# Imola Red ZHP - pulled over more often?



## LDV330i (May 24, 2003)

shizat63 said:


> I agree, but I think Xenons at night really stand out, especially with the fogs. Next time you're on the highway look at the traffic on the other side and imagine what your car looks like with the fogs on (I know they shouldn't be). To me that screams "Fast Sports Car". And if you just happen to be passing in the left lane, well you're a sitting duck.
> 
> I guess I just convinced myself to never again drive with my fogs on.


Well, people driving with their fog lights on when there is no fog are asking for it by bringing more attention to themselves. Maybe they should be ticketed for incorrect use of their fog lights. :dunno:


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## woody underwood (Feb 9, 2004)

Double Vanos said:


> Well cant really comment on the color issue, but as far as xenons i think so. Everytime i drive at night i always get hit with "instant on" radar especially when i'm the only car on the road driving at speed limit(I've notice this before). Also since 90% of expensive cars have xenons of course they want to pull you over, its guaranteed revenue. In the U.S. police give tickets to earn revenue has nothing to do with safety.


Amen, brother!! We have a roundabout two blocks away which usually kills 2 or 3 people a year....always around 2/3 in the morning. When do the cops have their radar trap set up...2/3 in the afternoon. They don't give a s**t about safety, it's all $$$$$. I've had red Bimmers since 95 and so far only one ticket...80 on a 55 mph deserted stretch of straight Interstate at 11:00 PM on the way home from work. The guy sits there every night now and catches people coming into KC from the airport. Welcome to Kansas City, here's your souvenier!!


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## tf4543 (Feb 23, 2004)

Double Vanos said:


> Well cant really comment on the color issue, but as far as xenons i think so. Everytime i drive at night i always get hit with "instant on" radar especially when i'm the only car on the road driving at speed limit(I've notice this before). Also since 90% of expensive cars have xenons of course they want to pull you over, its guaranteed revenue. In the U.S. police give tickets to earn revenue has nothing to do with safety.


How do xenons equate to guaranteed revenue? What kind of lights you have on your car have absolutely no bearing on whether or not you get pulled over. In the U.S. most people get tickets because they drive like idiots.


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## Eduardo (Jul 13, 2004)

HW said:


> i agree, more so than red m3's. i've heard that cops have taken a special class in zhp identification since insurance actuaries have found that zhp owners have been found statistically to be 0.01% more likely to speed and drive aggressively than the lesser endowed re-gooo-lar 330 owners. even more volatile and unpredictable in behavior are the 4 door zhp owner who seem to believe that they have to be even more aggressive to shed the 4 door family car image.


This is CLASSIC!!!! 
ROTFL!!!! :thumbup:


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## shizat63 (Feb 14, 2002)

tf4543 said:


> How do xenons equate to guaranteed revenue? What kind of lights you have on your car have absolutely no bearing on whether or not you get pulled over. In the U.S. most people get tickets because they drive like idiots.


Rural cops usually don't drive their own BMWs or Mercedes. If They spot you either leading a pack or trailing at the end, before they pull you over they allready assume you're an a-hole cus you're in a BMW. Just like pulling over a ricer for their fart can exhausts.

The same reason people key our cars or say "oh, you drive a B M W, oooh". It's the contempt they feel cuz you drive something 'better' than them. Some of us :eeps: might feel this way when we watch the Gumball and those guys destroying their Modenas

I still think you stand out more with Xenons. More and more cars have Xenons, I think I saw a Saturn with them, so it may not be an issue in a couple years.


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## HW (Dec 24, 2001)

shizat63 said:


> The same reason people key our cars or say "oh, you drive a B M W, oooh". It's the contempt they feel cuz you drive something 'better' than them. .


:dunno: most suv's cost around the same as a bmw 3er. should come back with, "oh, an es-yoo-vee, oooh"


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## MysticBlue (Jun 20, 2003)

shizat63 said:


> Rural cops usually don't drive their own BMWs or Mercedes. If They spot you either leading a pack or trailing at the end, before they pull you over they allready assume you're an a-hole cus you're in a BMW. Just like pulling over a ricer for their fart can exhausts.
> 
> The same reason people key our cars or say "oh, you drive a B M W, oooh". It's the contempt they feel cuz you drive something 'better' than them. Some of us :eeps: might feel this way when we watch the Gumball and those guys destroying their Modenas
> 
> I still think you stand out more with Xenons. More and more cars have Xenons, I think I saw a Saturn with them, so it may not be an issue in a couple years.


You don't actually know any cops, do you? Most are decent guys who don't think that way. Think like a regular guy doing your job...If all else is equal, and they have a choice between a nice car and a junker, they will pick on the junker; better chance of getting something more, like expired reg, no insurance, suspended license, drugs, alcohol, warrants, stolen, etc. (which is a good thing). On the other hand, if it's near the end of his shift and he doesn't want any extra paperwork and complications, then he might be more likely to pick the nice ride. But my point is, once again, from your point of view, it's mostly random. Any choices made most likely don't have anything to do with whatever paranoid notions you have of what a cop is thinking...within reason of course...if your ride is lowered, has a coffee can strapped to the exhaust, an airplane aileron bolted to the trunk and "rice.com" stickers all over it, then ya, you might get a little more attention. But back to the original question, red aint gonna do it and neither is Xenon. In this environment, you have to do a little more than that to get attention.


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## FenPhen (Jan 13, 2004)

TLudwig said:


> I think that the Xenons will have a lot more to do with being targeted than the car color, especially during the day time (for those of you with DRL). It's all about visibility. Those of you with the Xenon daytime running lamps are going to be visible long before the car next to you with no DRLs and somewhat before the guy in the car with halogen DRL's. Unless there is a large disparity in the speeds, the officer is going to target you first because he can see you first. That's why I made sure to get the DRL option turned off when I picked up my car.


DRLs are halogen, even on cars with xenons. I left them activated precisely for better visibility and safety (another thread/discussion). Still, no tickets yet... :eeps:


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## tf4543 (Feb 23, 2004)

shizat63 said:


> Rural cops usually don't drive their own BMWs or Mercedes. If They spot you either leading a pack or trailing at the end, before they pull you over they allready assume you're an a-hole cus you're in a BMW. Just like pulling over a ricer for their fart can exhausts.
> 
> The same reason people key our cars or say "oh, you drive a B M W, oooh". It's the contempt they feel cuz you drive something 'better' than them. Some of us :eeps: might feel this way when we watch the Gumball and those guys destroying their Modenas
> 
> I still think you stand out more with Xenons. More and more cars have Xenons, I think I saw a Saturn with them, so it may not be an issue in a couple years.


Again, I couldn't disagree more. The "rural" cops in NY make more than the city cops and many do own bmw's, mb's, etc. Most make more money than the 20 year old who is driving a 3 series that thier parents co-signed the lease and are still under thier parents insurance. Trust me there is no contempt. Ricers get pulled over because the mufflers are illegal and for the most part those guys do drive like idiots. 3 series are a dime a dozen in and around NYC, just get the car.


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## TLudwig (Mar 30, 2004)

FenPhen said:


> DRLs are halogen, even on cars with xenons. I left them activated precisely for better visibility and safety (another thread/discussion). Still, no tickets yet... :eeps:


Thanks for the clarification. I was not aware of that fact. Still, I think my overall point stands. DRLs = higher visibility from longer distances = more likely to be targeted. Either way, it's probably not a big difference.


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## wag-zhp (Apr 8, 2004)

*Red car = ticket magnet?*

Red car = ticket magnet? No.

I've driven red cars my whole life. The only one of them that earned me a ticket was a '70 Chevelle that could run the quarter mile in 12 seconds on street tires. The car was just barely street legal and was loud enough to rattle house windows as it drove by. The noise is what got the officers attention, not the color.

The other tickets, I earned myself. :angel:

Driving style is what attracts attention. If you speed, anything between 5 mph or 10 mph above the limit, you can expect a ticket sometime during your driving career. Anything over 15 mph above the limit and you are begging for a ticket. If you habitually speed, you will eventually be nabbed. Personally, I think that sucks! On many secondary roads, and on almost all express ways, the posted speed limits are far below the safe speed, especially if you're driving a modern car with decent rubber and anti-lock brakes.

If you drive aggressively, cut people off, tailgate, frequent lane changes, you can expect a ticket. If you drive overly aggressively you DESERVE a ticket. *[on soapbox]* And for that matter, if you are overly aggressively, do yourself and the rest of the driving public a favor and switch from a car to a bicycle. With the reduced mass you'll be less likely to cause an accident that kills another driver. Not having all that steel around you might also help make you more aware of the other drivers on the road.

If you really have a passion for fast, aggressive driving, I would recomend that you spend more time auto-crossing or on a closed circuit race track to get most of it out of your system. Belive me, I know how much fun it is to push our bimmers and drive at the outer limits of adhesion, but public roadways are not the place to explore those limits. Most of the drivers on public roads are not trained for, or skilled at, performance driving. If you force them into a hairy situation they will do the craziest things, and very often it will not be the best choice for the given situation. The human body is very fragile when mixed with speeding metal objects. Are you mentally prepaired for the responsibility of taking the life of another driver, passenger, or pedestrian? *[/on soapbox]*


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## Double Vanos (Aug 20, 2003)

tf4543 said:


> How do xenons equate to guaranteed revenue? What kind of lights you have on your car have absolutely no bearing on whether or not you get pulled over. In the U.S. most people get tickets because they drive like idiots.


Buddy i dont know about NY, but many studies have been done and its proven that police patrol areas of high traffic for revenue purposes instead of patroling areas of high accident rates. Why because during rough economical times like these tax revenues are down and police need money bottom line. They need money for cars,equipment,personnel etc. Therefore they have to generate more revenue than usual, just research the web and i'm sure you'll fine something. 
As as for xenons they make you stand out which signal "Expensive Cool Fast Car"
as xenons become more popular this bias will fade out with time.

But facts are facts, if you drive fast ALL THE TIME you will get pulled out no matter what. I usually dont speed unless the road is clear then i tend to push the limits a little bit(Early in the morning or late at night). The highest i've hit in my car so far is something like 95mph and thats it. But the odds are still with us than against us, for example if you take the ratio of the times you speed to the times your pulled over you still come out winning by alot. So its not that bad only when you pass through those small towns stuck in time does ticketing become a problem since with our cars its pretty obivious that we are "City Slickers" with money.


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## tf4543 (Feb 23, 2004)

Double Vanos said:


> Buddy i dont know about NY, but many studies have been done and its proven that police patrol areas of high traffic for revenue purposes instead of patroling areas of high accident rates. Why because during rough economical times like these tax revenues are down and police need money bottom line. They need money for cars,equipment,personnel etc. Therefore they have to generate more revenue than usual, just research the web and i'm sure you'll fine something.
> As as for xenons they make you stand out which signal "Expensive Cool Fast Car"
> as xenons become more popular this bias will fade out with time.
> 
> There are no studies that say that. Do the police make money for the state...yes Do they care if you have a red car or xenons...NO If a cop wants to write a ticket, he/she is not going to care what kind of car you have.


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## shizat63 (Feb 14, 2002)

tf4543 said:


> There are no studies that say that. Do the police make money for the state...yes Do they care if you have a red car or xenons...NO If a cop wants to write a ticket, he/she is not going to care what kind of car you have.


I concur. But the point is that they will be looking for the 'fastest' car to pull over. Will a red car or xenons make you more visible? Imagine a station wagon or a vette going the same speed. Which one will appear to be going faster?


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## Double Vanos (Aug 20, 2003)

shizat63 said:


> I concur. But the point is that they will be looking for the 'fastest' car to pull over. Will a red car or xenons make you more visible? Imagine a station wagon or a vette going the same speed. Which one will appear to be going faster?


Exactly the point, anyways whos that girl in your sig?


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## joema (Aug 28, 2002)

shizat63 said:


> Right now I'm in a jet black Ci with halogens
> Will I be more of a cop magnet...with Xenon's at night?


Clearly, yes. It's just common sense. Imagine a state trooper patroling at night, using instant-on K or Ka band. He knows many potential targets have radar detectors. The cop's goal is minimize his radar signature. Just targeting cars with Xenon headlights is a perfect way to do this. In many areas of the country, these represent less than 10% of total cars on the road. Currently many Xenon-equipped cars are more expensive, performance vehicles. There's simply a greater chance they'll be going faster. It's a matter of statistics. Targeting only these cars minimizes his radar output, hence less warning to other nearby cars. It also prioritizes cars more likely to be speeding.

Eventually enough cars may have Xenon headlights so this strategy no longer works. However during this period, the smart cop can use this to get you at night. No radar detector will help, as he's using instant-on.


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## MysticBlue (Jun 20, 2003)

You people are funny. Apparently I'm beating my head against a wall, but anyway... I just asked an aquantance of mine yesterday, "Do you target red cars and/or cars with xenon more than other cars. He just laughed and asked, "Why would I do that?" I briefly explained the conversation on this thread. He said people are thinking too much and giving cops too much credit for thinking too much. He said he's too busy to plot that much...he just points and shoots. The vast majority of the time, IT'S RANDOM CHANCE.


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## kurichan (May 1, 2004)

Ironically, all the cars I see pulled over in San Diego, for as long as I can remember, always seem to be crappy beaters, minivans, or older SUVs. 

Sometimes I literally find myself thinking "the cops ought to pick on people who can better afford to pay the tickets." Then I smack myself back to lucidity! :rofl:


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## shizat63 (Feb 14, 2002)

Double Vanos said:


> Exactly the point, anyways whos that girl in your sig?


I think her name is Sandra

NWS! http://xxxx.nicheservers.com/0149/


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## Double Vanos (Aug 20, 2003)

shizat63 said:


> I think her name is Sandra
> 
> NWS! http://xxxx.nicheservers.com/0149/


Thanks 4 the nice pics :thumbup: Man she's got a nice chest.


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