Useful Information
Increase your chances of getting a warning instead of a ticket!
1 - You want to increase your chances of getting a warning instead of a ticket. Rule number one, is to pull over to the right side of the road. Some drivers pull over to the left side of the road and put themselves and the police officer in physical danger. Cops in physical danger are not known to have mercy.
2 - Roll down the drivers side window. This is especially important if you have tinted windows. In some states this is important because drivers side tinted windows are illegal. Whether they are illegal in your state or not, you do not want to alert or scare the officer when they approach the vehicle. If they think you are some wise-guy (or wise-guy wannabe) they will take pleasure in giving you as many tickets as possible.
3 - Put your hands on the steering wheel. Fishing around in your car (even for your license) can scare the officer during the day and especially at night. My close friend was looking around for his drivers license and the cop thought he was reaching for a gun. To make a long story short, the cop approached the vehicle with his gun drawn, pulled my buddy out of the car and roughed him up quite a bit. This could have all been avoided if my buddy would have had his hands on the wheel.
4 – Make sure your seat belt is buckled before you put your hands on the wheel. These instructions are listed in order of importance. Buckling up, is secondary to putting you hands on the wheel. However, I do feel it is necessary to tell you that if you have a very quick opportunity that the cop will not see. BUCKLE UP! If you are caught speeding with no seat belt, it often means an additional ticket.
5 – Never admit that you are guilty. If the officer asks you if you know why you were stopped; NEVER respond “Because I was Speeding”. Or “I was only going 5 miles above the limit”. These admissions of guilt are written in the officers notes and will be held against you in a court of law.
6– Getting anything from your glove compartment is a big mistake. If the police officer asks you for documents that you have in your glove box, be sure to ask the cop if you can take those documents from the glove box before you actually do so.
7 – Act innocent and nice when talking to the officer no matter what happened. Do not ask the cop to let you off (unless you are an attractive female) because this presumes that the officer has already decided to give you a ticket. Do not make the decision for the cop. Also, by keeping your mouth shut you increase the likelihood that the officer will not remember you if you have to go to court.