Quote:
|
Originally Posted by krwlz
Honesty and courtesy can be just as effective as playing word games with a cop.
|
This has always worked for me. I always address them by their correct title and am exceedingly polite: so far I have only gotten warnings (well, except for a failure to yield ticket I got in a car accident...but he could have dinged me for reckless driving and didn't, which would have been much more expensive).
For instance, I was pulled over in a 55-mph construction zone (double fine) doing 84. My mother was following me, and pulled over behind the police officer. He talked to her first, she explained we were moving me back to college that day, and we were in a hurry--all the while being very apologetic. The cop comes to my door, he asks where I go to school, and I tell him Oregon State. He asks what my GPA was my last report card. It was a 3.89. He says, "And a 4.0 is perfect, right?" I say yes, he takes my license and registration and goes to run it. The whole time I am shaking but polite.
He comes back and he says, well, a good girl like you--with no tickets and such good grades--doesn't deserve to get a ticket today. He told me to slow down and that it was a shame I hadn't decided to go to Washington State instead.
I've gotten pulled over around town here in incidents that could be construed as harassment, simply because the police here will pull you over for any minor infraction, sniffing around for a hopeful DUI. But every time I am exceptionally polite, over-explanatory, and do not admit any guilt. When they ask if I knew such-and-such a thing was out, I always say, "No, I did not! Thank you for informing me, Officer. I'll make sure to get it looked at first thing tomorrow." Nevermind that the light-out light on my dash is on (whoops). But before I know it--I'm on my merry little way.