# Educating cops about EV's and Tesla (without getting arrested)



## JasonF (Oct 26, 2018)

I haven't had this happen to me personally, but I've seen Youtube videos and blog posts about it...

Now that EV's are becoming more prevalent, there have been a few run-ins where drivers would be stopped over by police because of things that are common to EV's, but police who are used to ICE vehicles attach a much more sinister reasoning to.

For example:

- One Youtube video was someone in an EV who was pulling uphill into a parking lot, and didn't accelerate enough at first, so they were rolling back. Gave it more loud pedal, and the tires scrubbed a bit as the car pulled up to the top of the driveway. Cop who was standing outside in the parking lot waved for them to pull over, and then proceed to berate them and write them a ticket for racing and reckless driving, with a mandatory court appearance. The driver tried to explain that EV's have more torque than a gas car, and that's how it happened, but the cop wasn't listening. Yes I know this driver could have been more careful, but he might have been new to EV's as well.

- A silly youtube video that turned out ok, but could not have if the cop in the video above saw it perhaps: Cop pulls over a Model 3 and tells the driver he can't mount his iPad on the dashboard like that. Driver explains it's factory installed, shows that all the car controls are on it, and the cop fortunately accepts that. But applying that to the paragraph above, what if the cop doesn't believe the driver, and thinks he's being a smartass, and has the car impounded?

- Another driver from a written blog was ticketed for racing and threatened with a suspended license because he pulled away from a red light beside a cop (and quickly far ahead of them). Tried to explain that EV's have a lot of torque, and at no time was he speeding, but cop didn't listen. This was a particularly thorny one in my opinion, because he was dealing with both a lack of knowledge and a bruised ego, which is a dangerous combo.


Obviously do not use an EV as an excuse for speeding or running a red light/stop sign (don't do that last one at all, in fact, it really is dangerous). The question I'm raising is, how do we as EV drivers delicately challenge a cop's knowledge of cars without ending up in handcuffs?


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## Feathermerchant (Sep 17, 2018)

An officer friend of mine rode with me for a few miles. He and I both learned a lot.


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## Ed Woodrick (May 26, 2018)

I'm sorry "a lot of torque" isn't a valid excuse. I'd contend that I have even better low speed control. So two of three issues don't fly.
The monitor in the front, well stuff happens.

Many officers are car people. They know a lot more than you may think. Don't forget that they often drive vehicles that can compete with the Tesla. A law enforcement car is often a powerhouse to chase other cars


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## JasonF (Oct 26, 2018)

Ed Woodrick said:


> I'm sorry "a lot of torque" isn't a valid excuse. I'd contend that I have even better low speed control. So two of three issues don't fly.


There is a lot of grey area in all of those stories, because like any other recorded incident, you don't really know if the storyteller turned on the camera or began the story at a time that makes them look favorable. The first guy could have done a full burnout rather than a little chirp, and then tried to make excuses. The second guy could have been taunting the cop before he was stopped. And the third...well, he probably wasn't using common sense if he was sitting beside a cop and didn't think to be extra careful accelerating at the green light.

The part I want to focus on though is how the _penalty_ might become more severe because of lack of knowledge of EV's. Especially in the last case, where the driver simply could have been heavy footed at the light, whereas the cop assumes (possibly from an ICE point of view) that they pushed the accelerator to the floor with the intention of racing someone.


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## MelindaV (Apr 2, 2016)

in all the time I've had my car, never have had the tires spin out, so at least without messing with traction (slip start or track mode), I'd think it would be very difficult to get the tires to spin in this car.

ok - so funny cop story from a few weeks ago - I mentioned on here after a FW release (I think the first 2019.28.x release, maybe a 24.x...) that in TACC, coming off the freeway with a red light at the bottom of the offramp, TACC slowed to a stop at the light without a car ahead of me (which I've tried to recreate and can't). Well.... while I was waiting for the light, and contemplating it stopping and recognizing the light, I ended up with the person behind me tapping their horn when the light turned green (because I wasn't paying attention)... So of course, to make up for lost time, gunned it. car that honked at me was a sheriff. He didn't seem to mine me getting up to the speed limit before thru the intersection as much as not doing so the instant the light changed.


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## JWardell (May 9, 2016)

JasonF said:


> I haven't had this happen to me personally, but I've seen Youtube videos and blog posts about it...
> 
> Now that EV's are becoming more prevalent, there have been a few run-ins where drivers would be stopped over by police because of things that are common to EV's, but police who are used to ICE vehicles attach a much more sinister reasoning to.
> 
> ...


This is half the reason why I run several dash cams. Recording accidents and craziness is one thing, but keeping cops on a power trip to their word is another. Very very sad that I have personally experienced it several times. A $40 camera can save your thousands in court/insurance, not just in an accident.


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## PEIEVGUY (Dec 19, 2018)

Feathermerchant said:


> An officer friend of mine rode with me for a few miles. He and I both learned a lot.


I did the same. He was so impressed that not only will I get his referral when he places an order, he was going to try to convince the Sargent to order a few for the fleet, and use my referral code for that order!


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## Frully (Aug 30, 2018)

My understanding is there was an apology from an officer over a traffic stop centered around the 'you can't mount a computer like that'.

Keep in mind your laws may vary, but without speeding, gratuitous acceleration can be a ticketable offense under reckless, due care, stunting or racing statutes. Don't assume - if in doubt ask your local police. They don't bite, mostly. In my case, all of those could apply to a green-light non-burnout press where I am up to the speed limit before the intersection is out. Ours is a bit draconian - "stunting" is 'any act that could cause distraction to another driver'.


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## JasonF (Oct 26, 2018)

Frully said:


> Keep in mind your laws may vary, but without speeding, gratuitous acceleration can be a ticketable offense under reckless, due care, stunting or racing statutes. Don't assume - if in doubt ask your local police. They don't bite, mostly. In my case, all of those could apply to a green-light non-burnout press where I am up to the speed limit before the intersection is out. Ours is a bit draconian - "stunting" is 'any act that could cause distraction to another driver'.


In some places in the U.S., an unknowledgeable cop could cause a _lot_ more damage than that. If a cop interprets accelerating so you hit the speed limit before leaving the intersection as "racing", there are some states or cities where it can lead to immediate arrest and not just impoundment of the car, but seizing it for auction. I think Florida used to do that, but the state supreme court made them stop. I'm not saying a cop _will_ do that, but they often have a lot of discretion where one small action is concerned, and you're basically at the mercy of how reasonable they are or how much you bruised their ego.

Case in point: Not with this car, but my last one - I was driving on a main road once, and it was closed ahead because of a crash. Traffic was being redirected south, but that was completely the wrong way for me (I was going to take the next left and go north) so I decided to u-turn (completely legal in Florida unless marked otherwise) and go back one intersection. One of the cops at the roadblock raced up behind me with lights and sirens, pulled me over, and started actually yelling at me. He told me he was going to charge me with trying to avoid a police checkpoint (I didn't even know a traffic redirect was a "checkpoint") and fleeing. While I was sitting in my car waiting for him to come back and arrest me, he just drove off.

All of that because he was angry that _he forgot to put up cones to stop people from making a u-turn, _and I noticed it. The point of that is to keep in mind that you _are_ always at the mercy of the temperament and ego of the cop involved.

I don't hate cops, most of the ones I've met have been really nice and would probably listen patiently to a reasonable education about EV's. But every once in a while you get one that scares the crap out of you over nothing at all. I don't know about anyone else, but when that happens to me I tend to stay silent and hope that gets me further than arguing. That might be bad, however - so I started this thread to ask the question, "How can I explain to an unreasonable cop like that without getting arrested?" (and maybe the reasonable ones too, so I don't irritate a cop that would otherwise be friendly)


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## airbutchie (Sep 1, 2018)

My experience was interesting... It's a 50mph zone and I was going 48mph on a four lane road... 6:15am-ish, heading to work... No cars in front of me or either side of me... I see a CHP (California Highway Patrol) coming up fast behind me and noticed that he slowed down and tailed me (passengers side rear) for a good 1/2 mile... He then speed away, ONLY to stop about 25 feet ahead of me, press on his brakes, get behind me, and turn on his sirens/lights... I pull over safely and put my hazards on and place the car on park... He comes up to me and says my high beams are on and to turn them off... I proceed to tell the officer that my high beams ARE NOT on and illustrate to him what it looks like IF they are on; pulling on the toggle several times showing a flashes of light in front of us... As I'm explaining to him, I can see his eyes examining the inside of the car and looking at the large LCD screen... He continues to say, "turn them off", for which I tried to explain again that they are not on... His last words before leaving were, "just make sure they are off, sir. Have a good day" and proceeds to leave...

I personally think they are still getting acclimated to our vehicles... Trying to use any bit of tactic to pull us over and examine our Model 3... Anyhoo... That's my experience with a police officer...


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## Frully (Aug 30, 2018)

Worth considering that they may have been on auto? Has anyone played with the calibration settings? Your low beams might look like brights.


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## airbutchie (Sep 1, 2018)

^ Factory setting... Never changed, calibrated, or modified by me... Had the vehicle for almost a year with countless police vehicles pass me or cross paths with me without any incident... This was the first time...


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