It occured to me that C3, the original poster, never gave us his country, city or state. As laws vary [as all your posts show] it seems worthless to even begin answering his question, no?
You’re welcome, Quadell. You should know that my traffic ticket experience was gained in your hometown courts.
President of the Vernon Dent fan club.
NOT FIXED BROKEN SPEEDOMETER - 10.00
OVERGREASED AXLES (2) - 6.00
ttl 16.00
tx 1.04
TTL $17.04
– Joe’s Gerage –
Print me out. Take me to court
If you really wanted to beat it, and had the money, go buy different sized wheels and tires. This will change the final gear ratio to the road and throw your speedometer off. I know someone who used this and it worked (on the spot), he didn’t have to go to court. Now, you have to change the rolling diameter, not just wheel size. If you put a 17 in wheel on a car with 14 and put low profile sidewall tires, the diameter and thus speedometer won’t change
I have gotten out of a few tickets in my day. Being single white cute young female (at that time) I did not resort to crying or showing some leg.
I was pulled over for doing 75 in a 25 zone and received only five over because I showed the officer my check book balance and said that if he gave me anything more, he would be coming after me for writing a bad check in a few weeks and that would be more paper work for him. ( I was working up north at a camp and direct depositing didn’t exist then and would not be getting paid for another 4 weeks. and my bank did not have a banch w/i a 100 miles of me.)
One time I was driving a friend who was suffering from an severe asthma attack back to his house at mach 1. He’d forgotten his inhaler and we were pulled over. I raced back to the cop car and told him what was going on. The cop did a quick check and gave us an escort.
Another time I was pulled over for going 60 in a forty. I was in my husbands escort (the “good car” at the time and my car was a little festiva. I told the officer that my car didn’t get up to sixty that fast unless I was going down hill with a good hard tail wind. And if the Festiva did make it to sixty, it would start to shake. I got out of that ticket.
Okay, I admit it: I’ve batted my eyes and said “yes Sir” and been very nice. I guess being “cute” (there’s that word again!) and blonde (at the time) helped.
Go ahead! Revile me. I deserve it! But…no ticket to date. 
…it has never been my way to bother much about things which you can’t cure.
- A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court-Mark Twain
I just say I’m deaf and they forget about it all.
Really works too.
Course I also jump out and stand on the sidewalk first cause I think that they are very nervous approaching someone so this shows them not to be afraid.
Handy - be careful, dood. Mr. Friendly Policeman would much rather you sat quietly with both your hands in plain sight on the steering wheel. “Jumping out” only encourages them to think you’re hiding something or someone in the vehicle (Not to mention it’s easier to shoot or assault them while standing up).
Nickrz is right about not getting out of the car. The police officer is most nervous approaching your vehicle, before he or she has actually talked to you, because s/he doesn’t know what s/he is going to find. The best thing you can do is sit quietly with both hands on the top of the steering wheel where they can be clearly seen. Do NOT get out of the vehicle unless and until s/he instructs you to do so.
And don’t be in a hurry. Often you may have to sit there for a minute or two after you’ve been pulled over and wait for the cop to come to you. S/he is using that time to check the license plate number of your car, to see if it is properly registered, or whether the car is associated with a wanted person.
About four years ago I got a speeding ticket just outside Buffalo, New York. I went to court with a friend of mine who was a local lawyer. I had a totally clean record. They pleaded it down to a parking ticket, I paid a $50 fine and walked out the door. No traffic school, no speeding ticket on my license. Amazing thing!
-Melin
Phenomenal woman
Bitch Corporate Lawyer
That's meWell, I travel a lot and I often don’t pay my tickets. It’s not totally because I am a criminal: the last ticket I got was the day before I was leaving the country. The ticket said that I had to appear in person. Once I got a ticket leaving a court house in anger after paying a ticket. I didn’t pay that ticket out of spite. I do want to return to one state–I wonder how long they keep the ticket on the books.
Also, if I get another drivers license in another state, can I wipe the slate clean? I think not…
Pooch - a new name perhaps?
I did beat a ticket once (40 in a 30) by taking the car to an instrument shop and getting the speedometer recalibrated. Showed the reciept to the judge and got it dismissed. Another part of my (then scheming 20 yr old) strategy was to go to court on a day prior to my court date. I turned in my ticket and the case was called and of course the cop wasn’t there but the judge heard my tale. I know I wouldn’t have been able to wiggle out on the basis of the absence of the officer, and I don’t know if that made any difference at all. That was back in my long-haired guy in a bright red sports car days. Nowadays my appearance is conservative and I drive a grey four door sedan. While I know I’m a better driver now, I still get over the limit, but I haven’t been pulled over in ~14 years.
I haven’t tried this, but a buddy swears that he has, and it worked perfectly.
The next time you are pulled over, and the officer walks up to your window, calmly say to him: “These are not the droids you’re looking for.”
Does that work even when you happen to be the droids they’re lookin’ for?