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Carrie Underwood recently tweeted that she got pulled over for the first time in 18 years for speeding. She’s 34, which means she’s been driving since she was 16. How has she been driving that long and never gotten pulled over? She wrote that she was let off with a warning and that she “may or may not have cried afterwards.”
Well, it happened today. After 18 years, I can no longer say I’ve never been pulled over for speeding. I feel so ashamed! I may or may not have cried in my car after the cop let me go. #RuleFollower #GrannyDriver #ImSorry
— Carrie Underwood (@carrieunderwood) January 29, 2018
She cried or she wouldn’t have written that. It’s stressful getting pulled over and I don’t blame her. I’ve only cried once when I got a ticket, which was my first one and I was 20-something. I wasn’t able to get out of that one. I’m ten years older than Carrie and have had one moving violation and two tickets for speeding. I got out of my second speeding ticket, which was just a couple of years ago, by pleading “no contest” and then taking a driving course. (I usually go only 10 mph over the speed limit, but this was in an area where the speed limit had recently been lowered from 35 to 25. I forgot and was going 40.) The instructor gave us tips for dealing with police and getting out of tickets. He told us to keep a notebook in the car to take notes whenever we got pulled over. I was pulled over for a broken taillight recently, I made it clear that I was writing down the officer’s name and everything he said, and he let me off. He probably would have just given me a warning anyway. Plus I’m a white lady in a rural area, I’m sure it’s much different for people of color.
The teacher also told ask to ask to see the radar gun with our speed on it if we got a ticket for speeding. He claimed that we could bring this up later in court if the gun wasn’t shown to us. However I just googled that, and it’s supposedly useless in Virginia where I live and there’s no law in any state specifying that an officer has to do this. At least the course was entertaining and my insurance didn’t go up.
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I rolled my eyes at her tweet.
SAME. This is a cute story to tell her friends, but on a larger scale. No. Girl, you got pulled over and lived. You’re fine.
Honey, be grateful you weren’t shot….some of us aren’t that lucky….
Man, I don’t blame her, getting pulled over by the police is stressful AF. I’m aware that I hold a certain amount of privilege as a white woman as far as racial responses, but I still wasn’t raised to trust police by my mother, so it’s unsettling as hell. Don’t know if I would’ve tweeted about it given the more serious stories coming out about law enforcement abuse, but I get it.
Ive never been pulled over for anything(and hopefully have never speeded), but i got my first parking ticket the other day and I cried because it was pricey and I’m not rich.
Not sure why she’d cry when she was let off. I’d be dancin’..
That’s a pretty decent record. I just got a letter in the post today to say I’ve had three penalty points taken off after three years so I’m delighted with myself.
I’ve always wondered, what process do police officers go through in their minds to decide who gets a ticket and who gets a warning? Rich white lady in a (probably) expensive car: warning. Driving a jalopy and can barely put food on the table: bam! $200 for going 10 over. Sorry, no electricity for you this month!
This woman must have broken a mirror or something. First she falls, now her first ticket. Watch your back Carrie. On a random note, I don’t remember if she won AI or was runner-up. Guess it doesn’t matter at this point.
I got my first red light camera ticket. Watched the video because I was indignant that I did not run a red light. Yeah… kinda did. Right on red did not come to complete stop before. $150 mistake because I was in a hurry to get to Home Goods.
Requesting to see the gun is more about when it was last calibrated. They have to be recalibrated within a yr to every 6 mths depending on the model. Also make sure you note the weather conditions when you are pulled over. This is especially relevant with older model machines. I worked on radar equipment on aircraft for the USAF and we had more than one individual fight a ticket and win due to those factors.
One thing to note is to stay respectful throughout the process even when questioning the officer about the equipment. If you become combatant then it will be noted and the judge will not look favorable on it.
This might be a stupid question, but why do the weather conditions matter when you are trying to challenge a ticket for speeding? Is it because they affect the accuracy of the radar gun?
Yes, if it is raining hard or even extremely foggy it will distort the beam.
Good to know! Thanks, Nilber!
We were on a family trip, driving through Missouri. Mom went up a steep hill on the interstate, came over the top, and there was a state trooper parked at the bottom. She was 75 and the trooper still gave her a ticket. Jerk!
My mother’s car engine blew up (one of the belts snapped and wrecked the entire transmission) while driving, but she managed to get pulled over on the side of the road before she lost control. An office stopped behind her after about thirty minutes. She thought it was to help, since her engine was smoking, and she was waiting for my sister. Nope. He’d read her license plate and seen that her registration was a month expired. He literally pulled over just to ticket my mother $250 and didn’t offer to make a call or anything.
My mother hasn’t trusted the police since she grew up in a poor section of town and watched an officer refuse to help her mother as she ran screaming down the street as her father beat her because it was a “domestic issue.” This officer did not improve her opinion.
That’s terrible!
I remember someone here complaining that a few years ago, they pulled over onto the shoulder to use their cell phone, as it’s illegal to use while driving, and got a ticket for it!
I’ve been pulled over a few times for various things, but only been caught for speeding and ticketed once – in my own neighborhood, for going the breakneck speed of 35 mph. Every other time I’ve been let go with a warning – I know I’ve been lucky and privileged.
I was awful as a teen. My dad was the only insurance dude in our area down in the Rio Grande. He was friends with EVERYONE and they all loved him (he liked to spoil). I had my license early, 15, and was unabashedly rebellious in my Z28. I’d get pulled over, and the second they saw my name, I was given a warning and let go. So it was really fun to get pulled over in the real world where names, tears and excuses don’t work. A couple times the tears worked but yeah, I matured and learned how to drive the speed limit. One time I mouthed off (it was raining and I was one block from home), and he found an old unpaid parking ticket and hauled my ass in. Omg I was so pissed.
She is just so dumb. The more she says the dumber she sounds.
I didn’t stop long enough at a STOP sign and got a $358 ticket.
Isn’t she pregnant? Maybe the tears was more hormonal…idk
Virginia is the worst state to get pulled over in, I swear. Anything 80+ is considered reckless driving and can cause your license to get revoked in your home state. For some counties on the interstate it’s a total racket — you’ll know it, too, because the courthouses can hold 300-400 people in their waiting room even though only a few thousand live int he county.
Cosigned. Received my only speeding ticket passing through a small county in VA, driving on 95, down a hill and pulled over for going over the limit. I said, “but the sign right there says it’s 60” (or whatever). The officer said, “oh only until you pass that sign.” I was hours from home, so I wasn’t going to go to court and contest it; I just paid the ticket. Still irritates me even years later.
Sounds about right.
I was 33 when I got my first speeding ticket. It’s also probably because I’ve gone long stretches without needing to own a car, as I’ve spent the better part of my adult life living in urban areas with reliable public transportation.
I’m 30 and have been driving since 16 and I’ve never been pulled over. And I know I would have the exact same reaction as Carrie if/when it happens to me.