Police officers have discretion on whether they write a ticket and for what. As we know, an officer COULD decide to throw the book at you and write you up for all kinds of stuff. Or, decide to let you go with a warning.
Anything you can do to make the officer’s job easier will help nudge the officer in the direction of being lenient. Instead of reckless driving, perhaps you’ll be written for careless. Instead of 20 over, maybe 10.
Here’s how you deal with it.
1. When the flashing lights come on, pull over to the side of the road as soon as you safely can.Then, pull off to the side as far as you can so that the officer, if possible, can approach your car without having to walk in the lane of traffic. Shut your engine off. It’s important that you picture the stop from an officer’s point of view.
2. Immediately roll your window down all the way. Not halfway, not an inch so you can speak through the crack. All the way. Among other things, it will show that you have nothing to hide.
3. If it’s not broad daylight out, immediately turn on your overhead interior light. This lets the officer see if there are people in the back seat, in the passenger seat and, most importantly, you—before he or she gets to the car. You want to put law enforcement at ease as quickly as possible. Police officers notice these things.
4. Put your hands on your steering wheel at 10 and 2. Ideally, the officer will be able to see your hands while standing at the rear bumper of your car.
5. Do not move, do not look around, do not start digging for your paperwork. Once you’ve completed steps one through four above, DO NOTHING ELSE. Leave your license and registration where they are, because getting them in any manner that gets your body moving may make the officer think you’re hiding something or reaching for something dangerous, and neither of those are good.
6. Confess nothing. The officer will approach and most likely ask, “Do you know why I pulled you over?” Politely say, “No, I’m sorry I don’t,” and leave it at that.
7. If the officer asks for your license and registration, explain exactly how you will retrieve them. “I need to reach into my glovebox to find my registration,” and so on. Even if you have made nice-talk with the officer, he or she will remain wary of you reaching underneath yourself or into a dark spot in the car. Announcing your intentions shows that you’re doing what you can to put the officer at ease.
8. If and when the officer leaves to run your information through the system, sit in your car with your hands on the wheel, leave the interior light on, and do nothing else. Do not make phone calls or fiddle with your infotainment center. Do not reorganize your glovebox. Do not decide it is a good time to clean out the loose change under your seat. While the officer may have already made the decision on writing or not writing the ticket, it can only hurt you if you act suspiciously at this point.
If the officer comes back with a ticket, don’t argue. Take the ticket, say thank you, and move on. Do not declare, “I’ll see you in court!” Signal that you’re going re-enter the roadway, do so safely, and go about your business. You want to make this traffic stop ordinary. You don’t want the officer to remember you. If you decide to fight the ticket, with or without an attorney, you may seek a plea deal of some sort. The officer will likely be consulted.
An officer may be in court on a particular day with a stack of tickets. They probably can’t all be tried due to time constraints. Some will get deals, some won’t. You know who gets those deals? The harmless tickets where the driver did nothing to stick out in the officer’s mind.
