I got the car out for the first time since October yesterday and the wife and I put about 30 miles on it. Not far from our home, a local cop pulled up along side me and started racing his engine and accelerating forward only to drop back and hang with me for a while. I never had a cop try to get me to race.

It sure was tempting to smoke his @$$ but I was already doing the speed limit and my luck with cops has always been bad.

Was he checking out the passenger? Just kidding of course, but it seems weird and I think you did the right thing by not speeding.

Only if you dusted him!

This was you at the light. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yuvZthN6yE

Ive told people to "light em up" before and have them look at me funny... Once I tell them I wont do anything to them, they relax a little and have a good time with it.

But I probably would not try to get someone to drag race me. If they bite and then God-forbid, go crashing into someone in a crosswalk, that would by my butt and career. Dont know what kind of road you were on, but he probably just wanted to see what your car could do for a short distance. Of course, if he did that and then pulled you over when you bit, that would be a load of crap.

I dunno.. You just gotta read the guy and see what he is about. Probably was a wise choice to NOT take off, unless he verbally tells you to cause he wants to see what your car can do. And even then, I would only go a really short distance to just show him how you can pull away from his patrol car, and then I would quickly let off the gas..

But again, I can only speak for what I would have done, cant get into another guys head.

(In case you hadnt figured it out, Im a cop.. lol)

I've played the game before, but I won't play in traffic or more than 15% over the limit. No smoking tires (squawks okay) or open exhaust runs or anything stupid, just a little muscle flexing in good fun. But only by invitation, or when enjoying an open stretch of road myself.

The new Charger Hemis are not a good one to challenge...

Jeremy: Switch the cop for the kid in that video and you've got my situation.

Rich: We were on a 4 lane 35 mph street with a center turn lane. He was originally behind me and made a point of coming up even with me and trying to get me to bite.

Vikki: When I was much younger, like 19, I was cited in my little town for "Excessive Show of HorsePower," or some garbage like that. My crime was accelerating away from a stop light up to the speed limit as fast as possible without spinning the tires. Like I said, I haven't had much good luck with cops.

John, I drive like that every day. That's why my little blue Neon is a 5 speed.

I would not have played on a 35 mph road. On a 50 mph road, that's a different story.

I'd have fought that ticket, I got a similar one tossed. It's not excessive unless you lose traction, control, or exceed the posted speed limit.

When I was 19 I had a '74 small block 'Cuda, 14x7 radials, lowered and upgraded suspension and that car could really be pushed in the corners. I took a freeway exit ramp at 65 (posted 35 with a yellow sign) and got stopped well after I was on the secondary road. My offense? Traveling faster than the "recommended" speed on the ramp. My tires never so much as squeaked, I knew my limits of adhesion, how much understeer, and the effectiveness of my brakes. The top of the ramp went right into a merge lane so there was no issue at all.

I went to court to fight the ticket, and all I had to do was ask what actual law I broke, and when no answer was given the judge dismissed the case.

In my small suburb, I try to race every cop I pull next too.

But my business is only a block from city hall, so they all know who I am.

in 1970 I was sitting at a redlight...in my 1967 Volvo 122....

a new GTO pulls up next to me....it turns green ,he takes off pretty fast...I did too, as usual....we both get stopped by a cop saying we were "racing", which both of us denied... I said , "I may have been speeding,I didnt check my speed , but I wasnt racing"...no luck...went to court...when speaking with the judge I told him I could have been over the speed limit , but there was no way I would race my 122 with a GTO....he didnt think so either...case dismissed...

He just wanted to see what you got. Probably bored. Maybe an old car fan. Sounds like he was trying to make friends. I had a local officer follow me into the driveway to give me a ticket in my Bonneville. I opened the garage door and he lost interest in giving me the ticket..... Some of these guys are cool....

I dont mess around on the street any more. To many other people not watching what thier doing.
With that said, being on our volunteer fire dept, most of the older cops know me.
If a younger guy decides to pull me over for loud noise, or to check my car out, one of thier turn sergeant's or lieutenant's will stop by to chat

They have made me heat up the tires behind the fire station a few different times in the past.
When they ask how fast it goes, i tell them to bring thier squad car to the track this weekend

Yes, but I lived in a real Mayberry kind of town back then. There was no chance of beating anything and if the cops thought you deserved a ticket, they would just make something up. I was cited once for having my high beam indicator light burned out. That was after they couldn't find anything else wrong with the car.

I get enough tickets minding my own business, not meaning any harm and just trying to make my way the only way I know how

Dukes?

I think you did the right thing. I might have gone as far as let him hear what a well tuned 400 sounds like when it's revved up but that would've been about it. No sense risking your license to show him what a slouch he is driving. Some of these guys have pretty big egos.
Out at the track on Wed(grudge) nights they have what they call beat the heat for the HS kids. The cops turn on the lights when they make their pass. Kind of funny. They usually run in the low 17s. Pretty pathetic. Tough to beat the speed of radio waves though even in a Firebird.

Robert