Blue and red lights in your rear-view. “Is that for me?” You wonder.
Unfortunately, yes, you’re being pulled over. In a few minutes, an officer will approach your window and you’ll be in the hot-seat. This can be very stressful, but just remember they may not even be giving you a ticket. There is no sure-fire way to avoid getting one when you’ve made a mistake, but there are a few things you can do to make the officer’s job easier and make them feel more comfortable.
From Their Perspective
Police officers are often the bearer of bad news. Most of them are not excited about having to tell you it either. They’re people like you and me, with the hard job of protecting all civilians. The bad news in this case is you have somehow endangered others. It happens to everyone, so don’t take it too personally. Just follow these tips and hope for the best.
1. Make Them Feel Comfortable
Don’t try and give them a backrub, just pull over, turn the car off, and keep both hands visibly on the wheel. This will make the officer feel safer when approaching your vehicle, because they can see you are not holding any weapons.
2. Don’t Admit to Speeding
“Do you know why I pulled you over?” Your answer is always “No officer, I don’t know.” Police officers will often pull you over if they think they saw you speeding. This means they haven’t always clocked you, and may not know whether you were actually speeding. Therefore, don’t incriminate yourself.
3. Ready your Registration
Don’t go fumbling around for your registration and license when the officer asks you for them. It’s ok to be nervous, but try to remain calm and be prepared. If you can, have them out and ready before they ask to see them. Again, make their job easier.
4. Be polite
Being cordial in this situation is paramount. If you are disruptive, you could be leaving the scene in the officer’s car. Most police officers are not out to ruin your day – if you make their job less of a hassle, they may just cut you a break.
There are lots of ways to fight a ticket in court that we’re not going to go over – we’d rather you avoid the ticket entirely. If you do get a speeding ticket and need some advice on how to get out of it, we recommend hiring a lawyer to defend you in court. They’ll often get a ticket dismissed or at least reduced to avoid points on your license.
If you get cited for something that needs repairing on your vehicle like a tail light or windshield, you can usually bring proof that you had the vehicle repaired and have the citation dismissed. Come by the Leith Porsche service center and we’ll get you fixed up in no time.
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