IMOLA RED is it a cop magnet?? share stores

[Johnny330zhp]

ok so just bought my Imola red zhp and I'm sure I know the answer to this riddle but thought it could be something you guys would enjoy sharing about, so far few weeks haven't had any trouble but the color is bright and have gotten a lot of eyes looking in my direction some good and bad lol

[Hermes]

Yes, any bright colored car is. Just drive within the law and join BMW CCA and/or SCCA so you can participate in some controlled track/autocross events. Personally I have been lucky enough not to get in too much trouble with mine, a speeding ticket but I was late to work; not just being an idiot on the freeway.

[kayger12]

Ok-- I can debunk this one (to a point).

I've been a cop for 18 years.

I've stopped literally thousands of cars and written thousands of tickets.

I have never.... ever... looked at the color of the car and factored that into my stop/not stop decision.

I'm not saying there aren't cops that do-- I'm just saying that this topic has come up more than a few times in my career in discussions with colleagues and everyone that I've worked with or talked to thinks that the concept is ludicrous.

[Hermes]

Keith, I do appreciate your point of view but I guess I should expand on my post. From my experience I have seen not only myself but friends get picked out, not picked on, over the years for having more 'visible' cars. The last speeding ticket I got I was running late to work and doing maybe 75/80 on the freeway. I passed a black 135 who was doing about 70 (not trying to race him) and he decided that I must have been. He proceeded to jump to near 90 and sped right by me and a California Highway Patrol who was just getting on the freeway, but the CHP must not have seen him and decided to stop me because he seemed to notice my car. He wrote me the ticket for 75 and let me get going to work (which I ended up being late for). This all happened about 2 months ago.

Like I said, I have no doubt that police/highway patrol do not single out cars as a general principle but having a bright colored car catches the eye. They might not be looking at you to give you a ticket, but when you're doing something wrong you are that much easier to notice.

[SoarinZHP]

It's not what you drive it's how you drive it.... I got my Imola ZHP in May. The biggest thing I notice is all the police staring me down (in the neighborhood) as I drive by. The interstate police and the city police don't seem to look twice.

I leave for work around 3:50am. If I see a cop along the way out of the neighborhood, they usually follow me to the highway. It's total crap. One day, I am going to pull over to the side of the road - and no doubt, the cop will follow. I will ask him to turn on his camera and microphone and proceed to ask him why he follows me out of my residence because I take it as intimidation.

[M0nk3y]

Ok-- I can debunk this one (to a point).

I've been a cop for 18 years.

I've stopped literally thousands of cars and written thousands of tickets.

I have never.... ever... looked at the color of the car and factored that into my stop/not stop decision.

I'm not saying there aren't cops that do-- I'm just saying that this topic has come up more than a few times in my career in discussions with colleagues and everyone that I've worked with or talked to thinks that the concept is ludicrous.

If you have a choice to shoot LIDAR at 2 cars...your eye will naturally attract to the brighter one that stands out more...its just like that.

Anyways...when I had my E46, I've had a cop do a 180* on a road and proceed to get on my tail fast and continue to follow me through their city. Never pulled me over.

When I got a ticket for no plate...I was sitting 4 cars back at an intersection. Cop was traveling perpendicular to me and just happened to spot no plate on my car...that was 4 cars back and sitting at a red light. He slammed on the brakes...waited for the light on my road to turn green...and he turned around and pulled me over.

I'm sorry...but the stipulation of car color is clear in my book. No odd stories of the new car except when cops clearly LIDAR my car when I'm in the far right lane....they want to get me

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[yura]

A brightly coloured car will stand out more and attract more attention, but that's about it. I haven't had any "additional" police attention since getting the IR ZHP.

[kayger12]

So here's some actual data to chew on.

I just looked at the last 1K tickets issued by my agency.

Two most common colored cars issued tickets: Black and white

Red was third (and not by a close margin).

Black was the most, btw-- which would seem to discount the, "your eye goes to the brightest color" theory, as black (ironically) is the absence of color.

Feel free to draw your own conclusions.

Just adding some actual data to the discussion.

[M0nk3y]

So here's some actual data to chew on.

I just looked at the last 1K tickets issued by my agency.

Two most common colored cars issued tickets: Black and white

Red was third (and not by a close margin).

Black was the most, btw-- which would seem to discount the, "your eye goes to the brightest color" theory, as black (ironically) is the absence of color.

Feel free to draw your own conclusions.

Just adding some actual data to the discussion.

Is this radar or LIDAR hits...or both?

Not trying to say youre wrong here...but it matters if a cop is sitting running Radar and the driver basically writes their own ticket...or if car white, black and red are travelling at same speed (speeding) which car gets the LIDAR gun

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[Hermes]

I agree actual data makes a difference but if that's gonna come into the mix we need to know the proportion of cars produced per color (not just BMW). I would have to say red BMW's (all shades) are fairly rare compared to the majority of alpine white's I see around San Diego. I would actually say that shades of blue and silver come next, then black.

[kayger12]

All kinds of tickets, not just speeding.

We use radar, not Lidar, but our radar is multi-lane and able to track two targets in each direction-- so you definitely have a choice which car to grab.

And by all means, good discussion here-- no argument implied or felt.

Kyle-- It would be interesting for someone to do a study on this.

And again, the data I have is for one agency in NJ (there are over 500 PDs in the Dirty Jerz).

Cops and enforcement are very different in different parts of the country, so what applies here (even if I were right, which I might not be) won't necessarily apply elsewhere.

[Johnny330zhp]

Well I would be lying if I said I'm not surprised. I mean yea as your growing up you always hear red sports cars are the most pulled over and mostly I just think in my head blah blah if ur doing something wrong you will get pulled over no matter what car or color u have, But reading that people are getting followed and what not does kinda surprise me. Ill tell you why, now what I'm about to say might come off cocky or big headed and thats not my angle here but I believe you guys will understand my pitch. If your a bmw owner it says a few things about you. you have style and class vs having a daewoo (not that I have anything against that car maker) but it also says u have money. and besides speeding if a cop is following you through cites I don't think it has anything to do with your speed. more or less if your doing anything shady now I'm not saying people with style money and class don't break the law but if I were a cop and I was in a small town for city bmws prob wouldn't be cars I would follow as much as other cars that u see on a daily basis. Now I could be wrong but what comes to mind when I hear about a cop following someone is that they are running there plates to see if insurance and registration are up to date and again not to sound cocky or big headed but I mean don't you think someone who can afford a bmw would be able to afford insurance and what not I mean come on lol so thats just my thoughts on it, hope I didn't offend anyone

[cakM3]

I will say that having an Imola Red car will stick out just as much as a Dakar Yellow one does. I don't think it's not so much as the car itself but how the driver is driving the car. Silver cars tend to blend in with traffic but will also stick out if the driver is driving the car aggressively. With that said, I think it comes down to how the car is being driven. Yes, a bright car will catch the officer's attention but so will a nicely modded car... or someone driving like a jerk :)

It comes down to how you are driving that car in my opinion. :thumbsup

[cakM3]

...
Cops and enforcement are very different in different parts of the country, so what applies here (even if I were right, which I might not be) won't necessarily apply elsewhere.

Very true Keith...

Oh, one thing to add for the record...

I have never been pulled over in my Imola ZHP, however in my TiAg ///M I was literally harassed by a statie one very foggy morning last summer when I was slowly driving around a corner from my apartment complex. I was not doing anything stupid or "goosing" the ///M... just driving cautiously due to the reduced visibility from the fog. I had my headlights on (low beams) and my fogs on, did a full stop and looked in all directions prior to pulling my car onto the road where the police officer was handing out at. I saw the police officer's car and drove cautiously past him when he drove out behind me and followed me. He then turned on his lights and pulled me over for no apparent reason and then began to ask me invasive questions after stating to me that my license plate covers and window tints were illegal.

Long story short, I called my friend, who is a local police officer here in town and he took care of this incident for me. I no longer get bothered by that police officer.

My ///M gets called in at an average of 6 times/month, which I find amusing. Just wanted to share this experience with everyone...

[brettbimmer]

FWIW, been driving on the road for 14 years. Only tickets (knock on wood) have been in Jeep Wrangler (White), Jeep Cherokee (Forest Green), and most recently in a rented Kia Sportage (Medium Green). Have had a Brilliant Red E30 in the past, which I replaced with the IR ZHP three years ago. Also, Boston Green E36 been with me full time with the red cars. No tickets in the cars, and living in a rural area, I do drive alot!

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[az3579]

I will say that having an Imola Red car will stick out just as much as a Dakar Yellow one does. I don't think it's not so much as the car itself but how the driver is driving the car. Silver cars tend to blend in with traffic but will also stick out if the driver is driving the car aggressively. With that said, I think it comes down to how the car is being driven. Yes, a bright car will catch the officer's attention but so will a nicely modded car... or someone driving like a jerk :)

It comes down to how you are driving that car in my opinion. :thumbsup

This, times 1000000.
In my opinion, if someone feels they are more likely to be harassed because they have a red car, that means that driver has a guilty conscience. Worried about getting pulled over for no front plate? Get a front plate. Worried about getting pulled over for doing 75 when the person next to you is doing 90? Then don't do 75, because you know 75 isn't the speed limit. That simple.

If you're not worried, then what does it matter? lol
This is entirely the reason I refuse to go above 70 indicated when the speed limit is 65. 70 indicated is about 67 in reality, and no cop will pull anyone over (that I've seen) for doing 2 over the limit unless it's in a reckless way, which is not how I drive.

[Meric]

It's not just the colour here.

Police just hates everyone who drives an BMW.. :/

[kayger12]

It's not just the colour here.

Police just hates everyone who drives an BMW.. :/

Thank goodness I'll be driving to Cold Lake in a cheap-ass rental car. :biggrin

[Ryans323i]

I'm not Imola but I am bright red with stripes and tinted windows. I've been pulled 3 times since the new paintjob and every time I was speeding, nearly excessively. I've been paced nearly a dozen times though. (Where an officer gets fairly close to your rear and stays there for a couple minutes, most likely running the plate is my guess.) But the LEO eventually pulls around and drives off. I drive my car to pick up and drop of my daughter at school, and make damn sure I never speed, or disobey any traffic laws in Town. Local PD knows my car and no longer gives it a second glance.

My thoughts are LEOs are trained to observe and react to the unusual, whether that's a car weaving in and out of traffic, a vehicle traveling much faster than the cars around it, etc. My car is abnormal, but if not seen doing anything illegal I feel (since I've never been unnecessarily harassed) I'm not picked on anymore than a blue Toyota Camry.

[Meric]

Thank goodness I'll be driving to Cold Lake in a cheap-ass rental car. :biggrin

Make sure its japanese car.
Or Cadillac... :D

[kayger12]

For a ride in a CF-18, I'd ride a unicycle there if I had to. :keith

[johnrando]

Keith, really appreciate your insights here, especially cuz I drive a black car. I definitely consider color, how I'm driving, etc, especially when heading up I-5 to Norcal. When I say color, I watch the oncoming traffic on the interstate to scan for LEO and to see what I would pick up if I was LEO. Not that I'm driving crazy, but 15 mph over could get one a ticket so I pay attention. It's usually white and brighter cars that stick out to me, so it's surprising that black is one of the higher ticketed "colors". In fact, in my observations, black car can blend in so much so that one of the main reasons I got angel eyes is for DRLs (to save my xenons). So, in conclusion, we can't draw conclusions from color and tickets I guess.

PS About 15 years ago, in my white 280Z, I was pulled over by a CHP which I didn't see (I'm better at that now). I was going just beyond "the flow of traffic", but also weaving my way through, using signals, etc, but working it. The CHP said that I would have been OK but for the "weaving". I called attention to myself. I haven't gotten a speeding ticket since.

[M0nk3y]

Only time I got a ticket was when I was driving my boss's Gold-ish Chrysler Sebring.....22 over :/

Long story attached to that one, invloving being up for 23 hours and working. Never had a ticket in any of my BMWs. I call that a success.

[kayger12]

Keith, really appreciate your insights here, especially cuz I drive a black car. I definitely consider color, how I'm driving, etc, especially when heading up I-5 to Norcal. When I say color, I watch the oncoming traffic on the interstate to scan for LEO and to see what I would pick up if I was LEO. Not that I'm driving crazy, but 15 mph over could get one a ticket so I pay attention. It's usually white and brighter cars that stick out to me, so it's surprising that black is one of the higher ticketed "colors". In fact, in my observations, black car can blend in so much so that one of the main reasons I got angel eyes is for DRLs (to save my xenons).

That's pretty funny, John- when I had my Jet Black 325i, I got AEs for the same reason- visibility so I didn't need the xenons on all of the time.

In the ZHP, I stick with the DRLs.


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[johnrando]

That's pretty funny, John- when I had my Jet Black 325i, I got AEs for the same reason- visibility so I didn't need the xenons on all of the time.

In the ZHP, I stick with the DRLs.


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Only because you won't bake your lights, lol. (Which, BTW, I'm still fully with you on that). I'm just glad I knew someone to do mine and I was still apprehensive. :)

[kayger12]

Only because you won't bake your lights, lol. (Which, BTW, I'm still fully with you on that). I'm just glad I knew someone to do mine and I was still apprehensive. :)

Lol- you're 100% right on that!

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[johnrando]

Lol- you're 100% right on that!

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:rofl

[edlvrt]

I haven't received any unwanted attention from LEO yet.

"I love my ZHP 'cause she's got style.
I'm a treetop flyer."

[zhpnsnv]

I think "red cars get more attention" is just something that is said and passed down as "common knowledge" that is not really supported in any way, shape or form. It's one of those "yep, that makes sense, so it must be true" sort of things. I have no data to support it or refute it other than lots of miles in red cars (brilliant, chili, imola) and very few instances of being pulled over. I can't believe I just typed that - I'll probably be pulled over today.

mb