Here’s the Right Way to Answer “Do You Know How Fast You Were Going?” If You Get Pulled Over by a Cop
If you get pulled over for speeding, the first thing the cop will ask you is: “Do you know how fast you were going?” You might be fully aware that you were flying down the freeway at 80 mphor doing one of these other things that could get you flagged for speedingbut how you respond to the officer’s question might help you avoid a ticket.
TikTokker Mike Mandell, a Duke law graduate and former attorney with nearly 10 million followers, spilled the No. 1 response to get you out of a ticket. We also checked in with Patrick Buelna, a civil rights attorney specializing in law-enforcement misconduct, to find out why this phrase is so useful.
Read on to learn how you should (and shouldn’t!) respond to a cop when you’re pulled over for speeding. The expert advice will help you put those speeding tickets in your rearview window.
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What to say
There’s a bit of nuance when it comes to what you should and shouldn’t say to a cop if you get pulled over for speeding. The cop will undoubtedly ask you, “Do you know how fast you were going?” And you need to be prepared to answer.
According to Mandell, who goes by @LawByMike on TikTok, there’s only one correct response: “I believe I was going the speed limit.”
@lawbymike If The Police Pull You Over, Heres What To Do #police #law #lawyer original sound – LawByMike
No, you’re not just playing coy. As Mandell explains in his TikTok video, the phrase helps you avoid both confessing and lying, even accidentally.
What not to say
Avoid implicating yourself or outright lying. That means doing away with a couple of phrases that may be top of mind when a police officer steps up to your car.
Do yourself a favor and don’t say these things to a police officer:
“Yes, I know how fast I was going.”
Telling the cop that you know how fast you were going could be interpreted as a confession.
“No, I’m not sure.”
You also don’t want to say, “I don’t know” or “I’m not sure.” They sound harmless, but they could cause problems if you encounter a less-than-honest cop.
“Never say ‘I don’t know’ because then you are relying on the officer to be truthful about the speed you were going,” says Buelna. “And no matter what they say, you have no way to rebut it because you admitted you were unaware of your speed.”
The police officer can say you were going any speed, which could result in a huge fine, points on your license and an increase in your insurance premium.
Why “I believe I was going the speed limit” is the best answer
There are plenty of things traffic cops first notice about you, but the way you answer the question about your driving speed plays one of the biggest roles in how the rest of the interaction unfolds.
Buelna agrees that this is the ideal response. “The best answer you can give to that question is, ‘I believe I was going the speed limit,'” he says. “The most important word in that sentence is believe because it suggests you were in the speed limit yet leaves open the possibility that you could be wrong. So it shows you were not lying or trying to lie about your speed.”
Why trust us
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Sources:
- Patrick Buelna, civil rights attorney specializing in law enforcement misconduct and a partner and trial attorney at Pointer and Buelna in Oakland, California; interview, January 2025
- Mike Mandell (aka @LawByMike on TikTok): “If the Police Pull You Over, Here’s What You Should Do”
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