The police car eases onto the road behind you, and immediately your stomach churns and your heart starts to beat faster. You offer up a silent mantra, “Please don’t let it be me; please don’t let it be me,” and every expense you have had in recent history starts to go through your mind. You think, “I can’t afford to get a ticket.” It may be the cost of the traffic ticket itself, the associated insurance rate increase, or having to take a defensive driving class, but it will be expensive.

Although it is probably a natural reaction to want to plead with the cop to let you off, that’s not a good idea. What you should do is to pull over in a calm manner so that you don’t give the officer any further reason to cite you. Keep your hands on the steering wheel where they can be seen, and do not take off your seatbelt. Just wait for the police officer to approach and keep a passive look on your face, trying to look neither guilty nor annoyed. Wait to see what the officer has to say and respond coolly.

It’s at this point when he will probably ask for your license and registration. Once he has your information, it is standard practice to check your license plate to make sure you’re not driving a stolen vehicle and to check your driver’s license to ensure that it is not suspended and you don’t have any warrants for your arrest. Once he feels like he has covered his bases, then he will move in for the set-up. “Mr. Diamond, do you know why I pulled you over?” Yep, it’s a set-up. A lot of people want to be helpful and may answer this question or plead with him not to write them a traffic ticket. Do NOT confess to whatever he accuses you of because you then give him the advantage. It is also usually ineffective to try to convince the officer that you were not speeding, to explain that you are late for work, or offer any of the other reasons why we speed or drive erratically.

To prevail in court, the best thing you can do at the time of being pulled over is nothing. If the officer asks you if you know why you were pulled over, simply say, “No, I don’t,” courteously. When he tells you the reason for being stopped, don’t respond. What you say may be considered argumentative and apologizing may make you seem guilty. The reason you should say nothing is you will NEVER win an argument with a cop, and the more trouble you make, the more clearly he will remember the incident. Try to make the encounter as unremarkable as possible. Be polite and allow the interaction to move along as smoothly and quickly as you can. This is what they do for a living, and yes, they do have quotas.

Now you have your traffic ticket so, you should consult a Miami-Dade County traffic ticket lawyer. Call the Traffic Ticket Team. Let us do the hard work in the courtroom for you. This is the one place where you are on nearly equal terms with the cop. I say nearly equal because unless the judge knows the cop to be a jerk or a liar, he is probably going to side with the cop. Of course, there is no need to worry because the Traffic Ticket Team gets approximately 99% of their clients off with no points and no traffic school. So, the next time you get pulled over by the cops, stay calm, be respectful, and contact the traffic ticket attorneys at the Traffic Ticket Team in Miami-Dade County.