(888) 524-7889CONTACT US
0Item(s)

You have no items in your shopping cart.

Today's special: Radenso XP for only $299.99! Was $349!

Product was successfully added to your shopping cart.

How to Avoid Being Noticed by Law Enforcement

One of the best ways to avoid getting a ticket is to not be noticed to start with. Every day I see vehicles that are just asking to be noticed. They may not even be speeding, but they draw a lot of attention to themselves increasing their chance of being stopped. A quality radar detector can only do so much, how and what you drive is also a factor in avoiding tickets. Here are a few things to remember in order to minimize your chances of getting to meet a member of the law enforcement community.

Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac: Don't put any political stickers, sports magnets, funny license plate frames, etc... on your vehicle. If the police officer is not a fan of the same sports team you just increased your chance at being pulled over. Oh, and for those of you with stickers from certain bands, you are asking to be searched as well. Do not advertise your political, religious, or social views on your car if you want to be inconspicuous. The only exceptions to this are small stickers that show you are a teacher, nurse, or EMT. Cops try to avoid giving people in those professions tickets so a bit of advertising will not hurt.

If you look fast you are speeding: Some vehicles are designed to look fast. If you are driving with traffic down the road, guess who will be pulled over. Sporty cars are fun, and they also stand out.

Racers get no breaks: Vehicles that are heavily modified, and are obvious about it, will not only attract attention, they will also increase your chance of getting a ticket instead of a warning. If a police officer pulls you over and your car has racing seats, a competition tachometer, cross drilled brakes with giant calipers, and a loud exhaust system good luck.

Going to a car show: The more expensive or more exotic your car is, the more you stand out. Some cops love to target people perceived as "wealthy" while others may just give you a warning as they admire your rare hotrod. You will attract attention regardless.

Those thin blue line stickers do not work: A lot of people claim that the thin blue line stickers, Fraternal Order of Police stickers, and such will get you out of a ticket, or even keep you from being pulled over. This is not true, you will be pulled over just as quick as anyone else. They will then want to know if you are in law enforcement or your spouse is, if they even notice the little blue sticker. A FOP license plate, well you had better be able to back that up.

Obvious violations: This should be common sense, but some people seem oblivious. To avoid standing out do not conspicuously break area vehicle codes. This includes window tint that is too dark, a vehicle that is too low or too high to the ground, mechanical defects, loud exhaust systems, and all the rest.

When the sun goes down: Many high end cars and some performance cars come with intense (hyper or blue) headlights. Cops look for these type of headlights at night, as well as cars that appear to have running lights and fog lights that are low to the ground. They will figure you are in a luxury or exotic car and are speeding.

At this point, most of you realize we all violate one of the above attention getters. It can be hard to not attract attention, but if you minimize as many of these possible your chance at getting a ticket will be reduced. If you follow some of our other advice, use a reliable radar detector and perhaps even a laser jammer you will greatly reduce your chance at a speeding ticket or even being noticed to start with.

Check out my other articles on How to Avoid Speeding Tickets and What to do When Pulled Over by the Police.

I hope this helps save some of you from being stopped by the police. If you have any comments let me know what you think here on our radar detector blog, give us a call (1-800-584-1445) or send us an email. You might also want to check out a few of our radar detector videos on youtube. Be a smart, protected and safe driver. - Danny

3 thoughts on “How to Avoid Being Noticed by Law Enforcement”

  • One issue

    Good article,.. But one point is just wrong.
    The "When the sun goes down:" is just a BAD opinion. It has zero merit.
    Police do not target Xenon or the white/blue headlights. Perhaps back in the 90's a FEW cops MAY have done this.. But we are well into the 21st century now and more cars than not come factory with these types of lights in one manner or another. So it's NORMAL to have "white" or blue tinted headlights now.. the older style lights simply indicate an older vehicle.. and the white/blue lights indicate you have a vehicle made this century.
    I would say fair point if this article/blog were written 10-15 years ago,.. but it was written in 2010.
    Otherwise,.. every other point is not bad. There are always exceptions to the rules.
    IE: "Racers get no breaks" -- Some heavily modified cars will appeal to some police.
    You have to remember police aren't "special" .. They are just humans like everyone else. They have hobbies, and regular lives like we do. Quite a few cops are into Cars, gadgets, and so on.. So they may get into a conversation about your car, and ask questions.. If you respond and actually know about cars, (IE: You installed these things yourself) the cop will likely respect you, and the situation turns more into a friend to friend conversation and the whole ticket goes out the window and the Cop then just does what he would do to a real friend... tell him to slow down, not do XYZ, etc.. and take care.
    But, every rule has it's exception.
    Well done.

    Reply
  • John D

    I disagree with one item. FOP stickers. Stickers are given for donations. They will not get you out of DUI or an accident causing violation, but I have been pulled over at least three times for minor things (following too close, speeding < 15 mph over the limit), and the officers have always let me go with a warning after seeing multiple donation stickers. Being polite also helps.

    Reply
  • Blue Mcgoo

    Well you probably don't live in texas....cops here are on a mission to write tickets and they use laser guns to target any and everyone they feel they can write a ticket. The use of waze app has reduced the # of tickets written, so now traffice cops are using their own counter measure by clicking on the waze site and clicking "not there any longer" for their location. This is why you still have to be savvy and watch for these warnings on waze and as you approach and whether someone else has gone thru that location and what happened. I even had one cop try and tell me my use of waze was interfering with the discharge of their duties and could write a ticket if he finds out driver he stops is using waze. I snapped right back and informed him the use of waze is not stopping him from aquiring the targeted vehicles speed and read from the texas law as passed by texas legislature " a device intended to be used to interfere with, scramble, disrupt, or otherwise cause to malfunction a radar or laser device." I informed this barney fife want a bethat he is so full of hot air that I wonder how he fits in his patrol car. Texas cops in different towns and cities are so IGNORANT to the ACTUAL LAWS ON THE BOOKS that they make up what the want to tell the person they stop and hope they will buy their line of crap. I also know there is one laser jammer that is so stealthily that it even jams the new "dragon eye" laser gun used by cops and then turns its self off, so driver has time to adjust speed, and when the cop reaquires the vehicle speed it is in the speed limit and the cop never knows that anything happened. No I wont give that jammer's name out.

    Reply
Leave a Reply