You are running late for work and driving a little bit over the speed limit. Before you know it those dreaded flashing red lights are in your rearview mirror. You are being pulled over.
As the officer steps out of his car and makes his way up to your window, you can feel your anger swelling.
"What's the big deal? I was just going a few miles over the limit," you say to yourself. "There are murderers and drug dealers running wild in the streets, and this cop is going to give me a hard time!?"
OK, this is where you want to calm down, take a deep breath and relax. The absolute worst thing you can do in this situation is lose your temper because it will all but guarantee you a ticket, according to a police officer who has had many traffic stops.
"When the officer comes up to the car, really don't ask, 'What the hell am I being pulled over for?'" said Dan, a police officer in the Twin Cities who asked that we not use his last name. "Because if they don't care about me, then they don't care about the laws on the road or anybody else. They just care about themselves and they could be creating a hazard for other people."
When talking to lawyers and policemen about what to do when you are pulled over for speeding or another moving violation, it seems the top things to remember are as follows: attitude, attitude, attitude and attitude.
Pleading (or feigning) ignorance combined with a polite, contrite attitude can go a long way in helping that officer put his ticket book back in his pocket.
"A lot of it is attitude," said Dan. "I don't know if I am going to write a ticket or not until I actually talk to that person and find out why they were speeding or what they were doing."
Don't Be Memorable Or Lie
Ted Hollander is a partner at The Ticket Clinic, a law firm based in Florida that defends more than 7,000 traffic violations around the country each month.
"You don't want the officer to remember you," said Hollander. "If you come off as very memorable, the officer might make more detailed notes on the ticket or make it a point to bring those issues out in court when the case comes to court. The time to argue about a ticket is not at the side of the road, but later in court."
Coming up with an excuse off the top of your head probably will not help either. Short of a legitimate medical emergency an officer will rarely find any excuse for speeding passable.
"Those excuses, you name it, I've heard every excuse," said Hollander. "'I'm late for a wedding. I have to go to the bathroom. My wife is having a moment; she has to get to the restroom.' Those types of things almost always never work."
There is also a commonly held belief that if a woman cries she has a good chance of getting out of a ticket.
"I have written them both ways. I have written tickets when they have cried, and I have let them go when they have cried," said Dan.
Admit Nothing
The last thing to remember is to never admit guilt, because chances are that even with a good attitude you are going to get a ticket anyway, and your best chance to get rid of it is in court.
"My recommendation would be to never admit that you knew you were speeding, because he will jot that down," said Hollander. "Admitting that you know you were speeding is really not a good idea."
Once a ticket has been written, Hollander said there are four options a person has.
Option one is not the best option, said Hollander, for not only must the ticket be paid but insurance rates will go up as well.
Some states give traffic offenders the option of attending traffic school, said Hollander. They must still pay for the ticket, and for traffic school, but the offense will not count as points toward their insurance rates.
Option three is not a very good option either, said Hollander, unless the person plans to spend a lot of time doing research and attending court hearings.
"When you finally get your chance to go before the court, are you going to know what to ask?" said Hollander. "Are you going to know what questions to ask the officer? Are you going to know what things to say to the judge?"
If not, then hiring a lawyer is the best option, said Hollander. Some law firms, like The Ticket Clinic, offer guarantees, where if the firm is not able to reduce the violation to a non-points offense, meaning it will not count toward insurance rates, then clients gets their money back.
A lawyer who specializes in traffic offenses is going to know infinitely more about the ins and outs of traffic laws than the average person.
"In Florida, in a radar case, we have a 22-point checklist that we go through in every individual case to make sure that the officer has done everything that he needs to do" said Hollander. "And a person that doesn't handle traffic tickets on a regular basis obviously isn't going to know that."
There are also obscure laws not known to the general public than can help get a traffic violation thrown out.
"One rule that's interesting is, in California, a person has the ability to ask for a traffic and engineering study that has got be approved by the Department of Safety and Motor Vehicles," said Hollander. "That traffic and engineering study has to support the posted speed limit before an officer can use a radar at that particular street."
But the best way to avoid ever having to use an obscure defense is to avoid having to go to court at all. Grant the police officer respect and keep a non-aggressive attitude, because the best way to get out of a ticket is to either convince an officer you were unaware you were in violation of the law, or to demonstrate that you have learned your lesson.
"If I think that person is going to continue to speed and be a danger on the road, then, yeah, I give them a ticket," said Officer Dan. "But if I think that they made an honest mistake and didn't realize what they were doing, then maybe they get a break that day."
As the officer steps out of his car and makes his way up to your window, you can feel your anger swelling.
"What's the big deal? I was just going a few miles over the limit," you say to yourself. "There are murderers and drug dealers running wild in the streets, and this cop is going to give me a hard time!?"
OK, this is where you want to calm down, take a deep breath and relax. The absolute worst thing you can do in this situation is lose your temper because it will all but guarantee you a ticket, according to a police officer who has had many traffic stops.
"When the officer comes up to the car, really don't ask, 'What the hell am I being pulled over for?'" said Dan, a police officer in the Twin Cities who asked that we not use his last name. "Because if they don't care about me, then they don't care about the laws on the road or anybody else. They just care about themselves and they could be creating a hazard for other people."
When talking to lawyers and policemen about what to do when you are pulled over for speeding or another moving violation, it seems the top things to remember are as follows: attitude, attitude, attitude and attitude.
Pleading (or feigning) ignorance combined with a polite, contrite attitude can go a long way in helping that officer put his ticket book back in his pocket.
"A lot of it is attitude," said Dan. "I don't know if I am going to write a ticket or not until I actually talk to that person and find out why they were speeding or what they were doing."
Don't Be Memorable Or Lie
Ted Hollander is a partner at The Ticket Clinic, a law firm based in Florida that defends more than 7,000 traffic violations around the country each month.
"You don't want the officer to remember you," said Hollander. "If you come off as very memorable, the officer might make more detailed notes on the ticket or make it a point to bring those issues out in court when the case comes to court. The time to argue about a ticket is not at the side of the road, but later in court."
Coming up with an excuse off the top of your head probably will not help either. Short of a legitimate medical emergency an officer will rarely find any excuse for speeding passable.
"Those excuses, you name it, I've heard every excuse," said Hollander. "'I'm late for a wedding. I have to go to the bathroom. My wife is having a moment; she has to get to the restroom.' Those types of things almost always never work."
There is also a commonly held belief that if a woman cries she has a good chance of getting out of a ticket.
"I have written them both ways. I have written tickets when they have cried, and I have let them go when they have cried," said Dan.
Admit Nothing
The last thing to remember is to never admit guilt, because chances are that even with a good attitude you are going to get a ticket anyway, and your best chance to get rid of it is in court.
"My recommendation would be to never admit that you knew you were speeding, because he will jot that down," said Hollander. "Admitting that you know you were speeding is really not a good idea."
Once a ticket has been written, Hollander said there are four options a person has.
- Pay the ticket
- Attend driving school
- Fight the ticket themselves
- Hire a lawyer
Option one is not the best option, said Hollander, for not only must the ticket be paid but insurance rates will go up as well.
Some states give traffic offenders the option of attending traffic school, said Hollander. They must still pay for the ticket, and for traffic school, but the offense will not count as points toward their insurance rates.
Option three is not a very good option either, said Hollander, unless the person plans to spend a lot of time doing research and attending court hearings.
"When you finally get your chance to go before the court, are you going to know what to ask?" said Hollander. "Are you going to know what questions to ask the officer? Are you going to know what things to say to the judge?"
If not, then hiring a lawyer is the best option, said Hollander. Some law firms, like The Ticket Clinic, offer guarantees, where if the firm is not able to reduce the violation to a non-points offense, meaning it will not count toward insurance rates, then clients gets their money back.
A lawyer who specializes in traffic offenses is going to know infinitely more about the ins and outs of traffic laws than the average person.
"In Florida, in a radar case, we have a 22-point checklist that we go through in every individual case to make sure that the officer has done everything that he needs to do" said Hollander. "And a person that doesn't handle traffic tickets on a regular basis obviously isn't going to know that."
There are also obscure laws not known to the general public than can help get a traffic violation thrown out.
"One rule that's interesting is, in California, a person has the ability to ask for a traffic and engineering study that has got be approved by the Department of Safety and Motor Vehicles," said Hollander. "That traffic and engineering study has to support the posted speed limit before an officer can use a radar at that particular street."
But the best way to avoid ever having to use an obscure defense is to avoid having to go to court at all. Grant the police officer respect and keep a non-aggressive attitude, because the best way to get out of a ticket is to either convince an officer you were unaware you were in violation of the law, or to demonstrate that you have learned your lesson.
"If I think that person is going to continue to speed and be a danger on the road, then, yeah, I give them a ticket," said Officer Dan. "But if I think that they made an honest mistake and didn't realize what they were doing, then maybe they get a break that day."
