anim_lol:


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## desertman (Aug 29, 2013)

paratrooper said:


> Way to go, now you've spilled the beans. Now everyone will be driving safely and traffic cops will be out of a job.
> 
> *NOT!! * :anim_lol:


Oh well I tried to keep it a secret, but couldn't help myself. The last thing I'd want is to increase the unemployment rolls. It may start to look bad for Trump.


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## paratrooper (Feb 1, 2012)

desertman said:


> Oh well I tried to keep it a secret, but couldn't help myself. The last thing I'd want is to increase the unemployment rolls. It may start to look bad for Trump.


If more people would drive like they had at least 1/2 a brain, they'd do just fine. It's amazing at how people drive and the condition of what they drive. The stories I could tell.

Anyways, it's just not that tough to go from Point A to Point B w/o getting stopped. And, most of those that do get stopped on a rather routine basis, almost always cry foul that the cops are out to get them. Yeah well, if you're driving like an idiot and don't have any stop lights, or whatever, then yeah, you will get singled out from all the rest.


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## BackyardCowboy (Aug 27, 2014)

Take the article for what it's worth. It's suggestions to get both you and the cops home safely. Make your own decision on how to approach such a situation. A lot of movement in the car nowadays may be taken as you're trying to hide contraband.
Your Results May Vary


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## SouthernBoy (Jun 27, 2007)

desertman said:


> I know that it may be hard for some people but the best way to avoid getting pulled over and contact with the police is to obey all vehicle and traffic laws.


Funny you should mention this. I also don't get stopped. I haven't had a moving violation since April, 1971. And that one was NOT valid. I was NOT doing what the officer said I was doing. The ones prior to that were all valid citations but not the one in April, 1971.

I'm a real stickler for obeying traffic laws. This doesn't mean that I drive in the fast lane of a 55 MPH highway going the exact speed limit. I drive the flow. What it does mean is that I don't run red lights or stop signs, I signal whenever I change lanes and make turns, I use my head and I am what I would call a logically technical driver. I want to stay alive.


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## SouthernBoy (Jun 27, 2007)

tony pasley said:


> It helps but not always enough DUI checks, License checks, " similar vehicle reported" all these are reasons I have had interactions while driving. These happen several times a year mostly around the holidays but you still have to deal with them safely.


Haven't seen one of these stops in Virginia in years... and I do mean years. I thought that they were no longer legal.


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## tony pasley (May 6, 2006)

North Carolina does them a lot. I have not been pulled over in more than 20 years but I am still prepared. My daughter was pulled over just because she was driving a white pickup truck. The office said " a white pickup driven by a female was used in a theft" not her not my truck but she was still pulled over.


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## desertman (Aug 29, 2013)

SouthernBoy said:


> Funny you should mention this. I also don't get stopped. I haven't had a moving violation since April, 1971. And that one was NOT valid. I was NOT doing what the officer said I was doing. The ones prior to that were all valid citations but not the one in April, 1971.
> 
> I'm a real stickler for obeying traffic laws. This doesn't mean that I drive in the fast lane of a 55 MPH highway going the exact speed limit. I drive the flow. What it does mean is that I don't run red lights or stop signs, I signal whenever I change lanes and make turns, I use my head and I am what I would call a logically technical driver. I want to stay alive.


Same here SB. Especially since I never go anywhere unarmed. I want to avoid any confrontation with not only the police but other drivers. I can't remember the last time I got a moving violation. Probably when I was a snot nosed little bastard who thought he was hot shit when I had my street rod. They don't pull me over anymore now that I'm into restoring vehicles to their original state. A punk kid in a street rod attracted cops like flies in shit. You didn't even have to be doing anything wrong.


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## paratrooper (Feb 1, 2012)

Both me and my wife have never been in a vehicle accident. Not even a fender bender. I don't think she's ever had a moving violation. 

I've been driving since age 15 1/2. Got my m/c endorsement at age 16. I've had 3 moving violations during my teen years. Only been down once on my m/c. That was back in 1977. A newly licensed female pulled out in front of me. I almost got around her. Almost. 

Like SouthernBoy, I'm a very cautious driver. I'm all eyes when I drive. 

Like I've mentioned in the past.......The vast majority of people don't realize that the single most dangerous thing they do on a daily basis, is to get into a car and drive.


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## SouthernBoy (Jun 27, 2007)

paratrooper said:


> Both me and my wife have never been in a vehicle accident. Not even a fender bender. I don't think she's ever had a moving violation.
> 
> I've been driving since age 15 1/2. Got my m/c endorsement at age 16. I've had 3 moving violations during my teen years. Only been down once on my m/c. That was back in 1977. A newly licensed female pulled out in front of me. I almost got around her. Almost.
> 
> ...


This is so true.

I went through high school in the 60's; I am class of '64. In the 10th grade we had to view a film called "Signal 30". It was the real thing with color pictures and videos of mangled and torn apart bodies. I think everyone getting their driver's license should see films like this. It can be quite sobering. Worse one I have come across was a hit and run and the victim's right leg was almost completely severed from his body. Obviously he had bled out with his femoral artery severed. We went past him just after it happened and before any police or emergency people had arrived. We were on the opposite side of the street.

My oldest daughter went by a victim who's brain had been knocked out of his head and was laying in one piece about two feet from his head. This was also a hit and run.

As for my driving techniques, I look for signs of potential problems and trouble on the highway, at intersections, and a host of other places. I have gotten pretty good at being able to tell when someone is about to break the law. I just fear that there may be that one time when I get complacent and let my SD down when something suddenly takes me by surprise. But I love to drive and look forward to even silly things, like running routine errands or similar stuff. And road trips keep me from getting a full night's sleep because I get so charged up.


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## paratrooper (Feb 1, 2012)

I've responded to far more accidents then I wish to recall. 

I do my best to not think about some, but they will be in my mind forever. :smt009


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## desertman (Aug 29, 2013)

paratrooper said:


> Both me and my wife have never been in a vehicle accident. Not even a fender bender. I don't think she's ever had a moving violation.
> 
> I've been driving since age 15 1/2. Got my m/c endorsement at age 16. I've had 3 moving violations during my teen years. Only been down once on my m/c. That was back in 1977. A newly licensed female pulled out in front of me. I almost got around her. Almost.
> 
> ...


My wife and I at one time wanted to be a husband and wife team of long haul truckers. We both had 9 to 5 jobs and on the weekends I attended a trucking school, I'd get my license and she'd then get hers. After 20 weekends that was enough. It's like you're a great big whale with all of these little fish swimming all around you. In my limited experience what I have found is that if people have no respect for an 18 wheeler they sure as hell don't for their fellow 4 wheelers, God forbid if you're on a motorcycle. I've always wanted a loud bad-ass Harley either an early "Pan" or a "Knuckle". Not any more. I'll stick with my antique cars for fun, but even with them I sometimes get nervous taking them out.

You'll never get me behind the wheel of a small car. I've got to have a lot of steel surrounding me and have a full size 3/4 ton truck as my regular transportation.


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## win231 (Aug 5, 2015)

Ya know those speed bumps in parking lots & neighborhood streets? What do they say about people?

The idea of killing someone by speeding through a parking lot or neighborhood is acceptable, but _damaging your car _by going too fast over a speed bump....that will certainly slow you down.

There is an outdoor mall near me with a posted sign: "Anyone who has information about the car that hit & killed a pedestrian in this parking lot, please call______."


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