All of the above are simple things you should be doing whatever the reason

you are being pulled over for. It is a good idea to memorize the list so that

when you are caught off guard it will come naturally to you and it will show.

The easiest way to remember the list is simply remember that the cop are

going to be extremely cautious and maybe even nervous so put yourself into

their shoes.





Honesty goes a long way

At this point the cop feels fairly comfortable with you and you are now in the

best position to greatly reduces your chances of getting a ticket of any type.

During the interview let the cop feel good by lecturing you. Swallow your

pride and don't argue with him just satisfy his ego If you have performed all

of the above correctly you will be on your way in no time hopefully with only

a warning. The key issue that I will stress is be honest with the cop during the

interview.





The Interview

As mentioned, if you want to keep going without a ticket simply take the

lecture, apologize for being inattentive or whatever and by no means get into

a shouting match. If you imply to the cop he is a liar or is incompetent you are

reducing your odds of going free even if he is a liar or incompetent. If that is

the case you can retaliate by making him go to court because he is a liar..





Make sure you are giving the cop respect for him and his profession because

it can go a long way in this crazy world we live in today. Do not become

upset or start to cry about getting a ticket or start rambling on about how your

life is now over. Do not display any of these emotions even if you get a ticket

because if you plan on pleading not guilty you do not want him to remember

you. Always let the cop dominate the conversation and do not offer any

information unless he asks for it. Don't say "What's the problem officer"?, or

"Was I speeding"? he will surly let you know when he is ready.





Testing the System





I'm now convinced

After discovering these secrets I was stopped for traffic violations twice, once

on purpose just to see if this information was accurate. The first time I tried to

beat a red light, I didn't and I was caught. I saw the cop sitting there around

the corner and once I spotted him I immediately pulled over before he even

had his lights on. After following the above procedure the cop asked me if I

knew what I had done and I replied that I tried to beat the light. The cop went

to his car and then shortly returned and said "Guess what"? I was puzzled for

a moment. He then said "Today is your lucky day, I have no tickets left in the

book so you can keep what's left as a souvenir, (handing me an empty book

of traffic tickets) since I can't go to the station right now to get a new book".

Now think about this, Why is a cop sitting at the side of the road waiting for

people to run the red light as they do everyday at this time and place, without

a book of traffic tickets? After the cop let me go I went back through the

intersection moments later and there he was again. You figure that one out.





The second offense was a speeding violation that I needed in order to

research this manual. I was comfortably cruising along at 55mph +20 on an

interstate highway and I followed the above procedure after being pulled

over. The officer asked me if I knew why I was being pulled over and I said

"Yes, I was not paying attention and I was grossly over the speed limit". He

examined my license and registration right there and said "slow it down and

have a nice day". This may not work all the time but I am not about to go out

and accumulate speeding tickets just to come up with a percentage rate for

you. Most people talk themselves into the ticket by pleading stupidity like

"No I don't know why you pulled me over" or "was I really going that fast"?

This is usually immediate grounds for a ticket because 95% of the time you

do know why you are being pulled over and if you plead ignorance you will

get a ticket because the cop knows you are lying or at the very least for not

paying attention to driving. Another way of insuring that you get the ticket is

arguing with the cop about violation. The side of the road is not the place to

do this, that is reserved for the courtroom. If you believe you are wrongly

being ticketed just take the ticket and do not give the cop any reason to

remember you. By this I mean don't say things like "What's your badge

number"? or "I'll see you in court". You should not have to ask the cop for his

badge number in the first place because it will be on the ticket when he hands

it to you.





Cops hand out so many tickets that you definitely do not want him to

remember you when the time comes to go to court. If they think you are going

to challenge the ticket and make them appear in court you can bet when he

gets back into his patrol car he is going to start writing notes about the stop

and start preparing the case.





If you have a valid excuse

I was pulled over by the New York State Police late one evening on a

desolate interstate highway. The reason I was pulled over was the officer

clocked my speed at an unbelievable 80 mph in my little four cylinder

sportscar and in addition to that I was not in one lane but I was driving in the

center of the two lanes with my car centered on the dashed white line. I got

out of that one without a ticket also. Having my interior lights on and the car

in park with the hazard lights flashing, acting like a cop would, the officer

approached my vehicle with breathalyzer in hand ready to issue me a DWI.

This is how the conversation went...





Officer: "Where are you coming from this evening"?

Me: "Westchester County Airport"

Officer: "Where are you headed"?

Me: "Home"

Officer: "Did you have anything to drink at that airport"?

Me: "I had nothing to drink at that airport, officer".

Officer: Do you know how fast you were going"?

Me: "Probably about eighty miles an hour".

Officer: "Why were you driving in two lanes"?

Me: "Well, let me explain, I'm a pilot and I was getting checked out in a high

performance aircraft and practicing night landings with an instructor. I was

having difficulty on approaches so every time we got on the approach the

instructor would scream "Eighty Knots, Eighty Knots, Eighty Knots". This

was going on all night so I am not surprised my speed on the highway was

eighty mph while I was reflecting the flight".

Officer: " What were you doing in between the two lanes"?

Me: "Oh, airport runways have a white dashed center line and I guess I was

forgetting I was in my car.

Officer: "Well that's the most original story I've heard in a long time"

Me: "Well, I have all my pilot credentials and accessories right here in my

bag. Would you like to see"?

Officer: (looking in my passenger seat at my bag) "No, just take it easy on the

highway and happy landings".

Me: "Good night Officer"





There is no way I could have made this up between the time he pulled me

over and the time he questioned me because it was true. The officer realized

that I wasn't conning him so he let me go.





If you don't have an excuse

Once you are stopped for a violation you still have a chance to get out of the

ticket and this is the best place to do it. You should be warned that you must

be a half way decent actor/actress to use this next one. This also contradicts

what I mentioned earlier about being honest but if you rehearse this one

enough you will even believe it. The most effective excuse for speeding is

that you have to use a rest room and you need to go before you explode.

Once you are on the side of the road roll down your window and wave for the

cop to come to your car right way, Do not get out of your car! When the cop

arrives at your window act as if you have to relieve yourself right away and

ask the officer if we could do one of the following:





"Let me run into the woods over there so I can relieve myself"





"Is there a rest stop up the road that you can follow me to and write the ticket

there so I can relieve myself"?





Either approach puts the cop into a very difficult situation because he can't

prove that you don't have to relieve yourself and it is going to be trouble so he

may just let you leave telling you to slow down. This can also be used by

another passenger in the vehicle if you are not up to it and the best person to

have do it is a female, for obvious reasons. This excuse will not work if you

have just passed up an opportunity to stop a few miles back and did not take

advantage of it. If the officer lets you go make sure you do stop at the next

area and take a 5 minute rest. Remember that you should have an excuse

already made up in advance of getting pulled over so it is more believable.





PBA Decals

If you are thinking about laying out some cash to buy a "We support the

PBA" or similar organizations decal save your money. Cops take these decals

very lightly since most people believe that they will work in their favor. You

will have no way of knowing if the cop that is standing next to your car is

happy with their union or not. If he is not happy you are in trouble for

reminding him of it, and if he is happy you are just another person who thinks

he can buy his way out of a ticket. It also displays that you do not have the

political connections to get a ticket fixed. Supporting the PBA is a very good

and useful idea but one has to wonder how many contributions they would

receive if they did not give out decals and cards to thank you for your

support.





Going to Court





Once you have a ticket

I you are planning on pleading guilty to the charge you can stop reading here

because the rest of this manual will not help you at this point. However. if

you plan on pleading not guilty and are representing yourself keep reading.

The key to representing yourself is PREPARATION and plenty of it. You do

not want to plead guilty and then walk into the court room hoping that the

officer doesn't show up. They do show up like 80% of the time so you will

need a plan. One idea that I love to share is keep one of those small

inexpensive disposable cameras in your car at all times. They are invaluable

for parking tickets, accidents, and UFO's and they only cost about $6.00. If

you think you have a case the more prepared you are with things like photos,

witnesses, and documents, the better your chances of winning.





V&T Law

The judge will be impressed with your knowledge of the law when you are

able to recite the section that you are charged with violating from memory.

The best investment you can make if you plan on fighting your own tickets is

to go down to the Department of Motor Vehicles or whatever it is called in

your state and buy the Vehicles and Traffic Law handbook that is available to

the public. The one in New York State is 668 pages and cost a whopping

$1.00. I am not referring to the cute little book that they give when you want

to learn how to drive either. I bet 98% of the entire population is driving

around having never heard of this book and thus, not knowing the traffic

laws.





Once you have the book in hand refer to your ticket and look for the section

that you are being charged with violating. It is very common to be charged

with the wrong but similar offense due to the cop's ignorance and you will be

able to go free if that is the case. If the charge is accurate you will surely

impress the judge with your interest and the respect for the law and may win

him over just on that fact alone. If you plan on going to court to fight your

own tickets it is very helpful to go to some court sessions ahead of time to get

an idea of what works and what doesn't. Remember, preparation is

everything!





Depositions

Depositions can go two ways. I once had a speeding ticket reduced to failure

to obey traffic control device simply because I did not request a deposition.

When I talked to the officer prior to court I simply told him I could not afford

another speeding ticket or I would lose my license. He asked the judge for a

reduced charge because I did him a favor and did not burden him or waste his

time by making him write a detailed deposition of the violation. On the other

hand, a deposition is another opportunity for the officer to make a mistake

like dates, times, etc. The general rule is if your case is not open and shut in

your favor request the deposition when pleading not guilty and you may at a

later date decide to hire an attorney and he/she will need it.





Other people were speeding too

I 've heard this defense a lot and the judge usually always lets the ticket stand.

The reason is that you were speeding and you got caught and the others

didn't. A cop can only write one ticket at a time so that does not exclude you

from speeding. Some people really want to get nasty and hire an attorney and

claim discrimination of some sort but you may still have to pay the ticket.





Credibility

The most import asset next to preparation you can have without an attorney is

credibility. If the judge thinks you are lying you are not getting out of

anything. If the judge feels you are credible they will usually dismiss the

ticket. They best way to be credible short of telling to truth is rehearse your

case in front of friends or family members to get it straight. When it is your

word against a cop's word there is no room for error. They will usually side

with the cop unless you can present a well planned defense.





Good Luck!