Re:Bicycles vs. Autos

[Regan Dale Copple <copple@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

John,

On Thu, 17 Dec 1998, Jonathan Coates at <jon@domain.elided> wrote:

> On Saturday morning I was minding my own business on the local motorway
> on my way to work. I was in a bit of a rush and so I was driving a
> little faster than usual when I saw a Volvo in my mirrors with nasty
> blue flashing lights in the front grille.
> The guy in the Vulva invited me to stop for a chat, and to sit in his
> car to watch a home movie of me! He showed me the bit of the movie where
> the speed I was doing showed as 112MPH and he told me that that is
> naughty.
> I will be going to court to attempt to retain my licence, though I am
> not under any illusion about the penalty for "dangerous driving" so I am
> looking for any UK people who have been there, done that, to tell me
> what to expect, any tips about bribery etc.

	I don't like unmarked cars either, thank goodness in California
they are not allowed to cite or give you a ticket, it's called entrapment.
About the only thing that they can do is radio in for some marked car to
give you a ticket, but if I were to see one of those cars I'd slow down
anyway.  I did see them around my home town of Hastings Nebraska, I think
it was an Adams County Sheriff, he had someone else pulled over and his
little red and blue grille lights were flashing.  Good thing he didn't
pull me over, I'm pretty sure that there's a warrant out for my arrest in
my hometown.  It was for driving a car with no proof of insurance, it was
originally supposed to be a fix-it ticket but I didn't have insurance at
the time so I couldn't fix it.  Funny thing is that same trip back to my
hometown in 96 when I saw the unmarked car, I myself was hit by an
uninsured driver, come to find out from her ex-insurance agent that the
fine was only $25 at the time.  So I let a fix-it ticket for a $25 dollar
fine go to a bench warrant because I thought that the penalty would be as
severe as it was out here in California.  Oh well warrants go stale in
Nebraska after about seven years and this happened back in 92 so I only
have about another year to wait before I can go back to my hometown and
speed with impunity.

> Oh, and Regan, I don't need tips about riding bicycles thanks, I hear
> that they're far too dangerous for me.

	Riding bicycles isn't the dangerous part, it's that sudden stop
when you hit a curb on a dark street that you have to worry about.  Like
my father always used to say, it's not the accident, it's that sudden stop
at the end that hurts.  Anyway I got my splints off and the only thing
left to get back is my fingernails.  Cheers everyone, happy holidays,
Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year.  Everyone drive safely, and be more
alert this time of year, all the amateurs are out on the roads making the
rest of us crazy.  Ciao!

						Regards,
						Regan Copple

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