Re: Poll on speeding tickets (long)

[Nikolai Rotchniak <nikolair@xxxxxxxxx>]

I must be the dumbest or with the least luck. I state the point of my
post right now: I learned my lesson and haven't got any tickets for
the last 2.5 years. Plus some details of it might be interesting for
you guys.

So, when I just started driving in US, I got 3 speeding tickets in a 6
month period plus two tickets for not yelding to pedestrian/passing on
the right (at the same time). In this latter case I was dumb enough to
squeeze on the right by a state trooper on Main Street. My first
speeding was even more outrageos: I did 70 in a 30 zone (town street
at night), but 'funny' thing happened when I got stopped. It was the
first time I got stopped in US, in my former country it is a normal
thing to ask to see the reading on the radar (the only proof, you
can't get paced there). So officer really took it personal, ordered me
out of the car, searched me, etc, but nothing worse. I did get to see
the reading on his radar by the way. I might be the only one here who
can 'proudly' say that. 

One more speeding was also clearly my fault - I was racing Camaro, and
even though my antiradar spotted the trooper and I slowed down and got
behind Camaro, thinking I'm the smartest, the officer didn't think so
and pulled me over and NOT Camaro.

Last speeding was actually provoked by the police car (at least I like
to think so). It wasn't marked in any way and he was tailgating me in
the left line and turning his headlights on and off to let him go, so
I took off really fast but immidiately realized my fate when he put on
his undercover red/blue lights inside his car. 

What got me cooled off is that I was actually punished 4 times for the
same convictions. I wasn't that bothered by monetary punishment of
tickets themselves, but then came insurance increase, then my license
was suspended for a month and then I was ordered mandatory driver's
re-training (people there were intersting characters mostly for DUI, I
felt like I'm in jail).

So while I didn't particularly enjoy all this, I must say the system
worked on me pretty well. Maybe I just grew up. I'm thinking of
running in amateur club races instead. Moral: fear of punissment works
just as well as sound reasoning on some people, on some it's the only
thing that works (I still like to think it's not me).


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End of bmw-digest V9 #350
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