How to Avoid a Traffic Ticket

Video Transcript

"Nothing will slow your drive down more than a traffic ticket. I'm Dr. Roadmap and here's how to avoid getting one in the first place. First thing is: prevention. You don't want to attract any undue attention; that's rule number one in avoiding tickets. In other words, police officers are trained to look for anything out of the ordinary. That could be a missing license plate tag, or out of date; it could be a tail light bulb that is burned out; something hanging from your rear view mirror, in some states is enough to attract attention. So you don't want to give an officer any probably cause to pull you over. The other thing is, when you are driving, you don't want to all of a sudden jam on your brakes when you see, let's say, a police officer up ahead or a radar gun. That's like sending up a warning flare for the police. Don't suddenly pound on the brakes when you see a cop. The other thing is when you do drive (and this is just so elemental, but...) don't break the laws. The reason is is because police officers use two or three things to write a ticket. So, if you are speeding, if you are making an illegal lane change and you have something wrong with your car or something simple (like not wearing your seatbelt), they just have so many reasons to pull you over and make that traffic ticket stick in court. So your job is to not give them anything to choose from. A couple of other things is always use your turn signals. Again, police look for any little details. And, naturally, again, be observant; look for signs where there may be a speed trap. Now once you do get pulled over, one thing you want to do is stay in your car. Don't get out, it makes them nervous. Keep your hands on the wheel; that also makes them nervous. You don't want to reach in your glove box right away, or under your seat. Five percent of motorists...studies show that five percent of motorists have a gun in their car. So if you are reaching around, that makes them nervous. You don' t want to start off that way. When the police officer does get to your car, be nice to them. Smile. I know it's hard, but the courtesy does pay. I've had police officers tell me they are only human. If you are nice to them, maybe they'll get rid of one of the things they could write you up for. Again, they've always got a couple of reasons when they pull you over. You might as well make the ticket as easy as possible on you. Lastly, you may want to check the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (it's at any major library). It talks about signs and street markings that can help you beat a ticket once you get one."