Tulsa Police are cracking down on aggressive drivers

Tulsa Police are going incognito as a way to sneak up on drivers who are speeding, tailgating and switching in and out of lanes, in short, the drivers who cause most accidents. <br/><br/>News on 6 crime

Tuesday, August 31st 2004, 10:31 am

By: News On 6

Tulsa Police are going incognito as a way to sneak up on drivers who are speeding, tailgating and switching in and out of lanes, in short, the drivers who cause most accidents.

News on 6 crime reporter Lori Fullbright shows off their newest weapon. That weapon is affectionately called â€˜White Lightningâ€™, it's Tulsa's first ever completely unmarked police car used for traffic enforcement.

The department has about 20 slick tops, squad cars that are marked in every way except no light bars on top, but this one, has no markings at all. â€œThe speed limit on Riverside is 40 and I clocked you going 57." Sergeant Rick Bondy works traffic and sees plenty of bad driving, so, it was his idea to use a car that looks like plenty of other cars on the road. No markings on the side, no bevy of antennas in the back, no light bar on top, all the better to catch us.

It's hard to use traditional methods. We can't sit on the side of the road and get people speeding and weaving in and out of traffic. You have to be out there." Aggressive driving is on the rise, more people on the roads, everybody rushing, manners and rules out the window. Those are the drivers that are most likely to get into accidents or cause others too.

But there's a downside to this car, too. For sometime, women have been cautious about pulling over for unmarked vehicles. When you see the lights, go ahead and pull over. You can even keep your window rolled up until you know you're safe and you'll know that when a uniformed officer walks up to the door.

In addition to the law requiring the officer be in uniform, the law says unmarked cars used for traffic stops must have three red and blue flashing lights and two white flashing lights in front along with flashing red and blue lights on the corners and at least one red and blue flashing light in the rear. From your rear-view mirror, the front of the unmarked car looks just like the marked cars that don't have light bars.

Tulsa Police only has one of these unmarked traffic cars right now as a test case.

If someone tries to pull you over with just one light on the dashboard or is not wearing a uniform, you can call 911 and request a real officer come to your location. If you don't have a cell phone, acknowledge them, don't speed up and drive to the first well-lit, well populated area, then stop.

As drivers get sneakier, Tulsa Police say they must respond with a little sneakiness of their own.