Whether you speed intentionally or not, following these tips will help you avoid a traffic stop.

• DO stay alert. Look as far ahead as you can, and check your mirrors. This is not only a good way to spot speed traps early, it is also good practice in safe driving.
• DON’T exceed the speed limit by too much when you are the only car on the road — especially at night when traffic is light, and cops are hard to spot. If you are caught speeding, there is no one else you can blame.
• DO find a speeding companion — a rabbit. When you are travelling on a highway, there will be some jerk who just loves to show that he is the fastest on the road. It is a good opportunity to use him as a victim. Follow him at a safe distance. If a hidden speed trap is ahead, he will be busted first. However, watching your tail will become your responsibility.
• DON’T stand out from the crowd. If you drive significantly faster than prevailing traffic and keep weaving from left to right, you are asking for a ticket.
• DO look out when you go under an overpass, go by bushes etc. Cops like to hide behind those kinds of things. Ask yourself, “If I were a cop, where would I hide?”
• DON’T assume that cop cars are marked and have light bars on the roof. Many cop cars don’t have lights on the roof; they are on the front grille. Some of them are unmarked, plain looking altogether.
• DO pay special attention to the cars that come up on you from behind at night. Slow down, identify the potential threat. Memorize the headlight patterns of the common cop cars in your area.
• DON’T ignore cars that are parked on the shoulder. Oftentimes, there will be a cop running a radar gun on the shoulder of the road, then another cop ahead to pull over violators. Don’t assume it is just an unfortunate motorist whose car suffered a break down. It might have a cop inside holding a radar gun.
• DO watch out for sudden changes in speed limits, especially when you are travelling out-of-state. Slam on the brakes if you need to. When the area is not familiar to you, you don’t know where the speed traps are. If you are caught speeding out-of-state, it will be very hard to fight a ticket unless you visit that place on a regular basis. Remember, cops love to pull over motorists with out-of-state plates, as they know it is very unlikely the ticket will be contested.
• DO get a decent radar detector (be aware, they’re illegal in Virginia and Washington). Even drivers who don’t intentionally speed will benefit from the advance warning of trouble ahead. We’ve all been a little heavy on the foot at times, sometimes without even realizing it. An advance warning, if even a short one, may allow you to slow down in time to avoid a ticket.

See the next post to learn what to do if you ARE pulled over by a cop. If you plan on contesting a ticket, your ‘plan of action’ starts the moment you are stopped.