When it comes to excuses for speeding, creativity is key

030417-cc-when-it-comes-to-excuses-for-speeding-creativity-is-key-3Do you recall your first traffic ticket? Whether for speeding or some other offense, you likely watched the officer approach your vehicle, all the while wondering if you had any chance of getting off with only a warning.

How many potential excuses ran through your mind during those fleeting moments? Ten? Twenty?

030417-cc-when-it-comes-to-excuses-for-speeding-creativity-is-key-1It’s amazing how creative we can become when we have to, isn’t it?

For the officer, though, you can bet that whatever level of creativity you attain, he/she has heard it at least once. And forget the standard, “I didn’t realize …” or “I need to use the restroom,” because those are more overused than a teenager’s cell phone.

030417-cc-when-it-comes-to-excuses-for-speeding-creativity-is-key-2If this leaves you wondering what, if anything, can be said to drive away with only a warning, check out some of these humorous, yet effective excuses from PoliceOne.com.

  • After pulling over a young driver for going 23 mph over the speed limit, the officer asked why he was going so fast. The young man looked the officer “dead in the eye and said, ‘Because I’m just all kinds of stupid.’” (This one just may be my all-time favorite.)
  • A woman who was pulled over for speeding was crying when the officer approached her window. Upon asking what was wrong, she “said she went shopping for the first time since having a baby and nothing fit right. [The officer] handed her her license and slowly backed away. Nothing good was coming from [that situation].”
  • Driver: “I was just keeping the two-second buffer time between me and the car behind me.”

Officer: “There was no one behind you.”

Driver: “Good job, huh?”

  • A Corvette was going in excess of 100 mph in a 55 mph zone. Approaching the car, the officer said, “Unless you have a pilot’s license, you’re going to jail.” The driver handed the officer his pilot’s license and, yes, the officer let him go.
  • “My car has a recall on it for unexplained acceleration and I’m on my way to get it fixed.”
  • After six inches of snowfall, an officer stopped a young woman for driving 54 mph in a 30 mph zone. Very matter-of-factly, she stated, “Duh. I know I was going fast. I was trying to get the snow off my windshield so I can see where I’m going.”