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Posted

everyone's done it...how did you manage to?

 

 

Yesterday on the way to Index I got pulled over for expired tabs. I explained that I had tried to renew them online but that my computer crashed, which was true. Unfortunately I did not have the registration in my car. I've only been driving for a few years, so frankly I did not even know what the paper looked like. I kept asking the cop "What does the registration look like?" I handed him a lot of papers, included the insurance card and receipts from a garage and kept asking "Is this it? Is this it?" I think he thought I was from Mars...Not the best method, but hey it spared me a ticket. snugtop.gif

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Posted

Easiest way out of a ticket: be female.

 

I did once get out of a ticket by talking up what a shitty day I was having. Cop gave me a break and just gave me a warning.

Posted (edited)

The only time(s) I successfully got out of a ticket:

 

My friend Chantal was driving me home from Skaha. We were driving a little fast because it's a hella long drive and I'd gotten pretty banged up in a climbing fall. The Canadians are notorious for not giving warnings, but we got off with a warning. This gave us something to argue about for the remaining four hours of the drive. I said we got off with a warning because I was all in casts and obviously needed to go home, and she said it was because she was French, and that the cop was practicing good foreign relations.

 

The other time was last year, I got nailed in that notorious little speed trap on 90 as you come into Issaquah. I had spaced out and let my speed get away from me a little bit. I was extremely apoplogetic and sincere, and the guy let me go w/o a ticket. He did refer to that particular speed trap as "shooting fish in a barrel."

 

I can sort of see Snugtop all flustered and digging through her car, and if I'd been that cop, I wouldn't have had the heart to give her a ticket either. wink.gif

 

Edit: Ratboi, just being female doesn't automatically get you out of a ticket. I've gotten out of two, but had another four that I didn't get out of.

Edited by marylou
Posted

How can you not know what the registration looks like, snugtop? You get one every year when you renew your license (at least I do). Light-green paper, although I think they recently changed the format.

 

I once got out of a ticket by telling the cop I was only going over the limit so I could get to the bathroom in town quicker since I really had to urinate. This was only sort of true but he didn't know it. This only worked because it was open highway (north of Winthrop). If I had been in a heavily populated area, the excuse would have been void. It was real funny faking walking like I'm going to pee in my pants to the bathroom while the officer watched. Then, it was humorous to me to have to loiter in the bathroom longer than I would have so as to make it appear my bladder was full/taking a long time to empty. It must have worked because he waited for me to return before informing me I was only to get a warning. I then had to endure his rapid-fire statistical enfilade of why speeding--particularly on this stretch of highway north of Winthrop--was a bad idea. "Yes, officer. Uh-hu. I understand. Yes. Yes..."

 

I got out of a ticket last weekend up by Roosevelt Lake (E. Washington) by simply playing nice. The infraction was for doing an illegal U-turn (I had always thought that type of U-turn was legal but I guess not), not speeding. The officer (park ranger) seemed to understand. He also warned me of a broken brake light and cracked windshield. The latter two fines are $101 each.

Posted
How can you not know what the registration looks like, snugtop? You get one every year when you renew your license (at least I do). Light-green paper, although I think they recently changed the format..

 

I grew up in NYC...didn't learn to drive till I was 25. I've only had snugtop.gif for a little over a year!

Posted

I've been pulled over three times since I moved to Seattle. Never gotten a ticket. Just be nice and whatnot. I think the officers here are pretty friendly.

 

The first time i got pulled over, i was leaving work at about 10pm and I work in Pioneer Sq. I reached down for a cd and kind of swerved into another lane. As soon as that happened and i saw the cop, i knew i'd get pulled over. Not only was my insurance card out of date (though i did have current insurance), but i had a broken taillight and my tabs were expired (though again, i had just not put them on yet). On top of that, I was still using my AZ ID and I'd been here for over two years. The guy stood out in the rain, took all my information. Ran it through and then told me to get all that stuff taken care of. No ticket for any of it. He could've been a dick and given me a ticket for all three. I might have gotten out of them, but it wolud've ruined my morning to do it.

 

Not one week later i get pulled over on I-90 for the tabs thing. The officer asked how long i'd lived in WA and i told him two years. he said "ya know you're suppose to get a new ID within 90 days." I replied with "That's what the officer told me last week when i got pulled over." He kind of laughed and said " replace those tabs and we'll stop pulling you over" and that was it. No ticket.

 

just for the record. Everything is current in my car now and I have a WA license. grin.gif

Posted

Ah, that explains it then.

 

Addendum to my pull-over last weekend.

Since I was nervous when the guy asked for registration, etc., I was mumbling something and then gave him my debit card instead of my ID card. He took the debit card as he listened to me. Taking half a step back as if to leave, he then realized I had given him my debit card by mistake. I think I went for the debit card because I use it so often. I later was joking with myself that I hoped he didn't think I was trying to BRIBE HIM by giving him my money card. yellaf.gif

Posted

Yes, Martin. That time I did get pulled over just E. of Stevens Pass. I was a dead duck. Motocop got me. Walked into the middle of the road on that downhill after the pass and waved me over. $153: 76 in a 60. First ticket since late 2000. I was late meeting up with you. Perhaps snugtop was late so that's why she was speeding.

Posted

Don't speed and you will never get speeding tickets. I wasn't speeding when I was pulled over in Snoqualmie by a cop who was going the other way and pulled U-turn. I got out of a ticket by denying that I was going over the speed limit. He said I was 10 over and I said I was not. I got a warning, but he got me on expired proof of insurance. madgo_ron.gif

Posted

you can be busted for a cracked windshield? Is that a washington thing or is it true in oregon as well? My brother says it's a serious fine in New York as well. I'd better get that fixed I guess.

Posted

Brian: I think you can get out of an expired proof of insurance ticket if you fight it in court where you can prove to the judge that you had insurance at the time of the infraction. After all, that's what counts, not whether or not you had a piddly piece of paper saying merely that you are covered.

 

Also, if you don't have your license with you, you can recite to them your license number (I know mine by heart: KLENKPW299##). Sometimes that helps. It might depend on the mood of the officer.

 

Sometimes, such as in eternalx's case(s), the officer recognizes a bigger hassle if he gives out a ticket in such circumstances than if he just lets it slide. If there is a reasonable chance that a ticket will get contested in court, the officer may opt for a warning because he doesn't want to deal with the extra paperwork and/or need to appear in court. I bet appearing in court is an officer's least enjoyed activity.

Posted
Don't speed and you will never get speeding tickets. I wasn't speeding when I was pulled over in Snoqualmie by a cop who was going the other way and pulled U-turn. I got out of a ticket by denying that I was going over the speed limit. He said I was 10 over and I said I was not. I got a warning, but he got me on expired proof of insurance. madgo_ron.gif

 

Not speeding does not guarantee that you will not get a speeding ticket.

 

I got one in Thorp about 2 years ago (actually, 2 years ago to the day, now that I think about that) when I wasn't speeding. Fighting it didn't work either, though the judge reduced the amount of the fine because I had a good driving record.

Posted
you can be busted for a cracked windshield? Is that a washington thing or is it true in oregon as well? My brother says it's a serious fine in New York as well. I'd better get that fixed I guess.
Apparently so. The crack for me is in the center of the windshield just below rearview mirror level. It's about 15 inches long but does not extend across my main view forward.

 

The ticket for it is $101. My insurance deductible to get it fixed is $100. Hmmm, to fix or not to fix? With such an old car that might kick the proverbial oil bucket at any time, is it worth it to fix it?

Posted
yellaf.gif I have the classic winter full windshield rainbow crack right over the defroster vents, and several smaller cracks that have creeped up to connect with it! probably not safe I guess confused.gif Anyway my insurance deductable is cranked up high so I would probably pay in full to have it fixed.
Posted

If you break any traffic law; it will catch up with you sooner or later.

 

In the 8 years I have had my license I have managed:

 

1 seatbelt violation

1 u turn (more expensive than speeding! avoid this one!)

4 speeding tickets in OR (stopped 7 times so I was let go on 3)

4 speeding tickets in WA (stopped 5 times so I was let go on 1)

1 warning in CA

1 striking an immovable object (dismissed in court)

2 no proof of insurance (dismissed both times as I was insured)

1 reckless endangerment (dismissed in court... parents: don't let your kids watch Dukes of Hazard reruns... also: as cool as it looks on tv; jumping your 1980's Toyota wagon at the BMX track is not a good idea and it hurts)

 

Be honest with the cop; they are a little more likely to let you go if you admit fault and say "there was no reason to justify my speed." Don't act like "why are you pulling me over" if I drive through a speed trap and see them pull on, I just pull over and wait for them before they ever get there lights on.

Posted

Dodges that have helped me get off speeding ticket

 

1) Talking about climbing with cop (climbing stickers on car)

 

2) Crying and explaining I was driving fast to get to friends' funeral

 

3) "Going at speed of traffic" even though speed of traffic was 80 in a 50 zone

 

4) Flirting with hot lady cop smileysex5.gif

Posted

Got pulled over and warned away twice in one day last summer (I never get warnings) - as soon as the cop walked up I said, "I was coming in a bit fast, wasn't I?" Seemed to work on those two, although it didn't work the following week (but I had apparently used up my traffic karma with the previous two encounters).

Posted
How can you not know what the registration looks like, snugtop? You get one every year when you renew your license (at least I do). Light-green paper, although I think they recently changed the format..

 

I grew up in NYC...didn't learn to drive till I was 25. I've only had snugtop.gif for a little over a year!

 

My mom was the same way -- learned how to drive in Brooklyn. Crazy thing is that she learned to drive an automatic using one foot for gas and one foot for brake and still drives that way today.

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