Some Things To Remember When You Receive Speeding Tickets

There is never a time when you will enjoy being pulled over and receiving speeding tickets. However, there is a good chance that one day you will be exceeding the speed limit and get pulled over. Since that event is likely at some point during your driving career, it would be a good idea to know some facts about what to do when you are getting speeding tickets.

Prior awareness and knowing what to do, when to do it, and what to avoid doing while you are pulled over, will make the experience quicker and less stressful for both you and the police officer. If you see police lights behind you, some things you should know and do are:

1. Pull over onto the right shoulder of the roadway as soon as you can. You should not attempt to pull over on the left shoulder, even if you are in the left hand lane at the time. Pulling over to the right shoulder will put you and the police officer in the safer position. (Hint – a safe police officer is happier and more relaxed! That may be a good thing when receiving speeding tickets, as the officer may decide to be more generous.) Make sure you get as far over on the shoulder as your car can go.

2. When you are driving at night, continue driving to a populated and well lit area, even if you are being pulled over by a marked police car! Gas stations and 24 hour convenience stores are plentiful and a good place to drive to, since they will normally have numerous people around. Most officers will not give you any trouble for doing this, since it keeps all parties involved safer.

3. Have your hands in sight of the police officer at all times. The best place to keep them is right on the steering wheel. The police officer who pulled you over will appreciate this, as it will show him or her clearly that there is not need for aggression. Since the police officer really has no idea who you are when he or she pulls you over, there is no way of knowing you are just an ordinary driver (and not a criminal on the run).

4. Movements while interacting with the officer should be slow and kept to a minimum. What you are reaching for is a mystery to the police officer, so quick movements may cause over-reaction. Inform the police officer what you are reaching for and why.

5. Saying “sir” and “ma’am” every other word when speaking to a police officer after you have been pulled over for speeding tickets won’t get you anywhere! That is basically insulting their intelligence (as they know you are just “buttering them up” when you are saying that) and may cause them to become offended and possibly increase the fine on your citation.

6. Never offer more information than is asked for. If it is a simple question, just answer “yes” or “no”. If it is a more advanced question, keep your answers to the point and as brief as possible. If there is an emergency situation which caused you to speed, let the officer know at once and they can possible give you some assistance.

7. Tell the office what you are doing if you need to retrieve your license and registration from the glove compartment or center console. If they are in the glove box, leave the glove box open. If they are in the center console, take them out and then slowly close the center console door. Closing the center console once you have taken out you documents is important as it will allow the police officer to relax and not worry that you have a gun hidden inside.

8. Don’t ever try to talk your way out of a speeding ticket or argue with the officer at the side of the road. It will just make the officer more irritated and possible increase your fine.

9. Keep your paperwork when you are pulled over for speeding tickets! Items you should keep are:

a. Your copy of the ticket.
b. The officer’s car ID number and license plate number
c. What kind of radar gun the officer used. Include the make and model.
d. A complete personal narrative of all the events – place, time, amount of traffic, officer’s demeanor, what the weather was like…any details you can think of may be helpful later on.

Staying calm, cool and collected when you are pulled over for speeding tickets may get you off with a warning. If you remain cooperative throughout, a kind officer might even let you go on your way without a citation. However, there are some officers that will insist on writing out speeding tickets once they have you pulled over, so stick to the tips on the above list for a quick and less painful experience.

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