# Avioding speeding tickets? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 19, 2000, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avioding-speeding-tickets/16286 "2000-04-19T18:58:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Silo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Silo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silo)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2000, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avioding-speeding-tickets/16286/1 "2000-04-19T18:58:00Z")
Hey, I like to speed. Not not in excess but usually at least 10 mph over. So my question is: Do any of you know good ways to get out of or avoid speeding tickets? Of course somebody is probably gonna say “Don’t speed.” I have gotten out of a few tickets by saying my speedometer was not correctly calibrated (even though it was). The radar detectors work sometimes, but they (the cops) keep obtining new toys like the Laser and Vascar. And all modern Radars have “instant on,” “hold/mode” so your radar detector may not even beep when the officer flips on his gun and takes a reading. I have heard jamming radar is effective, you just put your CB radio on an open channel and tape down the mike switch. The electromagnetic voltage will shut down all the Radar guns within 1/4 to 1/2 mile. What are your methods fellow dopers??? * * * Two wrongs do not make a right…but three lefts do. ---
**Author:** ![Satan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Satan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satan)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2000, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avioding-speeding-tickets/16286/2 "2000-04-19T19:18:00Z")
Don’t speed. As you said, somebody had to do it. I always drive 10 MPH over the posted limit. No more and (hopefully) no less. In putting many miles on my car up and down the East Coast (and to Ohio), I have yet to get pulled, let alone a ticket. If driving 75 in a 65 is too slow for you, move to Germany. * * * Yer pal, Satan [http://www.raleighmusic.com/board/Images/devil.gif](http://www.raleighmusic.com/board/Images/devil.gif) _I HAVE BEEN SMOKE-FREE FOR: One week, three days, 17 hours, 18 minutes and 28 seconds. 428 cigarettes not smoked, saving $53.60. Life saved: 1 day, 11 hours, 40 minutes._ ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2000, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avioding-speeding-tickets/16286/3 "2000-04-19T19:21:00Z")
Always make sure that there’s one guy driving faster than you. ---
**Author:** ![h\_thur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/db5fbb/32.png) [@h\_thur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h_thur)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2000, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avioding-speeding-tickets/16286/4 "2000-04-19T20:21:00Z")
They are pretty predictable. I drive the same stretch every day. The cops, when they are out, usually park in the same areas. Pay attention to where the cops pull people over. They tend to patrol certain sections of the road more than others. I watch for them every day. I usually can see them and adjust my speed accordingly before I am zapped by the radar gun. In time, you will automatically slow down as you cruise through the cop hot spots, thus avoiding a ticket. ---
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2000, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avioding-speeding-tickets/16286/5 "2000-04-19T20:22:00Z")
## Wear a low-cut blouse. Alcohol and calculus don’t mix. Never drink and derive. ---
**Author:** ![meek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce73a5/32.png) [@meek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meek)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2000, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avioding-speeding-tickets/16286/6 "2000-04-19T20:39:00Z")
If photo radar is in use in your area, fold your licence plate over your last number. The computer can’t issue the ticket and you can say you never noticed the plate if you are pulled over. (I have been cautioned for this many times, but never ticketed.) I do this in protest, because photo radar is unfair. It is indiscriminatory and is nothing more than a cash cow for local police. Or you can just not speed. * * * Take care. ---
**Author:** ![MeanJoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanjoe/32/5693_2.png) [@MeanJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanJoe)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2000, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avioding-speeding-tickets/16286/7 "2000-04-19T20:48:00Z")
Psycat90 said: > [@](#): > > Wear a low-cut blouse. I’ve tried that and so far have had nowhere near the success that my (34C) girlfriend has. 😃 * * * The Sleeper has AWAKENED! ---
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2000, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avioding-speeding-tickets/16286/8 "2000-04-19T20:50:00Z")
Cry. Bribe. Beg. Take off when the Officer gets to the car. Have a family member on a force, you get a special card that let’s you do stuff like speed, just keep it conveniently side by side with your license in your wallet. Hand yur entire wallet to Officer. (For the record I have never tried to get out of a speeding ticket. I have been pulled over about a dozen times. So far, 1 ticket, 1 written warning, all other times I got the old “Keep it down” speech.) * * * Alcohol and calculus don’t mix. Never drink and derive. ---
**Author:** ![DreamWorks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DreamWorks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreamWorks)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2000, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avioding-speeding-tickets/16286/9 "2000-04-19T22:46:00Z")
As a cop, my only advice is don’t be an asshole. You’re going to speed. We all do, so if the cop pulls you over you really have no idea whether he needs this summons or not, or whether he has a lot of discretion or not. The 10 mph rule is good. Just be honest and courteous with the cop and chances are that you’ll be okay. However, if it’s the end of the month and that trooper needs that summons, you’re gone. ``` Little kids in the car works too. You can try and rent them if you don't have them I guess. Oh, and I've seen Psycat. If she was wearing a low-cut blouse, I wouldn't ticket her.... :) ``` ---
**Author:** ![DAYIUZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DAYIUZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DAYIUZ)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2000, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avioding-speeding-tickets/16286/10 "2000-04-20T00:13:00Z")
Marine Corps stickers. I myself am in the Marine Corps Reserves and have two stickers and a lisence plater border that say so. This has gotten me out of three tickets. Now I am not saying that you should go down to your local recruiters office and as for some just for this reason. However, if you have a family member that has served as a Marine, cover your car with stickers. I am not sure but I can guess that other service stickers will work too, it just that Marines have more of a brotherhood and are more likely to let you slide. As for the low cut blouse angle, how about no blouse at all? * * * Thats the truth and anyone who has heard otherwise has been missinformed. ---
**Author:** ![ThisYearsGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@ThisYearsGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisYearsGirl)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2000, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avioding-speeding-tickets/16286/11 "2000-04-20T00:29:00Z")
I know this isn’t MPSIMS, but I’ve got a really funny speeding ticket story. My friend Shane was driving to a town about an hour and a half away for a college interview. She’s the worst driver ever, so she gets stopped for going 65 in a 40. The cop gives her a date for traffic court, and a couple weeks later, she’s on her way to traffic court, and she gets stopped for speeding again. And she told the cop, “I’m sorry I’m going fast, but I’m late for traffic court!” Anyway, usually if you go ten or less than 10 miles per hour over the speed limit, a cop won’t stop you. I think 15 is the threshold. Also, in some states (SC, I know, Virginia, Louisiana, and others, I think), the cop that tickets you have to be the one that caught you speeding. So if you’re on the interstate, and a police man on an overpass clocks you at 95, he has to give you the ticket, not his partner driving around behind you. You’ll wanna check up on your laws, but it worked for Shane. * * * “I need the biggest seed bell you have. . . no, that’s too big.”–Hans Moleman ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2000, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avioding-speeding-tickets/16286/12 "2000-04-20T00:35:00Z")
Oh easy, simply become a cop. cops never ticket other cops. ---
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2000, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avioding-speeding-tickets/16286/13 "2000-04-20T00:41:00Z")
Shayna, that was a funny story, and this is MPSIMS. :)\<–You can tell by the smilies! > [@](#): > > Anyway, usually if you go ten or less than 10 miles per hour over the speed limit, a cop won’t stop you. I think 15 is the threshold This does NOT hold true for some states, I know NJ and possibly NY and some Eastern parts of PA. Particularly NJ, where the speed limit on select highways and roadways was raised from 55 to 65. The police there have(or had, when it was initially raised, in order to keep people from doing 75) zero tolerance for anything over 65. 1 mile over could get you a ticket. Personally, I feel on a highway or high-speed/traffic roadway, say I-80, 75-80 mph is fine if you can handle it. As a mom, in a residential area, if the posted limit is 25, then do 25. My kids walk those streets. * * * Try not to have a good time…this is supposed to be educational. -Charles Schulz ---
**Author:** ![Splat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Splat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Splat)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2000, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avioding-speeding-tickets/16286/14 "2000-04-20T01:22:00Z")
I have a perfect driving record thanks to one simple rule: Never drive fast when it makes sense. If you have a wide straight road that seems to be saying “I’m empty, you can drive as fast as you want!” there’s a cop down the road who hopes you listen to it. On the other hand twisty back roads that no one in their right mind would drive fast on are perfectly safe. Bad weather also helps. ---
**Author:** ![Rich\_G7subs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85e7bf/32.png) [@Rich\_G7subs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rich_G7subs)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2000, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avioding-speeding-tickets/16286/15 "2000-04-20T01:45:00Z")
As Dreamworks suggested,be respectful and polite.Make his job easy. I pull over immediatly,as far over on the shoulder as is possible.Turn radio off,interior lights on.I put my hands on the wheel,in plain sight.I’ve found if you are truthful and respectful 90% of the time they’ll let you go.A PBA card helps too. * * * Rich “G7SUBS” ---
**Author:** ![kinoons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a698b9/32.png) [@kinoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kinoons)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2000, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avioding-speeding-tickets/16286/16 "2000-04-20T01:55:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by DAYIUZ: > \*\*Marine Corps stickers. I myself am in the Marine Corps Reserves and have two stickers and a lisence plater border that say so. This has gotten me out of three tickets. > > Now I am not saying that you should go down to your local recruiters office and as for some just for this reason. However, if you have a family member that has served as a Marine, cover your car with stickers. > > I am not sure but I can guess that other service stickers will work too, it just that Marines have more of a brotherhood and are more likely to let you slide. > > As for the low cut blouse angle, how about no blouse at all? > \*\* On a similar note, I have two stickers on the back of my car, identifying myself as an EMT and Firefighter. out of the numerous times I’ve been pulled over, only have 1 ticket. From what I understand its out professional respect * * * …for more silky smooth segues, write to “silky smooth segues” 610 n 10th street, Albuquerque NM 87109. ---
**Author:** ![NothingMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b77776/32.png) [@NothingMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NothingMan)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2000, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avioding-speeding-tickets/16286/17 "2000-04-20T07:10:00Z")
Simple system : get yourself what I call a “runner”. That is someone going faster than you. Let him pass you, then pull in behind him and give him about 1/4 to 1/2 mile of space. Do the same speed he is doing, and make sure no police car comes up behind you. (At night this is trickier, so if anyone comes flying up behind you, be on the safe side and slow down until he gets in front of you.) If anyone gets a ticket it will be the guy in front of you. A “runner” that’s a semi is even better, I call 'em B.F.R.D.s (Big F-ing Radar Detectors). Using this system I have sped all the way to Atlanta several times and have no tickets. What Rich and DreamWorks said is true too. Be very polite, have both hands on the wheel in plain site when the officer walks up, and make sure to ask permission to go to your glovebox for your registration and insurance (a nice touch). I should write a book. * * * _“I am mortal, born to love and to suffer.” - Friedrich Holderlin_ ---
**Author:** ![occ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@occ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/occ)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2000, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avioding-speeding-tickets/16286/18 "2000-04-20T13:30:00Z")
For DreamWorks (and anyone with police knowledge): Do Fraternal Order of Police windshield stickers or any other paraphernilia really work to get you out of tickets? People also claim being a volunteer firefighter is good. I was just wondering what the general consensus was. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2000, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avioding-speeding-tickets/16286/19 "2000-04-20T13:49:00Z")
I regularly speed. But what I don’t do is pass excessively or weave through traffic. As long as you “keep with the flow”, you generally won’t get ticketed. If you’re on a quiet country road where the speed limit is 45, do freakin’ 45. Any cops along that road are probably bored and just biting at the bit for a change in the routine. * * * You must unlearn what you have learned. – Yoda ---
**Author:** ![malaka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@malaka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malaka)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2000, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avioding-speeding-tickets/16286/20 "2000-04-20T14:19:00Z")
Got this from a friend a while back… Tips on Speeding tickets. Before You Get A Ticket 1. Stay out of the far left (fast) lane. 80% of all tickets are written in the fast lane. 2. Invest in a good radar/laser detector. Don’t buy a cheap one, they’ll alert you to every garage door opener & alarm system you pass…and like the boy who cried wolf too many times, you’ll ignore it when there really is a cop around. Spend at least $200. 3. Invest in an International Driver’s License. Not only will you be able to drive in virtually any country in the world, you’ll never have another ticket go on your driving record again. The United Nations does not keep track of points or tickets. Your UN license is totally legal for driving in the US as long as it is issued in another country. 4. Watch for cops in the following hiding places: A) Just over hillcrests, B) Just around blind corners, C) In front of big trucks on the freeway, D) Behind bridge pillars and bushes in the freeway medians, E) On freeway on-ramps sneaking up behind you in your blind spot and F) In airplanes flying overhead. 5. Do not speed at night. You can’t see cops and it’s much more dangerous anyway. After You Get A Ticket 6. Plead not guilty and fight it. Not only will it cost you the fine of $150-300, but it will also cost you an average of $1,000 in insurance surcharges over the next 3 years (unless you go to traffic school to keep it off your record or you have an international driver’s license) 7. After your trial date has been scheduled, request an extension. They usually schedule all cases for a particular officer on one day so he can get them all done at once. Get yourself out of the loop and he’s less likely to make a special trip back just for your case. When he doesn’t show, you win. 8. If its a radar ticket, go to the court where you are supposed to appear two weeks before your trial and request copies of the officer’s radar training certificate, calibration records for the radar gun, calibration records for the tuning forks, the agency’s FCC license to use radar, the traffic & engineering survey for the road you were cited on, etc. etc. If any of these are out of date, inaccurate, don’t exist or don’t make it to the court in time for your case…the radar is inadmissible and you win. 4. If its a ticket issued by a camera and mailed out to you…remember this: You have a constitutional right to confront and cross examine (ask questions of) your accuser, which in this case is a camera. First of all, they are not going to bring the camera into the courtroom, and even if they did, the camera can’t answer your questions…case dismissed. 5. Check your ticket for a slot that says “Vacation Dates.” Some have them, some don’t. If its filled in, call the court just before your appearance date and request an extension that lands during the officer’s vacation. When he doesn’t show up you win. 6. Call the officer’s station once a day for a week. Whatever day they say he’s not in is likely his day off. Request your extension to fall on that day. Chances are better that he won’t show up then than on a day that he’s working. 7. If you got a ticket out of state, or too far away to drive back & fight it, call the court and tell them you want a “Trial By Declaration.” They’ll give you a deadline date, and all you have to do is write the judge a letter telling him why you’re not guilty. If you write a good letter you’ll likely win because the cop won’t be there to testify against you. 1. If its an air patrol ticket (cop in airplane clocks you…chase car on ground writes you the ticket), go to court. Most of the time the only cop who shows up is the one who wrote the ticket. Since he can’t testify to how the cop in the plane clocked you (its called hearsay), you win. 2. If its a speeding ticket from a zone less than 55, remember that these fall under the basic speed law…which says “you shall not drive at an unsafe speed for road conditions.” This means you can go into court and tell the judge, “Yes your honor, I was going 45 in a 35, AND, I was doing so safely. The weather conditions and visibility were good, traffic was light and there weren’t any school children or pedestrians around.” The cop has to prove that you were “endangering someone’s life or limb” which he’s not going to be able to do. You walk. 3. Always remember that you are innocent until proven guilty. For example, the beam coming out of a radar gun spreads out as it gets further from the gun. 200 yards away, it is over 4 lanes wide. If the cop picked you out of a bunch of cars, he can’t prove that you’re the one he clocked, it could have been any of them. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avioding-speeding-tickets/16286.md?page=2)