How to Get Out of a Traffic Ticket

This is the first article in a two-part series.

Within the past ten years, I’ve been pulled over a dozen times for various traffic violations.

On exactly half of those occasions, a citation was written out and I ended up paying a fine.  The other half, I was let go with just a verbal warning and told to be more careful.

Question:  What do you think was the single biggest determining factor between being ticketed by the police versus given a warning?  Take your time.  You’ll probably never guess.

Before answering, here are a few facts.  First, I was guilty of the alleged infraction in all 12 traffic stops.  I probably should have been ticketed each time.  So, my guilt or innocence had nothing to do with the outcome.  Second, in all cases, I was either driving an average-looking late model car or a rental car (when traveling out of state).  Third, my personal appearance has changed somewhat over the years, but there was no correlation between having long hair or a beard versus being clean-shaven and the officer’s decision.  Finally, my attitude was consistently polite at all times.

So, what made the difference between being written a ticket (6 times) and getting a lucky break (6 times)?

From the following list, you might be able to see a pattern developing.  Here are the traffic stops, as I recall them:

Nevada (Highway Patrol/Primm) — stopped for speeding, released with a warning

Tennessee (Memphis) — stopped for speeding and not wearing a safety belt, written two citations

Nevada (Las Vegas) — stopped for making an illegal turn, released with a warning

Nevada (Beatty) — stopped for running red light and license plate light out of order, released with a warning

Colorado (Pueblo) — stopped for speeding, written citation

Nevada (Las Vegas) — stopped for speeding, released with a warning

Florida (West Palm Beach) — stopped for driving recklessly, written citation

Texas (West Texas) — stopped for speeding and not wearing a safety belt, written two citations

Nevada (Reno) — stopped for running a stop sign, released with a warning

North Carolina (Ashville) — stopped for running a red light, written citation

Nevada (North Las Vegas) — stopped for failing to signal while crossing three lanes of traffic, released with a warning

California (Los Angles) — stopped for running a red light, written citation

New York (New York) — stopped for not wearing a safety belt, written citation

Notice that all six times that I was stopped somewhere within Nevada (my home state), I was only given a warning.  However, all six times I was stopped someplace out of state, I received a traffic ticket.

What’s up with that?

Well, here’s my theory.  Police here in Nevada don’t want to piss off the locals.  After all, we’re able to influence (at least indirectly) how police departments are funded and how much we give to various police charities.  Police work largely depends on strong community involvement and broad public support.  Writing out too many traffic tickets to the locals undermines that support.  This is especially true with middle-class citizens and family people who look like they vote in elections and are active in the community (i.e., someone who looks like me).  Hence, I’m convinced being a reasonably well-dressed and polite local driving a late-model car makes me less likely to receive a traffic citation when I break the law here in Nevada.  I can’t prove this and lack the data to say the same thing is true of other states, but I do suspect locals do get breaks most of the time with the police, provided they are the “right kind of” locals.  We’ll get more into that later in this series.

I’m just as strongly convinced that when I travel out-of-state and get pulled over for something I did wrong, I am judged more harshly, especially when the traffic cop or highway patrolman sees a Nevada state license, which might as well be looked upon in some parts of this country as a membership card in La Costa Nostra.  Inevitably, I always get asked about my line of work and why I’m traveling to where ever, something I don’t get ever asked in Nevada.  A few times, the officers asked to search the car.  I sense people, even cops, are curious by nature.  When they find out I work in the casino business, that makes me less sympathetic than say, being a school teacher.  I get slapped with a ticket every time.

Beyond the curious dichotomy of being ticketed versus warned based on my state of residence and location, what’s really troubling here is the gross inconsistency of applied justice and consequences.  Traffic fines might not seem like such a big deal to someone like me (or you) who can afford to pay a $120 ticket.  But for millions of others, these kinds of decisions made by cops an innumerable number of times daily on nearly every street in America has further-reaching consequences which extend way beyond losing a few dollars or get whacked with higher insurance rates.

So, what really matters?  What if I was Latino or Black instead of White?  What if I had a couple of small children in the car with me instead of driving alone?  What if my car had mag wheels on it instead of regular tires?  What if I were driving a Ferrari or a Porsche instead of a Cadillac or a Volvo?  What if I were 75 years old, or 19 years old?  Do these factors matter?  You bet they do.

So, you wanna get out of your next traffic ticket with just a warning?  Being a local certainly helps.

Next time, I’ll discuss how the pervasive misapplication of speed traps and traffic stops are ruining the lives of many poor people and perhaps even triggering collective acts of protest and violence.