Speeding Tickets
Hearing that police siren go off and seeing flashing lights in your rear view mirror can instantly put your heart in your throat! It's no fun seeing those flashing lights in your rear-view mirror, but there are some simple rules to follow if you find yourself in this predicament. In order to minimize the consequences of what might happen when the cop approaches your vehicle, there are a few things you can do for a start. From personal experience, here's what happened to me a while back....
We've all sped here and there, but I got caught. Okay, so I was going over the speed limit by ten miles an hour. I was driving in the right hand lane, and I needed to get home because my dog hadn't been out of the house for a while and my wife was at a meeting. I was less than a mile from my house, and I see the flashing lights in my rear view mirror. Oh no!
The first thing that went through my mind was the cost of the ticket. Not only the cost of the ticket, but the effects on the the insurance premiums, and then the hassle of maybe having to go to traffic court. What a complete mess, and I didn't need this aggravation a couple of days before Christmas. How am I going to get out of this one?
I heard from someone somewhere that cops like to see the drivers hands on the wheel. When the cops pull someone over for whatever reason, they like to see hands out in the open because they know the drivers aren't reaching for a weapon. This makes sense, and if I was a cop I'd think the same thing. I was determined to act as polite and agreeable as possible. I was going to cooperate in any way I could, and hope to get out of this with a warning. What were my chances? Probable slim to none is what I thought.
So here I am, pulled over to the side of the road, waiting for the cop to walk up to the car. I had my drivers license in my hand so I could give it to him immediately and not waste time searching for it. My papers were in the glove box, and I was sure he'd ask for them as well. I also was wearing my seat belt, and maybe that would get a few brownie points.
"Did you realize you were going about 60 in a 45 zone?" was the first thing he said to me. He was young, maybe late twenties, and a bit of a chip on his shoulder if you know what I mean. "I'm sorry, officer, I just didn't realize that, but if I was speeding, I apologize and I'm not going to make any excuses" was my reply.
"Where are you coming from?" the questions kept coming from him. I answered them all as cordially as possible and told him the truth, that my dog needed to go out, as he hadn't been out in a while. After he saw my license and registration as well as the insurance papers, and noticed everything was up to date, he let me go without writing a ticket! That was the first time in my life I'd never received a speeding ticket, not even a written warning, just a verbal warning, and from someone whom I would swear by looking at his cocky face that I was in for it!
When I got home I was muttering to my dog with a big smile on my face about how happy I was, and I'm sure my dog thought I'd lost my mind. But I was so happy that I'd gotten off I was dancing around with joy! Maybe it was the Christmas season, maybe it was because I was polite, or maybe because I was wearing my seat belt, but whatever the reason was, I ended the year without a blemish on my driving record. And that made me very, very happy!
