My advice would be to put the camera away. They don't like that.

dognose

Thats not a mini cooper being pulled over is it?
Deja Vu

Dektol

That seems like a whole lot of work when you could have just gone closer to the speed limit in the first place. Try listening to something relaxing on the radio and breathe deeply. You probably don't need to be in such a hurry.

cisengineer

Great points. I've followed these rules all of my life. Another thing that works is ask for a warning. I've been pulled over maybe 10 times for various traffic violations in the past 20 years and gotten out of all but 2 tickets that way. But ask BEFORE the officer heads back to his car. If he returns with a ticketbook in hand, he's already written the ticket and won't likely tear it up.

marcmoss

@dognose: rats! you beat me to it.

oopl

American cops are so different from Australian cops. They fact that they need to fear concealed weapons all the time is scary stuff.

cbiggins

how about yall just slow down and if you do get caught speeding ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY AND THE FINES THAT COME ALONG WITH IT. Don't do the crime if you can't pay the fine.

haxxed

I've heard all of these tips before. The last time I was pulled over, about ten years ago, I did exactly as described. The trooper gave me a warning and told me that it was, "Because you didn't try to give me a hard time."

rfmagui

Well, my uncle was recently pulled over and managed to evade a ticket. How? He RAN FOR HIS LIFE. Because he had recently bought the car, he didn't have the proper identification tags on it.

All he had to do was pull over, remove the keys and his license, open the door, and take off. A day later he found his vehicle at a local police impound and reacquired it with no problems.

dpcnull

Im a bit disappointed by the tips. They are just a laundry list of what cops want you to do and how they want you to act. I always did all those things and they always gave me the ticket. If they are going to give you the ticket they are going to give you the ticket. Kissing ass will not help much.

AlexPDL

I can't say I know or have any experience of driving in the US and the conventions of its police force, but I generally thought that officers have to pull over a random number of cars in a day regardless of whether they have been speeding or not.

They pulled over Borat's van in New York on the basis that he and his producer looked Middle-Eastern.

jstark101

Like in many other life situations, a smile goes a long way.

vered

@haxxed: Aaaaaaand cue the inevitable "SUCK IT UP AND PAY THE TICKET!" vs. "YOU'RE A MORON IF YOU PAY THE TICKET!" jihad.

drjayphd

How is ANY of that going to help me get out of a ticket?

The general idea here is to make the police officer more comfortable. There are many things we can't control--how the officer's day is going, if they have ticket quota requirements, if he likes the shirt your wearing, etc. But, in general, if the officer is comfortable, you're less likely to get a ticket. So, roll down your tinted rear windows. Turn off your car. Don't have the radio on. Keep your hands visible. Be nice. It's that simple. Of course, your best option is to save a life and slow down. It could be your life you're saving.

pjwhite

I've been pulled over probably 12-15 times in my 20 years of driving, and I've been let go all but 4 of those. Every time I have gotten a ticket, it's been for a much lighter infraction than I was doing. I pretty much say very little, never argue, and cooperate. I think I must have a great naturally sheepish, apologetic face.

joelena

How is ANY of that going to help me get out of a ticket?

mrknowitall

@cisengineer: @haxxed: These aren't tips for just speeding. I've been pulled over on suspicion of drunk driving b/c my back road has raised manhole covers, so I swerve around them. While the sewer line is straight, the road isn't, so you can't line up, you have to swerve if you want to avoid time damage. A State Trooper saw me one Sat. night, and lit me up. As the son of a cop, I can tell you the two things a cop wants to do is get home and go home safe and alive. I worried all the time that some idiot would hurt my Father. I COULD have gotten a ticket for swerving, carelesss driving, etc..., which I might have if I was a dick to the guy. I always do all of these things listed, and the cops are pretty cool with me. And no matter what, I always tell them to have a safe night/day/shift.

I also keep a messy car, which I have been told is indicative of drug users trying to cover stuff up.

Two suggestions I would add is when opening your glove box or console, open it, then let the cop see inside before you reach in. It's one less danger he has to worry about. Also, call the cop sir or officer. It helps keep your babbling down as you have an definite end of sentence word. This also works, as a standard information gathering technique is to stay quiet and let the other person fill in the silence. If you end with sir, there's nothing more for you to say, and the ball is in the officer court.

Git Em SteveDave

A couple years ago, I got pulled over for having two broken taillights. Yes, I knew about them, and said as much when the officer asked. I explained that finding two taillights for a 1980 Toyota Corolla was no easy task, because not even junkyards had them.

He laughed and gave me a ticket, but it just required me to get the lights fixed within 60 days and take it to the CHP office to get it inspected.

A friend told me I probably would only have gotten a warning if I'd played dumb and told the officer I had no idea both my taillights were out. Somehow, I don't think the officer would have believed anyone could be THAT dumb.

infmom

@jstark101:
Pulling over cars randomly is highly illegal. ANY time an American cop pulls you over he must have "Probable Cause".

@cbiggins:
One of the ironies about your comment is that handing my concealed handgun license over to the officer along with my drivers license is more likely to get me let off with just a warning and no ticket than my driver's license alone :D

Zundfolge

As a real live crook-chasing, gun-toting, handcuff-carrying traffic cop, here's the real deal - most of the time, we decide if you're getting a ticket or a warning either before we approach the car or in the first 10 seconds of talking with you.

If we've already decided before we get out of the car, you were either going too fast and past our own tolerance limit, or you were doing something really stupid.

If we haven't decided until we talk to you, your attitude will determine whether it's a ticket or a warning.

You would be surprised at how many people I've stopped for 20 miles over (in a residential and business zone with kids and pedestrians all over) who are shocked - SHOCKED I say! - that I decided to pull them over rather than spend my time chasing REAL criminals and let me know it in no uncertain terms. Yeah, that ends with 'Sign here, press hard, four copies' every time.

Tips: Just be respectful - you don't have to make a 'sir sandwich' out of me, just act as you normally would. We realize that our contacting you will make you nervous.

Honesty will go a long way with me. 'I didn't see the sign' doesn't really count, but 'You know, officer, I really wasn't paying attention' does. I have to make a quick determination on what it will take to change your driving behavior - will a warning do the job, or do I need to make it a financial cost to you?

And please don't think we're dumb - many of us have college degrees (I personally have a BS in Business and Management from the Univ. of MD), and as for myself, with an IQ of around 168, I'd say it's a fair bet that it's tough to get something past me.

Unless you're really speeding (without any due regard for where you are or the road conditions), driving like a total ass, or being disrespectful, more than likely you'll get a warning from me. And I think that philosophy is pretty much what all cops go by.

Oh, and BTW, what REALLY irritates the heck out of me on a stop is someone having to go through the 50 pieces of junk paper in their glove box looking for their current registration and insurance card. Do us both a favor - take 10 minutes, get the extraneous crap out of your glove box, and put your registration and insurance card in a little holder of some type! Me standing out in the cold on the side of the road with traffic whizzing by while you sort nervously through your stuff does not put me in a better mood.

Slow down to somewhere around the posted speed limit, keep your lights, etc. in working order, wear your seat belts, don't drive it like you stole it, and show some courtesy to the other drivers on the road, and chances are you'll hardly ever meet us.

MountainCop

@cbiggins:
Actually, a gun in the car doesn't bother me - it's the driver's and passenger's actions I'm going to be concerned about. In my state, it is perfectly legal for anyone who is eligible under Federal Law to own a gun to have a loaded handgun in their car and it can be concealed (such as in the console, etc.). And many citizens do carry in their cars. And I don't blame them - before I became a cop I had a gun in my car all the time.

I ALWAYS ask during the traffic stop "For your safety and mine, do you have any weapons in the car, such as a gun or a knife?" If they say 'yes', I ask them where it is, then tell them not to reach for it. I reserve the right to temporarily confiscate it during the stop if I feel it is necessary, but so far, I have never felt the need to.

@Zundfolge:
And you are right - the CWP tells us that you've gone through the process and background checks. That says it is unlikely that you're a bad guy. I still reserve the right to disarm even a CWP holder if I feel it's necessary. I don't like to do that for two reasons: 1, I don't feel comfortable messing around with someone else's weapon because there's a chance I don't know how to operate it, and 2, that sends a message to you that 'I don't trust you to know how to handle a gun - I'm a cop and I know better than you'. Not necessarily so. And I'm not going to infringe on anyone's rights unless I have to.

@jstark101:
Officers may be required to make a certain number of 'citizen contacts' per shift as a part of 'community policing' efforts. Ticket quotas, such as if I were required to write a minimum of three tickets a shift are patently illegal. If a department is doing that, they won't be for long. As for pulling people over at random, that's also illegal. The officer must have either 'probable cause' or 'reasonable articulable suspicion', meaning that a reasonable person, based on the totality of the circumstances, would believe a crime has been, is being, or is about to be committed and can articulate the reasoning. This came about because too many departments (mainly on the east coast) were performing stops due to the driver's race (driving while black in a white neighborhood for example) without any other reason. Stops under those conditions are total BS in my opinion. Sometimes I do the license plate light stops. But normally, only to give a written warning - so down the road that same day or night they may not get a ticket from another cop if stopped since they have already been warned.

MountainCop

The easiest thing to do to avoid a ticket is to simply take care of your vehicle, follow the law, and be a good driver. But in the event that you do get pulled over, being a jerk or irritable is the number one way to get yourself into hot water. I have a couple of police officers in my family, and they agree that irritable, grouchy, and mean people who question the validity of being pulled over are the ones who usually end up with the tickets.
Also, your vehicle is a HUGE indicator of the kind of person you are. If you drive a modified rice burner with a spoiler and you get pulled over for speeding, the cop is much less likely te let you off, because your vehicle looks like its out to break the law.
Remember who you are and what you are.
You don't need a guide or tips to not getting pulled over if you use good judgement and follow the law in the first place.

lifeguardhawk

My wife rolled through a stop sign in an area with no traffic. Really a dumb stop sign but its near a retirement community and they would not be able to deal with the intersection I guess. Anyway, my 5 year old daughter was distraught, crying that Mama was going to lose her driver license, lose the care, etc. My wife is pretty certain that helped get the written warning instead of the ticket. (It was a young female deputy).

mikelotus

Just watch the TV show Cops, and do the opposite of what you see. :-)

This was probably mentioned somewhere, but the #1 thing you should NOT do is, be the "I know my rights" guy. If you feel that you have been pulled over and ticketed unfairly, you can contest the charges in court, not on the side of the road with the cop. Pissing off the cop will probably result in more tickets and/or result in being arrested.

greenbot

Here's the article, condensed :

Don't be a dick.
Don't freak them out.

SMSDHubbard

The only speeding tickets I've ever gotten were because they took a picture of my car and mailed them to me.

And the one time I did get stopped (because there were 3 people in the front seat..normally in Germany only 2 people fit in the front) it became apparent VERY early on I was driving 2 drunk people and a bike home...and I hadn't been drinking. I was calm, because I knew I had done nothing wrong, and was, in fact, making the roads safer by getting those two home. The policeman agreed with me and sent me on my way.

karlawithak

"Killer boots man!"

always worked for me.

OX4

@MountainCop: All good points.

Lazarus

I thought I'd state the obvious: don't drive above the speed limit and you wouldn't have to deal with any of these.

Mythokia

Few people understand the psychology of dealing with a highway traffic cop. A normal speeder will panic and immediately pull over to the side. This is wrong. It arouses contempt in the cop heart. Make the bastard chase you. He will follow. But he won't know what to make of your blinker signal that says you are about to turn right. This is to let him know you're pulling off for a proper place to talk. It will take him a moment to realize that he's about to make a 180 degree turn at speed, but you will be ready for it. Brace for the g's, and fast heel-toe work

discounteggroll

@Mythokia: Surprisingly, there are other reasons you may be pulled over, such as broken taillight, obscured tags, burned out headlight, going UNDER the limit, weaving, etc... which can all get you tickets if you're a jerk after getting pulled over. I am thinking cops are more prone to pull over a swerving driver than a speeder, as the swerving could be a drunk driver.

Git Em SteveDave

As mentioned, this is a pretty common-sense list. Be respectful and calm, and you'll have a better outcome than if you're rude and spazzy. Still good advice though, even if the original article was over-padded. Did anyone else notice that the Do Not list was mostly just the opposite of the Do list? ie, Do: stay in the car. Don't: Get out of the car.

Christovir

With the price of gas so high recently, I've taken to locking my cruise control at the speed limit. It's safe enough to do so where I drive, saves me gas, and makes my commute a lot less irritating.

cprincipe

I find that simple use of the word "SIR" when addressing the cop goes a long way to massaging their ego and making things go smoothly.

Another vote here for cruise control, especially in work zones on the interstate. Just set it and forget it.

virgilstar

@infmom: I had a similar situation, twice, but without the ticket. I was lucky my first few times dealing with cops. I got pulled over one night on the way home from a friend's house around midnight or 1 am or so. My car was a $50 piece of crap and the fuse for the dashboard lights kept blowing. The cop pulled me over and asked if I was aware my tail lights were out. I was honest with him and told him I had no idea and instinctively reached to open the door before catching myself and asking the officer if it was ok if I got out and looked. After taking a look, I explained it must have happened just recently and agreeing to get it fixed, he let me go.

The real fun / nervousness-caused stupidity came one or two nights later when I was making a quick trip to Wal-mart and was pulled over again (hadn't yet realized that the tail light fuse blew when the dashboard light fuse blew this particular time) and was asked if I was aware my tail lights were out. I not only told him yes, but told him I'd just been pulled over two nights ago for it and found out then, but hadn't been able to get it fixed yet. He then tells me that in that case, I need to drive with my hazard lights on until I get the tail lights fixed if I'm gonna be driving in the dark. I follow that by blurting out the incredibly stupid admission that "The hazards don't work either!" Shockingly, possibly as a reward for the honesty, he just told me, "Well then you need to keep this thing off the road until you get them fixed." and let me go without a ticket.

I was pulled over yet a third time months later for having old tags on my license plate, showed the officer I have current registration and insurance, and explained it was just an accident or something and that I'd make sure to get the right tags on and was let go that time as well.

NinjaMarion

The thing that has worked for me 5 out of six times is. "accidentally" handing the officer my Eagle Scout Card instead of my drivers license. It's essentially a "get out of jail free" card. I always say "sorry officer I think i handed you my Eagle Scout card by mistake" lol it's awesome

superbryant88

Don't talk to the police:
[www.regent.edu]

Also, when a cop asks you if you know why they pulled you over, or if you know how fast you were going, ask them to tell you. Saying you don't know confesses to not paying attention, and if you do say something, you're admitting guilt, often when a police officer doesn't have you on a speed gun.

And unless the officer has consent, a warrant, probable cause, or you are under arrest, they aren't allowed to search the inside of your vehicle. External visual search only. Canine units are a way of getting around this, as they are capable of smelling the inside of the car from the outside.

Just to give the other end of this spectrum.

mediaphile

Seems common sense, but good advice nevertheless.

@dps: Same thought here. Aside from the usual respectful greeting, I always say something to the fact of "have a good day" just as I would to anybody I run across during the day, and the officers always were very pleasantly surprised as I could tell from the change of their expression from stern to smiles. Like you said, too bad the ticket was already written and given to me... :( Never hurts to be nice, though.

ww2db.com

I was always nice over the years, "yes officer" etc. Only warnings. Then a new Escalade, what a joy, but the tickets are practically completed before the officers even get up to the vehicle...amusing in an expensive sort of way...

dps

"And please don't think we're dumb - many of us have college degrees (I personally have a BS in Business and Management from the Univ. of MD), and as for myself, with an IQ of around 168, I'd say it's a fair bet that it's tough to get something past me."

You may be smart, but a couple of things, firstly you do not have an IQ of 168 (which has a frequency of about 1 in 200 million), and secondly, the fact you'd try to claim this speaks volumes.

inboulder1

All of this advice under the assumption that you did something wrong and are trying to get away with it (proven guilty already?).

What a police state, just fall over and do everything the police tell you.

More useful would be a posting about your rights during a stop and what you do and do not have to comply with.

TranceMist

@dpcnull: LOL!

As for me, I've never been pulled over, so this article was really helpful to me because I had no idea what I was supposed to do.

kylenalepa

I've always enjoyed regaling the time I got pulled over when I was eighteen. If I recall correctly I was going 60 in a 45. Typical excuse of being late to pick up a friend a couple owns away. But after the officer debated with himself outside my car for 10 minutes he finally gave me a warning. As long as I told all of my friends that, "not all the cops from that town are dicks."

Vagari

@MountainCop:
"Oh, and BTW, what REALLY irritates the heck out of me on a stop is someone having to go through the 50 pieces of junk paper in their glove box looking for their current registration and insurance card. Do us both a favor - take 10 minutes, get the extraneous crap out of your glove box, and put your registration and insurance card in a little holder of some type! Me standing out in the cold on the side of the road with traffic whizzing by while you sort nervously through your stuff does not put me in a better mood."

Haha. You think that's irritating? How about having to wait 15 - 20 minutes while cops sit in their car writing up the ticket. We were speeding for a reason, ya know. ;-)

greenbot

@dpcnull: stupidest. advice. ever.

stupidjerk

It's true. If you do all of these things you might still get a ticket. But you will be less likely to get tazed, bro.

And it seems necessary to reiterate - there's plenty of reasons you can be stopped that do not involve speeding.

Troy F.

One of the best things you can do to avoid a ticket is to change the date of your court appearance. In Alabama and many other states, officers tend to schedule all of their court appearances on the same day. The state is required to give them the day off, but most other days they will be on duty. If you change the court date the officer will most likely be on duty, and if he does not appear in court then the ticket is void and they cannot prosecute you.

klarcds92

The last time I got pulled over (back in the fall) was for something that's not even illegal! ("Running a yellow light", in MA).

Luckily, I just got a warning. I wasn't looking forward to having to contest the ticket, and seem like a wiseass in court. "Ooh, someone think he knows the law..."

bostonguy

@AlexPDL: I think they're less tips for how to avoid the ticket and more "how to avoid getting a gun pulled on you."

I'm still wishing somebody would tell me what I'm supposed to do when I'm miles from what I consider a "safe" place to pull over (lighted areas, business parking lots, etc. to avoid being alone on the side of the road) because when I was learning to drive, a crazy guy with a blue light was pulling over women at night on the interstate to assault them.

So I'm always getting this conflicting advice of "don't go too far" and "don't be isolated, stay safe" and I never know what to do.

Meiran

@MountainCop: If only there were more cops like you, less of the public would be scorned by Law Enforcement.

heavylee-again

@MountainCop: I appreciate your service to the public.

I love cops. I have zero reason to fear them. And I was arrested for driving with a suspended license which I didn't know had been suspended. It is amazing how really nice officers can be when you don't act like a prick. And when I was in a holding area of some sort, and a cop came in and was a complete prick to me ("What is SHE doing here?"), the arresting officer came to my defense. The end result was two charges were dropped (lack of evidence) and I paid a $50 ticket.

I was told that 6 months down the line, I would be laughing. It is almost 6 months, I am still not laughing.

If you don't want a cop to be a prick to you, don't be a prick to them. (But, of course, there is usually a couple in every bunch that are pricks no matter what. But most aren't.)

thelushie

@NinjaMarion: When my daughter moved out, she left her car with us. My husband drives it to work most days.

When I was doing our taxes, I went to look for the current registration for that car because you can deduct the registration fee.

And that was when I discovered that we'd handed the DMV notice over to our daughter to pay (since it was her car) and she forgot about it (since she wasn't driving it) and therefore the car had been on the road with an expired tag for nearly a year.

And naturally it was only three days later that my husband finally got pulled over. But the officer was nice about it after my husband told him why the tag was expired, and gave him another "fix this and show it to the CHP inspector" ticket.

infmom

Can I add on "don't drive a unique-looking car"? I went from a slow, boring sedan to a fast, sporty-looking sedan but kept my driving speeds the same. In 11 years of driving, I've gotten two speeding tickets - both within 3 months of getting my new car. I keep thinking I might trade it in, but I do love my track days.

clank-o-tron

Ok, here is this cops take on tickets.

First: Quotas - Illegal. My department actually discourages traffic enforcement unless there is nothing else to do. That means no pending calls (obviously), and all papers have been served.

Second: Guns - I live and work in the sticks. Guns are both tools and toys. Everyone owns and carries them. That is great. If you draw one, or try to draw one on me, you day will end sooner and worse than mine will.

On a stop: Stay in your car, pull as far to the right as you can, or pull off into a driveway if there is one close, and the road is shoulder-less. Turn you car off. Roll your window all the way down and you dome light on if it is dark outside. Put your hands on the wheel. Your passengers hands should be on their knees. Your demeanor will determine mine.

I am not a genius. You may even be smarter than me. That said, I am well educated, articulate, and motivated to protect the public. Remember, we don't do it for the pay. If I pulled you over, you broke the law. I am not making it up. I saw it with my own two eyes. If you where speeding, I then confirmed it with some form of measuring device. Often with me, that is the speedometer on my patrol vehicle.

To answer the question: Why don't you go and catch murders and drug dealers? Simple. I am. This is a very effective means of doing it. The person who is too lazy to change the burnt out taillight, or replace his tags on time is also too lazy to hide that dope, or stolen property in his car. They make the job easier. Criminals chose their profession because they are either to dumb, lazy, or evil to earn on honest living. The first two are easy to catch. The last one takes more work.

Stay safe out there.

shakakan

@Meiran: Odd as it may seem, the first thing you should do in a situation like that is whip out your cell phone and call the cops. They will know if the "officer" behind you is the real deal, and if not they can have a real one there ASAP. Have all the appropriate phone numbers programmed into your cell phone ahead of time.

infmom

Don't be nervous.

When I was a young'un, the police were very scary authority figures. Now that I'm an old guy, they're just civil employees doing their job. You pay them to keep the streets safe. Most didn't become cops to hand out big parking tickets.

Be pleasant.

Police are not mindless ticket robots. Treat the officer like a person. Smile, say good morning, talk the way you would to a coworker. You want to reassure him that you are not a threat.

It's only a ticket.

Worst thing that can happen is it will cost money. Get things in scope and it will be a much better experience. Unless you are a serial offender, you're probably going to get a reduced ticket or a warning.

Ask about a good driver law.

In my home state, anyone without a traffic violation in the last 3 years can have a minor violation removed. Most of the time, if you've been pleasant, the cop will inform you. If you don't know, ask.

Say thank you.

Or have a good afternoon, or be safe. This fits in with being pleasant, but it never hurts to end on a good note. If you do see the cop again and he does remember you, you want him to remember you as the guy who told him to be safe.

SuperChuck

@infmom: That makes a lot of sense. Thankfully the state police have it set up that I just have to dial #SP to get them, so I've had that memorized for years.

I also wonder, since several people have mentioned rolling the window down the whole way to start with. Would officers be offended if I waited until they approached to roll it down the whole way? I've been told you should wait until you see their badge, if I'm alone on a highway.

Meiran

Don't taze me bro !

m-p{3}

I think I have been pulled over about six times in my life. I got a warning on one of them.
State Trooper: "You were 20 miles over the speed limit, did you realize that you were going that fast?"
Me: "Not till I saw you, and looked at my speed."
State Trooper: "Thanks for being honest."

I was extremely lucky, I noticed two days after, that I had let my auto insurance coverage slip.

Duane

@infmom: Heh, mine was just a simple, stupid screw up. When I'd gotten my tags about a month or so earlier, I'd tossed them in my drawer I keep miscellaneous stuff in since it was still like 3 weeks till the current ones expired and I didn't feel like bothering yet. Eventually, I just forgot until I was pulled over for it. It probably didn't help that it was like 2 am and I had just pulled into the parking lot of a building that was obviously not open for business, so I probably also looked suspicious. Even so, I was just honest with him that I didn't realize the tag wasn't on and would remedy it, explained why I was there (I was one of those guys that drives around on the weekend putting up signs on street corners advertising apartment complexes, and I'd usually go late since it was most convenient for me and there was little traffic), and he let me off.

NinjaMarion

Wow, excellent tips, guys! If I get pulled over I will make sure to remember these tips!

bonzo363

The only times I have ever been pulled over was in the US.

The first time was in upstate New York with 2 kids in tow and a thruway where there was only one other car - which I passed. It was unmarked police car and the officer pulled me over. She asked me did I know how fast I was going, I replied that I was doing 120 km/h. She leaned in to look at my speedometer to see if I was trying to be funny. The speed limit was 55 mph at the time, but being a Brit living in ON, I drove in km/h. 120 is the speed that I generally use on the local 4 series highways. I was polite, I was in a "mommy" car, a staid Volvo and she threw the book at me.

Last summer heading toward the MA turnpike, the police pulled me over, I didn't have any rear lights. It was 10 at night on drizzly night and I have a new black Mazda3. My identification was all over the passenger seat from the border grilling. I had to hunt for it, I opened the glove box and a large bottle of presciption pills is evident. The officer asks if they are mine, I reply yes, they are naproxen I had forgotten about. He shines a light in my eyes, and asks if I am under the influence, I say no. He accepts the out of date insurance card (I later find the current one)and looks at the registration card. My rear lights come on and I am on my way.

My American friends son was somewhat amused about the traffic stop. He pointed out, if the cops had stopped him he would be spread out and the book thrown at him because of his age. I point out, there has to be some perks to being a woman of certain age, invisibility being one of them.

XiniBirman

@shakakan: "If you where speeding, I then confirmed it with some form of measuring device. Often with me, that is the speedometer on my patrol vehicle."

One time I didn't stop completely at a four way stop sign, just a typical rolling stop. It was the middle of the day, and in the neighborhood I was driving in there were no cars around. Right as I get through the intersection, I see a cop heading the other direction away from me, close enough that he was able to see, but as I continued on in one direction, he appeared to continue in the other. Right as I got to the traffic light at the end of that street, he pulled up behind me at the stop. Once we passed through the intersection he lit me up, and I pulled over into a store parking lot.

He informed me that I didn't stop all the way at the four way stop. He went back to the car with my info, filled out the ticket, and came back. As I was signing it, the officer informed me that he could have given me a ticket for speeding too, but that he was just going to let me off as a warning. That was odd to me, because I'm actually very careful about driving the speed limit. I told him I didn't think I was speeding. His answer: "Well, I had to go over the speed limit to catch up to you."

I hope that isn't what you mean when you say you use your speedometer to check people's speed.

mediaphile

@inboulder1: Glad I wasn't the only one to catch this!

rubberkeyhole

No one has addressed what to do about driving while black. Are the requirements about driving while black significantly different in each state or even each county? How do these rules apply to someone that is black? Should they assume that they will be automatically frisked or just that there is over a 90% chance of that happening?

mikelotus

@klarcds92: are they really that stupid in Alabama? Of course we know the answer.

mikelotus