^^^ Ditto.

If you're riding dirty, always make sure you give no reason for a cop to pull you over...have your paperwork in order, car in order, and obey traffic laws.

If you do get pulled over, the best thing to do is immediately turn on the interior lights and leave your hands on the steering wheel until instructed otherwise. Always answer ending with 'sir' or 'mam' as appropriate. It just shows respect and courtesy and can sometimes lighten the situation if they feel you're going to be compliant.

Relative to searches, that's a tough one. Most states have 'reasonable suspicion' laws. If the cop see's anything that looks slightly off kilter, they can ask to do a search. You can refuse. However, they in turn can request K9 to sniff the car.

Personally, I never keep anything in the car, everything is in the trunk. When I pick-up, it goes right to the trunk and I obey every law until I'm safe at home. Ive gotten out many tickets and search requests by just being cooperative. As far as shaking a cops hand, every cop is different. I've never tried to shake a cops hand. I've just apologized for whatever they thought I was doing and that usually left things on a good note.

Some people don't like to be compliant with officers. Just remember, in court, it makes a BIG difference. The cop who remembers stopping you is the one that will screw you the hardest. A cop who only remembers the stop as routine will usually not object to a prosecutor cutting you a sweet deal.