3 great uncles, 2 uncles, my father, and approximately 20 cousins/2ndcousins/etc were or are cops.
I have always treated every stop like it was one of my uncles who pulled me over. I'm somewhere in the 80-90% range for being let off with warnings. My wife is a sweetheart in most things, but this part of my life seems to make her mad. I get pulled over at least 4 times a year. I generally cruise at 85-90 on highways if I"m not pulling a trailer.
I go out of my way to keep the officers relaxed: Left arm on windowsill, all windows down, truck off, right hand on steering wheel, truck pulled as far to the right of the road as physically possible. I immediately tell them where my license, ins, and handgun is.
A Colin County deputy pulled me over in March 2017 for doing about 54 in a 35, and asked me why I was speeding. "Zero excuse, deputy. Full-on case of stupid." "Know how fast you were going?" "Yes sir, when I saw you on the shoulder and looked down, it was 54 or 55."
He physically jerked back a little in surprise. Took my license and insurance, ran them, came back, and said, "You're the first person this year who hasn't argued or been mad at me. Have a good day, and slow down."
I know from talking with my cousins that a LOT of people are jerks. They know they're busted speeding, and try and take it out on and get out of it from the cops on the beat. They all universally say that all that does is make it harder to come up with an excuse to let them off. All of my family who are cops agree that this has gotten way worse over the last 30 or so years than ever before. Far fewer people have any interpersonal boundaries and respect, let alone when they are dealing with authority figures (who routinely have to deal with druggies, thugs, and entitled brats).
If I was running traffic, I know what type of driver I'd stick for every mph over the limit, and every violation, and who I'd try and find reasons to let off with a warning.
I have always treated every stop like it was one of my uncles who pulled me over. I'm somewhere in the 80-90% range for being let off with warnings. My wife is a sweetheart in most things, but this part of my life seems to make her mad. I get pulled over at least 4 times a year. I generally cruise at 85-90 on highways if I"m not pulling a trailer.
I go out of my way to keep the officers relaxed: Left arm on windowsill, all windows down, truck off, right hand on steering wheel, truck pulled as far to the right of the road as physically possible. I immediately tell them where my license, ins, and handgun is.
A Colin County deputy pulled me over in March 2017 for doing about 54 in a 35, and asked me why I was speeding. "Zero excuse, deputy. Full-on case of stupid." "Know how fast you were going?" "Yes sir, when I saw you on the shoulder and looked down, it was 54 or 55."
He physically jerked back a little in surprise. Took my license and insurance, ran them, came back, and said, "You're the first person this year who hasn't argued or been mad at me. Have a good day, and slow down."
I know from talking with my cousins that a LOT of people are jerks. They know they're busted speeding, and try and take it out on and get out of it from the cops on the beat. They all universally say that all that does is make it harder to come up with an excuse to let them off. All of my family who are cops agree that this has gotten way worse over the last 30 or so years than ever before. Far fewer people have any interpersonal boundaries and respect, let alone when they are dealing with authority figures (who routinely have to deal with druggies, thugs, and entitled brats).
If I was running traffic, I know what type of driver I'd stick for every mph over the limit, and every violation, and who I'd try and find reasons to let off with a warning.
