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Monday, November 29, 2010

The Truth Shall Set you Free-Or Not

Missouri law enforcement and I do not get along.

Background: I'm one of those "letter of the law" type of drivers. The annoying ones that don't go even one mile over the speed limit, turn the lights on when the windshield wipers go on, use my blinker, etc. etc.

I find it highly ironic that I'm the one who always gets pulled over while people going 15 mph faster than me are ignored.

Incident 1: Right outside of Springfield on I-44, a cop pulled me over for not getting out of his way. He said I was going too slow and needed to either speed up or move to the side of the road when he got up on my bumper. Setting: I was going 60 mph in a 60. It was night. I could only see the headlights of the vehicle behind me, which got up on my bumper. Solution: TURN ON YOUR COP LIGHTS!

At least he let me go without a ticket. Not so lucky with #2.

Incident 2: Right outside of Ft. Leonard Wood on I-44, a cop pulled me. Offense: Running a yellow light. Yes, you read that correctly. The cop, who was sitting at the light ACROSS from me in the intersection, thought I ran a red light. To his credit, by all means, he should've been right. His light turned green and my vehicle was making a left turn in the intersection. He assumed that I must've run a red light. The problem: I didn't. My light was yellow. The bigger problem: I could not prove this, as I had no camera in my car to tape the incident. Solution: CHECK THE TIMERS ON THE SIGNAL LIGHTS BECAUSE SOMETHING'S OUT OF SYNC! That's not what he did, of course. I always thought that if you're not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to fear. Just TELL THE TRUTH. I'm very sorry to report, that is not the case.

So, one ticket later, I'm now the kind of driver that STOPS at an intersection as soon as the light turns yellow. Sorry, folks. That ticket cost me big bucks.

Tell me I'm not the only one this happens to. Have you ever been wrongly ticketed?

The blog tour is still going strong! Check out this awesome post by the Southern Princess! And Tuesday's post is none other than Tristi Pinkston, who is also holding her own very awesome blog contest!

14 comments:

Christopher said...

They don't really give too many traffic tickets here in Chicago so I don't have too much trouble. If they did it would be chaos because absolutely every driver in Chicago would have to be pulled over at all times. Maniacs I tell you.

Joanna St. James said...

my solution for you, move to a country where your accent stands out, cops go easier on you even when you are driving without a license. if that does not work try the waterworks, if that still does not work ask wiser souls

Tamara Hart Heiner said...

@Joanna: Not around here, they don't! Accent+no license= free trip to jail! My hubby's a deputy...and he felt bad for me but he has no power over Missouri law, of course!

Kate Larkindale said...

I just don't drive... I tried, but I'm really not good at it, and it scares the crap out of me. Better for everyone else using the road, I'm sure.

Aaron and Emily said...

i am a letter of the law driver like you. I have gotten 2 tickets in my entire life for the SAME things.

Well, the first was night and I didn't make a complete stop at a stop sign (that was later removed because there were too many stops on a T road and no one was observing them). The cop, who i didn't know was one, was on my bumper like yours. He was so close I thought he'd rear end me if i stopped, so i totally rolled thru the next sign, freaked out about my follower. turns out it was a cop who said "you shoulda stopped, it would have been my fault if i hit you." sure, like anyone wants to get hit by some unknown driver. maybe i deserved the ticket for the first stop sign, Maybe. but he was way wrong about the rest!

The other ticket was for running a yellow light on a left turn. same story. it was green when i entered. i went back on foot to check the light - it's a trap because for every batch of left turners, over half of them started going during a green, and got stuck in the large intersection in a yellow or red. i went to court to fight it. after waiting in line with kids for over an hour, everyone was sent home - no cops st court that day, so all appointments were cancelled. I had to pay anyway. i was pretty mad. that one was Not deserved.

Ralene said...

I'm a speed demon. I've received a few tickets over the years...ok, only 3. :P But I deserved them all. hehehe...

My hubby was unfairly ticketed for speeding up through a yellow light. He was pulling out of a BK (which was on a corner) and speeding up like you do when you pull out from somewhere, and the light just happened to turn yellow right before he went through the intersection. He got it overturned.

Tamara Hart Heiner said...

Emily, it really is true that misery loves company. I feel so much better that I'm not the only one this has happened to!!!! I was so furious. I cried for like an hour driving home b/c I was so MAD. It takes a lot to get me that mad.

Kelly Polark said...

Yikes! You have some bad luck and you sound like a cautious driver. I'm actually a pretty careful driver as well but have had just a few speeding tickets in my day...

Andrew Rosenberg said...

On the other hand...about 5 years ago I was going 120 (doesn't matter the speed limit here does it?) Oh yeah...had an expired driver's license too.
He only clocked me at 85 (I saw him up ahead and slowed down).
He didn't give me a ticket...but he made me take the next exit and call for a ride home since my license was expired.
I just hung around for a while and took the side streets home.
The other day I was stopped for 65 in a 50 (small stretch of road has the 50)..with expired tabs. Explained that I was out of work so he didn't give me a ticket for either.
All I'm saying is that sometimes it depends on the dude who pulls you over. My wife gets a lot of ticky-tack tickets for doing like 39 in a 35. Go figure, she's like you and tries to keep it to the limit. I drive like a jerk and get away with it.
Sorry...maybe that doesn't help...all I'm saying is that it's probably more about the cop than the crime.

Tamara Hart Heiner said...

lol, Andrew! I'm seeing that pattern a lot! Maybe I should've called this post "It doesn't pay to play by the rules!"

Sherrie Petersen said...

Ha! I come to a full and complete stop at every stop sign after getting pulled over for a sliding stop a while back. Funny how that can leave a lasting impression!

Tamara Hart Heiner said...

Lasting impression, my foot! It made me want to mount a video camera in my car!

Unknown said...

1st off: That first story is Ridiculous. *shakes head*

2ndly: There is a certain town by where I live and it's very strange, because one time I was accidentally speeding as I passed by a cop, and did not get run over. BUT, I always stop at yellow lights because I KNOW that if I do I will be pulled over faster than a genius doing 1st grade math problems. Very weird.

Tamara Hart Heiner said...

hm. that is very weird.

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