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SPEEDING TICKET
CHEAT SHEET
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“I was driving through Salt Lake City in the center lane at
exactly the posted speed limit looking for my exit. This
lady comes screaming past me on the right going at least
20 over! Suddenly she hits the brakes and dramatically
slows down, letting me pass her and there’s a cop on the
side of the road with his radar gun, To this day I don’t
know if the lady had a radar detector or just saw the
officer; I do know that the officer looked up and saw me
passing her and assumed I was the guilty party. Yep, I got
a ticket. What bites is that I was not speeding, for once!”
Has this ever happened to you? You’re within the limit and get burned anyway?
Well, hopefully this little booklet can give you some useful tips and tools to
avoid those inconvenient stops.
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“When cities in the US remove traffic ticket revenue from
their budgets and law enforcement actively enforces the
rules of the road for safety rather than revenue generation,
we will gladly stop manufacturing and selling radar
scrambling products.”
MICHAEL CHURCHMAN
PRESIDENT ROCKY MOUNTAIN RADAR
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Speeding tickets are a costly fact of life and one of the financial hazards of driving.
There are no guarantees that you will never get a speeding ticket, even if you never
speed.
The police officers are human as well, and as such, suffer from the same
weaknesses as we all do. Some are over-achievers trying to enforce zero tolerance;
others are lazy and just want the day to end. Some had an awful day and take it out on
those that they have power over and others are wonderful and courteous. Which one
you encounter is a crap shoot!
Most people that do get a ticket simply pay and go on with their lives. Some will
fight. Those that fight and win have empowered themselves with knowledge and
gained the confidence to do battle in our legal system.
Here are 13 tips and tricks to help avoid ever getting a ticket in the first place. I hope they
work as well for you as they have for me.
MB Churchman
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WAYS TO AVOID GETTING A
SPEEDING TICKET
OK. You know we’re not going to say what your mama would tell you: “Just drive the
speed limit; don’t speed.” That sounds good, but does not always work in real life.
DRIVE WITHIN 5-10 MPH OF SURROUNDING TRAFFIC.
Cops are watching for
drivers who are going noticeably faster than the other cars on the road. If you’re
within a pack of cars all going 5 to 10 mph over the limit, you’ve automatically improved
your odds of not being the one that gets pulled over for a speeding ticket. The officer is
forced to pick only one car; if you go with the flow of traffic you do not stand out for
increased attention. This is not a guarantee. I have seen a car se
lected from the
middle of the pack with no reasonable explanation. It does, however, dramatically
decrease the likelihood of being pulled over.
TRY TO STAY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PACK.
If you’re the lead car, logic says
you’ll be the first car to run past any cop’s radar trap, and possibly get a speeding
ticket. If you’re going less than 7 MPH over the limit, there is a very good chance the
officer will not pay attention and let you by. If
you’re the last car in the pack you’ll be
the one the police officer rolls up behind.
FIND A SOLITARY DRIVER.
If
you can’t find a pack of cars going the speed you’d
like to maintain, the next best thing
is
to find a solitary driver traveling the speed you’d
like to drive. You can follow discretely, several hundred yards back.
Try
to keep your
pace car in sight but well ahead of you. That way,
if
there
is
a radar trap ahead, the pace
driver will trip the trap. The officer will have time to react to the
first
driver, while you
correct your speed, and your pace driver will be the one that gets the speeding ticket.
Or, the pace driver will suddenly hit his brakes when he sees the trap, warning you in
time to take defensive action.
DO NOT CHANGE LANES FREQUENTLY, TAILGATE OR
OTHERWISE DRIVE AGGRESSIVELY.
These actions attract attention. An
officer diligently watching traffic develops a form of ‘traffic blindness’; he still sees the
traffic, but goes into a quiet state that only detects anomalies (unusual activity that
disrupts the orderly flow of traffic.). Aggressive drivers, sudden lane changes and
excessive speed all disturb flow and can attract his attention. Use your turn signals and be
courteous to fellow drivers. It’s safer, and it will help you fade into the background.
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AVOID
THE FAST LANE.
Use the far left lane to pass when necessary, but try to stay
in the middle lanes when possible. If an officer is concealed in a cutout along the median
strip (or coming at you
from the opposite direction on a divided highway), the driver in the
far left lane is always assumed to be the speeder. That driver is most likely to become
the target.
WATCH FOR CROSSOVERS AND MODULATE YOUR SPEED
ACCORDINGLY.
On many highways, there
are crossovers in the median strip
every couple of miles. Usually, you can see these in plenty of time to slow down if
needed in case there’s a cop hiding behind the bushes.
DON’T SPEED (EXCESSIVELY) WHEN YOU ARE THE ONLY CAR ON
THE ROAD.
Even
if
you’re
only doing five mph over the posted limit, if there’s a cop
using radar, he has nothing else to look at but you. Lonesome speeding is even more
dangerous in small towns, where radar traps and aggressive enforcement can be
commonplace. Never speed late at night. Drunk-driving patrols are heavy and cops are
more inclined to pull you over for any offense. I find that driving 3-5 over the limit late at
night attracts less attention than exactly the limit or slightly below as someone who has
had too much to drink is likely to do to avoid being stopped. Drunks tend to drive
recklessly over the limit or just under.
NEVER ADMIT THAT YOU WERE SPEEDING.
If you do get pulled over never
acknowledge that you were speeding. You don’t want to give the police any
ammunition to use against you, should you contest your ticket in traffic court. When
the officer tells you that you are speeding, give a
brief, noncommittal response like, “I
thought I was doing the speed limit” or “I was? I thought the speed was 70 (know the
posted speed limit and tell him that speed limit). Asking sarcastic questions like,
“What’s the problem, Officer?” won’t help your case; it will only alienate him. If the
officer asks if you know why he pulled you over, always play dumb. Answer with “Do I
have a burned-out tail light?” or “Is my tire low?” If he honestly believes you have no idea
why he stopped you, you may escape with just a warning.
WAVE AT THE HIDDEN POLICE CRUISER.
You were driving down the road a little
faster than you
should have been, and you spot a police cruiser lurking behind some
shrubbery. One former police
officer says that the smartest thing that you can do right
then is to wave at the officer. Why? He will think that you know each other and wave
back, or that you’re acknowledging that you were driving too fast, and are letting him
know that you’re slowing down. Either way, you drastically reduce your chance of
getting a ticket. At that point, you really have nothing to lose.
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IF POSSIBLE, DRIVE A NONDESCRIPT VEHICLE.
It may not be fair, but it’s
human nature to notice things that stand out from the crowd. Bright-colored cars,
those with loud exhaust or other
performance enhancements are more likely to draw a
cop’s initial attention than ordinary-looking,
family-type cars. The cop has to single out
one car, which car do you suppose is the likely candidate for a speeding ticket? If you
do get pulled over while driving a fancy, high-profile car, the odds of you getting a
speeding ticket versus a warning have probably gone up. If you’re driving a fast-
looking hot rod, the cop is going to assume you use it and deserve a ticket more than
the guy in a family ride whose plea that he “didn’t realize he was speeding officer”
comes off as more believable.
CALIBRATE YOUR SPEEDOMETER.
Go to: www.app.rockymountainradar.com
and download our FREE speedometer app. This app uses the GPS in your smart
phone to display a highly accurate speedometer and digital speed reading. Take a little
time to check the accuracy of your speedometer by going three different speeds (30,
50, 70 MPH) and comparing your indicated speed to the true speed shown on the app.
This is a totally free service we provide our customers. Knowing the accuracy of your
car’s speedometer is useful in setting your cruise control, travelling at your intended
cruise speed or as a defense if you do get a speeding ticket (especially if you were not
speeding!).
USE A GOOD RADAR DETECTOR (NOT LEGAL IN VIRGINIA OR DC).
There are many brands of
radar detectors on the market, ranging in price from
$29.00 to more than $700.00. Stay away from the detectors retailing below $100 as they
are rarely of good quality. Getting a good sales price is OK as long as it was originally
priced above $100. Unless you drive for a living, or you just like expensive toys, you do
not need a detector costing more than $400. Regardless of the detector you choose, be
sure you pick one with decent range (1.5-3 miles or more) and low false alarm rates.
These are the most important requirements. You want a detector that only alerts you to
radar and in time for you to react. If the detector goes off at everything, you will
eventually ignore it, and then you may as well not even have it.
MOST OFFICERS DECIDE WHETHER YOU’RE GETTING A TICKET
OR A WARNING BEFORE
THEY EVEN APPROACH YOUR VEHICLE.
A good
rule of thumb is to keep your car maintained in such a way that you wouldn’t be
embarrassed to have your boss or family drive with you. Keep it
clean,
not cluttered, and
free of bumper stickers. Forgo aftermarket add-ons like spoilers, tinted
windows, and
neon undercarriage lights. You want to say “I’m responsible and law-abiding,” not “I
hate
the police, I speed all the time, and I’m trying to hide something from you.”
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