5 Tips to Help You Survive Your First Speeding Ticket

So it finally happened. A police officer pulled you over. Maybe you were in a hurry today, or maybe you didn’t notice when the speed limit changed as you passed through a small town. Maybe you found a speed trap the hard way, or maybe you were following the speed limit carefully and the officer’s traffic radar isn’t working right. There are many reasons why the police might pull you to the side of the road, but once they have, there are a few things you should keep in mind.

Keep Your Hands on the Wheel

When the police pull you over, many people will pull out their wallets and insurance cards while they wait for the officer to come up to their window. However, you should wait until the officer asks for your license to pull it out. If the police see you moving around inside your vehicle, they might suspect you’re trying to hide something or get a weapon. Keeping your hands on the steering wheel except when you’re getting your papers helps everyone stay relaxed.

Be Nice

An officer doesn’t have to give a person a speeding ticket, even if that person was speeding. Sometimes all it takes to avoid a ticket is a little honesty, politeness, and the ability to treat an officer like a human being instead of a fine-dispensing machine. If you decide to be rude instead, if you try to lie about your speed, or if you think flirting or bribing an officer is your best bet, you are more likely to get a ticket.

Avoid Admitting Guilt

You shouldn’t be rude, but you should also avoid saying outright that you knew you were speeding and you didn’t have any good excuse to do so. For reference, “I’m running late” isn’t a good excuse. It’s still up to the officer to give you a ticket or not after you admit you’re guilty, but it’s more likely that the officer will.

Ask for a Warning

Instead of giving you a ticket, an officer could give you a verbal warning instead. If it’s your first offense, and if you’re polite, this may be all you get.

Consider Contesting the Ticket

The accused has a right to contest any ticket handed out by a police officer. For many tickets, doing so is just a waste of time, but in some cases, you might be able to overturn your ticket. Maybe you swerved to avoid something that came out of nowhere, or maybe you were driving someone to the hospital. You might also feel that the officer couldn’t have known you were speeding because of his or her location.

However, the most important thing to remember when an officer pulls you over for speeding is this. A ticket isn’t the end of the world. Don’t panic, and don’t try to think up an excuse to weasel your way out of a fine, and the thing will be over before you know it.

Image from Pixabay licensed under CC BY 2.0

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