I ruined one of the world’s greatest drives with an embarrassing mistake

The lights were flashing in the rearview mirror, as they had done for a good few kilometres. I turned to my wife in the passenger seat and said: “Do you think he’s forgotten to turn them off?”

Utah’s Highway 12 is one of the most spectacular drives on the planet. It passes through strikingly stark, epic landscapes, combining desert colours and mountain contours. It’s very easy to get wrapped up in the scenery, tootling along in awe and not paying all that much attention to the police car behind you.

The carefree joy of life on the open road, it seems, can lead to a series of poor decisions. The first was assuming the police car might just be warning of something coming up behind. Or chasing a criminal. Or just testing the lights.

It took a good 10 minutes before I realised those relentlessly flashing lights were for my attention, and that I’d probably been a bit of a naughty boy. Eventually, I pulled over, and the traffic cop came walking towards our car.

Being pulled over by the police for the first time is a strange experience. There’s a whole routine of etiquette to go through, and the inexperienced don’t know all the steps in the dance. This is particularly the case when you’re pulled over by the police outside your own country.

Anyway, it turns out that the one thing you definitely don’t do when approached by an American policeman is try to open the car door so you can get out for an amiable chat.

“STAY WHERE YOU ARE, AND DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR, SIR” my new friend shouted. It was at this point that I remembered that American cops routinely carry guns, tasers and – probably – intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Chastised, and firmly seated, I lowered the window. The officer, showing an admirable lack of exasperation, asked the time-honoured question. “Do you know how fast you were going, sir?”