Canadian Tuxedo Optional (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} michaelpop) wrote,@ 2007-11-15 16:12:00 |
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Run from the pigs, the fuzz, the cops, the heat.
Up until a few months ago, I'd only gotten 2 traffic tickets over the course of the previous 7 years. I think that's pretty good, but I know there are some of you out there who are like, "Only 2 tickets? I've never gotten a ticket in my life!" and all I can say to that is don't worry, your day will come. But I've driven nearly 200,000 miles in those 7 years so the law of averages starts working against me a little more. But back to those tickets. There was the time 7 years ago when I was driving around Venice fruitlessly looking for some street parking and I kind of casually rolled through a stop sign. My infraction caught the eye of a cop who was already in the middle of writing some other poor schmuck a ticket and he waved at me to pull over. I did because I thought he was just going to tell me to turn my stereo down. If I'd have known he was going to give me a ticket I would've "pretended" I didn't see him and driven off. So that was lame. Then a couple of years ago I got pulled over on the freeway for speeding. Fine, whatever, I was due. Fast-forward to July, right before I left for my trip to Atlanta, and I got pulled over for stopping on railroad tracks. The area around where I work is flanked by railroad tracks and it's especially annoying at this one particular light because there's only room for about 3 cars to be stopped before you're on the tracks and it's hard to gauge when to pull up short until you're already stuck on the tracks. So I'm idling on the tracks for only about 30 seconds but that was just enough time for a cop who was driving in the opposite direction to stop in the middle of the street and yell at me through his loudspeaker.
The guy behind me was on the tracks too, so he got collared along with me. Again, lame. But whatever, traffic tickets are just another expense, part of the cost of living in Los Angeles. You factor it into your budget. If you get a ticket every couple of years and pro-rate it out, it only comes out to like an extra $10 a month. Just pennies a day for the privilege of driving our wonderful roads.
But if you get two tickets in less than 60 days, then you're kind of fucked.
I was leaving a bar after having about 5 cocktails over the course of a few hours. We were celebrating Daniel's birthday, I was celebrating new love; it was a good night. Well, up until I got pulled over by the Highway Patrol. Because of some stupid freeway construction I was forced into taking a detour that caused me to exit the freeway. When I got back onto the freeway I started my usual drift towards the far-left lane. Unfortunately, I was going a little fast and almost merged right into a Highway Patrol car. I mean, I saw him over my left shoulder before attempting to switch lanes, but I got nervous and hastily over-corrected back into my lane and abruptly reduced my speed by taking my foot off the gas. The cop must've noticed and a few seconds later I saw those flashing lights in my rear-view mirror. The first thing that raced into my mind? DUI. I wasn't drunk, but I got those shitty lightweight Asian genes, and I get all glassy-eyed and red-faced after eating tiramisu, so I'm sure the cop was going to take one look at me and haul me into the pokey for the night. My plan, then, was to be as honest as possible and hope the cop would take mercy on me. I mean, I obviously couldn't lie about having had anything to drink since it was so clearly written all over my face.
So when the officer came up to my window and started the usual procession of questions, I answered calmly and truthfully. I'd come from a bar, officer. Yes, I had a few drinks, officer. Oh, I only had 2 drinks, officer, and stopped drinking hours ago. So I might've been fudging the truth a little on that last one, but really, what he didn't know couldn't hurt him. The cop was pretty nice, but he still asked me to step out of the vehicle. This is where I started thinking, "please don't make me say the alphabet backwards" because I can't even do that shit sober. And "please don't make me walk any straight lines",because I don't do anything straight because surely being clumsy and unbalanced isn't a crime, right? Instead I got the "follow this light back and forth with your eyes" test, and I concentrated SO hard on not fucking up. I was still a little worried about it 'cos I wear contacts and I was afraid that they might pop out or something and I'd fail and it'd have nothing at all to do with alcohol. But after what seemed like an hour, I was told to go back and have a seat in my car. A few minutes later he came back and handed me a speeding ticket (going 75 in a 65 zone) and I breathed a sigh of relief knowing it could've been so much worse.
Then I got the notice in the mail and my fine for speeding? $400. Man. Still, it could've been much worse.
Anyway, the reason I'm posting all this is because I opted to do traffic school on my first ticket so I can get that off my record so I don't get totally reamed by my insurance company. I've never done traffic school before and wondered if anyone else has. I'm leaning towards doing it online, but, maybe there's a benefit to doing it another way? I don't know. Help!
Up until a few months ago, I'd only gotten 2 traffic tickets over the course of the previous 7 years. I think that's pretty good, but I know there are some of you out there who are like, "Only 2 tickets? I've never gotten a ticket in my life!" and all I can say to that is don't worry, your day will come. But I've driven nearly 200,000 miles in those 7 years so the law of averages starts working against me a little more. But back to those tickets. There was the time 7 years ago when I was driving around Venice fruitlessly looking for some street parking and I kind of casually rolled through a stop sign. My infraction caught the eye of a cop who was already in the middle of writing some other poor schmuck a ticket and he waved at me to pull over. I did because I thought he was just going to tell me to turn my stereo down. If I'd have known he was going to give me a ticket I would've "pretended" I didn't see him and driven off. So that was lame. Then a couple of years ago I got pulled over on the freeway for speeding. Fine, whatever, I was due. Fast-forward to July, right before I left for my trip to Atlanta, and I got pulled over for stopping on railroad tracks. The area around where I work is flanked by railroad tracks and it's especially annoying at this one particular light because there's only room for about 3 cars to be stopped before you're on the tracks and it's hard to gauge when to pull up short until you're already stuck on the tracks. So I'm idling on the tracks for only about 30 seconds but that was just enough time for a cop who was driving in the opposite direction to stop in the middle of the street and yell at me through his loudspeaker."You in the silver Civic, please pull over into the next driveway"
The guy behind me was on the tracks too, so he got collared along with me. Again, lame. But whatever, traffic tickets are just another expense, part of the cost of living in Los Angeles. You factor it into your budget. If you get a ticket every couple of years and pro-rate it out, it only comes out to like an extra $10 a month. Just pennies a day for the privilege of driving our wonderful roads.
But if you get two tickets in less than 60 days, then you're kind of fucked.
I was leaving a bar after having about 5 cocktails over the course of a few hours. We were celebrating Daniel's birthday, I was celebrating new love; it was a good night. Well, up until I got pulled over by the Highway Patrol. Because of some stupid freeway construction I was forced into taking a detour that caused me to exit the freeway. When I got back onto the freeway I started my usual drift towards the far-left lane. Unfortunately, I was going a little fast and almost merged right into a Highway Patrol car. I mean, I saw him over my left shoulder before attempting to switch lanes, but I got nervous and hastily over-corrected back into my lane and abruptly reduced my speed by taking my foot off the gas. The cop must've noticed and a few seconds later I saw those flashing lights in my rear-view mirror. The first thing that raced into my mind? DUI. I wasn't drunk, but I got those shitty lightweight Asian genes, and I get all glassy-eyed and red-faced after eating tiramisu, so I'm sure the cop was going to take one look at me and haul me into the pokey for the night. My plan, then, was to be as honest as possible and hope the cop would take mercy on me. I mean, I obviously couldn't lie about having had anything to drink since it was so clearly written all over my face.
So when the officer came up to my window and started the usual procession of questions, I answered calmly and truthfully. I'd come from a bar, officer. Yes, I had a few drinks, officer. Oh, I only had 2 drinks, officer, and stopped drinking hours ago. So I might've been fudging the truth a little on that last one, but really, what he didn't know couldn't hurt him. The cop was pretty nice, but he still asked me to step out of the vehicle. This is where I started thinking, "please don't make me say the alphabet backwards" because I can't even do that shit sober. And "please don't make me walk any straight lines",
Then I got the notice in the mail and my fine for speeding? $400. Man. Still, it could've been much worse.
Anyway, the reason I'm posting all this is because I opted to do traffic school on my first ticket so I can get that off my record so I don't get totally reamed by my insurance company. I've never done traffic school before and wondered if anyone else has. I'm leaning towards doing it online, but, maybe there's a benefit to doing it another way? I don't know. Help!
