August 11: QOTD

[sheila]

Have you ever gotten out of a speeding ticket? Did you talk your way out of it? Cry? Something else?

[Jayne]

Well I was pg and we were going around Columbus. The speed limit changes from 65 to 55 and we were doing 65 so I said I honestly didn't know and hadn't seen a sign. The officer was really nice and said that it happens a lot and since we were not speeding for 65 he would let us go with a warning and that we needed to slow down. Of course as soon as we took off again and went around the bend there was the 55 speed limit sign. It was an honest one at least that we got out of.

My friend Dee and I got into trouble a few times together and that was the only one we got out of :lol:

I tried to get out of a speeding ticket when I was on my way to college one morning. I was doing 78 in a 65 and was late for a final but the cop didn't like me and gave me a ticket and took more of my time anyway. IT SUCKED.

[Melissa]

I got a speeding ticket when I was in high school. I was driving on a road out of my neighborhood, it was a hill so I never even touched the brake. The cop clocked me at 48 in a 25. Ugh.... I paid that one in full, I deserved it.

The only other time I was stopped was when Katie was 2 weeks old, Reed had called that his car had died after taking his mom to the airport. I was on the highway trying to find him, wondering why everyone was going 45 (because you know you can't actually do the speed limit near a cop, you have to 20mph SLOWER), I found a hole and punched it. Well, the cop said I was going 80 (I really don't believe him, my shitty little car wouldn't go over 75 without shaking the steering wheel and my wheel was perfectly fine!). I was just exiting a construction zone (double fines!). I just told him what happened, I was searching for my husband whose car was dead on the other side of the highway, I had finally spotted him, saw a whole and tried to get out of the traffic (all true). He lectured me for about 10 minutes, checked my record (sparkly clean since it had been at least 10 years since my last ticket) and let me off with a warning (it would have been a $400 ticket).

BUT what he did do was follow me to where Reed was stuck by the side of the highway, got out and talked to him about how stupid I was :rolleyes: Yeah, like he is going to be an influencing factor in how I drive. :rolleyes: x100000

[Clare]

No. I've only ever had 2 speeding fines. Both were cameras that got me doing about 10kms over the limit and I had to pay them.

[AmyP]

Well, I was pulled over once for speeding down a street and not seeing a speed trap. Stupid on my part since I knew the road almost always had speed traps. Thankfully I got off with a warning. I didn't try to get out of it or anything. I just apologized.

I have been pulled over twice for rolling through a stop sign. Both times (many, many years apart) I just said I didn't realize I hadn't come to a complete stop and I apologized. Warnings both times, thankfully. Good thing since the last one occurred the day after I wrecked my truck and that was the last thing I needed at that time. I never told my DH about that one.

That reminds me of another time I was sure I was going to get pulled over. I was driving down a major road in the evening and I was going about 15-20 over the speed limit. Not terrible, but certainly enough for a cop to pull me over if they wanted to. I saw a cop pull out onto the road in my rear view mirror. I was so scared I was going to get pulled over. I took my foot off the gas, and didn't hit my brakes. I saw the guy behind me or next to me pull over into a hole and gun it. The cop went up behind the guy and pulled the guy over. Whew!

[Karri]

Yep - twice recently. In spring, I was coming back from the gym and was going 40ish in a 30 zone. Oops. I just told him that I thought it was 35. He checked my record and said that since it was clean and since I was in my own town (WTF?), that he'd leave me off w/ a verbal warning.
This summer, i was coming home from a playgroup and was in an area coming down a hill where everyone speeds and it goes from 40 to 30. I was clocked going 50ish. Oops. I had the kids w/ me and he lectured me on speeding w/ kids and said that since my record was clean, he'd let me off w/ a verbal.

[sheila]

Two times come to mind.

When I was 18 and going home from college, I was pulled over on the Mass Pike doing more than 90. I was in the left lane when I heard the cop behind me, so I pulled over into the left emergency lane. He got over the loudspeaker and told me to get over to the other side, so I did. When he got to the window, he started in about how he couldn't even give me a ticket because if he wanted to do something, he had to take me to jail for everything I had done wrong. I don't think I cried until after he left, but I was shaking and really freaked out. I got a verbal warning and nothing more.

Several years ago, I got pulled over in NC doing 80 or something in a construction zone. He asked if I knew how fast I was going and I told him I really had no idea because Stagg and I were talking about a town on a sign and wondering if it was in NC or VA. He said it was in VA and asked if that was my final destination. I said no, actually we were headed to NY to my grandfather's funeral. He missed a beat and let me go saying something about my having a bad enough day.

[Bridget]

I got out of one once when I was in college. And it was pathetic I even got pulled over because I was going 61 in a 55 (the cop even said I was going 61). Who gets pulled over for 61 in a 55??? Anyway, I was wearing my Pizza Hut uniform, I had a birthday cake on the carseat and I started sobbing (didn't mean to, just did). My sister officer for crying but told him why and he let me go. I guess he figured any young girl driving a ratty station wagon, wearing a PH uniform and driving home a birthday cake wouldn't make up something like that.

[TtownAnne]

I have talked my way out, twice.

a. at the beginning of my street, there is a steep hill you turn onto coming off the 55mph main street. You're supposed to go from 55 to 20 in the space of about 10 feet. :rolleyes: Naturally there was a police officer at the bottom of the hill who pulled me over for going 27 in a 20. I said that I lived just at the end of the street, and my potty training toddler had just announced that she had to go to the bathroom, so I was just trying to get home before she had an accident. He let me go. ;)

b. Don't remember the circumstances, but I got out just by saying that I had been driving since I was 23, had never gotten so much as a warning, blahblahblah. He said that was good news and let me go.

Of course, the one time I did actually get a ticket (49 in a 30), it was a school zone. So the cop said he had to give me the ticket because he was going to give me a break by not putting that the violation was in a school zone since that would have doubled the fine and given me a point or two on my license. He then proceeded to tell me precisely what to say to the judge and how to say it to avoid getting penalized. If you're going to give me that much advice about getting out of the ticket, how about just not giving it to me?!? :disbelief

[marcy]

Anyway, I was wearing my Pizza Hut uniform, I had a birthday cake on the carseat and I started sobbing (didn't mean to, just did). My sister officer for crying but told him why and he let me go.

Bridget, I don't undertand. What do you mean, "My sister officer for crying"?

[Barb]

I've only been pulled over once. It was on my college campus, by campus police. I ran a yellow light... yes it was still yellow. I was late for class, but he didn't like that excuse. He gave me the whole speech about yellow means slow down, blah blah blah. He went back to his motorcycle with my driver's license to give my info to dispatch, and it turned out their computers were down. So he let me with go with a 'warning'. I wish I could say it was because of my charm, but it was just a machine malfunction.

Oh, and he made me even more late for class. :rolleyes:

[Mandi]

Yep. :)

I've been pulled over twice and not given a ticket, despite going 10ish miles over. Michael's been pulled over several times too. Out here, most cops extend the curtesy of not ticketing a firefighter or his family, especially if he has a union sticker on his car. So I'm positive that's gotten us out of a ticket more than once. :nod:

The only time I've gotten a ticket was last year. We were going to Disneyland and I was going 85 in a 75 on the interstate outside of Yuma, AZ. The cop (DPS :complain: ) felt the need to get me out of the car and chew my ass for about 10 minutes before giving me a ticket. I was not happy. Not so much about the ticket since I was speeding, but moreso that he felt he could lecture me. I actually cut him off in the middle and told him to just give me the damn ticket and let me go. I think that shocked him. :lol: Anyway, out here it's only DPS that doesn't follow the curtesy rule for one of their "brothers". Most state/county cops will.

[Barb]

Mandi, I got a lecture too. Not fun getting lectured by campus police about a yellow light. I'm glad you cut him off and said get on with it. :lol:

[~LORI~]

Yep - twice this past year. Once when I was home visitng my parents I got pulled over for speeding. Luckily the kids were with me and they started screaming as soon as we stopped. He didn't even ask to see my liscence or registration, just saw the 2 kids crying and let me go. :lol:

Second, was a couple weeks ago in TX. The speed limit was 35 and I was going around 45. The cop pulled me over and saw that I had a Steelers magnet on my car, looked at my OH liscence and then started asking me where I was from in OH. He grew up there and was asking me where I was from. So, luckily I got off with a verbal on that one too. :lol: