Tone is everything. We talk about tone-deaf politicians..... well, sometimes we can be tone-deaf too.Larz_1 wrote:1) ----- Really? Asking why you were pulled over is "escalating the situation". ???loktite wrote: 1) He should NOT have asked why he was being pulled over at that point. By asking the question at that point, he immediately escalated the situation (IMO)......
Man, I have escalated a lot of traffic stops in my life then (prior to getting my CHL) and I have NEVER been arrested.
I am ALWAYS polite/pleasant and comply with all request. I usually just get a warning.....
How about a friendly, "what did I do?" and a smile as the officer walks up to your window? First of all, it's informative because it can help guide us in what to say or do next, or how to behave. And by "behave", I mean, is it going to become a friendly stop, or strictly business and unpleasant. I have been stopped, and had the officer ask, "do you know why I stopped you?" I've answered truthfully: "Well, I can't think of what it might have been, so I assume it was for speeding?" At least once, the answer was negative, and I was being stopped for something else. The thing is, nobody likes to get stopped, but treating it like a conversation between two adults goes a LONG way to make it less confrontational. Back in my motorcycling days, I got stopped a LOT (red sport bike, full leathers). I would always ask at some point, "is there any chance for some lenience here?" I batted .750 with that one and was let off with warnings. Pretty good odds. Not because I wasn't guilty, but because I was determined to make it as easy on both of us as possible.
Just my 2¢. To each his own.