When stopped for speeding and the officer asks, “Do you know why I stopped you?” Should you say, “yes I was going 65 in a 45”, or just clam up and say very little?
“I was in a similar situation once. It turned out very cut-and-dry.
The officer walked up and asked if I knew why I’d been stopped.
I was HONEST. I did know why. I HAD been speeding – by 9 miles an hour over.
It was THAT – being honest and not trying to act like the officer was stupid or that I knew more than he did. That, he said, was the reason that he let me go with just a warning.
I never sped in that area again and was very grateful.
Another incident that I recall was when I was a young driver and got pulled over for making a left turn into the outside lane (which is illegal in my state.)
When the officer came up and explained why I’d been pulled over, I (completely with naive honesty) said, “You know, I don’t think that was in the driver’s handbook.”
He sort of chuckled and agreed that he, too, didn’t think it was in the manual and after running my license, he came back to my window with the ‘Warning’ he was issuing me.
Honesty really does work most of the time…”
“True story:
I was stopped at 2:00 am driving south on US-191 in western Wyoming. Technically I was in Yellowstone National Park but not in any of the tourist areas, just driving from Bozman Montana to Jackson Hole. It was a pretty steep grade down hill and I had been riding my brakes trying to keep it at the posted 45 mph but I had a minivan packed full of sleeping kids and found myself just coasting downhill and when I saw the police lights spin up I realized I had been doing 60. The trooper asked for my information and asked why if I knew why I had been stopped. I explained that I knew I was speeding but was having a hard time not doing it without cooking my brakes. He told me the real reason he pulled me over was because between where we were and the exit to the park in about 50 miles was a herd of about 250 bison. They each weigh about 2000 lbs. Because of their coloring, you won’t see them unless they are looking directly at you and you see a reflection off their eyes. He said it would ruin my night to slam into one of those going 60 miles an hour. He checked my credentials and told me to stay safe and waved me off with that warning. Needless to say I drove with white knuckles for the next 50 miles….”
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