Avoiding a Speeding Ticket

[ZuperZport]

My buddy got snagged on the highway yesterday by a state trooper in an unmarked white Tahoe. Long story short he drove away WITHOUT a ticket even though the trooper said he was going 68 in a 55.

He and I had a long discussion on what "to do" and what "not to do" when in the "I am getting pulled over situation".

We had both read this short paperback book some time ago entitled “How to Avoid a Speeding Ticket” and referenced back to what we learned from it.

Here is what we discussed:

What he did right to avoid a trip to court:

- After seeing the Tahoe come up hard behind him and hitting the lights/strobes, he gently let off the gas, no dynamiting the brakes here (only upsets the officer).

- At the same time he waved into his rearview mirror basically politely saying "I see you" and "I will oblige and carefully pull over". (Think of how the NASCAR guys wave to let guys behind them know they are going to pit road). If it is at night, turn on your interior light and leave it on.

- From there he placed his turn signal on and carefully moved out of the left lane towards the right shoulder. (Always go for the right side shoulder – going into the left side or median is very dangerous for both you and the officer)



- As he made his way onto the shoulder he looked for the best possible place to pull over where his vehicle would be as far right as possible. This way when the officer pulls up behind you he can have a better safety zone as he will slightly be to the left of you car, thus protecting him from a sideswipe by a passing car/truck

- From there he put the car in park, rolled all his windows down, shut off the engine and placed his hands at “10 o’clock & 2 o’clock” on the steering wheel. Also he remained still, not fidgeting through interior looking for his “papers”. What you have here is the officer can see you clearly with the windows down (also rolls down any illegally tinted windows you may have), the officer has peace of mind you will not take off since the motor is off, and he can see you hands clearly. No need to move around interior looking for license or registration as the officer may think you are stashing something or pulling a weapon, etc.

- Now as the officer walks up it is “show time”. This is the defining time to either talk you way into or out of a ticket. Usually the officer will ask for your license and registration and insurance card. Explain to the officer that your license is in you pocket and ASK him if you can retrieve it for him. He will appreciate you asking him first. Same goes for any papers in the glove box. Ask him first if you can retrieve the documents from the glove box, then after you open and get the papers, leave the glove box open. This way he knows you are not hiding anything in there.

- From here you may want to boost his ego a little. Maybe say “I apologize for wasting your time on me today”. Not necessary to say, but it shows your respect for what he/she does.

- Now comes the question: “Do you know why I pulled you over?” or “Do you know how fast you were going?”. Never a good idea to flat out deny speeding when you know you were 10 plus over the limit. My pal told the officer he believed he was going 60-62 or so. The officer said he clocked him at 68 mph. When the officer asks “Do you know what the speed limit here is?”, always try and respond with the correct answer even if you know you were over the limit. It shows the officer you are paying attention to posted signs. Chances are…..repeat,… chances are, he may make up his mind right there to give you a break, whether it be a verbal or written warning or at the least a reduced mph in the written ticket.

While you do not want to beg yourself out of the ticket the time you have between handing your license over to the officer and when he walks back to the squad car is going to be the x-factor in whether or not you will drive away unscathed. If you combine these pre-pullover suggestions with what to do after getting stopped you may very well increase your chances of driving away with your smile intact.

I am sure some of our fellow pro-touring board members can add some tips and pointers here, maybe even some law enforcement officials too. There are plenty of other things that can be done that we have overlooked or not covered so your feedback will assist anyone here. Picking up one of those little paperback handbooks helps too.

Happy pro-motoring!


Added a little "Poll" at the end here just to see how the driving records of our Pro-Touring members are doing..........just for fun.

[Damn True]

“Do you know why I pulled you over?” or “Do you know how fast you were going?”.

You're the one with the gun, you tell me.

Kidding.

Good information.

Haven't had a moving violation in over 20 years (knock wood). I chalk it up to good situational awareness and not distracting myself with tasks other than driving while driving. I certainly don't drive slowly but I don't speed excessively either and I use a European lane discipline almost exclusively and use my cruise control a lot to prevent inconsistent speed.

[Ishmael]

Got two tickets yesterday at one time. The young guy was out again today in a black charger. Here they'll almost always let you off with a lower ticket but this is their way to get off traffic duty and moved up. I spoke with a retired cop and he said its an unwritten rule for young guys. I'll be fighting it. He said the speed limit was posted on the ticket but I drove the same section over again and couldn't find one sign. I've been courteous every time and only ever been able to talk myself down to a lesser fine. Around here it never happens in the winter - only in the summer, its always a young cop and its always a young guy getting wheeled. Oh, when I was wheeled a sport bike went by with no plates, just a racing number. The cop gave it a passing glance.

[RodDawg]

Got a ticket Sunday coming back from "A Day at the Strip" trying to imitate Steve Rupp in the wife's Denali...lol...on US41 in Indiana. Was going 72 in a 60 (officer dropped it to an even 70). He was in the black mustang from transformers (sure looked like it anyways).

[1badchevelle]

This is good information. I guess my usual response of "you thought I had donuts" is what gets me in trouble.

[Gearhead Dude]

Good info. I learned a version of the same while attending a "Defensive Driving" class, where they also suggested we turn our flashers on after we stopped. The instructor said we were all going to speed anyway, so he was going to teach us how to keep from being carjacked and increase our likelihood that we'd get a warning ticket when we got pulled over.

[Tony_SS]

“I apologize for wasting your time on me today”

That and "Can I lick your boots sir?" might help things out.

If you have tinted windows, put both of your hands outside where he can see them as he walks up.

Also, take off the sunglasses and look the officer in the eye when you talk to him/her.

Take these steps and plead your side of the case quickly before you hand over the license.

[bigvegan]

One tip if you DO get a ticket is to stretch it out and fight the ticket via "trial by declaration" (if your state offers this option).

(Obviously if it's serious or if you've got the $, hire an attorney.)

First, ask for a postponement of the trial date (which buys you a couple of months).

Second, a week or two from the postponed trial date, request a trial by declaration (in which you and the officer write up your sides of the story, and mail them in to the court). Unlike court time, for which the officer gets paid, trials by declaration come out of his/her paperwork time and he/she doesn't get extra money for them, so they frequently don't get completed.

Third, if you don't win the trial by declaration, schedule a trial de novo, in which you get to start over and argue your case in front of a judge.

In short, you don't have much to lose (especially if you've been to traffic school recently), and you get a couple of extra chances to argue your case.

I've got one of these pending for a BS "unsafe U-turn" ticket. If this thread is still going when its resolved, I'll let you know how it turns out.

[LateNight72]

I don't speed on Interstates, so... None here.

[Andrew McBride]

good information. It is good to be honest and straight forward for sure. Apologizing for wasting his time does work.

[BonzoHansen]

Try telling the officer this:

"Hey, don't I pay your salary? You're a public servant, get me glass of water!"

[rebelgtp]

I have had one ticket I was 18 driving my Porsche ('84 944 yes I bought it only cost $4500 at the time). I was 30 over the limit with expired tags and a radar detector lol. I got a ticket for 10 over and paid it. That is the only ticket I have ever gotten.

I have been pulled over other times though. Once was my old Camaro, they said its to loud then complimented me on the work I had done on it. Other times I used tactics like the above and drove away each time.

[41565 chevelle]

Hey guys, the tactics work pretty well. I don't write a lot of tickets, but the wise guy is always going away with a notice to appear if I can't find something to arrest him for (it's very easy with some of the clients). First and foremost, be honest! Answer the questions truthfully, " Have you had a ticket recently?" the answer is not, "Define recently." All be it funny, not going to help you much. If you dont know the speed limit, say you dont know. Zones change frequently based on the surrounding area; residential, business, commercial, beach, downtown, etc.

The tactics above are pretty good and usually worked with me. Again, I did not like going to court, even on overtime but our department mandates us to show up so no good for the violator getting out of it. And if you get stopped by a motor officer(motorcycle) , you most likely are not getting out of a ticket. You might get a break of a lesser violation but you most likely are going home with a cite.

And if you do get a ticket and turn into an @*$hole, the officer still has to write his notes on the back of the ticket to remind him what a nice individual you were. That will hurt when you go to court. He can testify to the reason for the stop, the violations that he observed and what you ultimately were written for. It then can be upgraded by the judge or you could end up with additional violations to answer/get fined for....

Drive safe everyone!

[406 Q-ship]

Hey guys, the tactics work pretty well. I don't write a lot of tickets, but the wise guy is always going away with a notice to appear if I can't find something to arrest him for (it's very easy with some of the clients). First and foremost, be honest! Answer the questions truthfully, " Have you had a ticket recently?" the answer is not, "Define recently." All be it funny, not going to help you much. If you dont know the speed limit, say you dont know. Zones change frequently based on the surrounding area; residential, business, commercial, beach, downtown, etc.

The tactics above are pretty good and usually worked with me. Again, I did not like going to court, even on overtime but our department mandates us to show up so no good for the violator getting out of it. And if you get stopped by a motor officer(motorcycle) , you most likely are not getting out of a ticket. You might get a break of a lesser violation but you most likely are going home with a cite.

And if you do get a ticket and turn into an @*$hole, the officer still has to write his notes on the back of the ticket to remind him what a nice individual you were. That will hurt when you go to court. He can testify to the reason for the stop, the violations that he observed and what you ultimately were written for. It then can be upgraded by the judge or you could end up with additional violations to answer/get fined for....

Drive safe everyone!

Ah yes you work for one of the departments that require you to go to court, that sucks on both sides. Just about everything mentioned there works very well at getting out of the ticket. The only thing that I would mention is that by telling the officer that you are aware of the posted speed limit and that you were traveling faster than it can be used a evidence in court against you. I am NOT advocating lieing to the police, just don't volunteer evidence against yourself, if you were way over the limit you will need to weight what to say cause avioding the issue will not help much but for minor over the limit or infractions keep it to yourself. NEVER lip off before, during, or after a traffic stop, the officer will write on the back of the ticket your demeanor and if you decide to fight it they will be more likely to show up in court.

[67 ls1 vert]

This happened to me a few years ago. I was working with this guy that always raged on me about my car being slow. He was always kidding me. He only had a truck. But anyways, he was following me down a twisty road for about 5 miles or so as we came to a stop sign at the bottom. I looked both ways and there was no cars to be seen anywhere. The only person around was the guy I worked with behind me. I reved the engine up and let it rip. I smoked the tires so badly through first gear, second, and third before I even got through the intersection. The smoke was so bad I couldn't see him behind me at all. As I got to the other side of the intersection I happened to catch a glimpse of a car to my left sitting at the 4 way stop sign. Mr. Highway Patrol full dressed black and white. How I missed him sitting there I still cant figure it out.

But the time he got going I was pretty far ahead of him and thought to myself, Oh sh$T, Im toast. I slowed down and kind of waited for him because there was no running from him on this road. Not that I would.

He finally caught up with me as I pulled in to a school parking lot and I put my hands up on the wheel like zuperzport said.

There were two cops in the car. The driver came up to my car and did the normal stuff as I gave him everything he needed. He also asked me to step out of my car and come back to his cruiser.

I began talking to the other cop while the driver was running my info on the radio. He was really cool about the whole thing. He was the captain training the driver cop. What were you thinking he said. I said I wasn't thinking at all. I was just showing off to my co worker and didn't see you guys there. I know I was in the wrong and I shouldn't have done a stupid act like that. If you can find it at all possible to give me a warning I would really appreciate it. As you can see on my license, I am a professional driver with every endorsement. (I drive trucks for a living) and my insurance would go through the roof!

He and I talked for a few mins about cars and stuff as I heard that I checked out okay over the radio behind me. The driver cop was pulling out the ticket book to write me a long list of infractions and the captain cop told him to put the book away and shook my hand and told me to have a nice day and be more careful. I think I cracked all of his knuckles when I shook his hand I was so excited.

I trembled in my car for the whole ride home. lol

Point is, not all cops are jerks.

[Samckitt]

I met a cop on a 2 lane road one day, I was doing about 65 in a 55 & as soon as he went by me i looked in the mirror & saw his brake lights, so I just pulled over.

He came up & asked "do you know why I pulled you over?"

I said "For speeding".

He said "I clocked you doing 75 in a 55."

I said "I looked at my speed as soon as I saw you & it said I was doing about 65."

He then said "You wouldn't have been able to pull over that fast doing 65."

I then asked "But I could have if I was doing 75 like you say I was?"

He stood there for a second & then said "Slow down, have a nice day." And walked back to his car.

LOL

[twosaturns]

my most scared when getting pulled over was when I was dating my futere wife. she lived in Louisiana, I in NY. got pulled over in AL, or was it MS? doesn't matter. NY plates, black GTI, deep south, bad combination. I was speeding, but obviously not the only one. I paid it cause I really didn't want to spend time in a southern jail.
got pulled over in Houma, LA also. the cop stood at the back of my car with his HAND ON HIS GUN telling me to get out of the car. then he yelled at me cause the NY drivers license # doesn't fit in the space on a LA ticket.

[406 Q-ship]

......Point is, not all cops are jerks.

I will go one better and say most cops aren't jerks. Being honest most of us well deserved the tickets we got.

Back when the ink on my drivers license was still wet. I was cooking down PCH in Redondo Beach at a good clip.....OK I was haulin (80) and got popped by a Redondo PD sargent, now Redondo Beach just very rarely give breaks so my butt was toast and I knew it. The sargent walks up to the window and asks for all the paperwork I notice he isn't carrying his citation book. He asks if I knew why I was being pulled over, I admitted to traveling in excess of the posted limit. The next question got me to give the best answer to a traffic stop I ever did. The officer asks if I knew how fast I was going, my answer was that I was too busy looking out the windshield to check the speedometer to not hit anything or anybody. I got a nod and "good answer" please don't do it again in my city, then he noticed that my father had failed to renew the registration on the car........let go on that too. I was soooooo damn lucky that evening.

[poormans69]

We're getting to head out to NY from CA in about 2 weeks. I don't think I'll be speeding much. I know how much the 5-0 loves cars with CA plates.

[buickfunnycar.com]

...and if you get stopped by a motor officer(motorcycle) , you most likely are not getting out of a ticket. You might get a break of a lesser violation but you most likely are going home with a cite.

why is that,different quota...?just wondering.