Andrew Simko is a former Florida prosecutor who handled thousands of cases, including many DUIs. Now, he’s on the other side of the courtroom, actually defending motorists accused of operating a car while intoxicated, among other criminal charges. This month, he shared what he feels is the best way for drivers to avoid getting a traffic ticket and just land a warning instead.

Turn on a good attitude, Simko says. “You should be very polite to the officer.”

Now, this doesn’t mean that you’re sucking up. “But remember, the officer is in control.” In other words, keep in mind that they get to decide if you drive away with a formal citation or only a warning.

“The best way to get a ticket is to be rude.”

I’ll go ahead and add that while being nice might get you some runway, it’s definitely not the only factor at play.

Reddit asked cops how they decide whether to let drivers off the hook

One driver took to r/AskLE (Ask Law Enforcement) after avoiding a ticket. “When you pull people over for a traffic violation, how do you decide to cite or give a warning? Is it all up to you no matter what? Are there situations where you must give a ticket for traffic violations? Are you expected to ticket most people and very occasionally give a warning? I got a warning once and wondered why. Maybe because I was polite…but maybe not.”

Here was the police officer’s response with 53 upvotes:

“So many factors, expectations (as quotas have been deemed illegal), degree of stop, driver’s situation, officer’s mood….Personally I don’t write speeding tickets unless it’s 25mph over the posted. I’ll stop you, explain it but generally won’t write. But I’ve been hit by several uninsured motorist……so, that’s a 100% ticket and tow.”

Another response earned more than a dozen upvotes

“It depends on the department. Some departments might have a policy, or more likely a culture, of heavily ticketing drivers, while others will not. In other departments, it is entirely up to the individual officer. In large departments, patrol officers are so busy with 911 calls that they rarely even pull people over. I think I’ve only written approximately 5-10 traffic tickets in the last 3 years (that stemmed from a traffic stop).”

The officer goes on: “I usually don’t even bother pulling people over unless it’s something really egregious, and they’re almost always going to get a ticket. A lot of times, Officers will pull people over as a pre-text stop in order to look for more important things (DUI, drugs, warrants, etc). If you turn out to not be what they’re looking for, they’ll just let you go and get someone else. If there’s an accident, our official department policy is to write a ticket to whomever we deem to be at fault.”

Yet another gave a more specific answer: “Generally officers have discretion for most traffic offenses. Departments may require certain offenses be cited every time. In today’s time a lot of departments are veering away from the “tickets = productivity” mindset that used to be common. Most officers at my department only cite around 1 in 5 people.”

In other words, it’s pretty much always a toss-up

So, while you might not have total control over the conditions, factors, and results of any given traffic stop, drivers who keep calm and remain polite probably have a better shot at a warning.