The other day, the jocks on the morning drive-time radio show were talking about what to do if the police pull you over for a traffic violation. They covered things like keep your hands in view, stay in the car, etc. The one thing they couldn’t agree on is what to say if the officer says “Do you know why I stopped you?”
It seems to me that that is not a fair question for the officer to ask. To answer with a “Yes, I was going 80mph in a school zone” requires you to admit guilt. It also suggests that you knowingly violated the law. To say, “No, officer, I have no idea” could suggest that you’re an idiot – 80 in a school zone is kind of hard to miss. However, going 58 in a 55 is possible to do without realizing. Also, suppose you say, “Yes, I was going 70 in a 55”, but the officer was really concerned about the broken tail light, you’ve just implicated yourself in a crime that wasn’t even being investigated.
So, officers, what is the right answer? Is this question really poor form on the officer’s part?
I used to have a lot of policemen friends and when I asked them the same question, the consensus was you should answer truthfully. During most traffic stops, the officer will usually give you several opportunities to lie to them. If you don’t take them up on it, you are more likely to be let off with a warning. IME.
Of course, if you believe they stopped you because you are driving a stolen car or have committed some other felony, your response should be either “You’ll have to tell me” or “I’d like to speak with an attorney”.
I’m often a month or more late on updating my registration and inspection stickers. It’s not unusual for me to get pulled over by the police for this. Whenever they ask me this question, my quite truthful answer is “I’m not sure” or “I could guess but I’m not sure”. I don’t confess, because that’s stupid. But I’m not antagonistic, and I don’t give them a hard time either.
My approach seems to be effective. A fair part of the time they let me off, and other times they gave me the ticket. And once or twice it really was for something else entirely.
I seem to be unusually good at this because I have been stopped maybe 20 times since I was 16 and haven’t gotten a ticket since then (I am 34). My strategy is to ask “Did I do something wrong officer?” as soon as he/she gets to the window. That bipasses the topic of this thread altogether. It seems to work well but it also requires obvious humbleness but no too overdone. This seems to work for avoiding arrest as well with came up a few times back in the day.
Of course a police officer is going to encourage people to answer potentially incriminating questions truthfully. Makes their job a lot easier when people readily confess, doesn’t it?
My answer to that question, on the rare times I’ve been pulled over, is “No sir/ma’am.”
I sort of assumed that was more of a TV/movie convention than an actual question. What I mean is, I’ve never been asked. In the 5 or 6 times in my life I’ve been stopped, they’ve always just said “license and registration, please”, then advised me of the alleged infraction.
If I were asking a random police officer, then yes I would agree with you. However, these were all friends of mine and I made it clear that I was asking with the expressed intent of getting out of a ticket. It’s worked so far but I don’t get stopped much either.
The one way is: You are taking the question too literally. It would be like if I asked you, “Do you know what time it is?” and you simply answered “Yes”. Literally you are correct, but the question includes an unstated request for the information. “Do you know what time it is?” actually means “If you know the time, please tell it to me.” and “Do you know why I pulled you over?” actually means “If you know why I pulled you over, please tell me.”
The half-way is: By answering “Yes”, you are inviting – nay, daring – him to ask you a follow-up question, specifically, “You do. Okay, so tell me why I pulled you over.” And what are you going to answer then? Plead the fifth? Yes, you do have the right to do so, but having egged him on, you’re just begging him to throw the book at you.
The question is designed purely to ge you to confess. Never confess to anything. There’s a lawyer who’s a frequent guest on a local radio show here giving off the cuff legal advice to callers (mostly about how to beat traffic tickets). He always says that the correct answer to “Do you know why I pulled you over?” is “I’m about to find out.”
I’ve always heard that saying, “Yes, I was speeding” shows the officer that you have nothing but contempt for the speed limit, so never answer with the whole “Yes” thing. I’ve always heard you should say, “No, but I would really like to find out, officer, could you explain, sir?”
It’s polite, doesn’t admit guilt and it also shows you are willing to listen to the officer, psychologically, this puts the cop in a position of power because he will now get to lecture you.
Last time I was asked the question, my reply was: “er… speeding?”
To which the reply was: “You was all over the bloody road, mate.”
(He was right - it was nighttime, and I thought the lights of his car were those of my friend’s car. Somehow he got in between us without me noticing, and I was playing silly-buggers: driving on the wrong side of the road, weaving, speeding up, slowing down, etc. I only got away with it due to an armed robbery that scrambled all cars while he was preparing to book me.)
“Why you asking? Did you forget already, on your short stroll from your car to my window? Hmm, let’s see if we can puzzle this one out together. I’m not wanted for anything, I have no outstanding warrants, I am drving in my car, the registration is fine, I was in my lane, I didn’t run any stop signs. Hmm, I just can’t think of anything else, sorry.”
You’ve been stopped approximately once per year for the past eighteen years, and never received a ticket in that time? What are they stopping you for? (I’m not doubting you, I’m really just curious about why they stop you so often if they utlimately decide to let you off pretty much every time.)
The best answer: “I’m sorry I didn’t notice you, I was distracted by a bee in the car”.
This will get you out of most simple tickets, rolling stops and a few miles over, etc.