I've probably been pulled over a half dozen times since my last ticket (occupational hazard) - which was probably 10 years ago, and attorney Steve is ONE HUNDRED PERCENT right. If you yet yoked by da man, remember that you both pretty much want the same thing, which is taking your own shoes off at the end of the day. I've spent looooooooong periods of time on watch with LEOs in the US military because they pretty much get paid crap wages and there are more than a few LEOs who supplement their paltry salaries by doing the military reserves gig. I cannot tell you how many hours and hours and hours I've spent with them listening to stories about stupid junk that people pull when they get pulled over. I've NEVER met a LEO that likes to do traffic stops, and in fact most of them loathe it even in small southern towns where police are held in somewhat higher regard than their city counterparts. Small town cops are much more likely to die from high cholesterol than from being shot during a traffic stop, so perhaps things would be a little different if I lived in a more urban environment - but I'm thinking that Attorney Steve's tips would be MORE applicable in America's alabaster wastelands rather than less so. YMMV... Make it easy for them, and they will be more likely to make it easy on you - or at least render you a less interesting, and thus a less remembered part of their work week.
Speaking as the Son of an Officer... Insurance and DL in hand...and both hands on the wheel. Yes Sir, no Sir, thank you, please...and NO attitude. End of story.
I actually quit doing this. To get to my wallet for my DL before to officer approached the window I had removed my seat belt. I ended up with a no seatbelt ticket as well. I went to court to argue over it and the officer actually showed up and there was a prosecutor there. I got to tell my side of the story to the judge before the officer took the stand. The state's questioning basically went "is this a ticket you wrote? did the driver have his belt on when you approached the vehicle?" my questioning of the officer was "So this is the ticket you wrote, would you read the license plate information please, and the vehicle description, does this picture match the vehicle in question, can you read the license plate on that vehicle pictured, can you see through the windows in that photograph? why not? can you always see everything the driver is doing in a vehicle with tinted windows such as this? when you were at the window do you recall if the driver had his license and insurance card ready?" when he said answered that he could not recall the judge broke in and dismissed the no seat belt ticket and the original reason I was stopped. So I won, rightfully so, but I had a lot more free time and less money back then. If the same thing happened to me today I'd probably just pay the fine so I didn't waste a day going to traffic court. Anymore, when I'm stopped I just roll down all of my windows so the officer can see in as best as possible, shut off the car, then put both hands on the wheel sit still and look ahead. I'll remove my belt once the officer has obviously seen I have it on.
I can and do get my wallet out with the seat belt on, just like at the drive thru for a burger...and my insurance card is in my console. YMMV, but I think everyone gets the idea though.
