I once got pulled over after crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The cops are ALWAYS waiting there, but it’s a rite of passage for Virginia teens, and even some parents won’t warn their children about that radar nest.
Thinking I was safe, on a bridge, and following “the flow of traffic” I was probably doing about 75 and I think the limit was 50. Anyhoo, they put a car at the front of the line and another at the back and pulled over the WHOLE flow of traffic.
I was sitting near the back, and waited about 20 minutes before they even got to me to write my ticket. When the officer asked about my reason for speeding I said:
TC: “Latent herding instinct?”
Officer: [laughing] "Wha ha ha ha ut?
TC: [sheepishly] “Well, you know, how the lions always get the antelope at the back of the herd. . . it’s just instinct to stay inside the group . . .”
Officer: “Ma’am, we have a weekly bet at Friday happy hour, whoever has got the best excuse story drinks for free. And since you just won that one for me, I’m gonna let you off with a warning.”
Then he tipped his hat and walked on down to the next car.
I always fight them. Every time but one the officer hasn’t bothered to show up for court. I assume it is not worth a half-day of their time sitting in court to make sure I pay less than one hundred dollars. I also make sure the actual traffic stop is very polite and perfectly innocuous so there is no reason for the officer to have it out for me.
The one time the officer did show up I was very quickly dealt with.
Next time they try doing that, point out to the referee that you have a right to a speedy trial, don’t agree to have the case bound over, and ask for dismissal for lack of a prima facie case.
The other problem is (from what I hear ) if I try to pull some fancy legal language out, they get kind of mad and there goes my reduction from 65 to 59. It’s not worth the risk.
It has worked for me multiple times in Georgia and Massachusetts over the last 20+ years. No one has seemed put out by dismissing the case instantly and sending me on my way.
I’ve been pulled over a bunch of times here in Cary. Not once has the cop given me a ticket.
My second night in Cary, I pulled out of a gas station and forgot to turn my headlights on. Cop pulled me (I still had Florida tags). He asked if I knew why he pulled me over, I gave him that clueless look and said “No idea!” He asked why I had no headlights on, and my reply was “Oh, because I’m an idiot.” He told me to turn my lights on & sent me on my way, laughing all the way back to the car.
Another time I got pulled over on my way home from roller hockey. I had played 4 games and was DEAD…the heat was awful on the rink and I was drained. Halfway home it hit me…I had to go to the bathroom NOW. Cop pulled me, I pulled over, turned the inside light on, etc etc… When he got my license & registration, he asked my why I was going so fast. Naturally, I told him the truth, and asked him to write quickly. He went back to his car, ran my license, then came back to the car. He told me to slow down (I was going 13 over, he was more looking for drunks) and told me that, if I got into an accident, I wouldn’t need to go to the bathroom any more, and I wouldn’t have clean underwear on either!! I told him I’d slow down and told him not to make me laugh again…or we’d have that “no clean undies” issue. He laughed & followed me halfway home.
Cops in Cary have a reputation for being pretty strict, but the only tickets I’ve gotten in NC was from state troopers. I’ve always been lucky, they always give me some way to make them laugh and it helps. Of course, I’m always sober, always respectful, and I always do everything I can to make sure the cop feels safe as he’s walking up to the car. Hands in view, radio off, inside light on, window open, no funny moves.
I’ve gotten a mini-lecture the few times I’ve been given a warning. It was fine with me; the cop would say something about little kids playing nearby and I’d express profound remorse over my personal failings. If it means no ticket, I don’t care if they scream at me, curse me out and say terrible things about my ancestors.
I’ve found the honesty route tends to work, on multiple occasions.
Once I was pulled over for driving my Camaro 80 in a 55, the officer said “My radar says you were going 80, how fast do you think you were going”, I didn’t try to BS or anything, just responded with “oh I’m pretty sure your radar is right, about 80”. While he was sitting in his car writing up the ticket all of my friends were telling me “you should have said you didn’t know, or that it’s easy to lose track on these remote highways, etc. etc.” He wrote me a ticket for 60 in a 55 and said “I appreciate your honesty and your attitude.”
I have just once. The cop was a total idiot airport cop. I was driving out of Tampa Airport, and had only gone because a friend had gotten a speeding ticket (plus picked up on an outstanding warrant) in the exact spot. So I knew it was a speed trap. I was driving about five miles an hour below the speed limit, and this bozo with his brights on came racing up behind me and it looked as if he was going to ram my car. I accelerated a bit so he wouldn’t hit me, and that’s when he lit me up. He claimed I was going 1 mile an hour less than whatever the big ticket would have been. And he said he clocked me on his speedometer - apparently they couldn’t afford radar at the time. It was lost on him that by catching up to me he could scarcely clock me on his speedometer.*
Of course I was just a kid, and in court his word was gold and mine was for shit. The ticket amount would probably be small to me now, maybe $60, but it was a ton to me as I’d just graduated from college and had not yet started working. Sitting through traffic court there were a ton of people with varying courses. The judge found every single one guilty EXCEPT for the really rich guy who hired a lawyer. He’d been clocked going about 40 miles over the speed limit in his Rolls Royce. The guy who tagged him knew the whole drill. He’d calibrated his radar gun and checked it for accuracy before and after the traffic stop, he was not just qualified at the highest level, but also was a certified instructor on that device. Rich guy was found Not Guilty, although his lawyer probably cost more than any ticket possibly could have. I don’t recall any stunning legal argument, most likely just pointed out to the judge by bringing in his lawyer that he was the sort that could afford to donate to re-election campaigns.
*Fortunately, for whatever reason, they don’t do this here anymore. Probably because they figured out it was better to have the tourists come back than leave our area with a bad taste in their mouths because the yokel airport cops decided to supplement their budget with a speed trap.
I have got myself out of the last 3 of 4times I’ve been pulled over. I do the whole thing, windows open, interior lights on, hands on the wheel, radio off, car off. When the officer asks me if I know why I was being pulled over I would state it is probably because of xyz. They would say yes, and that is when I would in a curtious voice and with sincerity ask he they could just let me off with a warning and I am very sorry for doing it. And it works. If you don’t ask they won’t let you off. And it can’t hurt to ask. The one time they did write me up I passed them doing 105 on my motorcycle, they wrote me for 59 in a 55. And told me to slow down. Probably helped that it was a moto cop.
The only time in my life I’ve ever considered becoming a law-enforcement officer was when watching Cannonball Run. I asked my dad if he thought girls ever really flashed cops their boobs to get out of tickets and he said it probably happens all the time.
For a few glorious minutes there, I had a career plan.
I know that a girl flashed at Wendys to get some free fries. I was working there at the time but did not see it myself. She said “Can I get free fries for these?”
I had a five minute conversation with a drive-thru guy at Taco Bell one time about the great bodies he used to get treated to when he worked at the store near the local university. “Around here,” he concluded, somewhat sadly, “not so much.”
I considered flashing him, but figured a middle-aged guy’s boobs couldn’t hold a candle to a coed’s.
Oh, and his reply, he said, was always, “Thanks for the boobs, I still have to charge you for the food.”
I was working there at the time but did not see it myself. She said “Can I get free fries for these?”