Robert Williams
Former Intelligence Analyst at U.S. Army
If a police officer pulls you over for speeding and asks “do you know how fast you were going?”, is it better to respond with an honest answer saying how fast you were going or to just say you were unaware?
My dad, 3 uncles, 5 great uncles, well over 20 cousins are all law enforcement.
I’m 53, and an inveterate speeder. I pretty much drive 10–30 mph over the speed limit everywhere that’s outside of the city (live in a city of 100k people, and travel all over the state for work, all the time).
I get pulled over at least 6 times a year. So far this year I’ve been pulled over 8 times and got 1 ticket. On average, I get a ticket once every 2 years. Yes, I normally get a ticket less than 10% of the time I’m pulled over. My wife gets mad at me for it, lol.
When I am speeding and see a LEO (Law Enforcement Officer) put their lights on, I IMMEDIATELY do the following:
Slow down, then start braking when it’s safe.
Pull over, as far off the road as I can without getting stuck or hitting something, etc.
Lower all of my windows, and kill my engine. If at night, I turn on the interior lights so the cop can see inside easily as he walks up.
Put my right hand on top of the steering wheel, and my left on the window seal of my door.
Then I wait for the officer to approach.
If he asks “Do you know how fast you were going?” I add at least 2mph to whatever my speedometer actually said, and add that “I have no excuse: no emergency or anything, I was driving too fast.” If he simply tells me, “The reason I pulled you over today was for excessive speed,” I immediately say something very close to the following: “Yes sir. I was going XX. I have no excuse, I was driving too fast.”
At that point, at least 1/2 the cops I’ve dealt with over the years at least raise their eyebrows- if not more- in surprise.
When they ask for license and insurance, etc, I first tell them where it is (wallet, center console) before I move, at all.
I pretend that every cop that pulls me over is one of my elderly uncles, and behave, and speak, with the utmost respect- regardless of how they may come off to me.
Those guys/women deal with people all day long who lie, argue, and are simply hard to deal with. The easier I am to deal with, and the more safe the cop feels when standing beside my car on a busy highway, the less likely they are to try and stick it to me, and maybe even give me a break.
I get a ticket less than 10% of the time I’m pulled over for speeding. Courtesy, simply understanding that the officer’s normal day is a pain, and trying to make at least the part I’m involved with go as easily as possible goes a LONG way to helping the officer relax.
No one wants to help people who argue with them. Simply tell the officer what happened, be honest, and you are far more likely to drive away with nothing more than a warning than a ticket than if you are combative, argue, and lie.
