It's one thing to be one of those people who never get pulled over.
It's another thing when you are one of those people who DO get pulled over, but somehow always manage to get out of getting a ticket.
I am one of those people (the second kind)
First I shold be honest and mention that I can't say I always get out of getting tickets, because there was the first time I ever got pulled over by a (and I hate to sound sexist) female State Trooper who hated me on sight and not only slapped me with a ticket but tacked on a bunch of other lame fees that I ended up going to court to get dismissed.
She sucked.
But then I got pulled over a year later in the exact same spot going the exact same speed (50 in a 35) by a much more obliging officer. Not thinking, I laughingly told him that I was a little dissapointed in myself for not learning my lesson from last year. Surprisingly, he laughed too and told me he didn't want to ticket me and ruin my good mood.
As you may know, there was the incident of earlier this year in which I was pulled over because my registration had expired about 3 months ago. Even though they are supposed to impound my car on the spot for this kind of infraction, this did not happen. In fact, I did not even get a ticket. The officer said he felt bad for me, because I has spilled my iced coffee all over the front seat.
And now yesterday evening we have a new episode to add to my record.
Now, on my way home from work, about 2 miles from my apartment, is a weird intersection in which I can either go right, which is easiest, or straight and THEN right, which is a huge bitch. Unfortunately the easier choice is also usually unlawful because there is a big sign saying I may not travel in that direction down that street between 3 and 6PM. Usually I get to said intersection around 5:50PM and I take my chances. I have never been caught.
Until yesterday.
And it was actually closer to 5:30 when I pulled down the street which I admit was my bad. Almost immediately a police office was in the middle of the street waving me over.
He approached my car and asked for the usual documents and I tried my best "Oh my god I am so stupid, how could I have done this?" routine but I could tell pretty much right away that he was Not Having It. He was one of those All Business types and I get along better with 1/4-1/2 Business types. He informed me that there are only so many tickets he can write at once and the lucky recipents are me and the lady behind me (whose ticket he was working on when he pulled ME Over) and so I shouldn't be upset that everyone else who drives illegally down the street whilst I am pulled over will not be getting ticketed since he will be too busy .
Gee, thanks.
So I sit in my car, all sullen like, watching all the other cars doing exactly what I did and getting away with it and thinking about how this should not be happening to me because I have GOOD ticket luck. Not BAD ticket luck.
I was sorry my streak had come to an end.
And the lady behind me who was pulled over drove off with her ticket and I waited for him to come to me. And I waited and waited. And waited some more. And I began to think he was messing with me.
Ten minutes later he finally came over to me, looking extremely flustered, and told me that he accidentally gave MY registration to the lady who already drove away. And he had been on his phone trying to track down her contact info for the past 10 minutes. He apologized profusely saying "This is so not my day, you have no idea. I didn't even want to come down here but my boss said "Get down there and write some tickets" and I am not usually like this". And I am all "It's ok, officer!". And then I look down at my ticket to see it is not a ticket at all, but a citation. I.e. No Money Owed. "I couldn't give you a ticket after doing what I just did". I thanked him, and he told me that he would be getting my registration back from the other lady and getting it to me ASAP, and in the mean time if I was pulled over again (God Forbid) I had his name and could explain what had happened.
So let's recap. This is the fourth time I have been pulled over, and the third time I have not actually gotten a ticket.
Damn, I'm good. Or just lucky. Not that a missing registration is lucky, but, well it's better than paying a fine!
UPDATE: Apparently the cop left my registration on my windshield late last night and Adam brought it in for me this morning. Not too shabby!
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
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9 comments:
Wow, you have amazing luck!!! I wish I could be so lucky. :-P
If you ever do have to go fight a speeding ticket, bring crutches. I had to go after my foot surgery last year. As soon as I walked in, no one held the door for me and the magistrate dude was pissed, complaining how inconsiderate people could be. Then he asked what had happened... For 15 minutes, we ended up talking about how his wife and I had the same surgery! The cop there was not ammused. Of course he didn't want my insurance to go up so he let me off with a warning. That was my only ticket luck though...
that's good to know! i'm glad he was pissed too, who wouldn't hold the door for someone on crutches?
it ain't right!
when i went to court to fight my speeding ticket, everyone else that went before me just lied and was like "i wasn't speeding, the cop was wrong" and the judge let them go. I, stupidly, said I may have been speeding but definitely not as much as the cop said i was. So I still had to pay $75 of my $250 ticket. I am telling you, telling the truth never gets you anywhere.
Too funny. I love your blog, by the way. I NEVER get tickets from male cops (well, except a jackass CT state trooper). The only real ticket came from a woman.
i've been pulled over 8 times** and i've only gotten two tickets! 75% success rate with the wriggling. i haven't tried it, but i've heard that if you change your original court date, the cop who pulled you over won't be able to come (he schedules all his ticketees to come to court on one day so he only misses one day of policing) and the ticket will be dismissed.
**admittedly, only 4 were for speeding, i also ran a red light once and had some electrical problems with an old car and i used to get pulled over all the time for having lights out.
go girl!
and as for the changing court date thing... i dont think thats true because the actual cop doesn't have to be there....just a "representative". at least when i contested mine the woman who pulled me over was not there, just some guy she works with..
Ok - re: tickets & cops, I've learned that if you are upfront with them, many cops will be shocked and most will let you off or write you a ticket for a lesser violation. Plus - one never knows what the cop has just seen prior - he could be coming from a horrible accident, etc. so I try to give an allowance of crankiness to the officer - however, when I was younger, I got pulled over on the way home from a cast party one night in Western Mass, and had a couple glasses of wine - when the cop asked me if I had been drinking (I was speeding, not weaving) I said "Officer - I'm Mormon - what do you think" and I got off with a warning.
Quite the shock to the small town officer when he saw me in the Catholic church the next week. I learned my lesson.
you lucky girl... if i ever get in a situation like that, i am going to call you to save my a$$ :)
I am coveting your mad get-out-ticket-free skills. ;) But seriously. The first time! I ever was pulled over the cop mercilessly ticketed. AND he was grumpy. I was trying to force myself to cry, but I was just too angry.
Oh my God, I have your ticket luck too and I have no idea why. I mean, I am always polite and apologetic, so maybe that's all it takes. And being a girl I guess.
I've been in 2 accidents that I could have been cited for, and pulled over 3 times for speeding, and pulled over once for weaving in a drunken fashion (I was actually falling asleep at the wheel) and never been ticketed. How is this possible?
I have no idea but 1 accident and 3 speeding pullovers were in the south so maybe I had the "I'm a nice girl being polite" thing working extra for me there.
Anyway, here's to hoping our streaks never end.
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