The Police’s Passing Power Play

Several years ago, my wife, county clerk at the time, was traveling back to her office on the interstate when she came upon a string of cars in the right lane doing a good fifteen miles per hour lower than the posted speed limit. There was a highway patrolman in the left lane, leading the pack.

My wife passed the string of cars without exceeding the speed limit, and then she signaled to return to the right lane and resume legal speed to pass the trooper.

The trooper addressed her over his car’s PA.

Trooper: “You pass me on the right and I will ticket you.”

My wife slowed and stayed behind him in the left lane. When he hit the county line, the trooper turned around through the median and headed in the opposite direction.

When my wife returned to her office, she immediately went to the sheriff about the incident. The sheriff, along with the county attorney, told her it was not illegal to pass on the right on the interstate.

Sheriff: “Did you get his patrol car number?”

Wife: “Yes. I did.”

The sheriff gave her a number to call at the state highway patrol office in our capital city and the name of the person to report the incident to.

A few weeks later, the sheriff told my wife that there were too many complaints about that trooper pulling that power play, and he had been transferred to a western county as a punishment.

That made my wife’s day for sure.