Scofflaw

After action report on, Officer Dickhead meets Citizen Hothead.

https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5926528617816553064#editor/target=post;postID=5532716768552878370;onPublishedMenu=reading;onClosedMenu=reading;postNum=34;src=postname

I mentioned in that post I intended to torture them before they got my money. We settled last Friday. My file had some twenty pages.

The rationale for traffic citations is to change the scofflaw’s driving habits and attitude. That may be true for some officers, they being the ones who deal with the physical carnage, but for the courts it is all about revenue. Example. In Weld County, CO should you be ordered by the courts to perform xxxxx hours of “useful public service”, you can take the hours times the prevailing minimum wage, write a check, and walk away. (Yes, I know because I’ve done it – thirty over reduced to driving faster than road conditions,  and many, many benjis)

My torture program, over time, involved three city attorneys, a judge and recorder, several clerks and summons to court for the officers involved. Yes, I know the officers get paid. Yes, I know that involves scheduling problems. Since I settled the matter four days before the court date my bet is the clerks didn’t notify the officers in a timely manner and they will show up tomorrow.  

Remember I said it was all about revenue? My original fine went from $155 to $172. Points against my license went from four to two.

I may not have the negotiating skills of an attorney. Several decades of sales and the car biz left me with some. Along with those, I’m seldom intimidated.

Very well WSF you are saying. What about all the time you spent? Hell, I’m semi retired. Time spent doing this kept me out of  bars.

Give Me a T for Texas

The route I drive goes South on Nebraska 71. From Scottsbluff to Kimball it is four lanes and 65 mph (70 mph seems to be tolerated as I've never been stopped). South of Kimball it is two lanes, no shoulders, and 60 mph. After crossing the Colorado line the speed limit is 65 mph. Hard to do when the road is like this.

I have a healthy fear of these sneaky public servants.

 They are good at their work. While I seldom see one on Highway 71, it is often enough to keep this scofflaw nervous.

Today a gentleman in a white Fusion Hybrid with Texas plates blows by me just past the Kimball Airport turnoff. Ah, a rabbit to follow. A 75 mph rabbit, with me discretely following a half mile behind. Ran the whole length to Colorado 14 where he turned East and I turned West. Probably jogged over to the continuation of Highway 71 to Limon and then Hwy 287 to yeeha.

Hope he made it. We didn't encounter this.

Not to mention this.

So thank you Tex, whoever you are, for saving me twenty minutes today.

As a side note, I see lots of Charger Police Cars. To my knowledge, Chrysler has never solved the cooling problem. When the po po run wide open for very long, it is windows down, a/c off, and heater on full blast. Or, just get a Ford. 

I Am A Scofflaw

A Red Light Ticket arrived by mail. $75.00. What I did was turn right, after stopping, where a right turn on red is prohibited. A very convoluted intersection where the lights take "forever" to change. Yes Sisty, no patience. Bite me.

In Colorado, you must be served within 90 days, or the ticket isn't valid. The "service" costs you an additional $30.00. The offense occurred twenty miles away in another municipality.

On one hand, my vehicle is registered to a P.O. Box. Serve that! There are at least four people in this town with my name. Sort that out, server!  On the other hand, I drive in the issuing city several times a week. If I am pulled over for something else, BINGO! So do I meekly pay the fine? Hell No! I hate the whole concept of red light and speeding cameras.

The intersection.

Setting a Good Example

Murphy’s Law has a post, “Why can’t the whole world drive like I do?”

http://lagniappeslair.blogspot.com/2012/04/why-cant-whole-world-just-drive-like-i.html

Brought back a fond memory. Some background.

The infamous S curves on I-405 through Renton, WA has a Southbound on ramp that is tough to use as, unlike California, folks in the Pacific Northwest won’t let you merge. You will, by God, fall in behind them even when traffic is stop and go.  Those who use this on ramp know that after two or three stop and go’s, the way opens up and you get up to speed.

At the time I was driving an old ex Hanford Nuclear Plant Dodge D-150 with thick steel plate bumpers. It was a beauty, with not a single panel without a dent, paint coming off in patches, and assorted scrapes. I never bothered to register it, the plates on it were never issued to it, and the tabs were to yet another plate. If stopped, I would give the officer my business card, explain the vehicle was a trade in (not a lie, it had been traded in two years ago) that I was driving as a demo. Since I always had my personal insurance, I was more or less legal, being in the car business.

One day I was merging on I-405. There was a shiny Green Buick with Oregon plates (home of the worse asshat drivers anywhere) who wasn’t going to let me get in front of him. I continued to merge. Finally, he realized I didn’t give a shit if we collided and he backed off. For the next quarter mile he had his window down giving me the Hawaiian peace and love signal and laying on his horn. Timing the stop and go sequence, I waited for the last one, shifted into reverse, and modified the front of his Buick. Accelerating down the now open road, saw him in my mirror limping to the shoulder with coolant gushing out of his now flattened front end.

If more drivers drove like I do, we would have many more polite drivers sharing the road, don’t you think?

Damn, I loved that truck. My employer absolutely forbid me parking it in the “Reserved for the Salesman of the Month” parking spot. I didn’t want the new demo, not at a income rate of 1 ½% of the M.S.R.P. added to my taxable income.