One of the absolute worst feelings in the world is driving along and seeing those flashing lights come on behind you and/or hearing the roaring sirens of that patrol car pulling you over. There are a number of actions you can take in order to increase your chances of avoiding the dreaded traffic stop and/or ticket. In order to find out the best way to approach this precarious situation, I contacted a number of my friends, who will remain anonymous, who are police officers or are in training to become police officers.
The best bet is always to drive in a way that will avoid being pulled over in the first place. However life circumstances can often preclude perfectly legal driving choices. Not many drivers can say they have never broken a traffic violation and thus avoiding the traffic stop altogether may prove to be a formidable task. With that in mind, here are some suggestions that will help get you through your next traffic stop, ticket-free.
Avoiding the Stop/Ticket Altogether
- Drive as anonymously and inconspicuously as possible. In other words, become just another car on the road and NOT some car that sticks out or attracts attention, whether for better or worse.
- Whenever you are behind the wheel of an automobile, consider yourself an athlete participating in a sports competition. For example, you will be the athlete, the cops will be the referee and the traffic laws will be the rules of the game. In most instances, the referees will only call fouls (rule violations) if they are blatant, obvious, or in some other way stick out in their minds. In a game of basketball a referee will not call a foul on every play, however, if it is done right in front of them or in an attention drawing manner they are certain to blow the whistle. Minor violations, such as simple hand checks, may be allowed if the referee has no reason to suspect other foul play. Police officers are much the same way because their attention draws to the cars that stick out and perform the most severe and blatant traffic violations.
- The best bet for avoiding unwanted attention is two-fold: maintain desirable driving habits and drive an unflashy, functional vehicle. This by no means suggests that you should avoid driving expensive, nice looking cars. However, it does mean you should keep the tinting, decals, bumper stickers, custom paint jobs, vanity plates, and over the top vehicle modifications. Simply put, avoid driving a vehicle that was used in the shooting of the Fast and the Furious or has a number of faulty parts.
Here are a number of further suggestions for avoiding traffic tickets:
- Travel in the middle lanes of a highway. Evidence and studies have shown that the vast majority of tickets given out to motorists who travel in the left lane. Second on that list are motorists that travel in the right lane. The far left lane should be used for passing only in order to not only help avoid tickets, but also to help avoid major accidents.
- Be on the look out for highway patrol cars monitoring speeds. The patrol cars are often positioned around bends, behind some sort of obstruction, or in some other concealed spot. If you can pick them up early enough and acknowledge their presence by slowing down or ceasing whatever illegal activity you may be engaged in (talking on the cell phone), officers are more likely to give you the benefit of the doubt.
- My one officer friend was very adamant about this point. He told me that if he sees someone driving on the road and talking on their cell phone the thing he looks for is how the drivers react to seeing his car. He said that if the driver notices him and puts the phone down he will not pull them over, however, if the driver notices him and just continues talking he will absolutely pull them over.
- Become familiar with your local traffic. Brush up on some of your traffic laws so that you can have a general understanding as to what rules are out there in your area. Keep in mind that not knowing the law is a law is NEVER a defense for a motor vehicle violation, or any violation, for that matter.
- Finally, drive safely and be considerate of other drivers and odds are you won’t need to know anything else.
Actions to Take when Pulled Over
Once those lights go on behind you, the officer will begin observing your behavior in order to make up his mind whether or not he is going to give you a ticket. Keep in mind, officers are trained and taught to make up their mind about whether to give the traffic ticket or not before they leave their car to approach your vehicle. With that in mind, giving the officer something that sheds you in a favorable light could certainly help your case. The first and foremost action is to get to the RIGHT side of the road as quickly and as safely as possible, making sure to signal where appropriate so that you do not make any further violations. My one officer friend made a point that if a car pulls over on the left side of the road, due to the hazards it presents not only to the officer, but to that of that motorist and all the other motorists, he will give the motorist a ticket every time. My other officer friend said that it is ok to travel further down the road to find a safer location to pull over. He went on further to say that if you are on a busy road with no shoulder it is not only ok but preferred to turn onto a side street.
Once you bring your vehicle to a full stop, it is important to place the car in park, turn off the radio, roll down the driver’s side window all the way and then kill the engine. If it happens to be at nighttime, make sure to turn on your interior lights. The final instruction for your actions as the officer approaches is to keep your hands in plain sight, preferably on the steering wheel. Officers are trained extensively to approach all cars with extreme caution, no matter how routine the stop may seem, in order to protect themselves. (With the number of officers killed during traffic stops each year, it is no wonder why this is such a significant part of police training.) Shuffling around, sudden movements, and other similarly suspicious behavior will not be looked upon kindly by the officer and will only anger them further. Make sure to remain still, cooperative and obedient throughout the encounter.
Another imperative step in your interaction with the officer deals with what to say and when to say it. The rule of thumb when talking to an officer is to do so only after being spoken to. Also, keep your responses short and noncommittal so that you avoid admitting any guilt. You want to keep your interaction as generic as possible especially if you intend to fight the ticket you may receive because if an officer can not remember you and your traffic stop, he will not be able to present his case in traffic court. With that said, one of my officer friends did make a point to say, however, that he sometimes takes into consideration the fact that a motorist is truthful with him when pulled over. For example, he said that if a motorist admitted that he/she was speeding and apologized for it or provided a valid extenuating circumstance he was more willing to let them go with just a warning. However, this is by no means a sure fire thing because it will likely depend on the individual officer and thus it is better to remain as silent and respectful as possible while avoiding admission of any guilt.
