He came to the window, asked “do you know why I pulled you over?” I said Yes. He asked why I was speeding, I said that I thought the 80 zone started earlier. He went back to his car and wrote me up a ticket for not obeying road signs (a $90 fine compared to upwards of $200 plus a weeks suspension for the speeding ticked)

Just be respectful and if you have a problem, take it to court.

Town A is entitled by state law to keep 75% of the revenue generated by traffic tickets. The chief of police of Town A wrote a trucker making a local delivery of wood chips an $11,500 ticket for being 1000 pounds overweight and not having a local permit for his load, though he met all the state requirements and state law forbids restrictive local permitting, viewing it as an unreasonable, inconsistent barrier to commerce.

Town A ticketed a fourth-generation farmer driving his unregistered tractor, even though the state law expressedly waives the registration requirement for farmers and always has.

Oh, yeah, Town A has the highest per-capita income in the state. Cops are agents of the municipality; like schools, the cops are mirrors of their bosses–eg, the town.

Dick towns have dick cops.

Have your paperwork in your hand and give it over through a window open no more than two inches. Say nothing beyond neutral, courteous yesses and nos. Lock the doors and refuse any requests to search your vehicle. It’s too easy to phony up a DUI or probable cause stop, and it’s even easier if you give ‘em an opening.

There are ‘way too many cases of police-power abuse today–google “pepper spray franconia police killing” for one very recent case– and vigilance is your best protection. They aren’t your friends.

Hat tip to the succesful DUI defense lawyer and the Public Defender buddies for info that works.

Also, you can try to fight it by mail or phone, and you never know if the judge is going to be sympathetic or in on the road tax ploy.

What I would like to see addressed in the next segment about going to court is:

WTF do you do if you are pulled over on vacation? I mean, are you gonna be able to take another vacation to fight the ticket? Nope, you’re screwed. You will not take time off work and travel 1000 miles to fight a speeding ticket. A poorly placed sign on a straight and clear road through some nowhere hick town and boom- I’m out $300 even though the sign was obviously NOT visible until I was two car-lengths away.

Too bad I can’t take two days off work, drive back there, take pictures, and then go back again for a court date.

My brother is a military officer, so he gets to ship his rides around wtih him to various posts for free. I bought his S-10 from him years ago and he shipped it stateside when he transferred to the now-defunct El Toro MCAS. I got pulled over twice in this ride (in Idaho), and although the registration was expired (oops!) the cop was always too lazy to call out to Hawaii to check the plates. They are not on the same cop.com (at least back then) setup as everyone on the continent. So the cop would have to call dispatch, who would then place a call out to the Hawaii DMV and get put on hold and the run-around – like any other chump calling a DMV. Ahh, the good ol’days.

Now say it’s that same situation and instead of stopping in the road, you pull into some place instead. Here is the key. Don’t stop in such a way that all you have to do is go forward to proceed. Stop in such a way that you pull into either a parking space with a building in front of you or some other impassable object. The point being is so that the police officer parks behind you and blocks you in. The psychological effect in all this being that it puts his mind at rest as now he knows he’s got you and you aren’t going anywhere. Versus the other situations where he steps out of his car and you suddenly take off never escapes his mind.

The best luck I’ve had is park in some spot where it’s wide open and the entire city driving by sees the whole thing. Now he’s putting on a show and really thinks he’s embarrassing you good.

If you park in such a way, or he’s parked in such a way as to which creates a traffic obstruction or obstacle, your getting a ticket quickly. If it’s all parked such that the situation can remain that way for the next 20 minutes, you’ll likely get a lecture and a warning.

I would like to add though, I feel it is best to address the officer as “sir,” and not “officer.” 2 reasons: First, not all members of the police force are officers, state troopers actually have the rank “trooper,” for example. Second, it is my understanding that proper etiquette entails that one addresses anyone who outranks them as “sir.” You, as a civilian, do not outrank the police officer who pulled you over.

With female members of the police force, I tend to just answer their questions with a simple and direct “Yes” or “No”. I don’t personally know any women who like to be called “ma’am”. Maybe it makes them feel old :)

Years ago I worked in DC downtown near the court houses and DC police station. One day in a resturant I heard a DC cop, possibly a US Park Police cop, talking loudly at a table about his recent assaults (kicking in the groin) of homeless guys in parks at night. There were probably other cops in that resturant, and the offending cop was not at all concerned about who would hear him.

Police departments, like any big company, are broken into different sections. If you get pulled over by the traffic section then you will likely be getting the ticket. Their job is traffic enforcement and so the best you can hope for is a reduction in fine.

My first 7 years were in general duty which is equivalent to a patrolman in the US. Like “blautens” I was more interested in criminal violations than traffic but was happy to use a traffic infraction as an opportunity to run the drivers name. You would be surprised how many subjects with arrest warrants I found. If the driver was clean I would let them off with a warning and most were very happy with that. That being said I have had drivers talk themselves into tickets by being rude.

If I can offer a response to “greystone”, despite our best efforts to weed out the bad apples there will always be some that get through. A bad cop makes my job that much harder to perform. What I ask is to not pre-judge us just as you would not want to be pre-judged. The vast majority of Police officers out there want to do the best job possible.

“Yes, officer.”

The last time I got pulled over by a Michigan State Police trooper he ended up taking me in on a bench warrant from my ex’s collection agency. While riding to the Berrien county jail I asked him why he pulled me over, that I was doing less than 79 in a 70 and in Michigan you can pretty much do 80 all day and night. The trooper sort of apologized and said that it was because I was inbound into the state (less than 30 miles from the border) and that if I was going in the other direction he’d never have pulled me over. As it was I suppose he figured he’d already messed up my day because he never gave me the speeding ticket.

Any cops out there care to comment?

I was taught to write traffic conditions, lighting, road conditions, description of the driver and/or passengers, contents of the car – whatever I thought was pertinent that I might discuss in court.

I wrote very few moving violations, though (traffic wasn’t my thing), so most of mine were criminal violations (stolen tag, suspended license, warrants, etc.) – so I rarely had to worry about those notes. The traffic infraction was just probable cause to get down to business, quite often – there was usually a bad guy in that car just begging to go to jail.

The only other advice I’d add is that if your registration is in your glove compartment it’s best to leave the glove compartment door open, but if it’s in your center console make sure to close the lid after you take it out. According to a friend who is a police officer, having the center console lid open makes them nervous because it might give you quick access to a weapon – but it’s okay to leave the glove compartment open, because it shows that you have nothing to hide (and the officer can see inside). Turning on your dome light at night is also excellent advice – and if you have tinted windows, lower all of them before the officer approaches your vehicle so they can see inside.

Also, having a visible radar detector makes it about 10 times more likely that you’ll get a ticket – so it’s best to either not use one, or figure out a way to hide it so the cop doesn’t notice it (though they can still detect them if they have the right equipment). My personal rule of thumb is that if you’re only going 15 over the limit or so it’s best to go without the detector – but at 20+ over the limit you might as well use the detector.

The vehicle also makes a big difference – I once drove a light-blue Towncar that was invisible to cops…even at 20 or 25 over the limit they wouldn’t even give me a second look. I would also recommend against bumper stickers, because whichever sticker you have is likely to offend the particular cop that pulls you over.

Now if you’re in the middle of arguing with one’s mother about why you’re going 54 in the 55 zone, trying not to get pulled over on the way to the house signing… That’s a whole different ball of wax. What are you supposed to tell the cop?

“Do you know how fast you were going?”
-”Yes, 54 in a 55 zone sir.”

“No, you were going 72.”
-”Sir, that was the red car that pulled over on the left shoulder, not me.”

“Shut up and give me your license and registration.”
-”Sir, this address on my license is not current, we just moved to your state today and we’re signing for our house in fifteen minutes.”

In court, it was thrown out… And I ended up moving out of that state as soon as possible. What are you supposed to do when you’ve been pulled over for an invalid reason?

I was in Calgary when the city council (actually I think they called it something else) tried to tell the police to bring in more ticket revenue to pay for budget items. The Chief of Police thumbed his nose at them and told them that his officers gave tickets for public safety, not revenue. Had I been able to vote, I went have nominated him for Mayor on the spot.

Over all, I found Canadian public servants to be quite different from ours in many ways, while similar than others. I wouldn’t expect leniency in a BMW up there at all.

Most cops are “normal”. They do their jobs, and most don’t work out personal issues in a traffic stop. YOU can make it personal, but it’s 99% not that way.

As far as notes go, some cops write a short story on the back of the ticket, but most I deal with in the NY area (about 15 different agencies) make brief notes as to your lane, speed and any other observations. Some take zero notes unless you show yourself to be “special”.

While I have heard some “bad cop” stories, those guys tend to leave their agency fairly quickly. Also, as another attorney commenter mentioned, if you are out of the car, SHUT UP and don’t try to talk your way out of it. You are already under arrest (or will be shortly) and your statement will only be a hole you dig for yourself.

While I know some cops who truly enjoy the authority they have and mis-use it, your blanket statement reveals more about you than it does about cops.

Maybe I’m wrong and you’ve met EVERY law enforcer in the whole world and are an unbiased and perfect judge of character.

@Landcrusher: Funny, that you mention the German car – I’ve only been ticketted twice; once doing 30 over in my BMW in an area where 30kph over is nothing extraordanary, just stopped paying attention long enough to get caught in a hidden speed trap (on that area of the highway, it’s a 100kph limit – lots of 40/50kph over traffic during off peak hours). My other ticket was a justified 50kph over bust on a country road with an 80kph limit; the only other common thread that I can think of, is that I’ve only been ticketted by women, never by men… Maybe “yes sir” doesn’t work as well with the ladies… ;-)

If you are in a nice German car, you are screwed. My wife ONCE pulled off the cute redhead ploy, but there is a trap near here where all they ever pull over are cars worth over 40k.

Also, as Greystone pointed out, cops are not angels. Our guys are on quota. So long as the quota is for writing the ticket, and they are not measured on how many tickets stick, they will be honest in court (mostly). The day the quota is based on collections, some will simply put a confession on the back of every ticket.

I was once stopped on the main street through my city’s western suburbs. It is a two-lane street lined with businesses and homes.

The speed limit is 25 mph…and during most of the day, you are lucky to be able to hit 30 mph because the traffic is just too heavy to go any faster.

It was 11:30 p.m. on a warm August Sunday night, there was no traffic…and I was traveling at 45 mph on this street.

The police officer pulled me over and asked, “Is there a reason you are going 45 mph in the 25 mph zone?”

My response: “I wasn’t paying attention the way I should have been, as I’m used to there being much more traffic on this road. I let the speed get away from me.”

I got off with a warning, so it must have worked. I think he was looking for drunk drivers as much as speeders, to be honest…

I can only imagine how minorities are being profiled racially, pulled over, beaten up, and shot at, locked up and prejudged as guilty – sorry my friends you seem to live in utopia and ignoring the real world.

I would take this article with a grain of salt, if you have a cop, who wants to mess you up [he has made his mind before leaving his cruiser] the best advice is ‘do not speak’.

Cops are always the types of judge judy – who enjoy to humiliate others with boorish attitude and they are aware that they can get away with it.

They are high school graduates, what do you expect? they are trained to dehuminaize others – the best advice is ’shut up – and do not speak’ wait till you reach the court where you can speak.

I am aware this blog is a pro law and order and is populated with a gung ho attitude or buffs of law and order – you can’t denie the law enforcements have gone wild – with recent incidents that have been caught on video.

The first time I was pulled over it was like 2am and I was 17…I’d never been pulled over, so I just acted like a scared kid (to my benefit, I was doing about 15 over on an interstate, but noticed immediately headlights that hadn’t been there 2 seconds before…I slowed down to 5 under as the cop caught me and followed me for about 5 miles…then pulled me over). He let me off with a “slow down and have a good night.”

Second time I was honestly shocked…It was in a borrowed Explorer that had rammed a guardrail the day before…The clock said 72mph (in a 65). The cop asked if I knew how fast I was going and I think I kinda mentioned “around 70.” He said “I had you at 77″ and I was honestly surprised and stated so…he dropped it down to a “Failure to Obey a Traffic Device” and told me I should plead non-guilty and work with the D.A. to make sure it wasn’t too expensive.

I have also benefited multiple times from being aware and/or having non-aware idiots near me. The last time was a few years back, I was passing an idiot in a pickup, who was talking on his cell (in NYS just after the ban on cells went into affect). The cop saw me and did a U-turn through the median…I slowed down to the limit and the cop started to catch up with me…He was passing the guy in the pickup, who was still on his phone, and I guess decided that he would rather deal with someone who didn’t know what was going on…Thank you for being such an inattentive driver, you just saved me a hassle.

1) When you pull over, turn off your engine (it neutralizes the risk that you’ll pull off while he’s outside his cruiser)

2) Echoing an earlier point, turn on your interior light

3) Go one step beyond putting your window down – roll down your window & put your hands out the window palms up

All these things reduce the officer’s anxiety & reduce his risk. It’s also exceptionally courteous to the point that all four times I’ve needed to use this advice, the officer asked me why I was doing it. This opened the door to explain best friend is a PO, my uncle is a patrolman, I used to be a volunteer firefighter, etc. Basically, conveying to him that I’m part of the first responder family & respect you. Four for four is a pretty good track record.

Gardiner Westbound :
February 14th, 2008 at 8:53 pm

Policemen in this jurisdiction are trained to record pertinent notes on the back of their copy of the ticket.

I’ve always been curious about what a traffic cop actually writes down after a stop. Do they really record roadside confessions?

Any cops out there care to comment?

Since this was 4am the day after thanksgiving, I think his main priority was DUIs. He asked me if I’d had anything to drink (nope), then if I knew how fast I was going (sorry, I may have drifted over). He asks for my license only (no reg), goes back to his car and returns a min later. He tells me to watch my speed like he’s going to let me off with a warning. Then while returning my license, he peeks in the car and sees the radar detector, and his face totally froze up. “What’s that you got there?” “Oh, it’s a radar detector. Good night, sir. Thank you.” raised that window and drove away. whew.

A month later, my window gets smashed and my radar detector gets stolen. In a nice neighborhood, too. $160 for the window and still need to replace the detector. Karma at work.