It depends on where that ticket is going to lead. If that traffic stop leads to the cop finding something else in your car, and that leads to a crime, a simple

It depends on where that ticket is going to lead. If that traffic stop leads to the cop finding something else in your car, and that leads to a crime, a simple question can make the difference between a legal or an illegal stop in a court of law. Since the best case scenario in a traffic stop is "don't get a ticket" and the worst case is "Be confined to a concrete cell with a serious criminal conviction for the rest of your life" I don't answer any questions whatsoever, no matter how trivial. Happens to innocent people all the time. Getting a $200 ticket you could have otherwise "talked your way out of" is a small price to pay to vs. the risk.