So, I’ve been pulled over a few times in my life. Not many, but a few. And I’ve also been in a couple of cars that got pulled over. And let me tell you, if you were actually doing something wrong, the officer doesn’t make any small talk, just straight into “I clocked you doing 70 in a 55.” The only time I’ve ever gotten the “do you know why I pulled you over?” was the time when I wasn’t doing anything wrong, and I got let go even though he insisted to the end that I was doing 87 in a 70 (white privilege at work).
“Do you know why I pulled you over?” is a trap. It means there’s a good chance the officer doesn’t actually have a good reason to ticket you, and is trying to get you to waive your 5th Amendment rights and incriminate yourself. If you make a guess, that’s a confession of guilt.
But there’s another trap, that I’ve heard of but haven’t yet experienced. It’s “do you know how fast you were going?” With that one, they’re hoping you’ll say no, because then they can name whatever speed they want – you just said you didn’t know how fast you were going, if you deny the speed they name then you’re lying to them.
Oh, I’ve had that one. Go with “yes.” Don’t give them a number, just say “Yes.” Then they still have to offer a number and you can deny it without contradicting yourself. They could just ask you, at that point, but that’s suspiciously similar to saying they don’t know, and they tend to avoid doing that.
Reblog to save a life
if you scroll past this just because it doesn’t affect you personally, i see you.
Also, you can always go to court and contest a ticket, and a lot of times you’ll win. Or if the cop thinks you’ll win they won’t even show up and you’ll win by default.
They like to target out of state plates because anyone who would be majorly inconvenienced by a court date two months away is a lot more likely to just pay it.
Also READ YOUR TICKET
I had a cop try to claim I’d turned left on red on an unprotected light while texting and that was why I got T-boned.
I had my dad drive me through the intersection where I got hit and took photos of the (very much protected) light, then got them printed.
When the judge asked me to plead I said not guilty and that I’d like to present evidence, if I could come up to the bench. He agreed.
I walked up, set down my photos, put my flip phone on top of them, and said “Your Honor, I’ll plead guilty as soon as the officer can explain how I was texting on this.”
(Note for younger folks, this was 2010. Some flip phones and phone plans supported texting. Mine was not one of them.)
The whole ticket was a lie. I was in fact considered at fault for the wreck–if you’re turning left in Arizona you’re automatically at fault–but the ticket was dismissed because it was a protected light and I had a phone that physically could not text.
Cops lie on tickets. All the time.
Read the whole thing. Don’t dispute it with the cop. Dispute it in court.
Once they really did catch me speeding and they gave me a court date on Memorial Day, when city hall was closed. So I came in the next day and filled out a piece of paper and they dismissed the ticket because it had been impossible to show up for the court date.
Another time they gave me a parking ticket because I forgot to move my car to the other side of the street on the evening of Yom Kippur, so I came in on the court date and filled out a piece of paper explaining what Yom Kippur was and why it distracted me from moving the car, and they dismissed the ticket.
If you are Canadian and an officer asks you “why did I pull you over today” say this: “please explain why you are pulling me over?” calmly and straight. Like prev said, police do the same thing in Canada. This is also considered entrapment by Canadian law, nevertheless do not answer that question. They are required by the law to explain your charges so you understand fully. If you are under 18, you leally can not speak to an officer without a guardian present.
If it seems suspicious and you are maybe uncomtortable with the situation. You can call the local dispatch and ask them to verfy or even send another car to ensure your satety. That officer has to wait for you to talk to dispatch/for the other car. Do not roll down your windows.
The car has to be in the open and visible, no barriers, not on private property ( if they are on private property such as a driveway they cannot be on private property without permission from the landowner. They never ask permission). Watch if they touch your vehicle, they are not allowed to actually touch your property without consent or a warrant, however police are taugnt to toucn your vehicle (usually the back end as they walkup on tratfic stops in case they go missing). Still, legally they cannot touch your car which Is your possession. without permission/warrant prior to asking.
Fighting your ticket(s): a large majority of the time officers do not appear in court, if the officer is not present the case is thrown out. Take the lawyer, tell them anything that could be reason to throw the case out: such as using “entrapping language”, ask if the officer is present, refusing my right to have a parent/guardian present before speaking to an officer, if you ask to only speak with a lawyer right away (and do not speak afterwards), if they refuse to tell you their name and badge number, if you were not fully explained through the ticket process/charging process ( had a case thrown out because the officer did not explain how the ticket works, he said “you know this works” and walked away), If they enter your vehicle at any point (sticking their hand or head, even if they are smelling inside your vehicle while the window is down) that is entering private property, if they do not ask you if you understand and if at any time you were not explained and/or at any point you did not understand, or verbally did not say vou understand. Police can be sloppy take advantage.
recently going around is a video of an officer who told a woman he is writing a ticket because she was holding a phone in her right hand while driving
except. she didnt have a right hand.
he still wrote the ticket and never apologized for being wrong. since. SHE DIDNT HAVE A RIGHT HAND
as you can imagine, the ticket was dropped.
