For some drivers, getting traffic tickets seems to be just a matter of course, and you may be one of these drivers. If there is a cop in the area using radar, are you the one who always seems to being going just fast enough to get pulled over? Are you the driver who seems to always get stuck under that traffic light at an intersection with a red light traffic camera because someone coming from the other direction pulls out at the very last minute? Worse yet, have you managed to get more than one traffic ticket from the same police officer? It is bad enough if you remember him, but when he remembers you, it’s going to be a lot more difficult to fight your traffic ticket in court. You may feel as though you are riding around with a “Pick me!” sign on your vehicle directed specifically at law enforcement. This obviously in not the case, but there may be reasons why you seem to attract so much attention from police officers. There are, however, ways to minimize the possibility of repeatedly getting traffic tickets as well.

First of all, consider changing your driving behaviors. If you are getting traffic tickets time after time, it could be that it is your driving habits that need to be addressed. This is the most fundamental advice anyone can offer you. If you have a history of getting speeding tickets, you may want to ease up on the gas pedal a bit. You also may want to pay attention to the location of where you are getting these speeding tickets. Some areas are more heavily patrolled than others or are notorious for having speed traps set up. If you find that you are getting pulled over for speeding in the same area, that is probably the issue and you may want to proceed more cautiously or take a different route.

If it seems like you get more than your share of red light traffic camera tickets, learn the location of the intersections in your town that employ the use of these cameras. This is information that can readily be found on the internet. Once you learn their locations, keep a few other things in mind when going through these areas. First of all, yellow lights tend to have a shorter duration at these intersections than at some others, so a hurry-up-and-go mentality when you see a yellow light is probably a bad idea. Rolling stops when making right-hand turns can be another major issue at these intersections. Although the statute governing traffic lights or stop signs states that you must execute your stop in a “careful and prudent manner,” this can be a highly subjective term. Additionally, anything less than a complete stop, meaning that all movement of the vehicle has completely halted, the red light traffic camera is going to pick up on the motion and snap a picture of your plate. Then some lackey who works for the Arizona-based company that issues most of these traffic citations (and who is not a cop) will send you your traffic ticket through the mail.

If you find that there is no correlation with location, you are probably driving faster than most other drivers, not paying attention closely enough, or driving a conspicuous vehicle such as a sports car. If this is the case, you may want to be more mindful of that fact and adjust your driving habits accordingly. You bought a sports car for a reason, either because of the way it looks or the way it performs. You may want to attract the attention of some, but you surely don’t want it to be cops. Keep in mind that law enforcement officers’ pay is not usually commensurate to the long hours and risks they often have to face. Someone committing traffic violations in a vehicle that costs as much as their annual salary is likely to be irksome to them and provide them with all the justification they need to elicit a traffic stop and find reasons to write traffic tickets.

Another issue that may make your car stand out from others is if it is in bad shape mechanically. If all of the lights are not working properly or you have an extremely noisy exhaust system, not only can it be an annoyance to others, but this is going to draw unwanted attention from police officers. Attracting an officer’s attention because of a minor issue such as a brake light not functioning may be the cause of him pulling you over, but if he is so inclined, he can probably find other reasons to write you a traffic ticket. Additionally, if you seem to attract the notice of police officers frequently, you may also want to be more cognizant of little matters that can easily be overlooked while driving such as making sure to always use your turn signals.

Something else that may garner the unwanted attention of a police officer is bumper stickers. Freedom of expression is a wonderful thing, but as with any other form of self-expression, it can have negative consequences. This is especially true when it comes to things like politics or religion. If your car has a bumper sticker that offends the belief system of a cop that you just drove past at just a couple of miles per hour over the speed limit, it could be all the motivation he needs to pull over the Democrat, Republican, pro-life, pro-choice, weed-smoking, hard-drinking, fill-in-the-blank hippie insurrectionist that just drove by. Heck, it is surely worth putting off getting another cup of coffee so that he can write a speeding ticket for such a segment of society, right? Obviously, I say this tongue-in-cheek, but if this type of subject matter weren’t inflammatory, they wouldn’t be making bumper stickers about such things.

If you do get pulled over, always remember to be polite. If you notice that you have gotten a plethora of traffic tickets, it may be your attitude. Granted, the police officer may not be aware of a bad attitude until he pulls someone over, but if you are snide, sarcastic, or otherwise nasty during a traffic stop, you can be assured that you will NOT be getting off with just a warning. You have nothing to lose by being polite, but a lot to lose if you annoy the officer. Not only can he write the traffic ticket, but I am sure that a bad attitude will etch the traffic stop in his mind. He will then be more likely to be able to recall the events surrounding the stop much more clearly in his mind when you appear in court to fight your traffic ticket.

If you try to implement these suggestions into your driving habits, but still find yourself in receipt of one or more traffic tickets, the best thing you can do is contact a traffic ticket attorney. If you have become known to one or more officers in the area for traffic violations and they know that you will seek the help of an experienced traffic ticket attorney to fight any traffic citations they may give you, they may feel that it is not worth the effort to keep citing you especially for less serious offenses. Give our office a call at 954-967-9888 for a free consultation. We may be able to help break the traffic ticket treadmill that you find yourself on.