Dark Was the Night and His Intentions

I was heading through the desert from San Diego to Phoenix in a BMW 335i Convertible one cool Sunday evening. I had stopped in Gila Bend, AZ, for a shot of coffee before running the last leg into Phoenix. As I merged on to 85 northbound I had a full-blast signal from the rear courtesy of AZ’s Finest.

I held the posted limit as the cruiser paced me and ran my plate, all the while with V1 showing max signal from my concealed display in the ashtray. The cruiser then passed me at full honk and vanished into the desert night. I maintained the speed limit and V1 maintained a weak beep.

But soon that signal stopped weakening and began to grow insistent again, the front arrow still bright down low in the cockpit. LEO had doubled back through the median, and was now shooting me from the southbound side. I thought it was over at this point but, feeling lucky I guess, he actually doubled back once more, approaching stealthily from behind, giving the rear arrow a workout this time.

Had it not been for V1, his persistence would have finally have bagged me. But it takes more than a couple of Ueys to fool V1.

Perry Payne
Imperial Beach, CA