I Got Pulled Over For Speeding
Frank Borelli
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com
So, last week I was driving to pick up my son from summer camp and was pulled over for speeding. Yes, I hate to admit it, but truth be told it has happened three times in the past. In fact, every ten years of my driving record: 1980, 1990, 2000. This year the state trooper who pulled me over just didn’t realize he was six months ahead of schedule.
I saw it coming and shouldn’t have been speeding. The road was a local one that twists and turns and has some small hills in it. The speed limit fluctuates from 30 MPH to 45 MPH and back several times in about a three mile stretch. I was doing about 45 or 46 when the tropper pulled me over. Low and behold I had pulled into the area that the speed limit was 30 MPH and through inattention hadn’t slowed down. As I said: I saw it coming. I crested a small hill, saw the trooper and looked for a section of road immediately past his position where it would be safe for HIM for me to pull over.
He didn’t even turn on his emergency lights to signal me to stop until I was already on the shoulder and he knew that I knew. It was a confession of sorts from me. Yes, Trooper. I know I was speeding. No need for a charade. I’ve pulled over. Additionally I put on my emergency flashers, put down both my driver’s and passenger’s side windows and had my license and registration ready. As things turn out, I wasn’t carrying a gun with me to pick up my son so I didn’t have my retired ID either. I don’t know what impact my Fraternal Order of Police license plates may have had on his perception of the stop, but at the very minimum he knew I wasn’t going to give him a hard time. I had voluntarily stopped before he even indicated he wanted me to.
He asked me did I know why he stopped me. Yes, sir. For speeding. He was polite. I was polite. Hell, I was smiling with chagrine. I couldn’t believe I was dumb enough to speed simply because I hadn’t been paying attention. He asked about my previous driving record and I enlightened him about the fact that he was six months ahead of schedule in giving me my next speeding citation. But I joked that this was fine since it would get it over with and I could relax about it for the coming decade. He asked about my tags. I told him about being retired and not being armed at the moment. He was glad to hear that, since I didn’t have my ID and LEOSA card with me, I wasn’t armed (that would have been illegal). He told me to sit tight; that he’d be right back.
Was he going to write me a ticket? If he did, I couldn’t hardly complain. I had been speeding. Would he be kind enough to write me a warning? Hopefully, and if he did I’d be sure to express my appreciation. Would I pay better attention on that stretch of road from then on? You bet your backside I would.
He re-approached and handed me my documentation along with a warning for the speed. I glanced at it and noted that I had been doing the 46 MPH that I thought. I may not have paid attention to the actual speed limit but I HAD known how fast I was going. As I put away my license he saw my wallet - which happens to be a nylon tri-fold with the Army’s ACU digital camo pattern. He asked about my military service. We discovered we are both Army vets. I asked about his glasses - as they looked like sport frames with corrective lenses, but somehow ballistic as well. He explained that he had received them during his most recent tour overseas. We talked about MOSs and jobs we’d done.
During part of the conversation I wanted to make sure that he’d get a “stat” for the warning he’d written me. I think he initially thought I was upset I’d gotten it. He said something about having to justify his time spent on the road. I quickly explained that I wasn’t upset at all; that I wanted to be sure that by his doing me a favor in giving me the warning he hadn’t hurt his own performance record with his agency. He assured me that he was good to go. As we parted I told him to stay safe. He told me to have a safe day.
My wife and my son both got a good laugh out of this. I’ll save the warning he wrote me as a reminder to pay more attention.
The whole purpose of this blog is to describe the situation and then pose one question:
If everyone you ever pulled over was as knowledgeable about your safety concerns as I was and acted as I did, wouldn’t it make your patrol time less stressful? The obvious answer is yes.
That leads me to this question: then why don’t we invest any time teaching the public we serve in how to interact with us on traffic stops? We don’t have to tell them all of the tricks of the trade where officer safety or officer survival are concerned, but if they knew not to do the things that would make us nervous, and how far plain courtesy can go, don’t you think it would be a good thing?
What do you think?
Definately. I do personally try and educate those who I get in conversation with on the subject but attitude and safety are everything when dealing with the public. I once drew on a guy who came up from under his seat with a black leather case for his registration and insurance information… That could have gone very badly. Another one I had pretty well decided I would warn him until he said “Shut up and write the ticket!” so I did and he got one for each hand. More often than not courtacy and honesty about the situation will work in your favor more times than not. I wish everyone would come to understand this.
I have had numerous times where I was able to educate the people I’ve stopped. Most are thankful and take it to heart. It is quite funny though when stopping someone from Detroit or Chicago. They have the dome light on, hands on the steering wheel and looking straight ahead. They are almost excessive in their manner, but they ask permission and tell me where they are going to grab something from. This is the exception however. We actually have a pamphlet that we are required to hand out, which informs the subject about numerous things why officers do what they do. It covers why another officer would pull behind for backup on a seemingly minor traffic action, how to report racial profiling (3 different ways to report it!), what to do when stopped, etc. Although most people will toss it when getting a ticket, some may read it and be a bit more informed next time. I’ve just learned that if you are talking and not barking at people, they are much more receptive in how to deal with police officers in the future-even if this contact was not ideal. It keeps my officer safety in check and hopefully makes the officer that stops them next time much more happy about the contact.
Personally, I think public education is one of the greatest tools for officers. The more you remove the unknown for citizens the easier it is for them to interact with officers in a positive (and enlightened) manner.
The general public not only isn’t aware of why police do the things they do, they’re not aware of their unawareness (yes, I just made that a word). The more you help them, the better everyone will get along.
That being said, you’ll always have um… those who choose not to understand.
That’s supposed to be taught in drivers ED, right??
I’m not a police officer, but I agree with you. What people don’t seem to understand is the real life or death danger that speeding represents. It’s really about common sense, driving according to the conditions of the road. Yet look at the automobile commercials that glamorize speed. There’s a pandemic of speed going on that’s making driving from point A to point B very stressful and dangerous.
Had a similar experience, should have been paying attention to the limit. The officer was totally professional and right to the point. I in turn was polite and showed him by my actions that I was not a threat and in turn he pointed out that the stretch of road I was traveling had a bad “rap” for accidents and to slow down and he issued me a warning. I thanked him and we both headed out.
I have had to have several roadside classes about NOT JUMPING OUT OF THE CAR and walking back toward me on the initial stop. It is usually a very intense training session for the motorist.
I learned proper “ticket etiquette” in driver’s training back in the early 70’s. Thankfully, I have only had to use it once, and it got my speeding ticket reduced from 90 in a 55 to 60 in a 55 (the CHP officer seemed rather shocked that I hadn’t lied to him about how fast I was going - and rather pleased when I told him that had never occurred to me!) My younger sister, on the other hand had learned the “cry your way out of the ticket” method, which also worked, although I wanted to crawl under the passenger seat from embarrassment. From that point on, when we go anywhere together, I drive.
46 in a 30? Cheap ticket. I give everyone 20 over. then there’s no arguing…
I wrote few tickets than most officers as if I contacted someone and they were polite and allowed me to explain why I stopped them without copping an attitude they usually got a warning. You see I honestly believe my job to address their bad driving. If they acknowledge their mistake and I gave them a warning they left with a very positive feeling and a feeling I was more concerned about their safety than I was in “making my quota”. If you give them a ticket even if they knew at the time they were wrong 30 minutes later they rationalized I’m a-hole for having given them a ticket. So my citation numbers were down by I usually lead the department in felony arrest and drug bust.
Hey, Lori.
Just fyi crying is an automatic ticket in my procedure manual
Good interaction…discretion is a valuable tool. It’s always been my position that tickets are an education tool, rather than punishment. In this case a warning was proper. Slow down, brother.
When you issue a warning instead of a ticket, you’ve just told the perp that it’s OK to speed, he can get away with it. He just did. That makes my job harder, when I stop him next time, going a little faster.
If it’s serious enough to stop them, it’s serious enough to cite them.
John;
You can bet I pay better attention. And you are absolutely right: discretion is mandatory if law enforcement is to be successful and respected.
I have a younger son entering the police academy in the fall and to be perfectly honest about it I’m not real happy. 90% of the cops I’ve come in contact with have been rude bullys and I’m considered a law abiding citizen. I’ve only ever had 1 speeding ticket in my life and never been arrest. I don’t want my son to turn into a bully with a gun.
I disagree with HRPufnstuf. People will take warning as a reminder that the police are present. Most people abide by the speed limit. It does happen that people take their eyes off the speedometer for a second and end up getting pulled over. Accidents happen. A good attitude and clean record help police officers when using their discretion.