I've generally had pretty good luck with the fuzz and I am white although decidedly not cute. A couple of things I've learned over the years.

They seem to prefer to be called "officer", not "sir" (specially the chick cops, they hate that).

If you treat them with respect, you are likely to get it back.

If you have a minor infraction and a major infraction, a lot of times they'll give you the ticket for the lesser of the two. That's kept me out of jail once or twice, I'm sure of it.

When they ask "Do you know how fast you were going?" do not respond with "You're the fascist pig, you tell me!"

Don't puke in their back seat, they really hate that.

This advice coming from a guy that once (many, many years ago) got pulled over with no license (suspended), no registration (can't get without license), the wrong plate, intoxicated, with a baggie of goodies in my pocket, and 12 40 ounce bottles of beer in the back seat (still sealed, he checked). And he let me go home. Oh I got tickets and had to do three days in jail eventually. But I went home that night WITH my car and that's got to be some kind of miracle.

@mytdawg: Dad?!

Twice that I've stopped, immediately pulling over in the safest manner possible and being honest got me out of both.

And yeah, GTIs are cop magnets, even on a test drive!!

@Iron-Balls McGinty: LMFAO

In Houston they're severely ramping up on enforcement. It's not at all unusual to see two or three cops in the breakdown lane on the major freeways radar gunning people, whereas two or three months ago, everybody's doing at least 80.
Surface roads are another story though. Most areas are like a no man's land. Anything goes.
And the Metro cops (transit authority cops) all hang out around the dispatch station downtown, that's an excellent place to get a ticket.

I consider a budget based upon the number of tickets written last year a quota. Unless they bring in $X amount in ticket revenue, they don't meet their budget. Sounds like a quota to me.

I may be mistaken, but I believe that's how it works.

@WorkingOnYourInvoice: I've had the exact same experience driving around Houston. The Metro cops actually love the corner of Main and Alabama more. They sit in the Sears parking lot and wait for cars to illegally turn across the rail and just walk out into traffic in pull them over.

@newfmike:

And both times were on Ottawa.

Ah, the answers are >>below<<< the jump. At first, I thought the cop said that he gave white people a break.

I like the part where the reporter is shown getting into a red Chevy Lumina, and they immediately jump to a shot of a red BMW driving down the street.

Well watch out when you come up to the Northeast. All states here have a License Suspension if you speed through Construction Zones twice. I was doing 58 in a 45 Zone (thought I slowed down, but apparently not enough) received s ticket, doubled the fine, and viola, a $350 ticket. Oh yea, Cops in Connectistan now have unmarked Dodge Chargers (in Silver, Dark Gray and Black, with polished Alloys, and they even have additional accessories to "blend in" with the rest of the vehicles) that caught me doing 72 in a 65 zone... another $300 ticket.

In the past seven years I have been pulled over three times for speeding. And of those three times I received ZERO tickets.

Why? I have a Concealed Handgun Permit and here in Texas you have to go thru a background check second only to signing up as a lifer in the CIA. You must always present your CHP along with your drivers license and declare if you have a weapon on you or in the vehicle.

By having a CHP the officer knows you are one of the good guys and that with some basic respect and acknowlegement of my ways have yielded me warnings only.

Can't we just raise taxes or reduce spending and end this ticket rouse once and for all???

I wonder if the guy that wrote this article has ever seen mythbusters?

I've been driving for 15 years and have had two tickets. One cop was very nice, I was well over the limit (stupid, young, and distracted) but he wrote the ticket for 5 over so that I could go to traffic school instead of getting into really deep trouble.

Then more than a decade later I get stopped on Thanksgiving holiday. I was only going five over because I had two of my kids in the car. The cop is A PIG! My kids are crying in the back that dad is going to jail. I say I was only going five over the speed limit and he replies you admitted to speeding. The young punk of a cop seemed to get a thrill out of making my kids scared. He gave me a ticket for twelve over. I asked to see the radar because when I saw him I looked down and saw I was only five over. He got very VERY frightening.

Later I told what happened at work and the particle and accelerator physicists I work with told me that since he radared me as he was turning that accounted for the difference. I called him and left a message. He called back a few days later and made it clear that in court he would claim he was not turning from the side street but rather was coming towards me on the same street I was on. I could tell he really wanted to screw me over in court. This guy was simply a corrupt bully. This has bothered me for years now when ever I remember it. I was simply helpless.

And as for the quota comment. I asked a local Nashville (Metro) cop, and his answer was that "Like any other job there are metrics used to evaluate an officers performance with regards to raises and promotions. If you happen to be in (the) traffic, you can figure out what that metric is." So not a quota per se, but there is definitely an incentive there for you to write them.

I have another friend that's an officer in a SMALL town over my Memphis. During the morning roll-call, he had the chief address him and another new hire and state "You boys are gonna have to start writing more tickets, or I'm gonna have to lay one of your off." But that's more to the "It has nothing to do with safety, and everything to do with revenue" argument.

@Adplusone: Google "SF-86" and tell me again what the TX CHP background check is like.

Ticket for too slow? Oh, ya. I lived down in SoCal about ten years ago. The highway traffic around Ellay is the stuff of legends. But when the highways were clear enough to keep things moving, they would go as fast as they could which meant 75 mph or more, even nearly bumper-to-bumper. Brrr. This is when the official posted speed limit was 55. So I read about some guy who got a ticket for doing 55 while everybody else was going a LOT faster. He took it to court, claiming that he was doing the speed limit and it was everyone else who was guilty of speeding. He lost. Judge said he was blocking the flow of traffic and was a hazzard. He had to pay the ticket.

@Adplusone: In Texas? I thought the Concealed Handgun Permit was required as a prerequisite for a learners permit there.

Quota? They don't need a stinkin' quota. They can write as many as they want.

@Iron-Balls McGinty: I don't know, am I paying your mother child support?

@FrankRizzo: You never speed through small towns (in Michigan anyway) because of the "Revenue Enhancement". Sometimes the rural highways drop from 55 to about 20 with no warning. Strangely.

6. You can drive up to five miles over the speed limit?

Kind of depends on who is watching you, but cops are generally tolerant of a few mph over assuming you're not "suspicious" looking or they're not having a bad day.

I think this depends on the state. I know in Pennsylvania you cannot get a ticket for going 1-4mph over the speed limit (from what I was told by a police friend). I think this is because there are many factors that can make your speedometer +/- 5mph such as wheel/tire size, speedometer sucks, etc.

I think its time we all recognize that we are living under gestapo rule and there is nothing we can do about it. The majority of police in this country are high school dropouts that finally get an ounce of power and it goes to their head right away. They can do whatever they want without any reason and they back each other up in court and you can be sure when it comes to your word against a cop (or multiple cops), you will lose. All we need is a chief of police for the US that has ideas like hitler and we will all be doomed because these mindless idiots will follow anything.

@SRekauqh: RE: 5 mph over...

If you have the time (and who does, really?) and want to give the cops something to sweat about, demand that your car be towed to the nearest inspection facility to validate your speedometer and/or inspect the black box inside your vehicle. There's nothing like controlled conditions and empirical data to flesh out the truth. And it's the truth that will - hopefully - set you free.

First, in most jurisdictions, a vehicle's speedo must only be accurate within a certain percentage. Things like tire wear and inflation, wind, tire slippage, etc., all contribute to a speedometer variance. Everyone is allowed a little leeway. How much depends on the state their vehicle is registered in.

Second, even the laser/radar speed guns have some variance to account for, as well. It's not a whole lot, but it's there. Any departure from a perpendicular angle will result in a slower read. Some guns account for this, some don't. Some are better calibrated than others, as well.

Finally, I've only ever been pulled over twice. Once for speeding (I was 19yo and stupidly doing 70 in a 50 in my mother's Tercel - got a verbal warning, probably because it wouldn't go much faster than that, anyway) and once for an equipment violation (front plate was missing - ticketed and repaired). The thing that's kept me out of trouble the most (I suspect) is that I don't drive aggressively. Keep up with the flow of traffic, use signals, and look at everyone as if they want to ram you off the road for the slightest thing.

come to my state. i've passed many a po-po at 10 over with no problem. and the speed limit jumps to 70 right outside the city- literally right outside. if you go out west at night, chances of seeing one are just about nil- i recall hearing that they were going to shut down late night highway patrols to save some money. only bad parts are 1) lots of suburban cops w/ nothing better to do in the east, and 2) one of the suburbs has started getting half-marked cars- off-white graphics on white cruisers, light gray graphics on gray cruisers, etc. not only are they getting you w/ the rainbow of colors, but the barely-visible markings. and they are regular street cops too. and now they're all buying chargers.

My fave?: I got pulled over and cited in South Carolina, for driving too slow. I was going uphill, in a loaded tractor-trailer, in the truck lane. I started to point this out to the deputy. The response: "Shut up, you're getting a ticket."

I respect cops, they have a dangerous difficult job. Every once in awhile you meet one who really should be doing something else for a living.

@newfmike: Yes. I am aware. Although black helps as a partial cloaking device.

@UDMAN: Indeed, New England is rife with undercover rides. The key to avoiding their wrath is to avoid doing things they consider unsafe. Construction zone speeding is considered unsafe, so avoid that. But if you follow the rules of the road (otherwise), you can zip along unmolested. I was on I-95 a few months ago and cruised past one of those Chargers at 90-95mph, then settled back into the travel lane. Later, traffic was heavier and I slowed to 80, but some dude in an SL55 was weaving through at 85 or so and the Charger zoomed up from behind and pulled him over.

Unmarked rollers are scary as all get-out (I saw a beige Camry with flashing cop lights last week in Boston!) but they don't usually blow their cover unless you are being a potential danger.

Marked cars, on the other hand....ever seen Super Troopers?

my town has a black 4th gen camaro (rack on top) that patrols the palisades parkway in ny. i think it must have some sort of cop swap, cuz that sucker can fly (thankfully past me)

I once knew a guy who got pissed when he got arrested for merely doing 80 in a 65. Seems he was certain cops always gave you 15 MPH of leeway.

There's really no consensus, it always comes down to the particular officer and the type of day they're having, who you are and what you say. But the best advice no matter what you're pulled over for and no matter where you are is, hire a freakin lawyer. They will charge you $50 to $150 per ticket and will pay for themselves almost every time. Even if the cop does everything right and they can't get you off on technicality, in most places they will still be able to get you down to a lesser offense.

I once got a 20 over ticket and a 10 over ticket and a passing a schoolbus ticket (I know, I know but the street was 6 lanes wide and the sun was in my eyes, crest of a hill, blah blah blah, cop didn't want to hear it), all in a 1 year period. First and last 3 tickets I've ever gotten in 20 years of driving. Anyhow, the lawyer got me out of the 10 over and schoolbus and got the 20 over reduced to a lane change without signal. Yes, for $300 I got out of about $1000 in fines and suspension of my license.

This was all in Nassau county, I advise never to drive there. I quit the job I had there after the 3rd ticket, because it was no longer worth the deadly L.I.E. commute!

@JayP71:

As you discovered, SC's minimum highway speed limit applies even to loaded tractor-trailers in the truck lane. The thinking is that if you can't maintain 40 MPH when everyone else is doing 80, you're not part of traffic, you're an obstacle.

At least you are not living in the UK. In the US you have a chance to talk to the nice officer (and being polite goes a long way). Here a camera takes a picture and a week later a ticket shows up in the mail. Talk about revenue generation. The result is speeding between the cameras and driving slow where they are positioned. They had on the news they put up a new one, and collected £25,000 in one week. A million drivers are at risk of losing their license because of points on their license from cameras. The worst of both worlds, lousy enforcement and massive fines. Ugh.

@Supergome: I can see the logic anywhere BUT the lane specifically for slow moving big rigs trying to make it up a hill. Don't even get me started on those goddamned portable scales they like...

Depending on how white you are...bahaha...

@deadd0g:

Because your not required to have certain college credits now at all. Oh wait...freaking moron.

Kansas has normal-colored highway patrol cars (mainly blue or red) with very small "Highway Patrol" signs on them. I'm stopped at least once every time I cross the state, and the cops are generally less than cheerful, but I've never gotten a ticket.

In over three years of driving (132,000 miles) a RED Honda, I have never been stopped by the police. Maybe its luck, skill or the radar detector.

@kungfo: Nah, they're always that fast.

Trial by declaration has been my friend. It's gotten me out of two citations, and one of them was going to be 2 points (105mph).

@FrankRizzo:

Wow so your the reason I have an underscore in my name..And you're from Nashville too?? Small world.

Anyway.. True story, a friend from Gallatin (small town north of Nashville) got pulled over and was going to be given a ticket for an illegal lane change. Crossing two lanes w/o signaling. Now he knew he only crossed one and that he used his blinker. So when he denied it, the cop huffed and puffed, "I got you on video, you wanna see for yourself?"

He said sure.

They walked over to the cop's car rewound the video. Sure enough my friend was telling the truth, the cop was wrong. He said he turned and smiled at the cop and said have a good day and walked away.

He said he wanted to belt out a "Nelson" Haha, but it was all he could do to keep his mouth quiet for his own good.

Also in our little town of Gallatin the Chief of police has declared that all infractions must be cited. Both Moving and non moving.

It's a rumor, but it's been said that he said his "men are there to enforce the law. If you're not writing tickets, your not enforcing the law."

It's probably no surprise we also have Red Light Traffic Camera's at 4 different intersections. I believe Gallatin leads the state of TN with the most. the City of Gallatin population is just over 20,000 people.

The city has collected more than $400,000 in fines.

@42Fordtrucks: In the US we still have wide open spaces. You can still haul ass but you have to pick the place and time. Hard to cover this many square miles with cameras. But they're trying.

@Adplusone: you might think you're a good guy... but i'm glad you're double figures of states away from me.

I think it depends on where you live.I live on the south side of Chicago.Cop generally have better things to do than write tickets all day.I can usually go as fast as I want in this city with a few exceptions(and I'm Black).
As long as you ain't super thuggin i t up in a old school cutty,smoking weed,and blasting your sounds you don't have a problem.Just know were the traffic cameras at and your strait.

I've been pulled over in my car and given a ticket for 5mph over while driving through South Carolina, and I've been clocked at 86 in a 35 on a empty road with good sight lines on my motorcycle and talked my way into a warning.

That last one as soon as I saw the car, I just hit my turn signal and pulled over about half a second after he lit me up. Since I was wearing full gear from head to toe, had my motorcycle endorsement, had insurance, and pulled over so quick that he didn't even have to pull his car out, he let me go. His reasoning: "If you pull over that quick, I reckon you're paying due attention and know ya done wrong."

When speeding, DO NOT hit the brakes. Down shift. Look far ahead for brake lights. Better than a radar detector.
My rules when getting pulled over:
Pull over, put the car in park, roll down the window, shut off the engine and stereo, put out my cigarette and close the ashtray, turn on the interior light, wait with my hands on the top of the steering wheel, leave the seat belt fastened. Keep the interior clean. Don't admit to anything. Don't ask why you got pulled over. Show the officer respect, no matter what. Do give him a hard time. Be patient. Resign yourself to being there a while.

Oops, big time. "Do NOT give him a hard time"

The light was yellow sir.. I bet they got SCHMODS

@Sydscraper: Exactly what I do, minus the cigarette part. Anything to make their jobs easier shows respect and possibly some compassion comes back.