What's Your Go-To Plan For Getting Out Of A Traffic Ticket?

Photo: Jorge Villalba (Getty Images)

I don’t know a single driver who’s glad to be pulled over by an officer of the law for a roadside chat. We all hope to just get away with a warning after handing over our license and registration, but the numbers aren’t on our side. According to New York City Police Department data, 62 percent of traffic stops resulted in a summons between January 2022 and June 2023. Over that 18-month time span, the NYPD conducted over one million stops.

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I want to know your go-to plan for getting out of a traffic ticket, either during the stop itself or in court afterward. Do you have a well-prepared excuse for driving faster than the speed limit, or do you simply beg for mercy? I’ve heard of people taking the ticket to court and hoping the officer doesn’t show up for the court appearance. However, this doesn’t work against a camera, especially in some jurisdictions where the police aren’t involved in any step of the process.

There doesn’t seem to be a tried and true method of dodging tickets or beating the fine in court. Jumping into the passenger seat might become a viable strategy down the road. Currently, companies that operate driverless taxis in California can’t be ticketed for how their vehicles operate on the road. Police can pull over these driverless cars, but they’re eventually sent off their merry way. Sure, no driverless car is on the market, and the law applies only to corporate entities, not individuals. However, there could be a day when you could desperate hope over the center console to avoid a ticket.

Don’t hesitate to share your go-to ticket-dodging plan. I hope you don’t plan on telling the police that your car is driverless.