An Unusual Traffic Stop

*Update- Chuck's mom came home yesterday. She is doing ok, just tired and short of breath. The Doctor's office is supposed to call today and discuss putting in a heart catheter or stint this week. Hopefully they will get this done so she can start to feel better*

Friday morning, as I drove to Tennessee, I got pulled over by the Kentucky State Police. Yes, yes. I know. Me. Getting pulled over. Nothing unusual about that. But believe it or not, I was not pulled over for speeding. Lemme 'splain...

Traveling south bound on I-75 somewhere between Berea and Mt Vernon Ky I glance in my rear view mirror. Some distance back I notice at State car behind me. My first instinct was to glance at my speedometer. 80 mph... Not bad. The speed limit is 70...

I take notice of the cars around me. I am in the far left lane. There is a 4 door sedan several car length in front of me. In the center lane is a car spaced equal distance between me and the State Patrol car, as well as one farther up ahead of me. Over in the far right lane are a few vehicles. We are spaced out and all traveling at a seemingly equal pace... Cool! I am keeping within the flow of traffic. I should be fine...

The State car accelerates, quickly closing the distance between us... Hmm. He is not on my bumper as if he was getting ready to pull me over, nor is he flipping on his lights... "Maybe he is on a call and wants to get through" I think to myself. I check my mirror. Click on my turn signal. And ease over to the center lane.

The State car doesn't continue past me... Ok, he's not on a call... He doesn't swing in behind... Ok, he's not gonna pull me over... What is this guys deal?

Ahhh... now he is changing lanes. Yep! Flipping on his lights. He's pulling me over. I shake my head and say out loud, "There is no way he is pulling me over for speed." Josh sits up, taking notice of whats going on, "Why is he pulling you over, Mom?" A little annoyed, "I have no idea, Josh"

Safely on the shoulder, I pull over as far as I can to keep the Officer safe... A Trooper in our district was killed by a semi truck on the Interstate. And I've been working when Deputies have had to dive over the hood of cars to keep from getting hit... Gracie is asleep. Caleb is playing PsP, Suzie is just about to doze off and Josh is watching everything going on.

Both doors open on the patrol car. The driver gets out and walks to my window. He has on a gray t-shirt and black warm up pants. The passenger... wearing a dark shirt and pants. Looks like a training uniform... walks up the passenger side of my van. Looks in the side windows. Then walks back to the patrol car... this is just strange. Neither cop is in uniform. And most cops I know don't bother pulling people over when they are off duty, unless the person is being a real idiot on the road. And most State agencies frown on their officers making traffics stops when not in uniform...

Trooper at my window: "Hi. How we doin' today?"

Me: shrugging my shoulders, "Just fine"

Tp: "You, uhm, had a close call back there." his attitude friendly and casual

Me: what?? "I did??" completely caught off guard by his reason for pulling me over

Tp: "Yeah. You came close to the line as a truck was coming up behind you."

Me: my right eye brow raised in puzzlement "I did??" shaking my head and letting out a little laugh "I have no idea what you are talking about" motioning my hand toward the back of the van "I do have four kids in the car talking to me but I really don't remember any close call."

Tp: still very casual "Really? Well, we just thought we should check on ya. Make sure you're all right. You have your license with you?"

Me: "Yes" I reach for my wallet. The wheels in my brain start spinning, trying to figure out what the heck this Officer is talking about. Playing back in my head the last 10 minutes or so prior to the traffic stop.... Suzie had been playing her own little game of 'drop-my-sippy-cup-so-Josh-will-pick-it-up' and I had to reach behind my seat a few times when Josh couldn't reach it. But I never swerved or over-corrected the steering wheel... Since getting through Lexington, traffic has been pretty light. I don't remember coming close to any other vehicles... One would think that if a person had a close call... so close that an off-duty officer felt he needed to check on them.. that person would at least have some clue as to what the close call was...

Me: handing the Trooper my drivers license I notice his T-shirt with the Kentucky State Police emblem on the upper right side "You off duty? Or is this the new uniform?"

Tp: glancing down toward his right "What? Oh. No. We were just..." I don't remember what he said. I was paying attention more to the sound of his voice. Is is me or did his laugh just pick up a bit of nervousness? Hmmm. weird. I tuned back into his words... "We hated to pull to over but we wanted to make sure you were ok"

Me: still perplexed, I held my hands out and shrugged my shoulders again "I'm fine"

Tp: "Have you ever had any citations?"

Me: Now what kind of question is that?? I thought about being a wise cracker saying something like -yeah, I've been pulled over, but most of the cops I know wouldn't write me a ticket- Nah, I shouldn't say that. It would sound a little cocky and sarcastic... "No. Well, maybe when I was in high school." upon reflection I wanted to say- If I didn't actually violate any traffic laws, Why does it matter if I've ever violated any in the past?

Tp: Trooper continued on about my "close call". He was saying something like... "...that truck was close to the line and..." wait a minute. I thought he said I was close to the line. and so what if either the truck or I was close to the line? He never said either one of us crossed the line. Apparently we were both still in our perspective lanes. We were just 'close' to the line?? What kind of traffic violations is that?? Trooper handed me my license back, "Like I said. We just wanted to make you were ok"

At that very moment a semi blew past us, rocking my van. Man! that made my heart race... Trooper took a step closer to my van. I sucked in a deep breath and mumbled something about dispatching and cops making traffic stops on the 'I'. Trooper gave me a questioning look.

Me: "I'm a dispatcher."

Tp: "Really?" sounding surprised "Where at?"

I stared blankly at the trooper... Now hang on a sec. You're a cop. Cops are trained to be observant. Did you not notice my license plate before you pulled me over? Did you not see the frame around my plate that said "911" along with a patrol car, an ambulance, and a fire truck- each in a corner of the plastic frame? Did you not. Just hand me back. My driver license?

Me: realizing I left his question unanswered, "Uh (wanted to say 'Duh' there) Indiana." and I gave a brief geographical description of which part of Indiana

Tp: Acknowledging my response, he began to re-explain his reason for pulling me over. At this point I'm not understanding a word he says.... he sounds like any of the adults talking in the Charlie Brown cartoons...

Me: Thanking him for checking to make sure we were ok and re-stating that I have no idea about his reference to a close call, we were both on our way.

I sent Chuck a brief text telling him I got pulled over but have no idea why. Chuck responded with something like- the trooper was just wanting to get a look at me.. ya know- to 'check' me out (raise both eye brows in a quick upward motion)

"Whatever" I text back

As I continued on, south bound, I thought about Chuck's 'reasoning'.

First of all, that is a pretty lame and immature reason to pull someone over... Yes, I know. there are documented cases of true-love because an officer thought some girl was cute, pulled her over to get her number, and they lived happily ever after.... blah blah blah

Second of all, the Patrol car was never even close enough to see if I was a girl or a guy with long hair. But even still. If he had caught a glimpse of me and thought I was good-looking enough that a second look was warranted, I was in a minivan for crying out loud! With child seats. Plus two other kids bobbing up and down in the back.... now I'm not all that bad to look at (not being stuck on myself; just meaning I don't need to wear a bag over my face) but no where near beautiful enough to blind men of the fact that I have 4 kids with me

The next several miles I went over the previous 20 minutes... Out of uniform. Off duty. Pulling me over. No valid traffic violation... flattered as I might be to think Chuck's was right, the stop was just weird. The Trooper was polite and didn't do anything to make me uncomfortable. He wasn't a rookie but seemed a little... hmmm, I don't know how to explain it- inexperienced isn't the right word to use... there was just something not right.

The more I thought about it. The more I wondered if I should call the State Police just to make sure there isn't some idiot out there pulling people over. I knew the general area the stop took place, and there were huge rock walls on either side of the interstate... but that's true of just about all the interstates in Ky...

The more I thought about. The more I drove. The farther away I got.... I didn't know what number to call, what part of the state those particular troopers worked in. He didn't have on a uniform so I never even saw a name tag. Nah- just forget about. Maybe I'll blog about it when I get home.

...And so I did