DRIVING TIP: ‘If you see a motorcade with police cars, black SUVs and guys with sunglasses talking into their cuffs, don’t try to cut it off.’
06 November 2008 4:33 pm by Taylor Marsh
BY TAYLOR MARSH
The president-elect traveling on the streets means new
things show up on a typical day of driving. Like when you see a motorcade
guided by police cars with black SUVs following, which have guys in shades watching
all angles, while holding weaponry never seen before by the average citizen.
From the pool
report:
Obama left his house at 11:27 am, and heading to a security briefing at the
FBI building (Chicago division). The motorcade drove along Lakeshore Drive,
and past Grant Park (where there were scores of construction workers still
tearing down the scaffolding and staging from Tuesday night’s rally.
Some of the drivers here in Chicago do not seem to understand that a) the
Chicago police car at the end of the president-elect’s motorcade is serious
about having traffic pull over when the officers flash their lights and hit
their sirens, and b) it’s not a great idea to jump ahead of traffic by trying
to cut around the black SUV filled with five heavily-armed secret service
CAT members. When the motorcade pulled onto Van Buren, an African-American
couple driving a tan sedan tried to drive around the motorcade. The SUV cut
the car off immediately, and the security team aimed their weapons at the
car. The driver and passenger in the sedan stopped, and looked stunned —
until the male driver appeared to understand what was happening (your pool
reporter could see him mouth “Obama”). The motorcade continued on.
The sedan remained stopped, near the side of the road.
