We spent yesterday driving from South Carolina to St. Louis. As always we woke early, climbed into the van, and were on our way a few hours before the sun would rise. 4 am.
As everyone settled in and fell back asleep I stared off into the blackness ahead. There's little to see when driving down unlit roads in the dead of night. The only thing to break the silence is the rhythmic hum of the tires on the road.
Not too long after finding the interstate and passing into North Carolina the tranquility of the night was broken by the blinding blur of flashing blue lights behind me. Perhaps I became too lost in my daydreams. The trooper told me I was doing 85 mph in a 60 mph zone. I thought 60 mph was a ridiculous speed limit for any stretch of interstate. I thought I had the cruise control set to 75. I thought I probably wasn't going to get by with a warning. I was right.
He asked "Why'd you just zoom right past me? Didn't you see that I was a state trooper?" This, I thought, was a rather stupid question so I chose not to answer it. I also chose not to debate his accusation that I was driving 85 since my only defense was that I thought I was doing 75.
This ticket is crazy-expensive. A sever punishment, for certain. However, it hasn't so much taught me not to speed as much as it's taught me not to speed in total darkness.
Later, Tricia took over the driving. She looked over and asked "How fast do you think it's safe to go without getting pulled over?"
"We're good," I said. "We already have a ticket. I think it kind of serves as a voucher against future tickets within the same trip. Kind of like 'I'm sorry but we already gave at the office.'"
Poor logic, perhaps, but we made it the rest of the way without incident.
What a terrible time to get a ticket. I got a $300 ticket for going 35 in a 15..and there were workers, I was lost, going over a toll bridge and did not see the drastic drop in the limit so the cop cut me a break and put that I was going 30. He also gave me another ticket because it had been over 60 days since I moved to Florida and had not registered my car..That was another $250. I tried to explain that it was $450 to register my car and I was on my way to training at my new job where I could finally earn money to register my car. Of coarse that did have to wait as my first paycheck went to the City of Tampa to pay the tickets...I, like you, kept the ticket in the car to show that yes, I am already paying a fine for not having Florida plates.
ReplyDeleteSorry man, I know you just did not deserve that ticket. It is a pretty subjective thing. Heidi has been stopped twice as much as me in our lives together but has only gotten half of the tickets. And I am just as much a suck-up as she is. It just isn't fair. Do you think Tricia would have gotten one? Just saying.
ReplyDeleteI've gotten out of more tickets that I care to admit. However, Scott once got a ticket for going five over the limit. He was traveling to the hospital where both of our twins were having bilateral hernia surgery. On my BIRTHDAY. And he couldn't get out of it.
ReplyDelete