So there I was...

[KingBear]

Good attitude, BlueJ. Take your point, pay the fine and thank your lucky stars it wasn't worse. I betcha Lass would have escaped with only a warning!

 

[BlueJ]

Oh, I'll pay the fine. But I will go and ask about the point (on the advice of the Lass and of my many cop buddies). Something along the lines of "I realize it was wrong of course, all I can say is that with all that traffic everytime I slowed down the guys behind me were right on my tail and in the interest of staying alive trying to be safe I was focussed on maintaining separation and thus ended up going with the speed of the pack, I realize it was wrong, please consider dropping the point."

Worst that can happen is what I already have, right?

 

[koifarm]

yes!

Oh, I'll pay the fine. But I will go and ask about the point (on the advice of the Lass and of my many cop buddies). Something along the lines of "I realize it was wrong of course, all I can say is that with all that traffic everytime I slowed down the guys behind me were right on my tail and in the interest of staying alive trying to be safe I was focussed on maintaining separation and thus ended up going with the speed of the pack, I realize it was wrong, please consider dropping the point."

Worst that can happen is what I already have, right?

Good on ya BJ, that is a perfect response A similar one got me off with points erased and fine cut in half.....


koi
:sidecar:

 

[Nick Morey]

Yes! +1 :ride:

 

[Sal Paradise]

BlueJ,

Around here you meet the officer in the hallway and plea bargain. I have only done it twice( but I will get a chance to do it again this fall )- I didn't gve him any BS story, just asked if he could do a seat belt or parking ticket beacause my insurance is expensive and on the second try he said okay.
Oddly, he seemed to think a clean driving record meant I should plead guilty and get on with my life, so I changed my tune and he seemed to understand the insurance argument.

Then stood before the judge and said " guilty" and $125 later I was out of there with a parking ticket.

 

[Littlejoe]

Oh, I'll pay the fine. But I will go and ask about the point (on the advice of the Lass and of my many cop buddies). Something along the lines of "I realize it was wrong of course, all I can say is that with all that traffic everytime I slowed down the guys behind me were right on my tail and in the interest of staying alive trying to be safe I was focussed on maintaining separation and thus ended up going with the speed of the pack, I realize it was wrong, please consider dropping the point."

Worst that can happen is what I already have, right?

That sounds good right there. Really, that was what you were doing. Technically, you are supposed to move with the flow of traffic, regardless of the speed limit so that you're not a hazard. From my experiences in traffic court, the judges are usually more than happy to drop the points, but still take some money off of you.

 

[BlueJ]

Around here you meet the officer in the hallway and plea bargain...

I'll ask my local cop buddies about whether that works here. I actually did have a nice conversation with the guy after pocketing the ticket (had to go through the "what year is that?" routine ) - he also rides for the local constabulary and we talked about the Mid-Atlantic Riders Challenge (I think that's what it's called) and some other bike-related stuff. Then I shook his hand (wonder when the last time was someone offered to shake his hand after he gave them a ticket??) and he gave me a 'ride safe' wave off.

It will be weeks before the update.

 

[RonL]

The two times I've been ticketed, I went before the judge. It's like a cattle call. Kinda like speed dating, but you always end up paying at the end. The judge (in two different locales) allowed people to plead "guilty with an explanation". If the story seemed reasonable enough and you sounded repentant enough, you got off with a ticket for Impeding Traffic. Pay the fine and no points. It's a pretty common thing around these parts.

Good luck.

 

[Texas94fs]

I recently was ticketed as well. Cop was a complete cunt though, I was literally on my way to get my inspection done, right in front of the shop, however, I got ticketed for that being expired. Then i got nailed for expired registration, yet when he punched it into the computer as i suggested he found it didn't actually expire until december of 2010. The state never re-issued my sticker and mailed it. Yet he still found it lovely to write me a ticket for that anyway. So as he pulled away from the shops parking lot I pulled in to get my inspection. The good thing is, all will be dismissed when I get a day off to go to court.

 

[KingBear]

Three weeks ago my lovely daughter Kelsey (with her little-used learner's permit) went out driving with her off-and-on boyfriend (new license) even though it's illegal. I had warned her against it not only because it's illegal but because our insurance wouldn't cover her under those conditions. Well, fate being what it is you can imagine what happened - on her second-to-last day of her senior year of high school my daughter ran her boyfriend's truck into a tree, right in front of the high school school, in the bus loop, during lunch hour so everyone in the whole school could see, and totaled it.

I arrived to find a fire truck, ambulance, and popo all on the scene, with the totaled truck being hoisted up onto a flatbed. Kelsey was in the nurse's office in a wheelchair, wearing a neck brace as a precaution because she was complaining that her head and neck hurt. Because of my occupation and association with police the officer on the scene courteously said she wouldn't write a report or tickets (resulting in loss of permits and licenses all around) as long as my daughter didn't have to be transported in an ambulance, so after a few questions I instructed Kelsey to get her butt out of the wheelchair. She sheepishly complied and I drove both my daughter and her now-truckless boyfriend home. He was trying to have a heroic, no-big-deal, just-glad-we-weren't-hurt kind of attitude but I knew better. Teenage boys like everything as long as it has wheels or tits, but when push comes to shove wheels will win every time. So for the time being the truck was the only casualty.

Well, almost...

Kelsey did suffer a slight concussion and a pretty severe anxiety attack. She was worried about what her punishment would be. I explained to her that the reason parents punish their children is to teach them that their actions have consequences, and that she was past the teaching stage. She now had to deal with real-life consequences, which was to help pay for the truck. So just like that a great big chunk of the money she'd saved up for college got flushed right down the toilet.

But wait, there's more...

She had to go to school the next day to take one final exam. Well, imagine the usual anxiety of a test, in a class she has with the same boyfriend, combined with facing the entire school after the events of the previous day, and the nausea associated with a concussion. It all caught up with her half way through the test when she ran out into the hallway... and puked!

And that is the story of my daughter's last two days of high school, a legacy that will live on forever in the tiny town of Poolesville, MD. A legacy she will relive every day, because she works the drive-through window at the McDonald's two blocks away from the high school in that little town, so everyone who comes through knows she's the girl who wrecked the truck and puked in the hallway.

How's that for consequences?

 

[Texas94fs]

Wow. It is kinda hard not to laugh but that sucks. Guess all that money she is going to make this summer is bye bye.

 

[Bonneville09er]

Talk about everything falling into place at the wrong time. Poor girl, it too shall pass.

 

[koifarm]

Actually it was probably all for the best, a lesson she will carry with her for the rest of her life....let's hope she considers what happened as a lesson and a deterrent to further risk taking and bad decision making....fortunately no one was severely injured and the major damage was to the truck...
Hope you have had a father/daughter talk about decisions and consequences, there is no clearer result to bad decisions than the truck wrapped around the tree and the humiliation at school.

 

[strokerlmt]

KingBear....I know she thinks the world has come to an end.....but in way this is all good.....she will remember the last 2 days forever and I bet she learns a life long lesson as well....
LMT

 

[BlueJ]

It will be a long time before Kelsey realizes how lucky she is to have a tough love dad! Right on, KB!!!

 

[Nick Morey]

There comes a time when kids are too old to listen and have to learn things the hard way... why? Because they haven't learned yet what the real consequences of their actions are; it's all part of the learning curve.
Good on you KingBear for realizing that she will sort this out on her own and making sure she does the right thing and pay her boyfriend for her lack of proper judgement. Even good kids make mistakes... it's all good, as long as they learn something from it!

 

[dschief]

I'm glad the kids are ok, and the way you told the story was excellent!
Reminds me of when my son got his license, he pulled in front of an on-coming car in the truck I gave him. He called me up and asked me what to do. I told him the cop will tell him what to do, deal with it. We won't always be around to hold their hands, will we.

 

[rodburner]

You must have some bad ass tree's in MD. That looks to be about 10"diameter,yet it flattened the truck's front end from side to side,without leaving the telltale "I ran into a pole" indentation.
Good on you for letting her get this little "life lesson" out of her system early and fairly.
I broadsided a new [1972] Camaro with my mom's '64 VW Beetle on my first solo drive as a licensed driver. 6 years later,I totaled out the 72 Pinto that she got to replace the Beetle,hit head on by another Pinto.LOL
I've not owned a Ford or a VW since.:worthy:

 

[BlueJ]

By the way, KB... it's not like the BF is totally blameless here. He, also, should have known better and he's the one that took the risk with his vehicle and his license. I think he ought to have to kick in some $$, too. It wasn't all Kelsey's fault.

 

[KingBear]

That's right BlueJ. Kelsey is having to pay half the deductible, a considerable amount of money for a teen but still leaving the BF with the larger share. It's his truck, he's the licensed driver, and he was just trying to show off by "teaching" her to drive.