Something about the holidays makes people run late for things.

Or at least that's what trooper Steve Thompson would think if he believed all of the excuses he gets from speeders this time of year.

"Everyone is trying to get to the in-laws, running late trying to get presents bought up," he said. "People procrastinate and try to get there before the stores close."

More than 2.5 million Georgia drivers on the roads this holiday season will certainly mean more Georgia drivers rushing places and more of them getting pulled over. And many officers said drivers get creative year-round while trying to avoid getting a ticket.

Flowery Branch Police Department Chief Gerald Lanich said one speeder claimed he was only driving so fast because he had just gone through a car wash and wanted to dry offhis vehicle.

And then, Thompson said, there are the parents who use the kids as a scapegoat, saying they need to get their screaming child back home.

"Sometimes they have screaming kids in the back seat and sometimes they don't, but they will use the child a lot," he said.

Several officers said one of the most common excuses is that the driver needs to use the restroom, which doesn't get them very far when the officer has seen them speed past seven or eight exits.

"It's like ‘Ok, we'll follow you to the station and let you go there,' And then all of the sudden they don't have to go anymore," said Oakwood Police Department Chief Randall Moon.

And there are the criers.

While Thompson said he can normally tell when a woman is putting on an act, the men who have broken into tears on the side of the road have seemed genuinely upset.

"The men were honestly very sincere and it's all I could do to keep a straight face to watch them doing that," he said with a laugh. "It's like, ‘Pull yourself together. You're a grown man.'"

One Flowery Branch driver even went with a holiday-themed excuse on Thursday.

An officer pulled her over for driving with tags that expired four months ago.

And she promised the officer her mother was going to buy her new ones for Christmas.