State trooper pulled me over the other day. Guess why!

[supermarket]

i vape while driving and have been pulled over. I consider it an opportunity to educate officers on something they have little knowledge about. After the second time being pulled over i gave a short 30 minute class to the local dept on what an e cig is and what the "other" devices look like. I have not been pulled over since.

Yea, I suggested in another thread that it might be extremely beneficial for members of this board to come up with a information flyer, and distribute them in person to the local police departments.

 

[Ragenowski]

I pretty much don't vape anywhere where smoking isn't allowed....Not because I'm scared, I just don't feel like explaining to people the whole "This isn't smoke, it's water vapor" thing. The one exception to that is that I will vape in my office but even when I do that I do it as if I were smoking an analog somewhere where I wasn't supposed to be smoking.....I almost always blow the vapor down towards to floor even though the other 4 or 5 people in my little office are OK with the vaping, just don't want to ruffle any feathers and of course if the job says "no more vaping indoors" then I've gotta follow that or risk losing my job.

 

[SpinDr480]

Unless you were driving in BFE, I'm pretty sure most law enforcement in the states have seen or heard of these devices. They see all kinds of crazy each day, and just by the number of vapers I have seen in the wild I can't imagine an officer hasn't either. Your story sounds like a case of an officer that had some hurt pride after he pulled you over and realized he was wrong. So instead of doing the gracious thing of admitting it was a misunderstanding, he tried to find something else wrong like the DUI test.

In any event, I don't know who is giving advice to not vaping and driving. Driving is the best time to vape, it keeps me occupied and I don't have to roll down my windows and my car smells like amazing aftervape. Other than being late for something, I would be amused if an officer pulled me over thinking I was doing something wrong.

 

[soba1]

I don't know what state or city you are in. Here in LA I was stopped at a traffic light right next to an officer; vaping proudly with
my svd. They didn't give it a second thought. Here I'm sure they know what that is, and by now where you are too. I do think police agencies share info. Also he didn't smell anything that warranted that.
He must have been having a bad day, hey they are human too

 

[patkin]

Some ANTZ wear uniforms.

 

[2coils]

I am not worried or deterred by the police when it comes to vaping. I drive around with all of my gear and have nothing that even comes close to resembling an ego. I have nothing to hide, I am not doing anything wrong. I have pulled up to traffic lights across from police while using my APV and have never had a problem. I think the more you try to hide it the more suspicious you look. Just go about your business.

 

[Baditude]

classwife you changed your avy! It was sooo pretty and peaceful.. i will miss the lady with the hat contemplating

I agree. The lady dressed in all black had an authoritarian and somewhat mysterious look to her. Perfect for an ECF moderator.

 

[VapinWolf]

Here is the problem as I see it. I ran into a former coworker a couple weeks ago. Surprise he was vaping! We talked a min or two then he started bragging on how his son was taking "a plant classwife would have to edit" and extracting "a substance that would need editing as well". He was mixing it with a PG/VG base and selling it at the local flea market...

There are cities trying to classify our equipment paraphernalia. I am sad to say I understand why.

 

[skyztheLynnit]

Sometimes .. a beautiful thing of nature.. is just a beautiful thing of nature... nothing more.

 

[Baditude]

My ex-wife, a police officer and re-married to another cop, and I recently co-sponsored a cookout party-in-the-park for my daughter's 18th birthday and HS graduation.

I brought all of my mods and had them laid out on a table for any smokers to try out and give them an incentive to make the switch to vaping. My ex's husband made a snide remark that my "water pipes" looked like illegal devices.

I explained to him exactly what they were and how they worked. They are just more advanced e-cigarettes. I told him being a police officer that he would be seeing more people using these and that officers should not un-necessarily hassle people using them. I even offered to give his police station an inservice on them.

 

[Vwls]

Threads like these make me nervous. In my former life as a smoker, the car was one of the main places I indulged... and I'd like very much to have an e-cig in there. But at the same time, I'm not wanting to take on the education of the Phoenix police force. Just in case, until I get a feel for what it will be like in my area, I have printed out of few of these and placed them in my car's glove compartment: CASAA Printable Material.

 

[StereoDreamer]

I vape openly all the time--on foot, in my car, whatever.

I live in the People's Republic of Maryland, where police abuse of civil rights is so bad that the City of Baltimore actually has a budget line item every year for Federal Civil Rights lawsuit settlement payouts. Violations of procedure, and of civil rights isn't a "problem" in the urban counties of MD--it's a calculated, intentional, fundamental part of how the system works, and they actually make financial provisions for when they get caught (rather than just telling the cops here to NOT be thugs...)

I've never been harassed by an LEO. Maybe I've been lucky. Then again, maybe it's because I'm over 40 and drive a purple HRR with pro-gun stickers on the back--they probably figure I know my rights and have a good lawyer on speed-dial, and so don't treat me like an "easy mark". I notice most of the people being harassed for vaping while driving are 20-something men and young women--which are the preferred target group for predatory thuggish cops...

If you are not driving erratically, or have defective equipment, the mere presence of an e-cig should not constitute "probably cause" under Terry vs. Ohio. Without clear evidence of a crime, there is no legal, legitimate reason to pull you over.

PVs are common enough these days that their mere presence does NOT even meet the requirements for "reasonable suspicion" let alone "probable cause".

I would send the Chief of police in your jurisdiction a PR package from CASAA, via certified mail, with a letter from a lawyer letting them know you are putting them on notice to update their training and procedures, and future harassment will be considered a knowing violation of your civil rights on their part, and will result in legal action under 42 USC § 1983, 1985, and 1986...

42 USC § 1983 - Civil action for deprivation of rights | Title 42 - The Public Health and Welfare | U.S. Code | LII / Legal Information Institute
42 USC § 1985 - Conspiracy to interfere with civil rights | Title 42 - The Public Health and Welfare | U.S. Code | LII / Legal Information Institute
42 USC § 1986 - Action for neglect to prevent | Title 42 - The Public Health and Welfare | U.S. Code | LII / Legal Information Institute

We need to stop playing nicey-nice with these thuggish LEOs. We need to stop making excuses for their illegal behavior. We need to stop trading our dignity, freedom and the Rule of Law for the false promise of "protection" and "safety". Because when we trade our freedom for safety, we end up getting neither.

Pay a lawyer $50 to draft a letter for you and send it to them with CASAA packet certified mail. If your local police want to act like thugs and bullies, you need to let them know that YOU are not the person they want to pick on in the future. And your action may actually save someone's life--the next person they pull over may be a young woman, or someone they say "looked like they had a gun" when they are holding a box mod, and the end result might be a LOT worse than being late for work...

 

[Irishred]

Unless you were driving in BFE, I'm pretty sure most law enforcement in the states have seen or heard of these devices. They see all kinds of crazy each day, and just by the number of vapers I have seen in the wild I can't imagine an officer hasn't either. Your story sounds like a case of an officer that had some hurt pride after he pulled you over and realized he was wrong. So instead of doing the gracious thing of admitting it was a misunderstanding, he tried to find something else wrong like the DUI test.

In any event, I don't know who is giving advice to not vaping and driving. Driving is the best time to vape, it keeps me occupied and I don't have to roll down my windows and my car smells like amazing aftervape. Other than being late for something, I would be amused if an officer pulled me over thinking I was doing something wrong.

Exactly! I was very respectful til he insisted on the DUI test. I told him that I was going to be late for work. After I passed the damn test, he should have let me go. For him to say I had an attitude just because I questioned why the test is outrageous! Why he waited toward the end to let me know the real reason he pulled me over? I don't know. I decided since I was late anyway to just do whatever he asked.

 

[Karl_Cro]

There's not much you can do about it, vaping will grow if left alone as so many people hate being addicted nicotine through tobacco.

 

[317Vapers]

tinted windows enough said. I dont like wearing seatbelts and they cant see me!

 

[Happy2beMe]

Great story. Sorry the trooper had to such a jerk. here in south Florida, most people don't pay much attention to vaping. If I'm at a light or driving next to a cop, I vape boldly in front of them. Walking in a mall I'll take a nice big vape while passing by the security dweeb. The more we just be boldly open with it, the less people care about it. Most of the reactions I get are simple curiosity. When that happens, I simply feed them with calm educated info so they don't go into an ignorant freak-out.

You should've taken a nice big vape as he was walking up the side of your car, LOL.

 

[Racehorse]

I called my lawyer the next day and he said that if that state trooper genuinely thought I was doing something wrong, he had every right to pulled me over.

I swerved a little tiny bit a few months ago when visiting a strange town on a rainy dark foggy night. It was late and there weren't any other cars on the road. I got pulled by an officer, wanting to make sure I wasn't drinking. Can't blame him at all, really. He was trying to protect me as well as others on the road.

I had my ego twist in my cup holder in full sight, no problems at all. I do keep vape business cards and CASAA literature in my glove compartment though, just in case.

 

[StereoDreamer]

I had my ego twist in my cup holder in full sight, no problems at all. I do keep vape business cards and CASAA literature in my glove compartment though, just in case.

Because reaching into your glove box when confronted with an overzealous, twitchy LEO at night is SUCH a good idea... ;-)

Keep the cards in your wallet, or with your registration and insurance, so the cop won't think you're reaching for a gun or some other excuse to get REALLY nasty with you...

 

[Myrany]

I live in a very small town. I have never seen another vaper in the wild. The one time I took my vamo out of the house I got pulled over. The officer was very nice. I explained what it was. He tested my juice using the little kit they carry here. He sent me on my way with a gratz on quitting smoking. No he had never seen anything bigger than a cigalike before.

Now I just take my little volt out with me and leave the vamo at home. Not that it was a horrible experience with the cop but more that I rarely have the half an hour that all took to spare.

 

[Irishred]

I can't wait to tell all the police officers and sheriff's deputies I know this story. Many of them vape. I'm pretty sure most of them will agree that the state trooper was an AH.

I was at a minor hit and run the other day and was talking to two policemen and vaping at the same time on my Vamo. I asked them if they were familar with vaping and they laughed and said yes. When I told them the concerns of some here on ECF regarding vaping and the police, they said, unfortunately there are a few ignorant police officers in every force.

After you tell them, would you be so kind to let me know what they said?