“Certainly, officer. Faster than continental drift, slower than the speed of light.”
In my defense, I was only going 30 in a 25mph school zone on a public street that runs through a college campus. The main reason they had been cracking down so much is they had recently been granted permission to run radar due to a student that was run over and killed by a city bus when listening to her ipod instead of paying attention to the “Don’t Walk” sign in a crosswalk.
Am I to understand you were too busy on your phone to pay attention to your speed while driving through a *school *zone in which a student was recently run over due to untimely electronics usage? :smack:
I can see now where the leniency is called for. I’m sure your phone call was of the utmost importance.
I think you forgot to put in the little ‘roll eyes’ face. 
Wait. WHAT?! :dubious:
I’ve tried really hard, but I just can’t see how,
is a logically intelligent “defense” of your actions.
Okay, the student wasn’t paying attention to what she was doing (WALKING), so at the very worst she could have… what? Walked into someone and knocked them down? Walked in front of a bus? Oh, wait. She did exactly that.
The herd got “thinned out”.
You do realize that it could have very easily been you instead of a ‘city bus’, right?
At least the ‘bus’ has the defense of, uh… “It’s a BUS!” (those things don’t ‘stop on a dime’, ya know.)
A car may have been able to stop in time, if the driver had been paying attention.
Which is all a moot point.
I’m just really curious as to how you ‘parse’ your statement to mean, “In my defense…” 
I triple dog dare you to do this.
Let us know how it goes, and how much the bail is. We’ll take up a collection. 
I’ve been asked that two out of three times I’ve been pulled over by the cops. The other time, the question was “Did you know your registration is out of date?” “No, Sir, I actually didn’t.” (I was driving my dad’s car)
The first time I was asked about my speed, I truthfully answered “Thirty miles per hour.”
“Did you know you were still in that school zone?”
“… I thought that school zone ended at the stop sign?”
“Actually, a lot of folks think that, but it doesn’t end until right after where I was parked.”
Yeah, that ticket was farking expensive, but I guess it serves me right for speeding in a school zone.
The other time, I truthfully answered that I was doing 55 (on a highway onramp), but it turns out it was a construction zone with a 35MPH speed limit. That ticket hurt too, but more because of how much of a pain in the ass it is to find out how to pay speeding tickets in Sedgewick County, Kansas. I was on hold for 45 minutes straight calling them to find out. Sent them an email and got a response in seconds. Somebody wasn’t minding their phone lines. :mad:
As I recall, the ticket itself wasn’t that bad, so the cop must have taken pity and knocked some MPH off of his estimate. Worth noting, there was no visible highway work going on that day, or I would have slown down just for seeing that.
I figure, once I’m pulled over for speeding, there’s no point in lying and making it worse for me. Then again, I’ve never been pulled over when I knew I was speeding, so I never have a reason to lie about my speed. :rolleyes:
There are cases of officer error. I was once pulled over for speeding. I had just filled my gas tank and was pulled over a few hundred yards from the gas station. I was not speeding. I went back to the area later and tried repeatedly to reach the speed I was VASCAR’d at and could not get even close.
I entered a not guilty plea. At trial I presented the gas station credit card slip. I testified about how I recreated the situation and could not reach the speed the officer said I was doing. The magistrate said he was sick of “out of towners” speeding through his town and found me guilty.
After the trial, the cop approached me. She felt bad. She believed my testimony and admitted that she likely screwed up. She suggested I appeal, but I could not afford another day off of work at the time.
But would you have been lying if you had told the officer who pulled you over that you had not been speeding? If no, then Raguleader’s point still applies.
Actually, I had no idea how fast I was going. I was accelerating, changing gears, and saw the lights. But I see your point.
Yep, been asked it the last three times I remember. If you were speeding, they are generally (a) trying to see if you are actually aware how fast you were going; (b) trying to assess if you were paying attention to traffic conditions like speed limits, cars around, etc. They may also be (c) trying to get you to admit guilt.
If you say “No, I wasn’t paying attention,” then you technically could be cited for unsafe driving. If you say yes, they may follow up with “do you know the speed limit?” Again, trying to see if you’re paying attention like you’re supposed to, and possibly also getting you to admit guilt.
If you’re doing ~5 over, that might pass muster. If you’re doing ~15 to 20 over, it’s harder to sell convincingly that you were unaware you were that far over the limit. YMMV, HWC, OSFA, IANAL, SHTM*.
“And that speed limit was..?” “Do you realize a clocked you at 25 mph over the limit?”
Admitting you were speeding precludes you from protesting the ticket in court. Assuming the cop shows up, he can state you admitted speeding, negating your testimony in court that you were not speeding. Of course, his word about his radar/laser reading is already worth more than your testimony, but it’s a detail.
Back when I was younger, I was out one Saturday night for a drive. I had been on back country roads, but transitioned onto a more highly traveled roadway, but didn’t drop my speed down. I got pulled over for doing 75 in a 50. Cop said that he could arrest me for that for reckless driving and it would be just like a DWI. I did have an armband from a club on my wrist, and could have been tested for DWI, but I had not been drinking. But I was drastically exceeding the speed limit. I won’t say I was being reckless about it (frantic weaving, cutting cars off, racing through yellow traffic lights ,etc), but I admit I should have slowed down and don’t have a good reason. And yes, I had to pay that ticket - Texas cuts off Defensive Driving at 20 mph over the posted limit.
Yes, but reality says that cops are people, too, and they have other concerns. Can they pull you over for going 56 in a 55? Absolutely. Will they? Not unless they are assholes, they have to make a quota, or there is some other extenuating circumstance to get their attention.
I occassionally drive Houston to Dallas. I find it convenient to drive a bit above the speed limit, but try to make sure I’m slower than ~50% of the traffic. I could and have gone faster on that stretch, but I really don’t need a ticket, and as long as the bulk of traffic is going past me, I can’t see a cop picking me as an object lesson. (Whereas that one time I was the fast one, damn straight he nailed me.)
One time I recalled someone talking about your legal right to prevent search by cooperating to the minimal amount. I tried that out, by only partially rolling down my window. I forgot the part of that instruction that said that by doing so you will probably anger the cop and you will get the ticket. Um, yeah.
I follow the stated advice of pulling over and putting my hands on the steering wheel and waiting for the cop to approach before going for license and stuff. And being polite. Someone else recommended at night you turn on your dome light to help the cop see what you are doing.
Last couple times I got pulled over, I did the above, and got warnings both times. One the guy asked me if I knew how fast I was going, I said Yes. He said did I know the speed limit, which I correctly did know. He asked if I was aware I was speeding, I acknowledged I was exceeding the stated limit without stating how fast I was going. He let me off with a verbal warning.
*Your Mileage May Vary, Handle With Care, One Size Fits All, I Am Not A Lawyer, Say Hi To Mom.
Shame on you. You omitted “Hi, Opal!”
When asked “do you know how fast you were going?” politely say Hello to the officer first. Then say, yes with reasonable proper care and personal ability, sir.
Before someone jumps in with the standard “bra-iii-ns” comment:
welcome aboard!
And so you don’t get confused or think us snarky (we can be that sometimes but we’re usually nice about that) when someone wakes up an old tread (this one is like 5 years dormant) we usually call them “zombies” and some good-natured ribbing ensues. It can be a little off-setting to new posters and I hope you will stick with us a bit and get used to things here.
I notice that in the answers no-one mentions at what point you should reveal that you are carrying a gun.
Surely you should blurt that out before he discovers it himself.
Something like, “Gun! Gun! I am carrying a licenced gun.”
Or does one not mention it until asked?
Posts 27 and 80 both relate experiences of drivers stating up-front to the officer that they had guns in the car. Judging from those it seems like immediately is the right time, and I can certainly see why that would make sense. :eek:
If only that were still the case. <= 15 km/h over is now $279, according to the one my wife just received.
Actually, on the serious side, when asked for license and registration I also hand over my CWP even if he/she hasn’t gotten to the usual “any guns, knives, nuclear devices” question; all the time keeping my hands in plain sight. If he does get to “the question” before that point I say “yes - in my right front pocket and the permit is in my wallet in my left front pocket”. I don’t always like the police but it just seems the common sense and polite thing to do.
(Some day ask me about the routine traffic stop when I had my 3#-er muzzle-loading cannon in the back of my car. 
)
Old comment, but he wasn’t talking about an actor, but a real state trooper on some newsish type program. Being on TV doesn’t automatically make one an actor. Or do you consider the Chief of Police an actor because she makes a formal statement that the news teams broadcast?
Again, old comment, and addressed by others, but the rationale is that slow drivers can be the cause of accidents. Also, they are a frustration to the faster drivers, and it can lead to road rage incidents. Given those are on the rise, and random potshots are going up, and deaths by gunshot from a pissed off driver are on the rise, you might reconsider your position on this.
What is just as important as when is how. The Philando Castile case highlights the need to comply with instructions and not start digging around or just pull it out to hand over.
My buddy with CWP hands his permit over with his driver’s license and states where the gun is. Then asks “How do you want to safely address this so no one gets hurt?”
My experience is now police will repeatedly ask about weapons any time you need to reach for something, like your wallet for ID.
Last time I was pulled over for speeding, I thought the speed limit was higher than it actually was, so I said, “I had thought the speed limit was 45 as it was a couple of miles back, but you wouldn’t be pulling me over if that had been the case. I’m so sorry.”
Stupid question for the uninitiated: if you were in fact going 15 to 20 miles over the speed limit and there is reliable documentation supporting that you were going that fast, how would you contest that? Also, at the risk of sounding incredibly naive and/or Pollyanna-ish, I thought you weren’t supposed to lie in court. Or is traffic court different (i.e., no swearing in, etc.)?
Edited to add: As I type this I can hear someone whispering, “Oh, honey,” and virtually patting me on the head.