Guaranteed ways to get a traffic ticket from me
There are some absolutely surefire ways to get a traffic citation from me. In fact, most of the offenses listed will net you more than one citation depending on the circumstance and your attitude.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I primarily cite people to correct behavior. Some behaviors are more serious and either affect, or have the potential to affect, more people or at a greater scale.
A lot of people don’t know this, but law enforcement officers (at least in my state) have the ability to arrest someone for any traffic offense. Obviously we don’t arrest for every traffic offense, but in general we arrest for criminal infractions or if there are extenuating circumstances.
At the risk of hijacking my own thread, let me first list the offenses that will most assuredly result in your arrest:
- DUI - This is a 100% guarantee. It doesn’t matter if I know you, if you’re a fellow police officer, or if you are one block from home. If you fail field sobriety tests you are going to jail. I’ve worked too many wrecks and seen too many people killed to let this go. Yes, it could cost you your job, marriage and / or ruin your life but better your life than someone elses. There is no excuse nowadays to drive drunk. If in doubt, don’t.
- Driving on a suspended license with knowledge or no license - If you’re driving without a valid license you’re going to jail. If you have an attitude problem your vehicle is getting impounded.
Our entire traffic enforcement system is based on license penalties, so if your license is suspended or you don’t have a license and you’re still driving you are playing out of bounds and need something else to get your attention.
This especially includes those fake internet “International Driver’s Licenses”, I will jam you up six ways to Sunday if you try to scam me with one of those. If you’re a police officer and don’t know about these, Google search and you’ll see that’s it’s basically a sham.
Your Mexican Driver’s License is also “no es bueno” here in the U.S., so you’ll be taking a ride for those as well.
Having cleared those items up, here are the traffic offenses that I always issue a citation for:
- No proof of insurance - Maybe you have insurance and just don’t have your card. In that case, this is an easy one as all you have to do later is show proof that it was valid at the time of the stop, pay a very small fee, and you’re straight. Maybe you can’t afford insurance, in which case you shouldn’t be driving. If you hit someone while driving, their insurance would have to pay for the accident which is categorically unfair.
If you can’t afford insurance, you can’t afford to drive. - Driving with loud music - In my state, if I can hear your music at 25 feet you’re in violation. My rule of thumb is that if I can hear bass at 25 feet, or music at 50 feet, you’re getting the ticket. Loud music is a blatant disrespect for those around you, and as someone who has been disturbed in their own home by boom cars I don’t have any patience for it. You’re welcome to listen to anything you want, but everyone else has the right not to hear it.
On a funny note, here’s how I usually explain it to the less intellectual individuals: I sometimes like to take off all my clothes when I get home and walk around nude. I’m allowed to do that all I want. But, it wouldn’t be fair to force you to look at me when I’m walking around nude, and it’s not fair to force other people to listen to your music.
Being the type that doesn’t look that great naked, it’s an analogy that they usually “get.” - Improper tag or tag expired > 3 months - A lot of crimes have been solved by someone noting the tag. Keeping your tag current is a basic responsibility of owning a vehicle. If your tag expired more than 3 months ago, you need to pay a stupid tax. If you have a tag on your car that doesn’t match your car, not only are you getting a ticket I’m also seizing your tag and you’re parking and walking home.
Those are really my only hard and fast rules, the rest depend on the circumstances and your attitude. I usually don’t cite for equipment failures (e.g. headlight out, taillight out, no tag light, etc.) as a lot of people just don’t realize they’re out as most people don’t check their vehicle before driving it.
I will have to say that I have made one exception to the above rules. I have a soft spot for single moms and abused women. I pulled over a vehicle several years ago that was being driven by a single mom with a suspended license. When I ran her name it showed that she had a restraining order against a violent male. Her soon to be ex-husband had beaten her several times before she finally got away from him. She was struggling financially as a result and had failed to pay a minor ticket received a few months ago and didn’t realize her license had been suspended. She was only 2 blocks from her house so I followed her to her house and she promised not to drive until it was taken care of.
As a corollary, if I have any proof that you’re a wife beater or child abuser you’ll get as many tickets as I can possibly dream up. My record so far was 7 citations totaling well over $800 total, and I slept like a baby that night.
If you think I’m way off base on any of these, or if there are a few I need to add to my list, let me know. I approach policing with a carefully thought out logical thought process, so if you can make a good case I’ll gladly change my standards.
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on October 16th, 2007 at 11:18 am
gonna call you on the insurance one, in only one respect. you say its unfair. to whom? insurance companies? i have a hard time buying that anything that happens to those bastards is not somehow a manifestation that there is a god that that god does hate greed.
also, the argument, if you cant afford insurance, you cant afford to drive, kinda fails too. i have known plenty of poor people in the rural southern area i live in who can barely pay the bills and if they dont drive, then they dont get to work.
other than that totally agree: citation, then turn in proof of insurance and your clean.
on October 17th, 2007 at 8:12 pm
Okay, I’ll bite. If someone is too poor to afford insurance, and they hit a pedestrian that is too poor to afford health insurance, who should pay for their care?
I can see where you’re coming from, but then again it’s not fair to those who do pay insurance.
By the way, on the way home yesterday I though of another “always cite” offense: child under (the legal age) not in a car seat or not using a seatbelt if under 16.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve passed a car and saw a 4 year old walking back and forth on the back seat. Certain ethnic groups seem especially prone to that for some reason?
on October 18th, 2007 at 5:29 pm
Question about ‘improper tag’/expired tag. In California, they send you these stupid stickers for your registration. People are always taking them off people’s plates and putting them on their own plate. If you have proof that your registration is current (in your car), why should you get a ‘fix-it’ ticket to go and get a new sticker? I even cut mine using a razor blade like a cop showed me to do and STILL someone stole it. Why should I have to pay (the cost is $7 for a new one) because someone STEALS my tag? My responsibility should be to keep my registration current — not try to check every time to see if someone has stolen my sticker!
on October 19th, 2007 at 8:00 am
Every cop may act differently, but I don’t cite people for an expired tag if they have proof of current registration.
We have stickers for registration as well but they disintegrate if you try and pull them off. Sounds like you need to ask the Terminator to look at some different sticker technology.
If you were King or Queen for a day, how would you resolve the issue in California?
on October 22nd, 2007 at 11:50 am
Great tips. Personally, I am not fond of cops because all of the ones in our town have an arrogance about them that makes them unlikeable. I usually don’t have run ins with them since I obey traffic laws. I was pulled over when I was 20 and my license was expired. I had no idea. The cop was nice about it but he did make me park the car and thankfully I was very close to home and the walk was not bad.
on October 22nd, 2007 at 2:21 pm
Sonya - Thanks. To be honest, I’m not too fond of cops myself! When I first started out someone asked me what the most difficult situation was that I had encountered so far. My answer was “realizing that all cops weren’t moral, compassionate, knights in shining armor.”
I try to approach every situation with the goal of leaving that person in better shape than I found them. Whether that is a ticket to save their life, jail to keep them from doing more harm, or just a heart to heart talk.
A lot of cops turn arrogant, but to be honest it seems to be false bravado a lot of times. We find that if you act arrogant, fearless, and tough as nails you seldom have to prove otherwise. If you are too “nice” you get “tested” more often.
Being a homeschooler (as we are), I’m sure you understand how negative stereotypes and profiling can put a bad light on something even if the bad are in the minority….;)
on October 24th, 2007 at 10:00 pm
You are wrong about one thing, at least in my state, Illinois. A current Mexican or any other government issued license is valid in Illinois so long as you are not living in the US as a resident. For example a Mexican college student going to school in the US can use his Mexican license to drive. This info is directly from the State of Illinois Secretary of sate Web site. Of course, if you are living here illegally or have overstayed your visa you would be considered an illegal resident and you are out of luck.
all in all though I enjoyed your candid and thoughtful coments
on October 25th, 2007 at 9:33 am
You’re absolutely right, I should have made that distinction. If you are “visiting” (and there is a legal definition of visiting versus “residing”) any government issued license is legal.
However, if you are “residing” you have 10 days (I think, have to look that one up) to obtain license and registration in my state (Florida).
Good eye for details, are you a LEO?
on December 10th, 2007 at 11:04 am
Unfortunately, people must still drive even if their license is suspended. They MUST feed their family. Whether you think that is a good cause or not really doesn’t matter. It doesn’t excuse what they do. And it doesn’t mean they shouldn’t get ticketed. But saying “if you can’t afford insurance, you can’t afford to drive” is clearly incorrect. Yup, I may smash into someone without insurance. In that case, the hospital will absorb those costs because the guy can’t afford them. What if you had your license suspended because of inability to pay traffic tickets because you were layed off? i’m sorry but feeding my family comes before lining the states pockets because I didn’t PURCHASE their registration stickers.
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on September 1st, 2008 at 2:25 pm
i have a question…i was stopped for “according to the cop” i fail to stopped at a red light, but i didnt because when i was crossing the intersection the light was yellow then it turn red. the cop followed me for about 7 to 8 blocks then he procced to stopped me and gave me a ticket…is there anything i can do to fight it???/
also i was stopped recently for playin loud music but i know there is a certain decibal you need to reach in order to be noise pollution….i belive that my stereo wasnt playin loud because my speaker are blown up…the cop said that the music was loud because i was “shaking his car” but i wasnt cuz i know my own system and what it is capable of doing….the stereo was at volume 8 and that its not loud enough to shake a car.
on October 27th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
It’s about money. Cities and states acrue allot of revenue via tickets and the way to handle this is not to get mad, but to get even. Everyticket you receive is redeamable for one NOT Guilty verdict the next time you serve on a jury. You will never see the other eleven people again and it costs the state a fortune, definitely more than your ticket, to re-try the case. The lost revenue cuts into the raises the police receive and upgrades to equipment required to do the job. When you are on a jury you have more power than anyone else in the courtroom INCLUDING the judge.
Use that power. Any comments on this idea:)
on October 27th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
It’s about money. Cities and states acrue allot of revenue via tickets and the way to handle this is not to get mad, but to get even. Everyticket you receive is redeamable for one NOT Guilty verdict the next time you serve on a jury. You will never see the other eleven people again and it costs the state a fortune, definitely more than your ticket, to re-try the case. The lost revenue cuts into the raises the police receive and upgrades to equipment required to do the job. When you are on a jury you have more power than anyone else in the courtroom INCLUDING the judge.
Use that power. Any comments on this idea:)
If this posts twice its because I received an error msg on post.