Vehicle Profiling?

What do you drive? Is it an indicator of how you can potentially drive? Does it stand out from the crowd? Is it a unique, eye catching color that draws attention? Is it sporty or agile?

What if it was unassuming. What if it is a popular car for modifiers, but unmodified for street use? What if it's a stock car with an abnormal paint color?

Confusing?

I am guilty. Before I go any further, I am guilty for the offense of Improper Lane Change while driving. Its $150 for the fine. I admit it. I am guilty because I did do it. I can't deny it, the cops saw me do it and certainly everyone around me saw me do it.

While I was stopped along the side of the road, I noticed the cop looking up and checking on the other cars as they passed. The correlation of head turning and possible perpetrator vehicle was uncanny, almost as if he were looking especially hard for the "import tuner" style cars, both modified and unmodified.

My Neon is a stock SXT model. Stock wheels, tires, body kit, you name it. The only thing it has is a K&N air filter. I was wearing at the time my Cubs hat backwards and the stereo blasting really really loud (stock Daimler Chrysler stereo).

Now, again, I don't deny I was breaking the law, but is it right for the police to look for these cars and keep a closer eye on them more than the rest of the cars? What about the car that was in front of me that I was trying (in a pathetic and illegal sort of way) to tell that they were driving way to damn slow in the fast lane? It was a Honda Civic.

Maybe its the sort of thing that gets me irritated that the people who cause us to drive the way we do get away with the smug satisfaction that their irritating driving caused someone else to get a ticket for their own bad habit (albeit the ticket recipient was also in the wrong).

I used to get paranoid driving the Mustang that I would get pulled over for no apparent reason. It was bright red, fast and sleek -- a real head turner. Now, my paranoia is to my own little tiny sedan. Agile and nimble as it is, its got a bad rap on the streets, all with its wild paint scheme and stock appearance.

It just struck me as strange.