If you’re planning to put the pedal to the metal, throw out your litany of excuses because chances are the South Mississippi law enforcement officer who stops you for speeding has already heard it before.

You’re late for work or school. Your speedometer isn’t working. You’ve got to go to the bathroom. You’re headed to the hospital for a family emergency. You’re trying to keep up with the traffic.

When it comes to speeding, the excuses are rampant.

And some drivers will do just about anything to get out of paying a fine.

They’ll flirt, cry or drop a name in hopes of convincing the officer to walk away with a warning.

Others use the ever-popular blame game technique.

They’ve rushing home to an angry wife in waiting. Their child is alone and waiting for a ride.

The excuses are endless.

But don’t expect them to work.

“I’ve even had one guy tell me he had a need to speed,” Gautier Police Patrolman Carlton Logan said. “He said he was addicted.”

Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd admits there are times when speed is warranted in medical emergencies, but even then, he said, families should try to call ahead for assistance. In many cases, he said, a law enforcement officer will try to call paramedics or other law enforcement personnel to assist with blocking intersections to help avoid any serious or deadly accident. Law enforcement officers also are trained to drive in high-speed scenarios.

“Of course, I’ve also heard them say, ‘Aren’t you supposed to be somewhere eating donuts?’”

They get their answer alright, Byrd said, and the speeding ticket to boot.

Still, in most cases, South Mississippi law enforcement officials say the excuses are just attempts to get away with traveling the roads at deadly speeds.

A Pass Christian police officer didn’t even flinch when a narcotics agent he stopped for speeding said he was on his way to serve a search warrant. The narcotics agent got the ticket, and the patrolman later did some digging.

“Turned out, he’d served the search warrant the day before,” Pass Christian Police Patrolman Russell Holliman said. “You also hear people saying they can speed because they know the mayor or police chief. I ticket them anyway.”

In another case, a doctor says he’s rushing to a South Mississippi emergency room to perform surgery. Too bad, a law enforcement officer said, that the doctor was headed in the wrong direction. He ticketed him anyway.

“You know what he told me? ‘I hope you don’t come in the hospital with a bullet wound to the chest because I’ll be the one operating on you,’” Gautier Patrolman Logan said. “I told him, ‘I hope you do your job just like I am.’”

Mississippi Highway Patrol Corporal Johnny Poulos remembers a time years ago when he stopped a man who said his wife had just chewed him out because he forgot to bring home a gallon of milk. He’d gone to get the milk and was headed back home.

“He looked me and said, ‘Trooper, you got me. I was speeding. But if this truck could go 150 mph, I’d be going 150 mph to get this milk home.’ Sure enough, the milk was sitting beside him.”

South Mississippi law enforcement officers take speeding seriously because the majority of accidents resulting in injuries or death are speed related. Today, we look at top 10 excuses speeders use in South Mississippi.

But here’s a warning, folks. If you’re excuse isn’t listed, forget the notion that you’ve come up with the best-kept secret. Law enforcement says they’ve heard it all.