I'm waiting for the day I see a police Mustang with "to punish and enslave" written on it. You think they made that up for filming a movie? Ha.

From MYTH #5 "...There is also the National Driver Register, or NDR, a database of information about drivers who have had their licenses revoked and suspended due to serious traffic violations. States provide the NDR with information about these serious offenses, and those in the database can be denied licenses in other states."

Or in the case of Virginia, they can suspend your license because you haven't sent them notice about your insurance coverage when you live in another state and have a different state's DL. Happened to my g/f, moved to FL, she got an FL license, but kept her tag in Virginia cuz her and her dad's name were on it. Moved to TX, got a new TX plate just fine, but Virginia suspended her license, even though she had an FL license. The clerk was happy to take her CC# to pay the statutory $85 fee for lack of notification. Here vehicle was insured the entire time, which saved a $500 fine.

So long story short, it doesn't have to be a serious infraction to be on the NDR, just a lapse in reporting your insurance coverage for VA.

--BK

Caught speeding by a cop with a radar gun? When you go to court, ask if the radar gun was properly calibrated at the time of the alleged violation. If the officer can not produce the paperwork that shows that the device was properly calibrated, you win! i think regulations say that radar guns must be calibrated every so often, so it may be possible that the gun is overdue for calibration. <-- i heard or read about this years ago, is it true? is this in all jurisdictions? It's possible that advanced technology has made this not applicable, anyone know? What if you get caught speeding by a radar gun while on a hill? How about if the police vehicle is traveling in the opposite direction when the officer clocks you? Would these circumstances create a challengeable situation? Anyone know?

My sister-in-law got lucky when a cop pulled her over for speeding. Apparently, he was out of tickets. He apologized and let her go.

Heh, that reminds me of a time I was pulled over, the officer asked me if I knew why, and I said no. Then he said "you ran that stop sign" and I said, "It's a yield sign." He looked back, looked at me and said, "oh."

Excuses can work. If you give a really insane, disgusting story, you may just get away with it. Don't admit guilt but say, officer, I have really bad diarrhea and if I don't get home, I'm gonna (you know what) myself. You have to play it up though. Spray some water on your face like you're sweating. Or just be a really hot female with big breasts.
a few tips from an ex-cop I knew (check the laws where you live);
1. If you're drinking and driving and get pulled over, toss your keys out the window(I don't remember exactly why), and when the cop comes over, crack a beer and CHUG right in front of him. Then he can't prove your alcohol level before you were pulled over. Alcohol accessible is a lesser crime.
2. If you get in an accident drunk, walk to the closest bar and drink. Leaving the scene is again a lesser crime.
3. ALWAYS take the breathalizer. Like all other machines, some days it just won't work right and you may get off.

Another "myth" that people spread is that if you pay over the ticket amount, the state will send you a check back. If you don't cash this check, the transaction will never complete and the ticket doesn't count. I went out on a limb once and actually paid $10 over on a ticket I got in Pennsylvania going from DC to Chicago.

Sure enough, about a month later I got a check for $10 back in the mail. I didn't cash it, and let it ride. This was about 2 years ago, and my insurance does not have a record of this ticket.

This is something that countless people support, countless others claim myth, but in my case, in that state, with my insurance company, there is no record of the ticket.

@nffcnnr:

Yeah, the radar calibration trick is a funny one. The offender walks into the court clerks office with a smirk on their face and requests the calibration sheets to the radar unit used to clock him. The offender figures that the court clerk will be stumped by the request and be unable to help them.

But instead the clerk walks to a file draw, gets the reequested paperwork, copies it, and a minute later gives it to the offender.

The offender then walks away with a look on their face of "now what do I do with this piece of paper". They have no clue and don't use it in court anyway because they can't decipher it.

I don't know...I've been pulled over more times than I care to say. I do everything wrong: I drive a red, dented car that's a total mess inside and has stickers supporting controversial political causes on the back. I get nervous and say stupid things, and have been known to make excuses/lie. Last but not least, I drive ridiculously. However, in all the times I've been stopped, I've only ever received one ticket. Once I even got pulled over twice in two days BY THE SAME COP and I didn't get ticketed either time. I'd tell you my secret if only I knew what it was...

@Cowboys_fan: 3. ALWAYS take the breathalizer. Like all other machines, some days it just won't work right and you may get off.

That's definitely not true in IL. In IL, you should definitely NOT take the test, and refuse at all costs. Generally this will result in a suspended license, but the state has a very hard time proving you were intoxicated if you refuse to take all tests. You can and should actually refuse ALL sobriety tests, if you have a likelihood of failing them. You don't want to give them any test samples, and you don't want to engage in anything that allows them to observe your movement/coordination.

I imagine there are other states like this, but a flat "always take breathalyzer test" mandate is definitely not proper advice.

@nffcnnr: I had a friend in law school who used to do this, only he would do official written discovery requests before the court date, asking for the calibration information on that particular gun AND the training cert for the cop using the gun. No police department ever bothered to answer his discovery requests, so he'd show up for court, protest to the judge that the police hadn't responded to his discovery requests, and get the ticket dismissed. (He got ticketed a LOT.)

He did this in Alabama and North Carolina that I know of. I don't know if it would work in all jurisdictions. I also don't know what would happen if the judge was in a particularly bad mood and thought you were being a smartass -- if he continued the case and ordered discovery, it could quickly become a major pain in your ass.

Myth #9: Online discussions are great places to get legal advice.

Or you can try honesty. I was pulled over. The first question the cop asked was "Do you know how fast you were going?" I replied "at least 75???" (The gun said 82). He went to his car to do the regular check, came back, and pretty much said that because I had a clean record and and pretty much didn't make exceuses he would let me go with a warning.

@Cowboys_fan:
I'll let you test those theories first. It might get you off on a lesser crime, but I'd bet money that you'd be facing at least a cavity search in the process.

@enm4r: In some states (including Minnesota, where I live) refusing to take the breathalyzer is the same as blowing above the legal limit. So, in this case, it is probably a better idea to take the breathalyzer.

A former co-worker was clocked at 90 in a 65 and since the cop was having a good day, he let him off easy by filling in "70" as the offending speed. Being a habitual speeder, he went to court with those cheap traffic lawyers, challenged the calibration, and won since it was only five miles over the limit. Sad.

I had an interesting ticket situation recently-- I was pulled over for speeding (VERY) on a really busy street. When I saw him pulling me over I pulled onto a dead end side street and stopped there.

When he came up to the window he said "What are you doing on this street" and I said "I'm going to Staples." He said "NO, this little side street, why are you on this street?" to which I replied "So you didn't have to get out on the busy main road."

He took my license and walked back to his car. He came back, handed me the warning (HUH??) and said "Slow down and thanks for pulling off the main road"

I can be so fuckin' sweet sometimes.

@BK88: As long as you are still following the speed limit going downhill, it should actually apear that you are going slower on a radar gun because since you are on an incline, laterally you are traveling at a slower rate than if the road was flat. - Usually in cop cars they have mounted radar systems (not guns so to say) that automatically detect the speeds of other cars and compinsate using the cop car's speed, direction doesn't matter, it still works.

The biggest mistake people make when they go to court is to plead GUILTY. When contesting a ticket (or any charge) in court, the ONLY time that you should plead guilty is if you have made a deal (a "plea bargain") with the prosecutor. Even if you KNOW that you did the crime, there is NO disadvantage to pleading NOT GUILTY (except if you've made a deal with the prosecutor, as mentioned above.) Pleading NOT GUILTY means, to a judge, that you want a trial. I repeat -- pleading NOT GUILTY means "please hear me out and give me a trial". Pleading NOT GUILTY, even if you did the crime, is NOT dishonest. Many people think that pleading GUILTY will cause the judge to cut them some slack for being honest. That is just not the case. If you're going to go to court, always plead NOT GUILTY if you haven't made a deal with the prosecutor.

@enm4r: Some of the DUI lawyers I've done work for suggest that you politely refuse the breathalyzer, because it can be faulty. Although in some states, this will get you into MORE trouble. I personally recommend just not drinking and driving in the first place.

@JMB: @queen_elvis: I agree, in many states refusing is an admission/interpreted as blowing above the legal limit. However, in IL it is not. That's why this is definitely a state by state thing, and why I wanted to point out that simply blowing 100% of the time is not always the right move to take.

Or, just not drink and drive, which I personally should involve jail time and be a felony charge in every single instance, but who am I to want safe roads?

I have only been pulled over for speeding once in my life. I was going 90 in a 55 and the cop was hiding around a sweeping corner.

He asked me why I was speeding, if there was an emergency. I said no, and said I knew I was speeding and I was sorry.

He came back a few min later and just gave me a warning and said to slow down which blew my mind because that would have been a HUUUUGE ticket.

2 Other times I was pulled over for a headlight out. Both times i told the officer the truth, i told them the light had just recently gone out (my car loves to blow headlights) and i was going to get it replaced ASAP.

Both time's I was let go with no ticket. Point is if you're honest and polite they might light you go with a verbal warning...or maybe I was just lucky.

One time I did get a fine (doesnt count as a ticket), I had let my inspection lapse, it was 14 days overdue. I let it go because It needed a new exaust and I was waiting for a couple paychecks to afford it. The fine was suppose to be around $200, I went to court and talked to the Officer and got it lowered to $25 because I brought the repair bill, receipt from inspection and proof that I had paid my insurance in full for 2 years in advance thus proving im an honest and good driver.

8 years of driving, no tickets, no accidents doesnt hurt either.

Well, I received a ticket for going 51 in a 35. Went to court. There were about 20 people there for various traffic violations. The judge started the day by asking "Is there anyone here ready to plead guilty to speeding?" About 5 or 6 of us raised our hands. He then polled us individually, reviewed our violations, and gave us PBJ (probation before judgment). So no fine or points. Instead, he gave us all 8 hours of community service.

I ended up being assigned to a recycling center. When I showed up for my service, it was just me and about 10 gang member tough guy types there to work at the center. The supervisor took one look at me, asked me what my offense was, laughed when i told him speeding, and then sent me home.

A few years ago I got pulled over on I-4 in Orlando, FL for speeding. When I pulled over, I rolled down my window, turned off the car, gathered my information and waited for the cop to walk up, I had it ready for him and he went back to his car (shocked, I think) and came back asking if I knew why I was pulled over. I said yes and told him I was going with the flow of traffic and was probably 10 or so over the speed limit (I wasn't paying attention to my speedometer). He thanked me for my honesty, politeness and full attention and gave me a verbal warning and let me be on my way.

While its not always the smartest thing to admit fault, sometimes it will get you off. Cops (especially here in Orlando) usually hear every excuse in the book and at least where I live its difficult to fight (impatient, patronizing judges and always seemingly on time to court cops). I counted myself lucky and went on my way.

One thing, always be polite even if you are in the right. Same goes for in court, you don't know how many times working at the court house I've seen people end up worse off when fighting it while being rude and acting as if they are entitled to a dismissal just because they have money.

If you are going to fight it, at least consult a lawyer. Respectable lawyers will usually give good advice. If they say "No matter what, you will be let off" run away.

Some more important notes:

- Request the prosecution's evidence ahead of time. If they introduce new evidence, you can ask the judge to dismiss the case due to prejudice. He might. If not, he will at least delay it until you receive the evidence.

- If it's a bylaw infraction, try to get a copy of the bylaw. In my city it is impossible to do, it isn't at the library, city records refused to give me the latest one ("It would take months to find the newest copy!") and the bylaw office wouldn't help me. While it didn't win the case for me, explaining the situation to the judge ("How can I defend myself without knowing what law I am accused of breaking?") gained me 2 more months and a private courtroom setting, since it my case had to be specially heard. And the prosecution sent me a copy of the bylaws, of course. I cherish them dearly... :D Oddly enough, they included a complete list of the names of all the bylaw officers for the city. No, I'm far too nice to abuse that information.

- Don't let the prosecution testify. When I went to traffic court (two days in a row) I saw the defence let the prosecution testify at least a dozen times, mostly about signs at the city limits stating certain things. This is illegal, the prosecution can't be sworn, therefore they may not testify. Request they bring a qualified party in to court to testify or request the remarks be stricken from the record. They tried it on me, and while I lost that case, the judge would have let me win if it weren't for the base being absolute liability. If I had allowed the prosecution to testify, I don't think the judge would have been so nice as to explain the flaw in my argument (he never did it for anyone else).

- Unless you think it will help your case (it won't) refuse to be questioned. You do not need to be questioned, and you have a right to make a closing statement. This is where you can say whatever is on your chest (if you must), since the prosecution can't question you on it.

- Don't be afraid of the judge, but be respectful. A law in Ontario allows a defendant to collect $25 for his time and effort in fighting a ticket if they win. I did ask for this, and while the law states I should be paid, the judge and prosecution spent several minutes searching through law books to find case law specifying that it is only to be paid to people fighting a ticket they were convicted on. Oh, to live in a province with Civil law...

FYST is a helpful website for Canadians fighting their tickets. Some of the advice is a bit dated, but it's still useful.

Best of luck!

@enm4r: In NJ, the penalty for a refusal is the same as a DUI conviction. Not so smart to refuse.

I did NOT get a warning when I got my first (and only) ticket. I had just moved into the DC area two years ago and was speeding in a "speed trap." The cop pulled me over. The cop asked if I knew that it was a speed trap. I replied that I had just moved here. I was hoping for a warning as I had never been stopped before.

Sadly, I got ticketed, but it was for failing to obey a traffic sign (lesser offense). I still wished it had been a warning.

@Eyebrows McGee: why didn't he just slow down?

@Cowboys_fan:

You do the toss the keys and crack a beer in Massachusetts, you'll get hit with a worse offense since you are violating the open container law. Many states have this law to prevent the trick you are trying to do.

Also, if you refuse the Breathalyzer, it is automatic 6 month suspension of license.

Oh yeah, there's another myth that was not on the list but floats around anyways. It goes like this:

If you are DUI and you reach your house before they (the police) catch you, then they cannot arrest you. You see dumbasses trying this one all the time on COPS. Of course they all fail since there is no such law in the first place.

Every time I get pulled over, which knock on wood, hasn't been over a year I am very polite to the officer, if he gives me a ticket, I make him call his supervisor out to discuss the ticket, if I at that point I haven't go out of the ticket, I look for every petty argument that I can immediately file an Internal Affairs complaint, and I always do. I have filed an IA complaint on every ticket, and I have been able to get some of the officers in trouble, they have quotas, and at certain times will do anything they can to write that ticket..

@d0x:

my car loves to blow headlights

There's a joke in there somewhere, but damned if I can find it.

I got a story. About a year ago I was leaving a bar in WV. Coming around a blind curve I sneezed and went slightly across the double yellow.. Instant flashers. Cop gives me the standard "you been drinking son" speech and makes me do the blow. I pass, having had one beer about 4 hours previously. He then becomes real friendly and tells me I have a headlight out and warns me to drive safe (Its 3am, so changing it is not an option). Not 3 miles further down the road another cop pulls me over. I sneeze again as I stop(a couple rapidly), and he ORDERS me out of the car. Apparently he thought I was yelling at him (who knows) and gives me a 150 ticket for driving an unsafe vehicle for that same headlight. Also makes me sit on the side of the road for 30 minutes. Little power trip. I ask him "shouldnt this just be a warning for a headlight" he goes "not for assholes that yell at cops".

I still havent paid the damn thing and havent heard a peep from anyone about it.

if you ever get pulled over at night, shut your car off, turn your parking lights on, turn your dome light on, roll down your window & place both hands on the steering wheel.

it may not get you out of a ticket, but it will sure as hell keep you from getting shot. remember that a police officer has no idea who or what s/he is confronting in a traffic stop. making it easier for the officer to assess the situation will disarm him/her & may result in no ticket at all.

"He recalls one recent case in which the officer cited a white Mercedes when the defendant was actually driving a black Porsche."
How do you screw that up? Okay, I can see not knowing a thing about cars and maybe mixing up an SLR and a Carrera (after all, they're both German sports cars, I guess that's a good enough excuse), but we learned our colors in what, preschool? And this isn't a case of black and dark blue either. That officer is too dumb to be protecting the people.

@yg17: After explaining to the cop who was writing my ticket what Scion xB was, he listed it as a 2 door convertable. No joke. Cops seem to be the opposite of a bell curve, you've got the bottom of the barrel and some top notch guys, with no one falling in the middle.

The first two times I got pulled over, I just paid the ticket. I know now that I should've contested the second one, because she had no way of knowing what speed I was going.

I got a warning the third time, due to an expired inspection, which I fixed immediately. The fourth time I got a ticket for speeding, and I contested it in court. Because the officer couldn't measure my speed exactly, the ticket was thrown out.

I've been pulled over once since then, but, because I immediately pulled into a small parking lot away from traffic and was obviously hopelessly lost, and because I was polite to the police officer, he let me off with a warning, and gave me directions.

This works best if your passenger has a street map unfolded on his lap, and is still consulting it while you speak with the policeman. If the address on your license is somewhere in that city, you probably don't want to pull that one.

Your best bet for challenging a speeding ticket is to show the officer couldn't have tested you at the speed he (or she) said he did. Radar guns, when they move, have a margin of error of up to 30 MPH, so having the police officer demonstrate how he used the gun might help your case. (A friend who works for a newspaper tells me stories of people getting out of speeding tickets by a demonstration of a wall getting clocked at 15 MPH.) If there was another car that could've gotten caught in the radar, that'll also help your case. Any sort of barriers to the police officer not being able to clock your speed precisely helps your case, even if you were speeding. He has to PROVE you were speeding; you don't have to prove you weren't.

As for breathalyzer, NC law is that refusal to take a breathalyzer is the same as testing over the legal limit. I understand many states are adopting this policy, so you'll want to watch out for refusing a breathalyzer, depending on where you live.

Or just don't drive drunk.

Years back I was in traffic school and the cop told a story. He was on one of the main roads with his radar gun. he's parked under a 35mph sign and every car he pulled over was doing 45. While he's writing the 7th ticket a city truck pulls up, guy gets out, takes down the 35mph sign and replaces it with a 45mph sign. He lets the current guy go and then gives his boss the handful of tickets to fix since the city didn't notify the police they were changing the speed limit on that road.

Geez. The best way to save money is to stop beeing a crappy drive. Saves lives too, from my understanding.

My apologies for misspelling "being." But I can't believe how many people here are advocating breaking the law.

@lilyHaze:

Sometimes a ticket for a lesser offense is better, especially if it doesn't go on your insurance. I was once pulled over for speeding, but instead of writing me a $75 speeding ticket, the officer wrote me a $25 "failure to wear seatbelt" ticket (even though I was wearing my seatbelt).

Although I was relieved to "save" $50 and an insurance rate hike, I was still a little miffed at the seatbelt thing, because I always wear my seatbelt.

@tastic: He made it very clear on repeated posts he was talking about IL specifically and that you should know the relevant law for your state.

When I was in high school my friend and I wanted to take her parents' new vintage convertable out for a ride around the block before it had been registered. So to cover our bases (hah) we made ourselves a cardboard plate with the numbers from her mom's Taurus and hit the road. We got pulled over within ten minutes and were threatened (very nicely)with arrest and having the car impounded when the second officer came back with our fake plate laughing his ass off.

A third friend of ours had written silly insults about the two of us in little tiny letters all around the edged of our plate which the officer then read to us and asked for clarification on the in-jokes. While we waited for th tow truck to take the car back to her house and her parents to come pick us up, every other cop car in the city, 5 or so, stopped by so the other officers could laugh at us too.

Moral: Entertaining the crap out of bored small town police officers can get you out of a ticket provided you weren't being a danger.

@nffcnnr:

The calibration sheet is a couple of check marks on a slip of paper, done with the rest of your start of shift paperwork, and attached to same at the end of the shift. Pretty rare that't it's not filled out.

My only tip is this:
Get a good, trustworthy lawyer.
A lawyer will have experience challenging radar calibration and will have a plethora of ways to help you get out of your ticket, or at least reduce the charge/fine.

@nffcnnr: Most cities have covered that loophole.

Does anyone know if a ticket in a different state will affect your insurance rates, since some states have different traffic laws? I was watching the Gumball Rally and some of the drivers got some big tickets, but they weren't worried because they were outside of their home state. It just didn't sound right to me.

If you have a concealed weapons permit TELL the officer before getting your registration, insurance, etc., etc... Especially if he's going to see the gun when you're getting this stuff. "Offier, I have a conceled carry permit, there is a pistol in the glove box. Would you like me to step out of my vehicle?" Will be better than suddenly having a Ruger P-89D screwed about an inch into your left ear. Cops hate surprises.

Personal ticket favorite: I got a "driving below minimum speed" ticket. Going uphill, in a loaded 18 wheeler, in the truck lane. It was in one of the Carolinas and just wasn't worth trying to fight from several states away.

Best way to get out of a ticket is to apologize to the officer when he pulls you over. Look normal, not angry and not whiny. Hot chicks: do nothing but look hot. 9 times out of 10 the cop will let you off with a warning.
Wrong thing to say to motorcycle cop who just pulled you over: "Officer I like your boots, I didn't know they made those for men..."

Sorry officer, I'm running late for my breast enhancement surgery.

Mac-Phisto, your advice might be okay if it's a bunch of guys driving, but it's the exact opposite of the advice law enforcement give to women. Keep driving to a well lit public place and DO NOT roll your window down. Make the officer produce believable identification and then MAYBE crack the window. I would never shut off the engine until I had done this.