I just thought it was weird how they always looked at my face before deciding to pull me over.

I feel certain this has never happened to me.

but this time the officer had me get in his car (why do they do that, and why only sometimes?)

This has never happened to me, and I would be extremely wary of an officer who asked me to do that. I can't think of any reason for them to do that unless they're arresting you.

I had to get into the back of a police car once. He stopped me for speeding (I was going the same speed as everyone else) and he wanted to check the color of my eyes. He then told me that my license was incorrect--it said I had green eyes and he told me my eyes were blue-green. He asked who was with me in the car I was driving.

The only good thing is he didn't give me a ticket.

I generally have the registration and my license out already by the time he gets to the car. Never had an officer tell me to put my hands on the wheel. All I've ever been pulled over for was no turn signal, an expired medical waiver, or expired plates. I don't speed enough to be noticed in Utah.

I've been in the back of a police car before! I got in an accident and my car was not driveable and the police officer who came stayed until the tow truck came and drove me home in the back of the squad car. Really all I recall is the bars on the windows and the very small amount of leg room (it was 20 years ago), but it was nice of him to stay since this was before cell phones and I was in a new city and didn't really have anyone I could have called. I haven't really driven since, but the two times I was in the car when mr. flea got pulled over he had clearly done something wrong, most recently running a red light in heavy urban traffic. But we don't drive a lot, and our long-distance car trips tend to mean a late-model Toyota with a white family of four. We have Nice White Family syndrome.

ugh, Liese, that's super creepy!

Tommy, it should be "Outlook saved a draft for you." Or what you said, basically.

Oh yeah, a police officer gave me a ride home in the back of a squad car after I had my bike accident and my bike was too damaged to ride.

I've been in the back of a police car before! I got in an accident and my car was not driveable and the police officer who came stayed until the tow truck came and drove me home in the back of the squad car.

This happened to me too. In the rain, and I urgently had to go to the bathroom, so I "made" the police officer take me to a bathroom.

I have never been looked at or told to keep my hands anywhere.

We got pulled over in the UK this summer, while Bob was driving, for speeding. The cop basically asked us how we'd feel if he came over to our country and speeded and asked what a cop in the US would have done if Bob had been caught going whatever above the speed limit was that he was doing. Bob said "a warning" and I said "a Very Stern warning." Fortunately, I didn't get us in deeper trouble for smart assery and we were let go with a warning.

Our friend we were traveling with was approached by a plains clothes cop while she was stopped getting money from an ATM and he told her she fit the description of a person reported to have been possibly drunk driving. She had to hang out until a uniformed cop arrived with a breathalyzer. She was 100% sober, thank goodness, and they determined she was just "driving while American" and let her go with a warning. In truth, she's a somewhat terrible driver here too!

Huh. I think I've told this story before, but I was stopped on suspicion of drunk driving, and I failed the sobriety test. I was about to be arrested when I told the cop I hadn't been drinking at all. She smelled my breath and then believed me. She told me, "That is absolutely the worst performance of a sobriety test by a sober person I've ever seen."

I just have a shitty sense of balance.

The only odd encounter I had didn't involve having to get out of the car or anything like that, but I was kept waiting 45 minutes on the side of the road at 2:30 in the morning after running a stop sign. I purposely ran that sign because I was following DH and he ran it. His license was suspended so I sacrificed myself. (last time!!)

The officer came back a couple times and said he was waiting on his computer or some such. Then after the crazy long wait he comes back and gives me a warning and apology. That same day a Laura Holt had escaped from prison and he was waiting on a photograph or physical description. Seriously, if I had escaped from prison I wouldn't have used my real license.