Why Are People Afraid of Passing Up a Police Car?

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when I searched this topic...
When driving home from school yesterday, I got stuck behind two cars going 30  in a 55 zone.  I look and there's no cars coming the other way.  It's a passing zone so I make the pass.  While going by, my headlights hit the side of the leading SUV and I see that it's a cop.  I get past the cop and get on my merry way.  Nobody else behind me passed the cop (including the guy that was initially in front of me).

So, I would like to ask, "Why are people afraid of passing up a cop car?"

I used to think that people are afraid of passing cop cars because they would have to speed in order to do so.  But, this cop was going so slow that I passed them and another car in a reasonable amount of time (like 5 seconds) while still going ten under the speed limit.

Perhaps people are afraid of passing cops because they figure that they will gain the attention of the cop and be worried about getting pulled over for some ticky-tack offense.

Maybe they are subconsciously afraid that they will get pulled over anyways because they are passing the cop.  Like, the cop will make up some kind of offense to pull them over for.

Or, maybe they just really don't feel like passing anyone and the fact that the slow moving vehicle is a cop reinforces the attitude of not wanting to pass anyone.

I'm not really sure so that's why I want to ask you!  If you have any thoughts or beliefs on why you or others don't feel like passing up cop cars, put them down in the comments!

Cheers!

In other news:  Man Throws Spear at Passing Police Car

Image:  http://media.nbcbayarea.com/images/654*368/6-20-2013+sacramento+spear+thrower+jeffrey+allen+jones.jpg
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6 comments:

  1. CJNovember 8, 2013 at 11:47 AM

    i thought it was illegal to pass more than one car?

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  2. MasonNovember 8, 2013 at 12:16 PM

    I actually looked that up but Grant thought that. Can't say for sure about Illinois but in most states there is no limit for the number of cars you pass at once. However, in New Jersey, the max number of cars you can pass at once is two.

    I had never heard of such law until Grant speculated about it.

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    1. MasonNovember 8, 2013 at 12:52 PM

      Did some reading in the "Rules of The Road Book" for IL. It doesn't specifically say either way. Though, in the passing section, it always says "When passing A vehicle." Perhaps it's implying you can only pass one car at once?

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    2. MasonNovember 8, 2013 at 1:08 PM

      Here's the actual laws on passing. Same issue with the wording. The laws never actually bring up the idea of passing multiple vehicles at once. They only say "When passing another vehicle." It could be implied. But I can't really conclude either way.

      http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs4.asp?DocName=062500050HCh%2E+11+Art%2E+VII&ActID=1815&ChapterID=49&SeqStart=117800000&SeqEnd=119300000

      Regardless, the guy in front of me wouldn't pass the cop. He would have only been passing one car, the cop car. So back to my original question: Why are people afraid of passing cop cars?

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  3. AnonymousNovember 8, 2013 at 1:04 PM

    I very vividly remember being taught that you can only pass one car at a time in drivers ED. I have no doubt that my teacher taught it. Whether it is true.... I don't know
    -paul

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    1. MasonNovember 8, 2013 at 1:10 PM

      I guess that all we can conclude from this is that we should stay on the safe side and stick to only passing one car at a time.

      But, I'm tired of talking about this. Back to my original question. The guy in front of me wouldn't pass the cop and it would have been, for certain, a legal move. Why are people afraid of passing cop cars?

      What do you guys think?

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