By Richard Wallace II
Author of "An Educated Guide
to Speeding Tickets-How to Beat & Avoid Them!"
This is the second in a series of articles I will be writing for Danny Feemster, Cricket Ventures and his company’s website BuyRadarDetectors.com. As many of you will recall, my first article which can still be viewed on the BuyRadarDetectors.com website, talked about the basics involved with beating a speeding ticket. In this article, my second in the series of many to come, I would like to talk about how one can learn to speed without getting caught, thus "Avoiding A Costly Speeding Ticket!"
Today’s motorists have the choice of driving the speed limit or exceeding it. Most choose to exceed it, myself included. It is important for me to state however, that I am not advocating everybody running out and speeding all over the highways and driving in a reckless manner. On the contrary. I am talking about people who choose to speed but do it safely, effectively, without getting detected or caught by the police. Yes speed does in many instances increase the risk of accidents or loss of human life. Speed can be a contributing factor should something go wrong when a person is exceeding the speed limit. What I do advocate is that everybody drives safely, reasonably, and sensibly even if at speeds above the posted speed limit.
What is quite ironic is that most speeding tickets are given for speeds that are neither extremely high nor dangerously low. Most are given to people who are operating only slightly over the posted speed limit, between 10-15 mph. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has found and documented the safest speeds to travel at are between 10-15 mph over the posted speed limit, or those traveling with the flow of traffic, yet it is this very group of motorists who are stopped and issued the most speeding tickets.
Like any other skill, speeding without getting caught is something that one must learn and practice in order to become effective and good at it. In other words, a person must learn to sharpen their speeding skills if they wish to be successful.
By following some of the following tips, tactics and strategies I will tell you about, one can expect to become a safer and more efficient speeder and thus, will greatly reduce their chances of being detected, stopped and ticketed by the police. While I will certainly give you some great information in this article, your best source for all of my tips, tactics and strategies will be found in my best selling book "An Educated Guide to Speeding Tickets-How To Beat & Avoid Them!" available for purchase right here at BuyRadarDetectors.com and now in its fourth edition printing.
Probably the most important tip I can give you is to simply pay attention at all times. Watch your mirrors and be fully aware of your surroundings. Look for police cruisers behind you, up ahead on the side of the road, hiding on bridges and overpasses. Watch for the officer in an undercover or unmarked vehicle parked on the side of the road up ahead. Be alert for anything and always be on the watch for the nasty sneaky police officer with his radar or laser gun. Don’t be that motorist who was stopped because they did not see the officer clocking him from behind for the last two miles. Yes it can be tiring always being on the watch, but if you avoid getting stopped or issued a speeding ticket because you detected the presence of the police nearby, and adjusted your speed, you will have saved yourself hundreds of dollars in fines and in insurance surcharges.
Another important but almost hard to believe tip that works very well is when traveling down the roadway and you observe the police officer parked on the side of the road operating radar or laser and you think you may have been caught by the officer for speeding, as you slow down and pass by the officer, wave to him as go by.
Yes, I said wave to the officer. Why? Well because I know from my over 14 years as veteran police officer, the officer will think a couple of things if he sees you wave. Instinctively the officer may think he knows you and he may wave back, this is human nature. Secondly, the office may think you are waving to him in acknowledgement of your speed and you are slowing down and letting him know with your wave you are slowing and sorry for going a little to fast. Trust me, this tip works well. Many officers who see you wave will wave back, many will think oh ok, this guy knows he is speeding and is acknowledging it with a wave, I will not stop him or her and issue them a speeding ticket.
The following are a few of the various tips, tactics & strategies that I have in my book "An Educated Guide to Speeding Tickets-How to Beat & Avoid Them!" that allow a motorist to speed without getting caught by the police for speeding.
- Use a high quality radar/laser detector. This fact cannot be overstated. The use of a high quality detector with all of the tips & tactics greatly reduce your chances of getting stopped for speeding.
- Monitor the police radio frequency bands with the use of a high quality police scanner. This will allow you to listen to the police and you can pinpoint where they are hiding on the highways.
- Monitor the truckers airwaves with a CB (citizens band) radio. The truckers all know where the police (smokies) are hiding.
- Learn to speed in the flow of traffic and try not to be the last car in the pack. Often times it is the last car in the pack the police will stop first.
- Watch your mirrors at all times especially your rear view mirror. The police love to follow and pace you with their cruisers.
- Use extreme caution when crossing town, county, city or state lines. The police love to sit on their jurisdiction boundaries and catch speeders coming or going.
- Learn to speed at the change of shift for the police in your area. Most departments change shifts at 7 or 8am, 3 or 4pm and 11 or 12 am. About a half hour before an after that hour, there is very little traffic enforcement on the highways.
- Watch the brake lights on vehicles ahead as well as headlights being flashed by oncoming traffic. Both could warn you about the presence of a hiding officer operating radar or laser.
- Slow down in areas known to be speed traps. The police all have their favorite spots and are usually in the same places day in and day out so be aware of these spots and slow down as you near them.
- Do not be fooled by observing an officer operating radar/laser and think you are safe to speed down the highway. The police will often play a game by planting another officer a mile down the road to catch those who think they can speed because they just saw the police a mile back.
- Be very careful at night or on roads with little traffic. You stand a greater risk of being detected for speeding at night because you can not observe cars on the side of the roadway and in little traffic, you have no other traffic to assist in cloaking your vehicle. It is difficult to get stopped for speeding if you are in a pack of speeding cars. Again, try not to be the last vehicle in that pack.
- And the final tip I will share with you is to know how many police cruisers are on duty at any given time in your town, county or city. In many jurisdictions all across the United States, people know there are say 3 or 4 police cruisers on duty at any given time in their area. Well if you see all 3 or 4 cruisers together or at different times and you are keeping track, you can be relatively sure its ok to speed thru that jurisdiction if all the police cruisers and officers are accounted for.
For a complete list of all of my tips, tactics & strategies, please pick up a copy of my book "An Educated Guide…" right here at BuyRadarDetectors.com. The book is full of very valuable information on the equipment the police are using today, how one should conduct themselves at the scene of a traffic stop which may get them out of a speeding ticket, how to challenge and beat any speeding ticket in a court of law, and of course, how one can speed without getting caught.
If the unfortunate does happen and you get stopped for speeding, make sure you remain calm, be polite, cooperate, admit nothing including your speed, and if you plan to use an excuse, be sure it touches the emotions of the officer which gets him down to your level and it could work and get you out of a speeding ticket. Do not be afraid to ask for a break or an oral/written warning, and yes you can do this.
This just about concludes my article on Avoiding a Speeding Ticket. I hope you can use some of this information and become a safer more efficient speeder. Remember, it takes time, practice and effort. Traveling at high rates of speed may not get you anyplace faster and could even get you a speeding ticket or cost you your life. So speed wisely, safely and always watch out for the other guy. Thank you for taking the time to read this article and God Bless us all.
