I Got a Ticket

I was late. I was lost. And obviously a little stressed. Everyone was waiting for me. I did not want to be late to a dinner where I was planning on announcing our engagement. Errggghhhh... Keith was on the phone with me telling me where to go. It was a green light and the first two cars in my lane were waiting for traffic to clear to make a left. Behind those two cars was a cop car, and behind him was me. I waited for two cars to pass on my right, then switched to my right lane and crossed the intersection. The two cars ahead of me immediately went into the left lane. After they cleared my lane, I learned why they did that. That lane I was in was a turn right only lane. I followed suit and switched lanes as well. I wanted to go straight, not turn right. I continued down the rode with Keith still on the line. All of a sudden, I noticed red and blue lights flashing behind me. Oh no... What did I do? I pulled over somewhere and waited for the cop to come to my car, totally unaware that I had broken a law. Officer Perez walked up to my car and asked if I knew why he had stopped me. "No," I responded. He said something something about switching lanes and a turn right only lane... He asked me why I did that. I said something like I was lost and didn't know where I was going. That obviously wasn't a great answer because a few minutes later, I had a ticket in my hand. He was nice and courteous the whole time, even told me exactly how to get to the parking lot of the restaurant I needed to get to... which by the way was right behind me with my group of friends watching me get ticketed. After I drove away, I was still confused as to what I did. I guess it never occured too me that you can get fined for crossing a solid white line, something every single driver has done, something many drivers do on a daily basis. Man. I shoulda either cried or tried showing what cleavage I could muster through the collar of my caridgan. OR maybe I shouldn't have went around a cop. When I did that, he probably had some neck action while saying "Oh no she di'int!"

So how much was the ticket? Get this. $202! Plus $57 for traffic school! I couldn't believe my eyes!

So I went to court one morning and got my fine reduced to $151. Better than nothing! Going to court was a big hassle, but was very entertaining. I did not know people actually got tickets for jaywalking, tailgating, gosh, I forgot what else. One lady was so stupid. She got cited for three things - no insurance, no license, and speeding! If I didn't have insurance or a license, I would NOT be speeding. One guy had fines adding up to $3000! And tickets for talking on your cell phone without a hands free device is almost $100!!

So anyway, this was a learning experience for me. I now know that you can actually get ticketed for crossing a solid white line. I am super paranoid about everything now, but I certainly don't speed as much anymore and don't tailgate as much! More mellow... :)

Now I just gotta go do traffic school... Sigh... :(