What To Do And What Not To Do If You Are Pulled Over for Speeding |
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Dean Fraizer
February 17, 2013
If you find yourself being pulled over for any traffic violation by law enforcement, it is imperative you pull over safely, cooperate and be polite. Never admit your speed to the officer when asked and do not volunteer any information that can be used against you in court at a later date. The correct reply to any question about your speed should be something like "I am sorry Officer, I was not aware of my speed" that's it, say nothing more. Remain calm and be polite. Do not just hand the officer your license and registration and let him walk back to his cruiser because if you do this, you have lost your only chance to talk your way out of a ticket by using an excuse or even just simply asking for a written or oral warning. You can't get something you never asked for, so ask for a warning, and yes, you are allowed to do that. If you decide to use an excuse, you must use one that is sincere and can touch the emotions of the officer. For example, family emergency involving wife, kids or relatives; wife is pregnant with first child; the money to pay for the ticket will come from feeding the family; females inform the officer your monthly visitor has arrived and it is an emergency; or your being harassed by another motorist with some type of road rage and you are trying to get away, this falls under the necessity of speed defense. Never use excuses like late for work, not paying attention, you are suffering from a medical condition or just traveling with the flow of traffic because they do not work, officers hear these excuses all the time.
I have already talked about how unfair the issuance of speeding tickets can be because of the outrageous fines and insurance surcharges, the punishment not fitting the crime and the police not playing fair or by the rules. What I want to talk about now is how one can become empowered to believe that if they get a speeding ticket, whether deserved or not, that they feel like they can fight back at our greedy speeding ticket industry and win! There are many things one can do to beat a speeding ticket should they decide to fight back. Of course, a lot of how one prepares themselves for their day in court depends on how they conducted themselves at the scene of the traffic stop; so let's talk about that.
Important Things To Know If You Have Just Been Issued A Ticket
Ok, so you were not able to talk your way out of the ticket and the nice officer just issued you a $175.00 speeding ticket, now what do you do? Well, there are some very important pieces of information you must obtain at the scene of the stop that will help you prepare your defense in court. The most important information you must get is the type of equipment used by the officer, the model and serial number, the cruiser registration plate number and cruiser I.D. number and the officer's name. Some officers will freely provide this information and others will refuse to answer all of your questions so you must obtain as much information as you can by just looking at the police cruiser and observing what kind of equipment is being used as well as the cruiser plate and I.D. numbers. When you have your day in court, you will want to compare the paperwork the police officer brought with him to the information you obtained at the scene of your stop to be sure everything match's up. Some times the police will come to court with paperwork from a different radar or laser unit than they were actually using when you were stopped and ticketed, so be on guard for this tactic.
I tell everybody who gets a speeding ticket to plead not guilty, fight back and ask for a hearing or a court date. Never just pay the fine by sending it in paid in full. The odds are in your favor if you fight back; provided you do a little preparation and follow my advice above.