6 Secret Tricks to Avoid Speeding Tickets

1. Understand that your car says a lot about you
Most officers decide whether you’re getting a ticket or a warning before they even approach your vehicle. A good rule of thumb is to keep your car maintained in such a way that you wouldn’t be embarrassed to drive it to a job interview. Keep it clean, decluttered, and free of bumper stickers that are anti-police or pro-violence. Forgo aftermarket add-ons like spoilers, tinted windows, and neon undercarriage lights. You want to say “I’m responsible and law-abiding,” not “I hate the police, I speed all the time, and I’m trying to hide something from you.”

2. Wave at the hidden police cruiser
So you were driving down the road a little faster than you should have been, and you spot a police cruiser lurking behind some shrubbery. One former police officer says that the smartest thing that you can do right then is to wave at the officer. Why? He will either think that you know each other and wave back, or will think that you’re acknowledging that you were driving too fast, and are letting him know that you’re slowing down. Either way, you drastically reduce your chance of getting a ticket.

3. Never admit that you were speeding
If you do get pulled over, says one former police officer, never acknowledge that you were, in fact, speeding. You don’t want to give the police any ammunition to use against you, should you contest your ticket in traffic court. When the officer tells you that you are speeding, giving a brief, noncommittal response like, “I see” or “I was not aware of my speed” is the way to go. (Asking sarcastic questions like, “What’s the problem, Officer?” won’t help your case!) Secret sources who have dodged more than one speeding ticket in their lives also advise that you just get through the meeting with the police as quickly and politely as you possibly can. You don’t want them to remember anything about you, except that you were nice and did what you were told. Why? Read on.

4. Plead not guilty, and defer your court date as often as you can
The more time you put between your speeding encounter and your court date, the better, advise some ticket dodgers we know. Imagine how many people an officer pulls over in a month. How many of them do you think he’ll remember two or even six months from now, especially if you take your ticket quietly and move on? The more continuances you can reasonably request, the more time you have to collect your evidence and prepare your defense – and the less specific that officer’s recollection of you will be. Getting a continuance also increases the probability that the ticketing officer retires, transfers to another department, or just doesn’t show up for your court date. In almost all of these extenuating situations, the case against you will be dropped.

5. Know the tactics that can get your ticket dismissed
There are dozens of ways to have your traffic violations reduced or dismissed – opportunities vary from region to region, so check to see if these apply in your state or province. Here is just a sampling: • The issuing officer does not show for your court date. • Two officers were in the patrol car when you received your ticket, and only one shows for the court date. In many jurisdictions, both need to be present to recount their testimony firsthand. • A factual error on the ticket itself (your license plate number, name, date, or other inarguable fact is incorrect) may get you off the hook. • There is no correct speed limit sign posted within a reasonable distance of where you were pulled over (in the U.S. this distance varies by state, but is usually about 1/4 mile).

6. Secret Weapon: POI Software
For those who have GPS navigation systems in their cars, here’s an added bonus: You can download additional Points-of-Interest (POI) software onto your gizmo that will tell you when you’re approaching stoplights that are hooked up to traffic cameras. You’ll find links to this software on the GPS manufacturers’ home pages.

Related articles

• What That Speeding Ticket May Really Cost You (kimberleyvassalinsurance.wordpress.com)

New James Bond Trailer Hits the Web: “Skyfall”

Daniel Craig is no doubt hoping his third time will be the charm. A trailer for his latest outing as James Bond, “Skyfall,” hit the Internet on Monday and fans have license to be thrilled. Craig’s 007 will go up against Javier Bardem in the sequel, whose villainous turn in “No Country For Old Men” in 2008 earned him an Academy Award for Best Actor. ”Skyfall” also featured Judi Dench, who returns as Bond’s one-letter boss; M. French actress Bérénice Marlohe also stars as the franchise’s latest Bond girl. Sam Mendes, director of the award-winning “American Beauty” and Iraq war tale “Jarhead,” helmed the Sony-produced picture. Though few details have been released, the studio says the was the plot of “Skyfall” involves a test of Bond’s loyalty to M “as her past comes back to haunt her.”" Skyfall” hits theaters Nov. 9.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/skyfall-trailer-released-james-bond-fans-shaken-stirred-footage-daniel-craig-latest-turn-007-article-1.1081809#ixzz1vWGoLuHx

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What That Speeding Ticket May Really Cost You

How will that speeding ticket you just received affect your insurance premium? Insurance.com has calculated average increases for 14 different driving violations, and devised a new “Uh-Oh!” calculator to give you a more customized estimate. Not surprisingly, reckless driving is the costliest violation, with an average rate increase of 22 percent. By comparison, a seat-belt infraction results in a 3 percent increase. Insurance.com analyzed more than 490,000 insurance quotes given to drivers from 14 carriers from January 2009 to January 2011. The analysis compared quotes given to drivers with the 14 most common violations, and compared them with quotes given to drivers with no violations.

Here’s the full list, showing how various tickets will affect your rates, on average:

1. Reckless driving: 22 percent
2. Driving while under the influence: first offense: 19 percent
3. Driving without a license or permit: 18 percent
4. Careless driving: 16 percent
5. Speeding 30 m.p.h. over the limit: 15 percent
6. Failure to stop: 15 percent
7. Improper turn: 14 percent
8. Improper passing: 14 percent
9. Following too close/tailgating: 13 percent
10. Speeding 15 to 29 m.p.h. over limit: 12 percent
11. Speeding 1 to 14 m.p.h. over limit: 11 percent
12. Failure to yield: 9 percent
13. No car insurance: 6 percent
14. Seat-belt infractions: 3 percent

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• Ticket? Uh-oh! Auto insurance rate increases for common driving violations (insurance.com)
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Coffee drinkers are a little more likely to live longer

A photo of a cup of coffee. Esperanto: Taso de kafo. Français : Photo d’une tasse de caffé Español: Taza de café (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One of life’s simple pleasures just got a little sweeter. After years of waffling research on coffee and health, even some fear that java might raise the risk of heart disease, a big study finds the opposite: Coffee drinkers are a little more likely to live longer. Regular or decaf doesn’t matter. The study of 400,000 people is the largest ever done on the issue, and the results should reassure any coffee lovers who think it’s a guilty pleasure that may do harm.

“Our study suggests that’s really not the case,” said lead researcher Neal Freedman of the National Cancer Institute. “There may actually be a modest benefit of coffee drinking.” No one knows why. Coffee contains a thousand things that can affect health, from helpful antioxidants to tiny amounts of substances linked to cancer. The most widely studied ingredient — caffeine — didn’t play a role in the new study’s results.

Even in the new study, it first seemed that coffee drinkers were more likely to die at any given time. But they also tended to smoke, drink more alcohol, eat more red meat and exercise less than non-coffee-drinkers. Once researchers took those things into account, a clear pattern emerged: Each cup of coffee per day nudged up the chances of living longer. The study was done by the National Institutes of Health and AARP. The results are published in Thursday’s New England Journal of Medicine. For the full article check out the full article originally posted on Yahoo.com by clicking here.

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Obama campaign unveils $43.6 million April fundraising figure

President Barack Obama and the Democratic groups working to keep him in the White House raised $43.6 million in April—a big chunk of cash, but a drop from the $53 million they pulled down in March. Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said in a video message that 98 percent of the donations were in amounts of $250 or less, and that the average donation was $50.23. The campaign highlights those figures to showcase its broad grass-roots support and the involvement of small-dollar donors.

“One of the most important things we can do is get our arms around the fact that this election is going to be close given the historic challenges the nation faced when the president first came into office,” Messina said in the video. Obama’s most serious political vulnerability is the still-struggling economy, which has been weighed down by aftershocks from the 2007-2008 financial meltdown and from Europe’s troubles. Republicans have charged that Obama’s policies over the past three years have made the recovery slower and weaker than it otherwise could have been. Messina said that Obama’s critics and opponents have spent nearly $60 million on attack ads so far in this election cycle, while “we started this campaign with a series of positive ads.” (That emphasis might come as a surprise to observers who have watched Obama campaign ads suggesting that Mitt Romney wouldn’t have ordered the raid that killed Osama bin Laden or blaming the presumptive Republican nominee for the bankruptcy of a struggling steel plant in Kansas City, Mo.)

The Obama strategist highlighted the campaign’s “paths to 270 electoral votes,” showcasing the opening of new field offices and hiring of staff in key states like Florida. None of the “paths” showed Obama getting more than 275 Electoral College votes. Republicans happily noted the drop in Obama’s fundraising figures. ”Barack Obama is still the Fundraiser-In-Chief but even he is struggling to sell the American people on his brand of Hype and Blame that has left millions without jobs, a struggling housing situation, and record deficits and debt for future generations,” said a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, Kirsten Kukowski, in a statement.

Related articles

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Does Donovan McNabb Deserve Another Shot?

Donovan McNabb is losing weight and staying in shape in the hopes of playing again in the NFL. Andy Reid, who gave McNabb his NFL start, said Monday that he’d “highly recommend” teams give his former franchise quarterback another shot. In an interview with the NFL Network, the Philadelphia Eagles coach said he’d tell inquiring teams, if they asked for his opinion, to “take him.”

“I still think he can play. I think the world of him, and we had some great years together here. I’m always wishing him the best and a fan of his. I got a chance to see him at Brian Dawkins‘ retirement (event),” Reid told the NFL Network. “He looks good. He looks physically good. He looks like he could go out and play tomorrow. I would highly recommend (him).”

In his 11 seasons with the Eagles, McNabb led Reid’s teams to five NFC title games and one Super Bowl appearance. He also was a six-time Pro Bowl selection. His career has spiraled, however, since he was traded to the Washington Redskins before the 2010 season. The Minnesota Vikings, who acquired McNabb in a trade before the 2011 season, released him in December. McNabb has been working out with noted quarterback tutor George Whitfield on the beaches of San Diego in an effort to stay in the shape needed to play quarterback in the NFL.

“I’m in great shape,” McNabb told ESPN in a “SportsCenter” interview that aired Monday. “I’ve dropped 15, 20 pounds.” The 35-year-old McNabb, however, maintains he’s always been in great shape. ”It’s not really about (the weight loss),” McNabb told ESPN. “Because for me, people may have seen how strong I look. And they kind of equated that to ‘he may be out of shape,’ or whatever. But now that I’m lighter, people now all of a sudden say, ‘Well, oh, now he’s in shape.’ “ McNabb said he is open to playing with any NFL team. ”I have a list. A full list, of 32,” he said.

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4 Foods to Avoid Before Going to Sleep

I recently came across this article on Yahoo.com regarding 4 foods that we should try to avoid in order to get a better night sleep! ”Everyone likes to snack a little at night beforegoing to sleep. However, research shows that late-night dining can have an adverse effect on oursleep. Granted some foods do help us get to sleep,but some foods should be avoided at night. Below are 4 foods that you should avoid if youwant to have a peaceful night’s sleep.”

Pasta: A bowl of pasta might be easy to make, but its not’sthe best thing to eat before going to sleep. Pasta isfull of carbohydrates. If you go to sleep right aftereating pasta, all of the carbohydrates will be turnedinto fat. The other ingredients in pasta such as oil,cheese, tomato sauce and, etc. will only add morefat to your body.In addition, pasta contains a highglycemic index meaning that it has high-sugarcontent. The high amount of sugar affects theblood-sugar levels in our body thereforedisrupting our sleep patterns.

Ice Cream : A scoop of ice cream at night might be the most delicious bedtime treat; however, it is not as soothingas people may think. Ice cream is full with fat. Eating it at night will allow the body to burn all the fatbefore you get to bed. Furthermore, the sugar content will give you an energy boost which will keepyou awake throughout the night. Some research studies show a correlation between eating food with high-sugar content andnightmares.

Pizza: If you feel like staying up all night, have a slice of greasy pizza. Pizza is not a light meal. Just one slicecan cause your stomach to go into overdrive. The tomato sauce contains a high concentration ofacidity, which causes acid reflux and heartburn. High-fat and acid content will leave you tossing andturning all night long.

Alcohol: Some people believe that alcohol leads to a good night’s sleep; however, this is not entirely accurate.Alcohol does somewhat get people to sleep; however, its effects do not last very long. Research showsthat alcohol disrupts the restorative ability of the body during sleep leading to several wake-up calls.
In addition, people that drink alcohol to fall asleep tend to develop a dependency on it, whichultimately causes a serious addiction problem.

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iPhone5: Worth Waiting For?

Image via CrunchBase

Thinking about upgrading to a new iPhone? But you want to know if waiting for the next version is worth it? Well below is some information I gathered from an article on Yahoo.com, it has some great information and things to expect.

Design
One thing is certain: this phone will have a new design. Many of the new Android phones sport bigger 4-4.5 inch screens, so Apple is feeling the pressure to increase screen size. Rumors suggest a 4-inch screen — that’s .5 inches longer than the current 3.5-inch screen. But the thinking is they will keep thesame width (1.94 inches). Basically you’ll get another row of icons on the home screen without adding another column of icons.

Rumor site iLounge also predicts a 20% thinner iPhone 5, decreasing from the 9.3mm iPhone 4S to a sleeker 7.4mm. And what will be a painful transition for peripheral makers and those of us who hope to slot all our IOS devices into speakers, chargers, and add-ons: a new dock connector. The new connector is said to be the shape and size of a pill. Much smaller than the current 30-pin connector that has been used in all of Apple’s iPhones.

LTE
Another certainty with the iPhone is its inclusion of the super-fast LTE data connections. We saw it in the new iPad, and it is a clear trend in phone iterations for all platforms.

Processor
The new iPad sported the faster A5X processor, some predict an even faster A6 processor with a gig of RAM in the new iPhone. Hard to know which of these will make it into the iPhone, but you can bet it will be a lot snappier than the current iPhone.

Battery
The inclusion of LTE, a faster processor and a bigger screen all mean a greater drain on the battery. So while I think the new iPhone will have a more efficient battery, I think the phone itself will have roughly the same battery life and performance as previous models.

Timing
Every year Apple hosts a developer conference in San Francisco in June. For many years, the company debuted the new version of the iPhone at this conference, but last year they waited until October to announce the iPhone 4S. This year, analysts are betting on October for a new release, primarily because a new version of IOS 6, the iPhone operating system (which is expected to be on the next iPhone), has not yet been released to developers.

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Proud Partner of KVIS: Alfredo’s Italian Pizza Kitchen

The owners of Alfredo Italian BYO in Berwyn and the Newtown Grill in Newtown Square have one more restaurant to add to their list: Alfredo’s Italian Pizza Kitchen in West Chester. Check out the video we made below for more information!

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