There are a lot of idiots on the road. There are speeders, tailgaters, and people cutting across multiple lanes of traffic, all of who feel that the rules of the road don’t apply to them. We often witness such atrocities and wish that the universe would somehow punish their dangerous behavior. Well, you're in luck. Here's some satisfying instant karma for the worst drivers around.
1. Mustang Sting
It was nighttime, and the rain was coming down hard. A man driving a Mustang ran a red light and was immediately pulled over by a patrol car. Over the loudspeaker, the officer told him to step out of the vehicle and place his hands on the roof, which he did. Then nothing happened. The officer stayed in his car and didn’t come over.
Instead, he left the Mustang driver standing there for about 30 seconds, letting the rain soak him completely. Once the man was drenched, the officer spoke over the loudspeaker again and delivered the punchline: “Next time you run a red light during a storm, don’t do it right in front of a police officer, genius.” Then he simply drove off.
2. Her Luck Ran Out
A few years ago, I was driving on the interstate to visit some friends at another college for the weekend. On the way there, I was in the right lane, minding my own business, when a car tried to cut me off. At first I didn’t think much of it, until she clipped my bumper and forced me off the road.
She was going around 80–85 mph. While I was on the shoulder trying to contact local authorities to report the crash, the other driver kept right on going. About five minutes later, a state trooper pulled up behind me and asked what happened. I explained everything, gave him a description of the car—including part of the license plate—and he asked whether my vehicle was still drivable.
When I said yes, he replied, “Just follow me to the next exit. I got a call about a driver who ran out of gas and needs help.” We got to the exit, just short of a gas station, and when I saw her, I couldn’t believe it. It was the same woman from the hit-and-run. She tried to deny anything had happened.
Then the trooper checked the damage on my front bumper and the damage to her rear end, confirmed the paint matched, and compared it to the partial plate number I had caught as she sped away. It turned out she had neither insurance nor a license. She was taken to the station for the hit-and-run, all because she couldn’t slow down and drive responsibly.
3. His Coffee Time Was Cut Short
I was in heavy traffic heading into an event center. I noticed a patrol car parked on the median, keeping an eye out for people doing anything reckless. Just as we got close to where the squad car was, some driver cut across two lanes of traffic. He cut me off and turned onto a street marked with a “Do Not Enter” sign. He did all of this right in front of the clearly marked cruiser.
I made eye contact with the officer as he set down his coffee and switched on his lights.
4. This Guy Was A Total Blockhead
I was directing traffic at the scene of an accident. I was waving cars around the roundabout because they couldn’t continue straight ahead; the crash was completely blocking the road up ahead. One car stopped right in front of me. The driver rolled down his window to ask me something, and in doing so, blocked me from the view of oncoming traffic.
So I stepped to the side and shouted, “Sorry, I can’t stop to talk. The road is closed—keep moving off the roundabout.” He drove a few yards farther, blocking me again, while continuing to shout through the window. I didn’t catch all of it, but he finished with, “Why can’t you just stop and talk to the people you’re supposed to be serving?” What happened next was unforgettable.
A car promptly rear-ended him because he was blocking their view of me. They didn’t expect him to stop suddenly on an otherwise open roundabout. I replied, “That’s why.” And when I wrote up the report, I made sure the insurance companies knew exactly who was at fault.
5. If He Only Knew What Was Coming
One time I was stuck in traffic on one of those roads where the lane directions change. There were overhead signs above each lane showing a red “X,” a green arrow, or nothing, depending on which lanes were open. We had two packed inbound lanes, three outbound lanes, and a sixth lane closed to vehicles while it was being switched from outbound to inbound traffic.
One driver decided waiting wasn’t worth it, so he pulled out of the line and drove up the empty lane in the wrong direction. Two blocks later, we saw that the lane he had entered became a left-turn lane for oncoming traffic. He ended up nose-to-nose with a law enforcement vehicle.
6. The Desert Fool
I was driving through central Nevada on a two-lane highway, taking a long right-hand curve, when a fairly new Camaro with a very distinctive set of stickers on the rear window crossed the double yellow and passed me on the left. It almost caused a head-on crash with a semi coming the other way, and the driver nearly clipped the front of my car when he swerved back into my lane.
In that part of Nevada, the towns are about 60 miles apart. The next town was known for having a serious speed trap. About five miles before town, sure enough, the Camaro was pulled over. About half a mile after I passed them, the officer had apparently finished writing the speeding ticket. The Camaro driver was clearly furious, and as soon as he had some distance, he took off again.
Within about five miles, he had made up at least half to three-quarters of a mile. But he still wasn’t done. He crossed the double yellow again and passed me on a blind corner. As he went by, he had to swerve to avoid yet another high-speed head-on crash during another illegal pass. In doing that, he apparently missed the fact that the speed limit had dropped from 75 mph to 25 mph.
A county cruiser was parked just past the 25 mph sign with radar and caught him doing at least 80 mph in a 25 mph zone.
7. Cab Calamity
It was a dark, rainy afternoon in November. I was riding in an unmarked car with my favorite partner on the late shift, and we were only about an hour in. We were sitting still in rush-hour traffic, casually trading the usual jokes and insults, when—wham—we got rear-ended by a taxi. If the driver didn’t already look miserable when we switched on the lights, his passenger made things even worse for him.
The passenger told the officer taking statements that the cab driver had been on his phone when he hit us and wasn’t watching the road. Instead, he was messing with the radio. We ended up going to the hospital and received some workers’ comp, and the cab driver was hit with some pretty steep fines in court.
8. Life In The Fast Lane
I was driving on the highway at night in the fast lane. I was moving quicker than most of the traffic, but the guy coming up behind me was going much faster. I started looking for a chance to move over, but the road was busy and there just wasn’t an opening. He came up behind me, honking and flashing his lights. I was trying to get over, but still hadn’t found a safe gap.
As soon as I had room, I moved into the middle lane. When he passed, I just shook my head at him because he was acting like a jerk. He didn’t appreciate that. So he pulled into the middle lane too, slowed down just to block me, and wouldn’t let me pass. Eventually he got bored with that and sped off. In his effort to focus on me, he failed to notice an officer pulling onto the highway a short distance ahead.
He went right past the cruiser without noticing it, and the lights came on immediately. It definitely felt like justice had been served.
9. It Was All A Bust
Years ago, some local law enforcement officers had a scam going. They posted a 45 mph speed limit sign on an interstate where the real limit was 55 mph. They would stop out-of-state drivers, write them a ticket, and then demand a cash “bond.” One officer pulled over a man in his mid-20s driving a nice sedan with out-of-state plates. The young man told them that what they were doing was illegal.
He was handcuffed and taken to see the judge. The judge fined him $50. He refused to pay. The judge then sentenced him to five days in jail. He wasn’t offered a phone call, a lawyer, or anything else. After serving the five days, he left. A week later, he came back with several coworkers and arrest warrants for both the sheriff and the judge. But that’s not even the best part.
The young man was an FBI agent on his way to a new assignment.
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10. He Was Met With A Big Surprise
I was heading toward Baltimore and was stuck in traffic on I-95. It was completely bumper-to-bumper, with no movement at all. Then some idiot decided to use the shoulder like a private lane and sped past everyone at around 50 mph. We all agreed he was a total jerk and didn’t think much more of it. Then, about 15 seconds later, a cruiser came flying by on the shoulder with lights and sirens on.
Naturally, we all got excited, thinking the officer was going after him. Five minutes later, we passed the driver. He had in fact been stopped, but not by the officer we saw racing by. Instead, he had been caught by an officer in a conveniently abandoned-looking car sitting on the shoulder. The officer looked like he was giving him a very serious lecture. It was a satisfying moment.
11. They Had Him Seeing Red
I was stopped at a red light near some railroad tracks. Whenever a train came through, the light would stay red. We were on a curve and a hill, so I could actually see why traffic was stopped. But an older man about three cars behind me couldn’t, and he decided to pass both me and the car in front of me. We were sitting at a red light, blocked by a train.
The light was at an intersection right in front of city hall and the police station. It was also around lunchtime. As soon as the guy cruised through the red light, three or four sets of flashing lights came on right behind him. That five-minute wait for the train suddenly became very entertaining, because I got to watch the officers give him a serious talking-to.
12. Yellow-Bellied Bonehead
There was a guy in a huge, lifted bright yellow pickup truck tailgating my roommate while he was driving. He was so close that I couldn’t even see his headlights in the rearview mirror anymore. After about a block of that, the tailgater apparently decided he’d had enough and pulled into the left-turn lane to pass us. But that turned out to be a huge mistake.
He pulled that move right in the middle of an intersection, directly in front of an officer waiting on the cross street. The red and blue lights came on just as we made it through the intersection, and I calmly moved aside to give the officer room. When the guy pulled over, the officer stopped right behind him and practically ran up to the truck, shouting at him. It absolutely made my week.
13. Easy There Rider
I was driving on a highway with only one lane in each direction and just a few overtaking lanes, one of them going uphill. People got frustrated all the time with clueless tourists driving 43 or 50 mph in a 62 mph zone, but this guy was on another level. I was stuck behind a driver puttering along at about 50 mph, and the guy behind me was tailgating me hard.
I slowed down a little because there was wildlife around, and it’s never smart to take chances with tailgaters. When we reached the uphill passing lane, he sped around me and ended up stuck behind the slow car. That’s when he finally realized why I hadn’t been going any faster. But he kept tailgating that driver too, and it was getting pretty dangerous. I stayed well back, figuring I’d just take it easy and avoid any trouble.
Then a motorcycle came up from behind, and I shifted in my lane to give it room, thinking the rider might have a better shot at passing both vehicles that way. The tailgater took the chance to pass, and so did the motorcycle, even though it was illegal. When I came over the next hill, I saw it was an undercover officer on the bike, and he had already pulled the tailgater over. My cold little heart was thrilled by the instant karma as I drove past. It was glorious.
14. Wishful Thinking
I was driving to work on the highway in the left lane, moving with traffic at about 75 mph in a 55 mph zone. Out of nowhere, this guy jumped into the shoulder and flew past me like I wasn’t going fast enough already. I remember thinking, “What an idiot, I hope a cop gets him.” About ten seconds later, I saw a cruiser pull out from the side of the road and do exactly that. It was incredibly satisfying to watch.
15. Take That!
My mom worked in law enforcement for 30 years. Back in the 80s, my dad was driving through the city with her in the passenger seat when a car full of young guys pulled up next to them. They were waving around adult magazines, showing the centerfolds to my mom, and yelling, “How do you like that?!”
My mom shut them down instantly. She held up her badge and said, “How do you like this?!”
They panicked and broke all kinds of traffic rules trying to get away as fast as they could.
16. He Messed With The Wrong Dude
A friend of mine was a police officer, about 6'6", and on the SWAT team. He was a genuinely nice guy, but definitely not someone you’d want to challenge. One day, he was driving home from work in his own car, a small sports car. Behind him was some guy in his twenties who kept riding his bumper, backing off, then speeding up again to tailgate him some more.
This was during rush hour on a three-lane freeway. My friend watched it all happen in his rearview mirror and figured he knew where it was headed. Sure enough, the guy rear-ended him. They both pulled onto the shoulder, and my friend stayed sitting in his car. The other driver jumped out, yelling and threatening to fight him. Right before he reached the car, my friend stepped out.
He slowly unfolded himself to his full 6'6", still dressed in full black tactical gear, and just looked at the guy. The guy literally wet his pants.
17. Show Some Respect
I was part of the funeral procession for my grandmother. There were around 30 cars altogether. As we were driving down a two-lane road, one guy pulled into the oncoming lane and started passing all of us, going about 30 mph over the speed limit. When he got to the front, he realized there were two motorcycle officers leading the procession and blocking side-street traffic as we passed.
One of the officers pulled him over. As we drove by, the officer had his finger about an inch from the driver’s nose and was clearly yelling at the top of his lungs. It made a lot of the mourners feel very satisfied.
18. I Had Him In A Jam
I worked in transportation, and one time I was helping direct traffic in an area where there had been a water main break. I had two lanes merging into one behind me. I’d let one lane go for a while, stop it, then let the other lane move. About 20 cars back, I noticed this guy in a BMW jumping back and forth, trying to get into whichever lane I was waving through.
Eventually he worked his way up to second in line. I was letting the lane next to him go, and he tried to cut in front of someone. I wasn’t going to let that happen. The second he moved over, I raised my hand, stopped him, and let the other lane go instead. He was so angry I could see it in his face. Then he tried to force his way into the lane I was allowing through.
I didn’t let him move anywhere. When he finally got to go, he glared at me the whole time he drove past.
19. A Brush With Some Karmic Retribution
My stepdad was a real piece of work. One day we were heading to breakfast at a cafe. We lived in a small town, and the cafe was just one block from the only stoplight in town. My stepdad was annoyed that the car in front of us was going slowly, so he started tailgating it. I was in the passenger seat, and I noticed the driver checking the rearview mirror a couple of times.
Then all the car’s lights started flashing—the reverse lights, the third brake light, everything. I thought that was strange, so I looked more closely. The car was a Dodge Intrepid with extra antennas on the roof and an unusual license plate. I realized it was an unmarked police car. So I told my stepdad, “That’s an officer!” He told me to be quiet, so I kept my mouth shut and decided to watch it unfold.
I didn’t mention the details I had noticed. A moment later, the car ahead of us suddenly pulled off the road, then came right back on behind us. At that point, I was sure my stepdad was about to face the consequences. He realized I had been right and hurried to put on his seatbelt, which he never wore.
But with one hand on the wheel and both eyes fixed on the rearview mirror, he wasn’t paying attention to the curve coming up. We drifted across the center line into oncoming traffic. The officer had seen enough and turned on his lights. I started laughing uncontrollably. We pulled over. The officer came up and began talking, then said, “Sir! Step out of the vehicle! Now!”
At that point I got a little nervous, wondering what was happening. The officer made my stepdad spread out against the hood, then came back to my side of the car. He pulled out the nine-inch hunting knife my stepdad kept between the seat and the stick shift. The officer set the knife on the roof, then patted him down and gave him a serious lecture.
This all happened right in front of the local cafe where half the town ate breakfast. Needless to say, the officer was not impressed, and I got to watch this man—who made my life miserable—finally get treated the way he deserved. It was satisfying.
20. Red Light, Green Light
I was stopped at a red light in the left travel lane. To my left was the turn lane, and next to me was a Tucson PD motorcycle officer calmly waiting for the light to change. When it turned green, he gave the usual motion to go but hadn’t moved yet when some complete fool came flying through the cross street, running the red light at around 60 mph.
The speed limit was 35. I was stunned and muttered, “Holy cow!” as the car tore through the intersection. The officer and I looked at each other in disbelief. He held out his fist—the same hand that had just been on the throttle—and we fist-bumped. Then he switched on his lights and siren and sped off after the driver. It was glorious.
21. It Was A Near Miss
Where I lived, people ran red lights pretty often. One day during rush hour, I was first in line at a red light on my way home. The oncoming lanes had a green arrow for left turns. Their light turned yellow, then red, and just after my light turned green to go straight, someone still went through the turn. I started forward, then had to stop in the middle of the intersection because they were about to hit me.
I leaned on my horn, and they just kept turning left. As I cleared the intersection, I saw red and blue lights in my mirror. An officer had been right behind me at the light, and he took off after the driver who ran the red. I’m pretty sure that person got a big ticket.
22. He Made A Bad Pass
I was once driving on a very winding road at the speed limit. A car behind me was tailgating hard and clearly trying to pass me or pressure me into speeding up. The road had so many curves that you couldn’t see oncoming traffic, and to make it worse, the center line was solid. He had been following way too close for a few minutes when he finally decided to pass me while we were in the middle of a curve.
Turns out there was an unmarked police car right behind him. The second he passed me, the officer pulled him over on the spot.
23. He Turned Right In Front Of Me!
I was at a four-way intersection where two large roads crossed, each with four lanes. On my side, there was a left-turn lane, a middle lane that could go straight or turn, and a right lane that went straight. As I approached the light, it was turning yellow, so I stopped because I knew it would be red long before I could make it through the intersection.
The BMW behind me decided to swing into the right lane, then made a left turn right in front of me after the light had already turned red. He made a huge mistake. I laid on my horn, which got the attention of an officer on the crossing road. I could see him clearly from my truck, but the BMW driver apparently couldn’t. The officer turned on his lights and siren, made a quick U-turn, and went after him.
24. HOV Is Not 4 U
Several years ago, a highway patrol officer delivered a perfect bit of instant karma, and I never got the chance to thank him. It was the last few days before Christmas, so the freeways were packed. People were rushing to stores on their way home, and they were in such a hurry that during every commute, I saw at least one crash slowing traffic to a crawl.
I was creeping along in the far-left lane when a car squeezed in front of me. They didn’t signal; they just took advantage of the safe following distance I was leaving in the stop-and-go traffic. I was paying attention, but I still had to tap my brakes while checking my mirror to see how close the patrol car behind me was.
Then the driver who cut me off swerved again and crossed the double yellow lines into the HOV lane. The lights behind me came on instantly. Traffic in the HOV lane stopped, and the patrol car moved in after them. I smiled as I watched in my rearview mirror while the officer escorted that car off the freeway. It was going to take a while to get across all that traffic, and that driver already seemed to be in a rush.
25. Cruising For A Losing
There was an unmarked car patrolling the area where I lived, and everyone in the car community knew exactly which one it was. It was actually pretty well known. The car looked like a slightly modified street car, and the officer who drove it used that to his advantage. If he spotted another modified car, he would pull up alongside it and try to tempt the driver into racing.
When someone took the bait and tried to race him, the officer would pull them over and write them a ticket. One day, though, he pulled up next to a modified car that happened to be missing a plate because the driver had just come from a car show. So the officer tried to get him to race. But the other driver recognized the unmarked police car, so instead of taking the bait, he just sped off.
He left the unmarked car behind and was never caught.
26. Undercover Brother
My dad and I were driving on a highway in Texas, where the highway patrol was known for using unmarked cars. We were in the fast lane, where the speed limit was 70 mph. Out of nowhere, this Chevy Malibu was going 55. My dad moved up close behind him, hoping he’d get the hint and move over. After about a minute, the car flashed its lights for a couple of seconds to make us back off, basically giving itself away.
He moved over right after that and took the next exit, probably to go back to blending in.
27. He Got Called Out For His Crazy Maneuver
One night, my wife and I were heading home from dinner. We took our usual freeway exit, which had a long, easy 180-degree ramp down to a T-intersection with a traffic light at the bottom. The intersection was empty, but the light was red, so we waited. The guy behind us, though, was clearly not in the mood to be patient. He had been right on our bumper the whole way down the ramp.
Instead of waiting, he angrily swerved into the right-turn lane beside us, then made a left turn from the right-turn lane on a red light, apparently planning to make a U-turn onto the freeway entrance next to us. He didn’t get very far. The second he pulled into the intersection, two things happened. First, my rear-view mirror lit up red and blue as the officer behind him turned on the lights.
Then the officer switched on the loudspeaker while pulling around us, and we heard, “THAT WAS REALLY STUPID.” We waited calmly for the light to change, enjoying the show as the guy got pulled over, then drove home laughing.
28. His Luck Ran Out In Luling
Years ago, I was driving from Houston to San Antonio. Anyone who’s driven on I-10 knows the town of Luling has a reputation for very watchful officers. The highway is usually a pleasant but pretty dull drive. It has four lanes separated by a wide grassy median, often with a barrier running alongside it, especially near towns.
For about ten miles on the way to Luling, a guy in a PT Cruiser was glued to my rear bumper. There were no other cars around, so I couldn’t understand why he didn’t just move into the left lane and pass me. As we got closer to Luling, I slowed down. The speed limit went from 75 mph down to 70 or 65 through town. This guy completely lost his patience.
He started flashing his lights and carrying on before finally jerking into the next lane and flooring it. What he didn’t notice was the officer parked on the hill overlooking a big stretch of traffic going in and out of town. It was a dead-end road up there, but the officer wasn’t stopping people directly. He was just radioing descriptions down to the officers waiting below.
As soon as I came over the hill, I saw those beautiful flashing red and blue lights behind a very unhappy PT Cruiser. I gave a little wave as I drove by.
29. College Cat Callers Caught
One day on my lunch break, I went to a small park to eat outside. There was a police cruiser sitting in the parking lot watching for speeders, though I didn’t notice it until after I parked. I nodded at the officer and went to one of the picnic tables to eat. It was a small park in a residential neighborhood, so the tables were pretty close to the road.
After I finished eating and threw away my trash, I sat there reading my book. Then a car full of college-aged guys pulled up to the curb and yelled rude comments at me just for daring to be a bigger woman sitting outside in public. They sped off, but the officer pulled out of the lot right behind them with lights flashing. I laughed and laughed.
30. Revved To Race
I was a brand-new officer still on probation. I was riding in an unmarked car with my field training officer. He had been talking about the pros and cons of unmarked units, mostly the pros. We were stopped at a light behind a Mustang when a sport bike pulled up nearby. The Mustang revved its engine a few times, and the biker revved back.
My training officer just watched them with the biggest grin. Then the light turned green, and the Mustang launched forward while the bike took off too. My training officer immediately hit the lights and sirens. The Mustang slammed on its brakes, and the biker looked back while still speeding up. He looked forward again, probably thinking he could still get away, but a car was merging into his lane.
He couldn’t slow down in time, and things went badly fast. He laid the bike down and skidded around 60 feet. He wasn’t seriously injured, but he was taken to the hospital to get gravel cleaned out of his skin. Both drivers were cited for unlawful speeding, tire screeching, reckless endangerment, failure to use due care, and street racing.
31. Patience Is A Virtue
I was on a four-lane road with a painted median. I was in the left lane because the right lane led onto a freeway. The left lane was backed up, and a car coming the other way was sitting in the median, trying to turn left. I could see a line of cars moving into the right lane to get on the freeway. My light was about to turn green so I could move forward, but it hadn’t changed yet.
When I stopped, I didn’t leave room for the guy to make his left turn. He got really upset, rolled down his window, honked, yelled at me, and waved his arms. Then traffic started moving as the light changed, and a few cars made it through. Someone farther back left enough space for him to turn left. The guy hit the gas and immediately got T-boned by a car in the right lane heading for the freeway.
After that, I made it through the next light and kept going.
32. Wrong Place To Race
My town had a lot of street racers who were obnoxious and drove recklessly. One night, my girlfriend and I were driving down a road that was usually busy, but since it was the middle of the night, it was nearly empty. The only two cars we saw were two racers flying down the street in the opposite direction, obviously trying to outdo each other. They had to be going around 75–80 mph in a 45 mph zone. They passed us just as we were about to drive through an intersection.
My girlfriend and I exchanged the usual eye-roll and sigh. But the intersection we were entering also happened to lead to our local law enforcement station. An officer was sitting there waiting for the light to change so he could pull into the station. Why anyone would race right past a law enforcement station is beyond me.
The second those cars flew by, he switched on his lights, and we stopped to let him go after them. It was perfect.
33. Endangering Children Is A No-No
As a kid who rode the bus to and from school every day, I saw plenty of drivers ignore school bus safety rules. One common example was cars refusing to stop for the sign that swings out from the side of the bus. That sign is there so children can cross the road safely. On one especially satisfying day, just as the sign swung out into full view, a bright red car swerved slightly to the left to avoid it and sped right past.
The road we were on was busy and right in the middle of town, so there were cars and pedestrians everywhere. One of the nearby vehicles was a police cruiser. Its lights flashed on, the siren started up, and everyone still on the bus cheered. The police pulled over the driver who had put our lives at risk, and we shouted with excitement as we passed by.
One of the officers tipped his hat toward the bus and winked. In that moment, we thought he was the greatest person on earth. The driver who illegally passed us probably got at least a $500 fine and lost several demerit points. He also got to hear the victory cheers of about twenty kids on a bus.
34. One Way Ticket
I lived in New Orleans, where almost all the streets are one-way. One time, I saw an officer appear out of nowhere and deliver some instant karma. We get a lot of clueless tourists who seem to think one-way street rules don’t apply to them for some reason. During Mardi Gras, my car was parked at the side of the road, and I was getting in, ready to leave.
As I started the car, I saw a tourist driving the wrong way down the street. I thought, “Not again. He’s going to cause an accident.” Less than five seconds later, a police cruiser appeared out of nowhere and turned on its siren and lights. The out-of-state driver looked completely stunned and just froze.
35. Thank You For Your Service
I was driving back to campus from Minnesota to Wisconsin. It was around 10 PM, and I had just crossed the border. Rain was pouring down in sheets. Then I saw a big pickup truck speeding up behind me. He was closing in fast. That truck had to be going close to 95–100 mph. I was already driving a little over the limit myself, and he still flew past me.
I immediately remembered that the Wisconsin Highway Patrol’s favorite speed trap was just a few miles ahead. About two minutes later, there was that same pickup truck pulled over on the side of the road, with a highway patrol car right behind him. I memorized the officer’s car number and, when I got into town, wrote a letter to the local station thanking that officer for being out there on such a dangerous night.
36. Late For A Court Date
My ex was a police officer. He worked the night shift, so he usually finished around 2 a.m. unless he had court. On those days, he could leave a little early. One morning, he was driving to court in full uniform, in his own car. He was in a good mood because he was pretty sure the other guy wasn’t going to show up, which meant extra sleep and four hours of pay just for appearing.
He got off the expressway and was making a right turn. This intersection had several eastbound lanes. The expressway ran slightly below street level, with a road going east on one side and west on the other. The only cars allowed to turn at that light were the ones coming off the expressway in the two far-right lanes. That was it. No other lane could turn. The other four lanes were straight only.
Then some driver decided he mattered more than everyone else during morning rush hour and made a right turn from the far-left lane—through a red light—cutting across three straight-only lanes and one and a half turn lanes. It would have been two full turn lanes, except my ex’s car was in the way.
The guy barely had time to stop before my ex jumped out of his car and ran straight at him—in full uniform, with his weapon drawn—thinking the driver was drunk or out of his mind. He reached the car, and the man inside looked terrified. My ex shouted through the closed window, “YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!”
My ex filled out an incident report while waiting for the on-duty officers to arrive. Then he handed everything over and rushed off to court, since he was now late. Luckily, the defendant didn’t show up, and my ex even got a free meal out of it.
37. Something Was Foul With My Fellow Employee
On my way home, I stopped at a convenience store near my job. I parked, got out, and said hello to a security guard from work who happened to be pumping gas. He looked like he had a storm cloud over his head. He had just gotten off work when I did, and he was in a terrible mood. I wished him a better day, grabbed what I needed, and headed to the register.
But he got there first, and he was yelling. He was going off on the employees and making a big scene. It lasted maybe thirty seconds, and although I considered stepping in for the clerks, I decided not to because he clearly wasn’t stable, and I still had to see him at work. Eventually, he finished shouting and stormed out.
I stepped up to the counter and told the employees that not only would I not add to the abuse they’d just taken, but I also wanted to buy a few things and two of their finest lottery tickets. Then I heard tires squealing outside. The security guard had apparently decided that doing a couple of donuts between the gas pumps and the store was the perfect ending to his outburst.
He came close to hitting my car twice. Finally, he straightened out and drove toward the exit. During all of this, the assistant manager had been in the office calling the police. The moment the guard pulled out of the station, a county sheriff switched on his lights right behind him.
By the time I left, they had the guard pinned against his car and were putting handcuffs on him. When I got back to work, I found out he had been fired. Apparently, that was why he’d been in such a bad mood. Sadly, the next security guard was even worse.
38. Speed Demon
I was driving to Miami for cancer treatment. A man in a white van spent about five miles riding my bumper, trying over and over to pass me, honking, and waving his hands at me because he thought I was going too slow. I wasn’t about to speed up or move over. Traffic was heavy, and construction had lanes blocked. Eventually, he got past me and sped off ahead.
Then the state trooper in front of me took off after him. The guy hadn’t realized I was going the speed limit for a reason. We gave him a little wave as we drove past his roadside light show. In Florida, speeding in a construction zone comes with double fines, so that ticket probably cost him around $500.
39. This Neon Lit Up And Got Burned
One night, I was driving home late from work and stopped at a newly installed traffic light on a two-lane road. A Dodge Neon SRT-4 pulled up next to me with some obnoxious guy behind the wheel. I noticed a fully marked police car stopped on the far side of the intersection. Because it was dark, the Neon driver probably couldn’t tell whether the officer was inside.
So I gave my engine a few light revs, and the Neon driver immediately answered with a couple of quick revs of his own. At that point, I knew exactly what he was thinking. The light turned green, and the Neon spun its tires all the way across the intersection while I just drove normally. He had barely hit second gear before the cruiser’s lights came on and the officer made a U-turn to pull him over.
40. Nothing Could Change Hs Carelessness
There was a four-way stop not far from my house that had recently been changed into a regular intersection with traffic lights. There had been signs warning people about the change for weeks before and after it happened. As I pulled up to make a right turn, the light turned green. When I started turning, the driver on the left apparently hadn’t noticed it was no longer a four-way stop.
I had to slam on my brakes to avoid hitting him and his child. I honked, and then I noticed an officer sitting at the light directly across from me. The officer waited for the light to change, then turned on his lights and went after the driver.
41. It Was A Slam Dunk
One day, I was driving to work on Route 91 in Riverside, California. A guy in the carpool lane suddenly decided to cut across five lanes of traffic to make his exit. To get there, he cut right in front of me, and I had to slam on my brakes to avoid hitting him.
The cruiser behind me—which had already been making me nervous—changed lanes and followed the car off the freeway, then turned on the lights. After I had a moment to calm down from braking so hard right in front of a police officer, the whole thing ended up feeling pretty satisfying.
42. Girl Gone Wild
One day, while I was driving to work, a car started tailgating me. It kept doing that annoying speed-up, slow-down thing. I looked in my rearview mirror and saw a girl in the passenger seat yelling at the driver. The car rushed up to my bumper one more time. I glanced in the mirror again and was just about ready to make an angry gesture when I saw the girl suddenly smack the driver hard.
After that, he finally backed off and stopped tailgating me.
43. The Escalade’s Escapades
One day, I was driving on the freeway and needed to change lanes. I checked to make sure it was clear, used my signal, and moved over. What I didn’t realize was that an Escalade was coming up behind me in that lane at over 100 mph. He was going so fast that the lane had looked clear when I checked just a second earlier. The Escalade driver decided to teach me a lesson by acting like he wasn’t going to stop before hitting me.
There were cars on both sides of me, so I couldn’t swerve out of the way. The Escalade sped up behind me until the very last second, then slammed on the brakes. He matched my speed with barely any space between his bumper and mine. While this was happening, I was panicking and wobbling a little because I thought I was about to get hit. An officer driving one lane over and two cars back immediately turned on the lights and pulled him over.
It was a real roller coaster of emotions for me.
44. His Reckless Driving Blew Up
One weekend, I was driving from Chicago to Wisconsin. Right after I got on the highway, a car to my left decided he needed my lane that very second and forced me out of it and onto the shoulder. He kept weaving around and nearly hit about ten other cars, only to end up right back where he started. It was rush hour, and traffic was already crawling.
Then I suddenly heard this boom. The driver in the speeding car had blown a tire while trying to use the shoulder to pass another car. A few other drivers and I stopped—not to see if he needed help, but to wait for the officer who had been a couple of miles back and saw everything. We all gave statements, and the reckless driver was taken away in the cruiser on reckless driving and other charges.
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45. I Wasn’t Going To Fall For That Trap
I was driving down a long stretch of highway at night. A couple of months earlier, I had actually gotten a speeding ticket there, and it was known as a major speed trap. That night, construction had reduced it to one lane, which also meant speeding fines were higher. The posted speed limit was 45 mph, and that’s exactly what I was doing.
At some point, a big truck caught up to me and started tailgating me. He honked a few times and flashed his brights, but I wasn’t going to go over the limit. He stayed right on my bumper for the rest of the one-lane stretch, but eventually the second lane opened up. The moment it did, the truck sped around me, reaching at least 60 mph before he was even fully past. A cruiser was sitting right there, and he got pulled over immediately.
46. The Lady In Red
When I was in university, I took the bus to and from school every day. It was about an hour each way. The bus terminal for our suburb was at the end of my street, up a path and at the top of a big hill that led down into the city with all the other traffic. I got on the bus, and it rolled up to a red light to wait for green before pulling onto the main road.
The light turned green, and the bus started to move when, all of a sudden, the driver slammed on the brakes. Everyone lurched forward, and the driver leaned on the horn. When I looked up, I saw a big silver Cadillac flying through the red light. Even worse, the woman driving it was a dyed-blonde woman in her 60s wearing a red power suit, and she casually flipped off the bus driver without even looking as she sped down the hill.
The bus driver swore under his breath, and we kept going. At the bottom of the hill, police often set up speed traps because they could catch people coming out of a curve where they usually went well over the limit during morning rush hour. And there she was. The Cadillac had been caught in the speed trap. The bus driver pulled over near the trap and waved over a police officer, who stepped into the front of the bus.
The bus driver asked, “Is it still against the law to run red lights in this province?” The officer replied, “Sure is. Did she?” The driver said, “Ohhh yeah.” The officer handed him his card and said, “Here’s my card. Get in touch, and if you’re willing to come to court and testify, we can add that too.” The bus driver answered, “Honey, I get paid to go to court. I’ll see you there.” The whole bus burst into applause.
47. They Were Real Idiots
I was a Border Patrol agent near a few two-lane highways, where there were very few chances to pass because of all the hills and curves. I would regularly pull over older people driving their motorhomes at 45 mph in 65 mph zones. The reason was that they would have a line of 20 or more cars stuck behind them trying to pass. One couple I stopped was especially angry about it.
When I told them there was a line of cars behind them trying to get around, they got all offended and said I wasn’t a “real cop” and told me to get lost. Their records came back clean, so I let them go. About 20 minutes later, I saw them on the side of the road with smoke pouring out the back of their camper. Another agent and I pulled in behind them to help.
As I grabbed the fire extinguisher from my car, the older woman said, “Help, he dropped his cigarette in the back!” I went to the rear of the trailer to help the older man fight the fire. I managed to put out most of it inside, but it had caught the insulation or something, so flames were coming up on the outside of the camper too. The man asked if I would give him a hand with that. I had the perfect response: “I don’t know. I’m not a real firefighter.”
48. He Thought He Was In The Clear
I was driving along after dropping my older son off at school, with my youngest in the back seat. Out of nowhere, some guy slid into the front driver’s side of my truck and hit it hard. We both stopped. I was shaking, completely rattled, and checking on my son, who luckily was fine. I looked over at the other driver and just stared for a moment, trying to get my brain working again.
Then the guy did the unbelievable. He just backed up and drove away. My mouth literally fell open. I was stunned. It was a hit and run. But when the officer arrived, he came up to my window smiling and holding the license plate the other driver had left behind. It was perfect justice because he definitely didn’t get away with it.
49. Witness
A car blew through a stop sign and immediately T-boned us. The windshield shattered. Everyone was shaken, but okay. The other driver opened their door, and two empty beer cans fell out onto the road. The driver behind us—who had seen the whole thing—got out and said to me, “Today is your lucky day.” I just stared at him blankly, and he said, “I’m the Chief of Police, and there’s no way you could have avoided that.”
50. Back Off Beamer
While working for the fire department, I was on a call for a multi-vehicle rollover accident on the interstate. We got on the interstate one exit away and ran into traffic, so we moved into the emergency lane with our lights flashing and siren blaring. We were about halfway there when a BMW pulled right in front of us, trying to squeeze through traffic. He didn’t even look.
I laid on the horn, and he came to a complete stop with his middle finger hanging out the window. I’d seen plenty of people do dumb things when emergency lights came up behind them, but this guy was being rude just for the sake of it. He got out of his car and started yelling at us. Meanwhile, he was blocking the only fire engine and two ambulances available.
People were seriously hurt half a mile away, and he chose that moment to make a stand because we honked at him for blocking us. I looked in my mirror and saw a highway patrol officer running between lanes toward us, and he looked furious. The guy in the BMW was immediately arrested, his fancy car was shoved out of the way into a ditch, and he was hauled off to jail.
