You're on your way home from work, and in a hurry to get there. It's 5:15 PM, Johnny has soccer practice at six, Sarah has a softball game at 6:30, and you still have to feed them something for dinner. You're about a mile from home, and you never see any cops in your neighborhood, so you pick up the pace a little bit. Now you're going 40 mph in a posted 35 mph zone. You keep an eye out for cops, so that you don't get pulled over for speeding. But you're so busy looking out for police cars that you run the stop sign a block from your house. You don't even notice, but as you're getting ready to turn onto your street, you hear a siren, and see blue lights flashing behind you. 'But I wasn't even speeding that much,' you think. You pull over, and wait for the officer to approach your car. What comes next?

There are two scenarios that could happen here. Take a look at both of them, and then there will be an explanation of which is the right way and the wrong way to handle being pulled over.

"Hello, do you know why I pulled you over?" This is always the first question an officer asks.

You reply "I'm sorry, officer, I know I was going a little too fast, but I was just trying to get home, we have a lot of things to do, and I have to feed my kids dinner before their practices."

WRONG ANSWER. Many people get flustered and nervous when being pulled over, and wind up admitting guilt before they are even sure why they were pulled over. The officer didn't pull you over for speeding, he pulled you over for running the stop sign. So now you're going to get two tickets instead of one, or a ticket instead of a warning. Never admit guilt, otherwise you won't be able to contest your ticket if you choose to do so. Take this next scenario, for example.

"Hello, do you know why I pulled you over?" The officer asks as he approaches your car.

You reply "Hello, sir (or ma'am). No, I'm not really sure why you pulled me over."

RIGHT ANSWER. By acknowledging your unawareness of what you did, you are avoiding admitting that you're guilty, even if you know you did something wrong. The officer will then proceed to tell you why he pulled you over, and you should simply be polite and apologize for the situation, but never admit that you actually did anything. This will ensure that you will be able to fight your ticket if you should want to, and also lower your chances of getting a ticket or severe punishment, because you're being polite to the officer.

Too many people get agitated and become angry upon being stopped for a traffic violation, which will only make the situation much worse. Instead, you should simply be polite, and offer your apologies, and try not to admit guilt if at all possible. If you don't intend on fighting your ticket, and know you were in the wrong, you can tell the officer you are aware of what you did and apologize, but only after HE tells YOU why he pulled you over.

If you keep this information in mind, your next traffic stop may go more pleasantly than you might think possible.