So what's your excuse? Top speeding excuses

[Justpassingas]

AAA sent me an interesting e-mail and thought I'd share. So what's your excuse when you get pulled over by the police? I've been pulled over many times mostly on my motorcycle and couple times in the Mustang. I usually just tell them there is no excuse...Driver error and be at their mercy...fortunately I've only been fined once for $200....knocking on wood.

The Top Speeding Ticket Excuses - Your AAA Network


Top Successful Speeding Ticket Excuses
These are the most common excuses respondents gave when successfully avoiding a speeding ticket, according to a survey by CarInsurance.com.

• 26% claim they didn’t realize they were speeding.
• 21% say they are late for work.
• 25% tell police there is a medical emergency.
• 20% say they have to use the bathroom.
• 14% say they didn’t see a speed limit sign.
• 22% remark that they were going as fast as everyone else.
• 15% blame being late to pick up or drop off a child.
• 13% remarked that they were late for a doctor’s appointment.
• 13% said they were late for a court appointment.

Men vs. Women

When it comes to safe driving habits, it appears women reign supreme. 42% of women say they’ve never been stopped for speeding or haven’t in about 10 years, compared to just 15% of men.

The most common excuse for speeding for both men and women was that they did not realize they were speeding.


Speeding Habits
According to the survey, 52% of drivers acknowledge exceeding the speed limit by 5-10 mph, while 4% admit to driving 16 to 29 mph over the speed limit. Another 3% of people admit driving more than 30 mph over the limit.

Other speeding habits include:

• 31% said they speed, but it’s rare.
• 34% said they almost always speed but only between 5 and 10 mph over the limit.
• 64% said it’s OK to speed on the highway.
• 8% said they’re OK with speeding on residential streets.

So, what is the reason behind speeding? Drivers had various explanations: 17% said they speed to arrive on time, 10% said speed limits are generally too low and 8% claimed it’s safe to speed as long as it’s less than 20 mph above the speed limit.

Everyone hopes to just get a warning from the police rather than a ticket. If the survey is correct, asking for leniency often works. The survey revealed that 48% of drivers requested a warning didn’t offer an excuse and got the warning, while 29% of respondents still got a ticket after asking for a warning without giving an excuse. Women are less likely to request a warning: 20% of women have never asked for a warning, compared to 52% of men.

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[Vlad Soare]

I never use any excuse. Just give me the damn ticket and be done with it. I will never, ever, embarass myself by appealing for a policeman's mercy (or anybody else's for that matter).
Speeding fines are just a small part of the intrinsic costs of driving a car - like gas, insurance, maintenance, etc. I won't lose sleep over them.

 

[RagmopInKona]

When I was a teen, I got popped, with my g/f in passenger seat. Cop where is the Fire?
I said " I'll be me on fire If I don't get Lisa home before 10pm.
Cop laughed, and said, you got 4 minutes, don't be late, and don't speed or you'll really be late.
I said thank you sir, and made it with ten seconds to spare.
The rest, I just been honest. Do you know why I pulled you over? no, sir.
And let the chips fall where they may. If you are polite and yes sir/mam, no sir and are not an asshat you have a better chance to get a warning , or a ticket with a mistake on it, put there on purpose by the officer so if you fight it, you'll get it dropped. and they get to fill the quota.

 

[AZlb5.0]

My last speeding ticket I was truly not paying attention. I’d just gotten the mustang and I was fiddling with the display and got popped for speeding.

 

[RagmopInKona]

I have noticed a lot of states in tourist trap areas have speed limits that for example are 45 mph , then while doing down a small hill will drop to 35 mph, and then as you start to climb the hill again go back to 45 mph, Hill is not big enough to warrant this drop for safety, nor any strip malls, or tightly packed homes (thickly settled) to have the speed limit drop make sense, it is nothing but a money making speed trap. The 35 mph area is not even a tenth of a mile, just long enough for you to not have slowed and get popped.
Some roads it is a 50/55 mph to a 35 mph drop. Been seeing this more and more the last decade.

 

[wazslow]

My question is why do these survey results add up to well over 100%?

 

[Vlad Soare]

My question is why do these survey results add up to well over 100%?

Maybe multiple choices were allowed. Some of the respondents may use different excuses in different ciscumstances.

 

[Paul McWhiskey]

The last time that I was pulled over for speeding was about 15 years ago. When the lady officer asked me why I was going so fast, I replied "Cranial Rectumitis". She ran my license and plates and came back to the car and told me to slow down and let me go without a ticket.

 

[The Demon]

The last time that I was pulled over for speeding was about 15 years ago. When the lady officer asked me why I was going so fast, I replied "Cranial Rectumitis". She ran my license and plates and came back to the car and told me to slow down and let me go without a ticket.

Just for the hell of it what were you pulled over driving?

 

[wingnutt]

…I had a tailwind?

(has actually gotten me out of a ticket)

 

[Paul McWhiskey]

Just for the hell of it what were you pulled over driving?

How bout this, it was a 2007 Ford Taurus!

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