Houston, TX
 
HA! Im "fighting" a ticket that I got in Austin, Tx. What pisses me off about that is...I got that ticket on my back to houston after I had taken a one day trip there to get my driving record for a ticket that I got here in houston! BUT I keep on asking for a continuance(done that 4 times already) one of these days they will either not grant the continuance or they'll just drop the ticket! Im REALLY hoping for the latter.

Four years ago, I got 3 out-of-state tickets, from 3 different states, in one long weekend. Your home state will find out about them, and will ream you a new one.....

I've never heard of the "penny in the mouth" trick to try to throw off a breathalyzer, but I have heard of peanut butter doing it - probably another myth I'm sure.
 
And besides, who drives around with a jar of peanut butter in their car? Can you imagine hearing "uh-oh, there's a cop behind you... better take a big mouthful of JIF", as if doing so wouldn't arouse any suspicion from the cops...

I got a speeding ticket in WV which the policeman told me would not be communicated to either my insurance company or my home state of North Carolina. So "out of state advantage" worked for me.

it seemed to work for my wife... but it was an odd circumstance. She got the ticket in OR with an AZ license while living in AZ. Just a couple months later we moved to OR and changed our licenses and the ticket never showed. So I for one am grateful because the insurance didn't get it and the rates stayed low.

yankeez, the peanut butter thing is too hilarious! LOL...LOL...LOLOL! I'm pretty sure it's not true....

My buddy fought a speeding ticket, and wasn’t very successful. He first asked to see when the radar gun was last calibrated, and the cop showed the paper work to the magistrate. He then asked to see when the tool to calibrate the radar gun was last calibrated, and the cop didn’t have the paper work with him. The magistrate told him he wasn’t getting out of it that easy, and banged him with the ticket. More than one person told him that the cop needed to carry the calibration tool paper work with him, and it wasn’t true.
 
A Word of warning. In Michigan if you go to magistrate hearing over a ticket and tell them I’m just here to waste your time and money because you wasted mine. The magistrate can double the fine.

I received a speeding ticket in NJ about 10 years ago. I'm a PA resident, so I asked the officer if it would show up on my license and/or insurance in PA. He said "It depends", and said something about the PA DMV tending to ignore tickets from out of state. At the time, PA and NJ had an agreement where they were known to share ticket information.
 
Neither my insurance nor my license were affected by the ticket, which is good, too, since the point scales differed between states and I was worried PA would issue more points against my license than NJ would have if I had lived there.
 
I don't know if things have changed since then regarding the communication. The referred to article notes agreements between states, so perhaps that became more official in the years since I received that ticket.

I knew about most of those, including the penny thing. A classmate in college got busted after trying it. He said they had to test him a few times, but he eventually blew a good reading.
 
Karl, your insurance company does not explicitly ask for color because that information is associated with the VIN. They don't need to ask for it.
 
I do believe vibrant colors attract unwanted attention. "...there is no data to support the assertion..." does not mean it doesn't happen. It just means they haven't done a study. I drove a red Accord and got 3 tickets in my 4 years of ownership. I now drive a black sports car and I've received none in 4 years.
 
The out of state thing is tricky. If you've commited a serious offense (DUI), it'll follow you everywhere. But for small offenses (speeding), it's not so clear. Some states have better networking than others. And border towns keep excellent records of ajoining states. Otherwise, they have to do some digging to discover your past.
 
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Here are some questions I have:
 
1. Do expensive cars get out of tickets more often?
2. How cooperative is too cooperative?
3. Do American cars get fewer tickets than imports?
4. Which states are toughest on moving violations?
5. Does having a concealed weapon license really get you out of tickets?
6. Do any memberships or bumperstickers get you out of tickets (Explorers, eagle scout, etc)?
7. How often does the officer show up if you contest a ticket?
 
EDIT: I'm also curious if those AWOL machines work.
http://www.awolmachine.com/

"Do expensive cars get out of tickets more often? "
 
In an episode of Parking Wars, a Philadelphia meter maid says something along the lines of "we only boot cars that are likely to be able to pay" and then the camra shows a beater (and not it getting booted) and [i can't remember] a BMW or Merc getting a boot. I think they were completely ignorant of the horrible injustice they were committing.
 
Not sure about 5 or 6, but my sisterinlawsboyfriend was a corrections officer and would ask for some "professional coutesy" and get out of speeding tickets constantly. I imagine volunteer firefighter plates must work pretty well!
 
7. Every &*%$ing time!

"Do any memberships or bumperstickers get you out of tickets (Explorers, eagle scout, etc)? "
 
Yes stickers can help you out of trouble sometimes. Michigan has two different stickers to get. There is a Sheriff and a State Police sticker available if you donate to some kink of police fund.
 
  You put those stickers in your back window and you have a good chance of just getting a warning. I've been pulled over and just warned two or three times when I had those stickers.
 
  I can't remember exactly how the donations are being used, but once you start donating they call you every 6 months like clockwork for another donation. I think they had a couple different donation amounts. $40, $80, or $100. It's been a while since I donated because I changed my number when I moved and they don't have the new one.

Having a Volunteer FireFighter Plate does NOT (at least in our township and surrounding ones) get you out of a ticket. My boyfriend is a volunteer firefighter and was on his way to a fire call when he got pulled over by a cop because he stopped a little too late and was in the intersection by the time he stopped. It was either get hit by a car or hit the gas and go. He chose to go and got a nice little $171 ticket and almost 3 points on his license. Lucky for him, He got out of the points by writing a continuous(?) letter and just settled for the ticket.

Not sure if following half a mile behind a speeding "bear bait" car really provides protection from speeding tickets or not. Used to do things like that during the 55mph national speed limit era.
 
I've always used the parking brake to slow down when I see a police car, assuming that brake lights would attract attention and show guilt. I've always assumed that anything that attracts attention like bright red paint, brake lights, daytime running lights, etc. would increase the probability of getting caught speeding.
 
In college a friend of mine claimed that he avoided a sobriety test by immediately asking for directions when a police officer pulled him over. Acting lost explained the somewhat erratic driving. Under similar circumstances I've always used cruise control to stay right at the speed limit.

As a 20 year old male driving a bright yellow Dodge SRT-4, I'm essentially fresh meat for the police to pull over. The easy solution that I've found for never having a ticket is not speeding or engaging in aggressive or erratic driving. I was pulled over once for having the front plate on the windshield rather than the front bumper (unfortunate Texas law), but the ticket was a breeze to get out of as I was courteous to officer and switched the plate to the bumper afterwards- not even a warning was issued.
 
Austin PD and surrounding areas are all pretty easy going folk, though, so I may just be a special case.

"Austin PD and surrounding areas are all pretty easy going folk"
 
BS. Austin cops have got to be the most stringent police force I have ever encountered. You have been extremely lucky to get out of a ticket there. San Marcos cops are much nicer, though.

got a ticket for speeding in nevada in 1997. It showed up on my california record in 1998.

Estreka- I shouldn't generalize- I was pulled over in Leander and was involved in two accidents (neither my fault) in Round Rock and Cedar Park and all three times the officers have been outstanding individuals. I'll take your word for it about APD.
 
My best friend is in San Marcos right now at TX State to get his degree in criminal justice- knows a lot of cops there and agrees with you about them being nice.

In my state, refusing to take a breathalyser makes sense only if you believe you are over a 0.20% BAC. Otherwise, you're worse of than taking the test and failing it.
 
As to the type of vehicle that gets a ticket. I've sat on many a speed trap. The type of vehicle makes no difference in you getting pulled over. The officer is generally too focused on finding a violator to care about the type of vehicle. Your attitude and other factors, may make a difference on actually getting a ticket though. While a blatant violation will almost always result in a ticket, if the officer is borderline, attitude makes a world of difference.

A couple of things: First, when I'm driving the wife's green '99 Dodge Caravan, I can do 90 miles an hour in a school zone, waving a bottle of vodka out the driver side window and not get pulled over. I swear, that car is absolutely invisible to law enforcement. Yeah, it's an ugly car, and decidedly uncool, but man can you eat up the miles on a road trip in that thing. In all seriousness, I can be cruising at 80 and watch a Fast-n-furious machine get pulled over at 75. Whereas I have to be real careful about how fast I go in my TSX, because it ALWAYS gets second glances from the PD.
 
Secondly, what has absolutely worked best for me in getting away with a warning is to immediately cop to what I got pulled over for and apologize. I remember I got pulled over once in Washington DC for running a red, and I immediately said, "yes, officer, I tried to push that light too hard and didn't make it. I'm sorry." The cop was completely blown away, and let me off. Doesn't always work -- the worse your sin the less likely you are to be forgiven (in traffic), but the old "honey catches more flies than vinegar" philosophy definitely applies.