Some Things To Know When You Get Speeding Tickets

No one likes being pulled over and getting speeding tickets, but chances are that you will at least once during your car driving days. When this unfortunate event occurs, it is best to be prepared ahead of time. Knowing how to act when you are receiving speeding tickets may make the experience a lot less painful and keep you from being charged more due to inappropriate behavior and comments.

Things to know when you are being pulled over for a speeding ticket:

1. Get to the right shoulder as soon as possible. Never pull to the left shoulder, even when in the left hand lane. This will keep you and the officer from being in the path of oncoming traffic, making the experience safer for you both. (A happier officer is a more generous officer when it comes to getting speeding tickets!) Pull as far over onto the right shoulder as is possible.

2. At night, with unmarked police cars (and even marked ones), continue driving to a lighted area. A gas station or all night convenience store is a good place to travel to, as there are other people around. Officers should not have any problems when you do this, as it keeps everyone involved safer.

3. Keep your hands on the steering wheel in plain sight at all times. When the officer arrives at your window to give you the speeding ticket, this shows the officer clearly he has no reason to be aggressive. In reality, this officer has no idea who you are, and even with something as simple as giving a speeding ticket he or she can be taking a big risk.

4. Keep all your movements while you are interacting with the officer to a minimum. The officer may be able to see you are moving, but he or she has no idea what you are going for. State what you are doing and keep your movements slow at all times.

5. Don't insult the officer's intelligence by calling him or her "sir" or "ma'am" constantly. The officer will not be flattered or impressed, and this can show on the amount charged on your speeding ticket.

6. Don't hurt yourself by volunteering incriminating evidence. Answer questions with a "yes" or "no" and keep answers short and too the point. The only time you should expand on speeding is when there is a medical emergency, and in that situation the officer can actually be of assistance.

7. If your license and registration are in your glove compartment, tell the officer that and ask if you can retrieve them. Once you have taken them out, leave the glove compartment open. If it happens to be in the compartment between the front seats, tell the officer that and ask if you can retrieve them. Once you have taken them out, close the center compartment. With the center compartment, the officer may be concerned there is a weapon inside, so closing it can give the officer a more secure feeling while writing out the speeding ticket.

8. Never argue about your speeding tickets on the side of the road. The officer will not listen, as the court will decide if the speeding was justified.

9. Keep paperwork dealing with your speeding tickets! a. A copy of the ticket. b. License plate and ID number of the officer's car. c. Make and model of the radar gun used. d. A personal account of events, including place, time, weather conditions, amount of traffic, officer's attitude... whatever detail that you think might be relevant.

If you follow the first several tips on this list, the officer may let you get off with just a warning. By being cooperative, the officer may give you a break. However, if the officer is definitely going to write up the speeding ticket, follow the end of the list to make the experience as quick and easy as possible.