These Are Your Go-To Plans For Avoiding Traffic Tickets

Pay the man. I’ve only gotten away with a traffic violation once, and it wasn’t really a violation.

I pulled up to a 4 way stop at the same time as a cop. He waved me on, which I did. Then he pulled me over for failing to come to a complete stop at the sign. I pointed to the crutches and knee scooter in the back and explained I had just gotten out of a cast and starting quickly on a hill with a stick was something I was a bit nervous about (and didn’t call him an asshole, because I HAD stopped long enough for him to tell me it was my turn).

Other than that, I couldn’t talk myself out of a 47 in a 45 when I was being passed.

Submitted by: hoser68

Shut up, don’t admit guilt, and then hire a lawyer. Get it downgraded to a non-moving violation, pay the fines and fees, and move on with life.

I have Disabled Veteran license plates on my Cayman, so I’m hoping that could possibly get me out of a ticket. But when the cop sees my radar detector (and/or realize that I’m driving a yellow Porsche), they’d probably ticket me anyway.

Submitted by: snisps

This is coming from white guy that has sometimes been pulled over in a mini-van with the whole family in tow, so take that into account but if I get pulled over, I am polite as possible. Indicate that I’m pulling over, pull over as far as possible, turn off the car, roll down the windows, turn on light at night, put my docs on my lap/dash, hands on top of the wheel and then just be genuinely contrite. These were true excuses that actually worked:

(Spicewood, Texas - local pd/sheriff deputy) I’m sorry, I didn’t realize the speed limit dropped down for that section of the road. I looked down for a second and must’ve missed the change. I thought it was weird to be going 65 through your small town.

(State Trooper, near Waco) “I’m sorry, there’s no where to put my license plate on the front without drilling holes in my bumper. It keeps falling off. I’ll figure out a way to get it on there.”

(Memphis, TN - Constable) “I’m sorry, I really don’t think I was going that fast. (said I was 30 over the limit) I had cruise control set at 5 mph over.”

(Colorado Trooper) My wife on family road trip, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be going so fast. We just picked up more speed than I thought I would on that hill and once I realized, I tried to slow down. I’ll be more careful.” Also offered the officer some pizza.

(NJ local pd) - “No, I disagree that I need NJ registration/plates. I am student here and my permanent address is in Texas.”

I think starting off the stop by being as transparent as possible helps put them at ease and then being as polite and respectful as possible while pushing back gently with a legit explanation is the best approach. Worst case scenario, they give you the ticket and then (at least in Texas, you go to court, ask the prosecutor to do deferred adjudication, don’t get another ticket for 30-90 days, maybe do defensive driving, and then the ticket is dismissed.) Don’t be like one of those folks that just rolls down the window a crack and refuses to engage other than what is required. Just don’t be a dick and usually the cops won’t. Again, I’m a white guy in Texas so your experience may vary.

Submitted by: seanjohntx

Soooo, my registration went out during the pandemic and due to an address change I never received the paperwork needed. This kept going on for a while, and everytime I contacted the people, they would always ask if I had received the ‘green form,’ which I never did.

I got pulled over a few times by HPD for it, to which I would always make some sob story about being super busy from school (not necessarily a lie, just a little embellishment); they would always give me a warning. I knew I was pushing it close, so I finally figured out where to go. About two weeks before the day I was going, not HPD but Bellaire PD pulled me over for it. I knew it was happening as I saw him make a u-turn. I tried giving the same story, but he still gave me a ticket for it.

Luckily I finally got it taken care of before the court date, so the fine was only like 20 bucks

Submitted by: RedRaiderEducator

I’ve been driving for 50+ years. I’ve gotten out of a few, and paid a few, but I’ve never paid full price + points.

I’ve gotten out of a couple by being respectful and knowing what to do ahead of time. If it’s night, turn on your dome light. Always have your hands on the wheel when the officer approaches, have your documents ready if you can, and be polite. It never hurts to ask ONCE for a break, because you never know if the officer might do it. He won’t write you a bigger ticket, after all. And a couple times, I got a break.

ALWAYS go to court. Sometimes the officer doesn’t show up (that has happened twice). Maybe you want to plead your case. But what happens most often is the magistrate wants the fine and doesn’t care about the points. Here in PA, speeding is a fine + 3 points, and “failing to obey a traffic sign” is about the same fine and no points. Points make your insurance go up! My last ticket, the magistrate took 20 or so of us all in at once and asked us each individually if we wanted to do that, then banged the gavel and that was it. He cleared his docket in about 5 minutes.

A word on radar detectors: don’t bother. There is no substitute for paying attention and being alert. Know what leeway the state you’re driving in allows, and stay within it. At most you’re saving no time at all by speeding. Probably 75% of my tickets were because I wasn’t paying attention and was a mph or two over a local limit, moving between well spaced stop signs or traffic lights, and got caught by a revenue generating trap. I’ve only gotten one on an interstate (and talked my way out of another by asking for a break). You will NEVER get a break if the officer sees a radar detector, because it shows intent to speed.

Submitted by: Mosca

Never had a camera ticket so can’t comment on that. The last times I have been pulled over I went with the honesty is the best policy (but don’t divulge actual speeds) basically the conversation was Cop: do you know why I pulled you over? Me: I was probably driving faster than I should have (alternate: I was driving like an idiot). Cop: How is your record? Me: Clean until right now.

They go back check me out and have given me warnings instead of a ticket because I admitted to being in the wrong. Has worked twice.

Anecdote from coworker: has phone in hand, gets pulled over. Cop asks why do you think I pulled you over? Says because I was being stupid and messing with my phone. Cop says of all the people I have pulled over today for the same thing, you are the first to actually acknowledge what you did. They got let off with warning not to do it again instead of a ticket.

Submitted by: MrAcoustics

I’m too old for crying. It worked when I was young and cute except for one holiday weekend - he didn’t buy that I had to work too and was trying to get in a quick visit with the fam before going back to work. Real crying isn’t particularly attractive - just let them pool up. This was also a clue I’d aged out of this tactic.

I tried an apology. Fail.

I tried turning into suburbia and had to sit through a lecture as well as getting a stiff fine for speeding (to which he could have added ‘evading an officer’ since he wasn’t buying my ‘trying to get out of your way’ story).

I tried reason the last time - there was a small fleet of massive construction vehicles (HUGE trucks full of gravel/concrete) I was trying to get around and behind me as we entered a small town with multiple lights in-a-row. Unfortunately they were all trying to get to the head of the pack as well - just as the limit decreases there. And it was the end of the month. They’ll never get me again in that location.

Submitted by: sybann

There was a period in my mid-to-late 20s where my ‘win streak’ was THIRTEEN stops w/o a moving violation. It was a running joke with my friends. “OH, Mr. Fennell - didn’t mean to pull you over”. I don’t know that it was any one thing. Lots of luck, of course. I never admitted to a specific offense but if the question was “do you know why I pulled you over”, the answer was a light-hearted “Yeah, yeah, I think I do...”

I did get a lot of mileage over the years with ‘forgot papers’, especially on my motorcycles. “Oh, crap, I left my insurance card at home.” That gives them an easy way to get paid w/o a moving violation. I haven’t had a car inspected since pre-COVID. I consider that the near-equivalent.

NJ State Troopers seem to think they’re in the armed forces so working in that I was on my way to/from a military base seemed to help a couple times.

Lately, I’ve found it useful to be a middle-aged white guy. I just don’t get pulled over in the first place. I don’t think I drive any slower.

Submitted by: mfennell’s new burner because he forgot the old one

Last time I was pulled over, it was for passing an Arkansas state trooper on the right whilst taking a right hand corner on the interstate. I was going exactly the speed limit. So was he. But my vehicle, being on the inside of the corner, had to cover less distance and as a result, I passed him.

Arkansas is a “left lane is for passing only” state, and my passing him on the right made him look bad (his exact words were “I can’t have you passing me on the right without there being consequences”).

My method of “getting out of it” was relating it to NASCAR when I’d first attempted to explain it using fancy words like “geometry” and “radius” which, I assume, weren’t covered during his “49th place out of 50" Arkansas Public School education (motto “hey, at least we beat Mississippi... this year”).

EDIT: I should also mention that he gave me a written warning “because I was a veteran,” not because he was in any way at fault for not understanding how circles work.

Submitted by: OldManMcKenna

Next time you get pulled over, try this, not only will it speed the whole stop up, it will lead to an immensely friendlier stop.

Pull over as far off the road as you can. Flip on the hazards. Shut the car off. Toss the keys on the dash, along with you Id, insurance, and registration, right where the officer can see them. If it’s dark, turn on the dome light.

Stick both hands out the window, and keep them there.

I’ve been pulled over 3 times in the last 3 or 4 years, and every single time the officer expressed their appreciation, and let me go. Mind you, this was for dumb stuff like 10 mph over, no fenders on my Jeep (legal in Ohio, not in PA) and improper lights (ditto)

But still, a little bit of kindness goes a long way.

Submitted by: H4llelujah

Contrary to what people say about putting the keys on the dash (or dropping them on ground for motorcycle riders),

DON’T DO THAT!

Why not? Because it just screams to the officer, “I’VE BEEN BAD AND I’VE DONE IT BEFORE, TOO!”

It’s just dumb behavior.

Here’s what has worked for me about 6 or 7 times consecutively over the last 31 years, all on a motorcycle, once for going too slow! (No moving violations in that time and I was once pulled over after having exceeded 110 mph for a full 30 minutes in Death Valley!):

1) As soon as you see the lights behind you, turn your right indicator on and look for a SAFE place to pull over. You don’t want to put yourself or the officer in a dangerous spot of road;

2) Once you come to a stop, roll down the window and shut off the engine (and definitely the radio!). Turning on the hazard lights is optional and not required. Do NOT reach around in the car for anything. Remove sunglasses if you’re wearing them and keep your hands on the steering wheel. Do NOT get out of your car unless the officer orders you to do so and do not resist getting out if they do (but for a driving infraction, this is unlikely);

3) When the officer gets to the window, BE POLITE! Yes, I’m telling you to “respect their authori-tay!” Force yourself to be genuinely polite. If you have the slightest annoyed or antagonized attitude, you might as well hand over your credit card right then. If you have a legally carried firearm being transported in a legal manner, inform the officer. (E.g. in California, I believe that for a non-concealed carry situation (like going to a firing range) that the firearm needs to be unloaded in a locked case in the trunk of the vehicle);

4) Answer their questions but DON’T admit to having committed any infractions or crimes. And DON’T lie about stuff, either—they’ve heard all the excuses before and they have good internal lie detectors. And do NOT consent to a search of your vehicle or its contents, regardless of whether you have any contriband of any sort;

5) Be deferential but don’t apologize (never say the word “sorry” if you can help it) and don’t be obsequious, either (“Why, yes, officer, I see your point and you’re absolutely correct.” For “old” people, don’t be an Eddie Haskell.);

6) They will 99.99% ask to see your driver’s license and registration (and I think some places ask for proof of insurance?). Assuming you do have it, tell the officer where it is and that you are retrieving. Don’t make any sudden movements while doing it, don’t obscure your search for the items (like hunching over a purse or backpack). If you don’t have the documents, depending on the officer, it could be a real problem for you;

7) If you get off with a warning, THANK the officer and tell them that you will be more careful/”dial it back”/whatever;

8) If you do get a ticket, do NOT become belligerent or abusive, that might well lead to you handcuffed in the back of a patrol car or escalate to a bunch of terminal bullet holes in your body.

THAT is how you do it.

For BIPOC: you’ve probably undergone training (or at least a lesson from your parents) in how not to become a statistic, so your approach might differ from this. I’m sorry for racist and generally insensitive LEOs that you might encounter.

Submitted by: NotLewisHamilton