How To Avoid Getting A Traffic Ticket

I’ll share with you a few tips to help you keep from getting a speeding ticket.

No one likes to see those lights flashing in our rear view mirror; it never means anything good. At some point in your life you will most likely have this experience.

I’ve come up with a few ideas you might not have thought of to keep those traffic violations off your record.

Music

Studies have shown that the type music you listen to can greatly affect how you perform in sports, exercise or anything else you do.

A fast tune with a quick beat raises your heart rate, which is good if you are running, but not if you are driving.

You get pumped up and without realizing it, you accelerate and sometimes go beyond the speed limit.

If you have a problem controlling your gas pedal you might want to try listening to something a bit more soothing. Within your music library I’m sure you have songs that have a mellower feel. If not, you can listen to books on tape, a seminar or invest in serene tunes, they are cheaper than a speeding ticket.

Try it for a few days and see if it doesn’t make a difference. Make a playlist on your phone or MP3 player that says: driving.

An added benefit is that you will be more calm when you get to work and less stressed out.

Cruise Control

This tool isn't just for the highway, I use mine even on suburban streets. It takes a bit getting used to but after starting up again from leaving that stop sign set your speed and you won’t have to worry about keeping a steady hold on your pedal.

This frees your mind to think about other things like how hot those poor guys are in those bear costumes that hold signs.

Limit caffeine

Just like music can raise your hearth rate, so can stimulants. That strong coffee drink you think you need to wake up may just be the cause of your heavy foot.

Try cutting back on dark drinks and replace some with chamomile tea or water.

Products containing caffeine:

Coffee

Black tea

Green tea

Energy drinks

Mountain Dew

Dr. Pepper

Coke

Pepsi

Chocolate- Dark chocolate has more than milk chocolate.

Some over the counter pain relievers.

Read all labels to find hidden caffeine especially soft drinks. It adds up and if you find yourself agitated it could be the overuse of caffeine. A little is fine but too much isn’t good for your health as well as causing a short temper and being easily aggravated.

Drinking cappuccinos, espressos and other caffeine charged liquids is in style but not really good for us.

No cell phone use while driving

We need to limit our distractions and one that can cause accidents is our cell phone. In the car I only use mine for music (I set this up before leaving), if someone calls I let it go to voice mail. I’m not an on-call physician, fire fighter or in charge of the space station so it can wait.

We live in a fast paced world thinking everything needs to be taken care of immediately. We have quicker package delivery, instant e-mails and the Internet at our fingertips. There is nothing wrong with slowing down and learning patience. If you feel your phone call might be important, pull over to answer.

Leave earlier

I know this is probably obvious but if you make a conscious effort to give yourself more time to get where you are going you will drive slower and observe traffic rules.

Being in too much of a hurry is what causes most speeding tickets, running red lights and not being vigilant of other drivers, bikers and pedestrians.

If you are pulled over you are not going to get there any faster not to mention the added expense of paying for the violation.

The earlier you leave the less traffic is on the road. Do some things at work you normally do at home, like drinking your coffee or tea, eating breakfast or reading the news.

Slowing down saves you money

1- Less gas is used when you drive slower. Some of you may remember in the 80’s when they reduced the highway speed limit to 55, there was even a song written about it. They did it to save gas.

2- Tickets are expensive and the more you get the higher the price.

3- Your insurance rates go up with each ticket that goes on your record. Insurance companies penalize drivers they think are a higher risk.

Less wear and tear on your car. Quick acceleration, fast stops and swerving in and out of traffic is hard on our tires, breaks and transmission.

Road rage

This is a growing problem here in America. We have more people which means more drivers on the road and that causes less patience among drivers.

I realize there are crazy drivers out there, you just might be one of them but I’m not going to point fingers. We have to share the highways and getting angry isn’t going to make those people go away it'll just raise your blood pressure and that's not good.

We all make mistakes

From time to time I’ve made a move that I later regretted and wanted to apologize but you can’t do that in a vehicle. Next time someone does something stupid realize they might have felt badly but can’t tell you they are sorry; it does happen.

Don’t take everything other drivers do personally

Half the time they didn’t even see us. We are all in our own little world and sometimes our mind is not on our driving. We’re thinking about what we’ll do when we get to work, Tommy’s sniffle that is worrying us or the lawn needs to be mowed.

Humans drive cars

We tend to think of vehicles as a sea of metal monsters only there to get in our way and drive us to distraction. It’s not a video game, it’s real life, in fact it’s hundreds of lives and we need to be very careful with each and every one of them.