Veteran/Military service plates a countermeasure?

[superbolt]

I was following a riced out Honda civic SE today. When I caught with him at a light I noticed he had a Iraq Veteran License Plate with acouple of POW bumper stickers. Michigan has had these commemorative Plates for a long time. He had no other visible countermeasures. So my Question is... Are these Plates an effective CM for our Veterans? Any Vets been lit up and then "un" lit up.

[chrisridebike8]

definitely doesn't hurt. I have Naval Academy Alumni plates. I got pulled over for tailgating one time in AL. Basically everyone saw the cop in the median and braked so when I cruised by I was closer than normal to the SUV in front of me. this was back when I ran the V1 in the front windshield. he walked up and asked why I was following so close and I explained. He asked if I was in the Navy, and I said yes and told him I was on leave going to see my family. He said he would just write me a warning and thanked me for my service. VA cops tho...pretty much nothing works.

[krypton2]

The military plate + a mild offense + being nice would probably help. Doesn't guarantee anything, but I probably wouldn't cite someone personally if they did those three things I mentioned.

The bumper stickers might be a little much though...unless you absolutely wanted to add them, I don't think they would add too much in your favor.

A lot of the custom plates don't really act as a CM but veteran ones may. DARE plates make one suspicious. LOL.

[superbolt]

Maybe excluding the Vet thats all riced out. A military plate is indirect enough to not be linked as a CM at all. Not like those "I support my local popo" bumper stickers anyway. Vets have a right to these plates and the beautiful thing is anyone would be out of line to question their motives.

[v1user]

For the most part, they are probably a good countermeasure. Leos would probably be more generous with giving warnings but those floating pieces of shyte they call traffic safety officers would probably still write.
Somebody recently posted a video on here saying some leos look for Vietnam Veteran tags because then they know there is a good chance that person is a drug addict and there may be narcotics in their car.

[Event Horizon]

how bout a "u.s. government" plate..lol?

[superbolt]

For the most part, they are probably a good countermeasure. Leos would probably be more generous with giving warnings but those floating pieces of shyte they call traffic safety officers would probably still write.
Somebody recently posted a video on here saying some leos look for Vietnam Veteran tags because then they know there is a good chance that person is a drug addict and there may be narcotics in their car.. Remember Veitnam vets are going to be over 55 yrs of age. Anyone old enough to remember the veitnam war and old enough to take a position on it is going to be 50+. My co worker is a Persian gulf vet from 1991. I asked him today if the plate helps get him get out of tickets? He said 100% yes, and said cops have run up on him and not pull him over. But he did say it depends on the war and he agrees vietnam vets have a harder time. Most people in the workforce today including leos are to young to remember the Vietnam war enough to hold a grudge against the Vets. For the most part Vietnam vets are in there 60's and shouldn't be harassed period.

[Stealth Stalker]

Remember Veitnam vets are going to be over 55 yrs of age.
53. Let's not make me any older than I already am. ;)

I got rid of my Vietnam Vet plates because of that back in the 90s. Too many fishing expeditions for drugs, when I've never even smoked a cigarette in my life. Although, that is probably not as big a problem anymore. I just didn't like being thought of as "old" anymore.

http://www.txdmv.gov/site_images/license_plates/military/vietnam_veteran.jpg

Air Force buddy and I both had DFC plates for a long time, and they were gold as a countermeasure, but seemed a bit pretentious to me. And the DFC isn't nearly as recognisable as the PH.
.
http://www.txdmv.gov/site_images/license_plates/military/flying_cross.jpg

Any plate with a medal on it is worth it's weight in gold though, especially a Purple Heart. You can usually expect them to get you out of anything short of DUI or criminal offences. My buddy switched from DFC plates to Purple Heart plates. Now he just gets a wave from the cops after they see his plate and turn their lights off and back off.

http://www.txdmv.gov/site_images/license_plates/military/purple_heart.jpg

An unnamed forum member here runs with SS plates, and was given a free pass by Texas DPS for about 110 in a 60 not long ago.

http://www.txdmv.gov/site_images/license_plates/military/silver_star.jpg

Since I switched to Iraq Veteran plates, the luck has been just as good, even for my family who drives my cars.

http://www.txdmv.gov/site_images/license_plates/military/iraqi_freedom.jpg

I was going to get Disabled Veteran plates, but they are iffy if you're being profiled. So instead, I just use a handicapped placard on my dash when I park. DV plates are often associated with dopers and just plain poor drivers, so I wanted to avoid that.

http://www.txdmv.gov/site_images/license_plates/military/disabled_veteran.jpg

As for decals or stickers, they will usually cause the officer to ask you a question about your affiliation with the decal. Depending on your answer, you may well get a break. But they won't usually prevent the stop. And your story had better be a good one, preferably backed up by a military ID card, or he'll shove it up your arse worse than if you had no sticker. Such stickers on cars that don't have actual veterans' plates always make me suspicious of a poser, so that can work against you. Unlike DARE and PAL stickers, they usually won't cause a fishing expedition stop though.

Good thing about the plates is, the government has already checked you out before issuing them, so they're likely to just let you go with no third degree, so long as you don't look and smell like Cheech and Chong. I know a lady whose father, a Former WWII POW, recently passed away. She drives his car with the plates still on it, and she never gets stopped, just a lot of smiles and waves.

http://www.txdmv.gov/site_images/license_plates/military/former_pow.jpg

Your mileage may vary. And like someone already said, there are cops like those in VA who just don't give a shyte. But me, and about every cop I've ever worked with, gave great latitude to legit veterans' plates, especially those with a medal. If I had to get rid of all of my countermeasures except for one, I'd keep the plates. If you earned it, by all means, show it proudly. If not, kill yourself for even thinking about it.

[krypton2]

Wow...+rep and x2 to basically everything you said SS. Most of that holds true in 99 percent of my area.

[Toolfan]

I don't have veterans plates but i do have a Infantry sticker centered at the bottom of my rear window (pickup) and a round masonic lodge emblem on the bottom left corner.I also will make my military id visible while taking out my license.0 tickets in 5 years of driving.This Veterans day i was stopped for the first time since i purchased my x50.The cop approached the window and i asked "can i grab my registration" and he said" yea go ahead" and i leaned to my glove box and he said "are you a veteran sir" and i replied "yes" and he said "thank you for your service ,watch your speed",did an about face and never even looked at my papers.A lot of law enforcement are veterans from my experience.Iv had one sheriff tell me when i tried to show him my military id because i couldn't find my license say "i don't want to see that ,iv heard it all".. and that was for a plate light out! turned out his name was Forest so i assume he was picked on in school :P

[NormSky]

A friend has Veteran plates on his red sports car got stopped for speed 55 in a 35 and twice for no front plate, just gave him warnings.

I don't use a front plate but when they run the license plate and see I have conceal carry permit within 30s they are on the brakes. :)

[overtherainbow]

I'm going to make people angry and disagree. After watching these two videos I purposefully anonymize my cars. You are welcome to disagree with me.

The speaker, Barry Cooper, is an ex-police officer who had a change of heart and decided to tell people some of law enforcements tactics. The information is very applicable to speeding in my opinion.

One thing that surprised me about the video was how biased and cut-and-dried Barry is when examining a prospective "customer"; his attitude toward people is very guilty until proven innocent, but maybe this is the way police have to be to do good law enforcement.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2cfdx_never-get-busted-again-narcotics-pr_news

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2cfrn_never-get-busted-again-narcotics-pr_news

[Stealth Stalker]

I'm not quite clear on what it is you are disagreeing about.

Can you expand on that for us?

Barry's vids have been pretty well discussed here, and were the basis of several of the comments in this thread.

[Stealth Stalker]

Any cop who pulls this guy over needs to just drop down and blow him.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KK3N5_VUAXw

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvatore_Giunta

Or anyone else on this list, for that matter:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_living_Medal_of_Honor_recipients

[Lucky225]

Any cop who pulls this guy over needs to just drop down and blow him.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KK3N5_VUAXw

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvatore_Giunta


Or anyone else on this list, for that matter:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_living_Medal_of_Honor_recipients


Blocked for copyright issues :(