{"id":3864,"date":"2016-03-10T12:06:44","date_gmt":"2016-03-10T20:06:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/?p=3864"},"modified":"2016-03-10T12:06:44","modified_gmt":"2016-03-10T20:06:44","slug":"so-youve-been-pulled-over-now-what","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/blog\/so-youve-been-pulled-over-now-what\/","title":{"rendered":"So You\u2019ve Been Pulled Over\u2026 Now What?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even if you\u2019ve never broken a law in your life, getting pulled over can be scary. \u201cWill this affect my auto insurance<\/a>?\u201d \u201cHave I broken some law I\u2019m not familiar with?\u201d \u201cHow much will a ticket cost?\u201d All of these questions and more might flood to mind when you\u2019re pulled over, but it\u2019s important to remember to stay calm \u2013 if you\u2019ve done nothing wrong, you probably have nothing to worry about. The officer, however, must treat the situation as if their life is on the line.<\/p>\n

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\"iStock_000037153646_Small\"
\nPull Over Safely<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pulling over immediately is usually a good idea, but if the area is dark or unsafe, drive to a safer area like a well-lit parking lot. If you plan on driving to a safer location first, slow down and turn on your turn signal to indicate your intentions. If you\u2019ll be driving far, call 911 and tell the operator that you\u2019re being pulled over and you\u2019re driving to a safe location. The 911 operator will relay this information to the officer pulling you over.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Policeman<\/p>\n

First Impressions<\/strong><\/p>\n

You don\u2019t have to be swerving in an out of traffic for a police officer to pull you over. Now, we could write an entire article on knowing your rights, so let\u2019s just go by the rule of thumb here: Don\u2019t argue, don\u2019t act hostile, and record the interaction if you believe the officer may be trying to take advantage of your situation.<\/p>\n

This entire situation is stressful for all parties involved, but there are multiple ways to show the officer that you\u2019re cooperative, and this could ease the situation significantly. As soon as you\u2019re safely pulled over, turn on in-car lights and roll down the driver\u2019s side window as well as any additional tinted windows. Remove the keys from the ignition, place them on the dash, and put your hands on the wheel in plain view.<\/p>\n

Make all movements very slowly and clearly state your intentions before you reach for anything. You\u2019ll likely be asked for your license, registration, and proof of insurance, and if you\u2019re driving without insurance, even a cheap car insurance<\/a> plan could keep you out of trouble. When it\u2019s time to speak to the officer, be brief and clear in all of your statements. Don\u2019t speak first, don\u2019t interrupt, and don\u2019t try to crack jokes.<\/p>\n

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\nSearches<\/strong><\/p>\n

Unless you\u2019re extremely confident in your knowledge of your rights, you should follow any orders given to you by a police officer. If they\u2019re legally allowed to do something and you try to stop them, they will likely respond with force. If an officer requests to search your car, you can say \u201cno\u201d, and while saying \u201cno\u201d isn\u2019t probable cause, the officer can claim to have probable cause without evidence, and the court will likely defer to the officer\u2019s judgement.<\/p>\n

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\"Confused
\nDon\u2019t Argue<\/strong><\/p>\n

We already covered this, but it bears repeating, especially at the end of a stop. The officer will likely give you a warning, a ticket, or worse, and arguing with them won\u2019t make the situation any better. If you feel you\u2019ve been treated unjustly, the best thing you can do is get the officer\u2019s name and badge number, record the interaction, and make an appeal in court. Until then, plan ahead, and compare auto insurance<\/a> quotes to make sure you\u2019re getting a good deal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Even if you\u2019ve never broken a law in your life, getting pulled over can be scary. \u201cWill this affect my auto insurance?\u201d \u201cHave I broken some law I\u2019m not familiar with?\u201d \u201cHow much will a ticket cost?\u201d All of these questions and more might flood to mind when you\u2019re pulled over, but it\u2019s important to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3865,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[697],"tags":[407,495,507],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3864"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3864\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}