I was driving home tonight and back a couple of hundred yards I saw the blue and red of the FHP bearing down hard. I was not speeding so they were of no concern to me. As he passed I noticed that it was a dark colored Dodge Charger with the lights on the inside of the front and rear glass.No outside markings. Totally stealth. They drive other unmarked units also like Grand Marquis and Crown Vics but this Charger blended right in with the crowd. I'm not a super speeder on the highways and by-ways but this really gets my attention. Speeders beware ......

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That's a good use for the Charger - I think they're fugly.

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They got them here too! Just like that!


Whatever happened to the good old days with the standard white cars, and the huge strobes on top?


Damn. I think I just told my age.

That's nothing new, Tommy. Just about every PD out there has some form of an unmarked/uc/low profile squad car. All different kinds.

Moral of the story: don't be stupid and you'll have less interaction with Johnny Law.

Matthew

This is also why I have a V1 radar detector.

True story:

March 2001 (IIRC), I was driving to FL for the 12 hours of Sebring.

This was in SC, near the GA line on I-95. I was behind a cluster of cars, all doing right about the speedlimit - they were about 1/2 mile ahead of me.

I kept gaining on them, slowly, over the next 5 miles or so. As I neared, the radar detector got louder and louder. It was obvious there was an unmarked highway patrol car in that cluster. Now, which one?

As I neared, the signal became super strong, so I backed off a little to keep a safe distance. I was close enough, tho (3 car lengths or so), to see the various cars, and saw a silver Z28 in the mix. This car just jumped out to me as a suspect vehicle, if you know what I mean.

I neared the Z28, and looked in the rear hatch... there it was! A plastic roll cage (so to speak) with strobes, radar transmitters, you name it!

About a mile later, the Z slowed, turned into the median strip, did a u-turn and sped north after a better money maker. BTW, this thing had a 6spd!

So yes, this is not new.

Out here the unmarked cars are not allowed to do traffic stops. At least not without backup. So unless they're out working as a team, they're not going to waste their time with you.

The method is not new but the cars change. I could pick out suspect enforcers with a scan of my mirrors or looking well ahead. Even the Stangs and Zs but this slug just blends in a little too well.

and they just increased the fines for speeding in Fla. up to $1,000 ,you have to be going really fast, but still,i guess they are loosing their sense of humor.

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CHP doesn't bother with speeders, as a general rule. That's mostly because everyone on the freeway is speeding!!

They go after those who are driving like maniacs... weaving lanes, cutting carpool lanes... things like that.

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FL has a unique problem with speeders... Drivers down there don't use two things - speedometers and turn signals.

I have put a lot of miles on the freeways of FL - I-75, I-95, I-4 - and man... those folks MOVE. If you are not willing to do 80, you're done.

I remember going down I-95 from GA to Daytona, doing 80+ in a hurricane!!!

I-4 rolls pretty good until you get to the Indian River bridge, where Orlando starts to sprawl out.

Another stretch that is fast - I-95 from south of the DC metro area, roughly exit 148 at Quantico, to north of Richmond, near the 295 exit. That stretch has three distinct lanes with three distinct speeds... the right lane is the speed limit; the middle lane is 5-10 over and the left lane is upwards of 20 over. I have been in a line of traffic, all doing well over 85, and passed a VSP car and did not get touched.