If a police patrol car
pulls up behind you with lights flashing, the key to the next few minutes is keeping
things safe for you and the police officer. Slow down and carefully pull over to the right
shoulder, making sure to use your turn signal.
If you are uncomfortable stopping in a relatively unpopulated or
unlighted area, slow down, turn on your hazard lights and indicate by a hand signal that
you are going up ahead. Then pull over as soon as you get to a more populated area. Police
officers understand this concern.
If it's nighttime, turn on your dome light once you have stopped. Stay
in the car, unless you are told to get out. It's a challenge to the officer when you get
out since officers are very cautious because of the high rate of attacks in these
situations.
Roll down the window and keep your hands in view on the steering wheel.
If you have to get your driver's license, registration or insurance card from the glove
box, a purse or other enclosed area, tell the officer before you do it.
The key is to play it cool and keep it safe. The easier and safer you
make the process for the officer to approach you the more likely the officer will let you
go just with a warning and not assign you a speeding ticket.
Now what to say to the police officer?
Of course the process of keeping it safe for the officer is only half
of the game. Next you have to persuade officer to let you go with a warning.
The first thing the police officer will ask you after stopping your car
will probably be whether you know why you have been stopped.
Police officer will want you to admit that you were speeding and that
is what most drivers do - they admit that they did actually speed and they receive a
speeding ticket for it. A speeding ticket not only costs them hundreds of dollars but you
are also dealing with your insurance premiums.
Most people get pretty nervous when they got stopped by an officer. The
secret is to stay calm, speak to the officer in respectable tone and politely ask whether
the officer can let you go with a warning.
The first question the officer will probably ask is whether you know
why you have been stopped. You basically have 3 things to say:
Admit that you were speeding: The good side is that you are being
honest and the officer appreciates it. You may have a chance that the officer will let you
go with a warning. The bad side is that if you get assigned a ticket and you had admitted
that you were indeed speeding then it will be used against you at court. Officers usually
take notes on what you say. So if you feel that you will get assigned a speeding ticket
then you really shouldn't directly admit that you were speeding.
