Zoom, Zoom, Zoom, Crap

[Max Headroom]

So I ended up working a 13.5 hour shift last night, finishing at 2:30 AM, and wanted nothing more than to get home quick and fall into bed. It's a nice night so the top goes down and off we go. When I made it to where I wanted to park my car, there were no more spots left so I had to drive it around the block to look for something else. Being that it was now 2:45 and the road was empty, and that I do enjoy a "spirited" drive now and again, I was going much quicker than I should have been. From a stop sign, I turned left onto my street (major road) and put the pedal to the floor. I had redlined in first, shifted into second and put my foot down, then saw the cop...

Radar trap literally RIGHT in front of my door.

Lights come on, another cop pulls out behind me, but I was already stopping, I knew I was fvcked. 81km in a 50 zone, $186. And what, do you ask, was going through my head? "Man, I'm lucky he did not get me three blocks ago when I was busting 100." Later on it came to me that I really had this one coming for a while. I mean, I drive like a nut, (as do the majority of people in this town) though I've managed to live here for 7 years and never get a speeding infraction. I'll also add that speed traps them self are a rare commodity in Montreal, especially off the highways. I could count on one hand the number of times I've seen one in the city in the last three years and I'd probably have fingers left. I did not try to do anything stupid like talk my way out of it. A 27 year old guy in a red convertible sports car, I'm a prime target for any law enforcement agent.

So then, am I trying to justify it to myself, nope. Did I screw up royally, yep. Should I drive slower, oh yes. Will I? Debatable. I'll probably slow down for a while, but I know myself, I can't resist a corner.

It is now the morning after and I am debating my options. The most obvious thing to do is own up, and pay the ticket. That being said, it is the least appealing. I have more or less clean driving record. I had one ticket for an illegal u-turn from 1998. I managed to argue my way out of two tickets written at the same time for the derelict condition of my vehicle a few years ago. (that is another story all together) I am thinking my best option is to go before a judge, admit to guilt and express remorse, cite my record and how much I valued it being clean, then ask to plead guilty to a lesser speed. (hoping for mercy)

The other option is to try and play Matlock. Two strategies have come up. My father, the distinguished criminal defense lawyer (QC) once had a laser radar ticket thrown out on a technicality. He requested the police to provide him with a copy of the operations manual for the gun he was clocked with. (laser guns must be used dead on to get an accurate reading, he wanted to check the tolerance for this gun) The police department refused to provide him with this information stating that it contained trade secrets. He went before a judge and argued the police had prevented him from preparing a proper defense. The judge agreed and threw out the ticket. Trying something like this is my first option.

Option two is to go before the judge, admit to my wrong doing, express remorse for my actions, state how much I valued my clean record (which I do quite truthfully) and try to plead guilty to a lesser speed. It's not the fine that bugs me, but the increase in insurance and points on my license. I do fully appreciate that I'm deserving of this ticket, however being the son of a lawyer, and perhaps a future one, there is a nagging voice in the back of my head that says "fight it, fight it!"

Any way, thats my story. Poor Scarlett has finally been christened. The clincher of it all being that I more or less volunteered to work that late, and would not have been driving that fast if i had just gone home at 6:00 like always. What tremendous irony that the radar trap was situated all of 30 meters away from my front door. If I had gone home earlier, there would have been parking spots, and I would have never driven that stretch of road... Ahh well, none of that is an excuse. I just thought I'd share my dumbass experience with y'all.

Opinions on my future course of action are more than welcome.

[Frieda]

you didnt get a ticket for the broken mirror?

[Max Headroom]

Passenger side,

Not required by law.

My old '90 Mazda POS did not even have one installed from the factory on the passenger side

[trisherina]

Good story. I see you leaning towards a plea for lenience, but that's just my take. You might do well with that; you seem personable and the judge might just dimly remember your father favourably from some previous encounter. You'll get an insurance ding from one speeding ticket?

[Max Headroom]

I'm leaning towards the negotiation option as well... I'll see if i can get any advice from those with local experience. Unfortunately, dad the lawyer lives and works in Calgary, the legal system in Quebec is based on the french civil code, whereas the rest of the country is based on british common law. Pops does not have much experience or many contacts in this part of the world.

As for the insurance, I'm going to call the up and ask about it. That being said, I'm not going to be calling from a phone number that they can tie to me, and I'm definately not giving them my name or policy number. Buggers that they are will put a call like that on file and pump up the rates, even if I did manage to get the ticket thrown out. They do crap like that with accidents all the time as well.

[craig johnston]

Originally Posted by Max Headroom

the legal system in Quebec is based on the french civil code

so it's the guillotine, devil's island or you have to eat snails and frogs
legs for the rest of your life.
i'd go for the guillotine.
a short death rather than a long drawn out one.

[Max Headroom]

As an add on to my story. After I got my ticket, I still needed to find a parking spot. I had to drive around the block again and go past the cops one more time. I waved to the one with the radar gun, I was tired and delirious and thought it was funny. He did not seem to laugh.

[dinzdale]

Probably because he had to go home to his loud shovel-faced wife.

[Clytie]

i recently got ticketed...after being pulled over nearly 20 times. i decided not to fight it because just 2 weeks before i got caught with an unrenewed license, no tags on my plates, going 10 over and without my proof of insurance. and would have had to play up the waZZo...this time it wasnt as bad so hey i figure ive been let off enuff.

[daverbee]

Last time I got ticketed they gave me the option of going to traffic school to keep points off my record.
Traffic school was a joke. An hour of listening to people insist they were innocent of any wrongdoing followed by dinner followed by another hour of people insisting they were innocent of any wrongdoing.
One guy had thirteen moving violations on his record. Why the State of Florida was still allowing him to drive was beyond me!
Another was an ambulance driver for Fire & Rescue. He should have known better but I guess stupidity knows no bounds.
I was very guilty of what I did and admitted it. The rest of the class looked at me like I was insane.

[Frieda]

i've had 14 speeding tickets in the past 7 years. nothing since i got the strawberry though.. it's too old to drive 160 km/h. well, not really, because i tried, but that was in germany, where it was allowed.. okay, never mind. speeding is cool, but expensive!

[trisherina]

I used to captain an eight-ball team for the Canadian Pool League. One of our team members was a Quebecois female who ran her mouth at all times. She was angry when I didn't laugh at the following joke:

Q. "How long does it take a black woman to take a s--t?"
A. "Nine months!"

She wouldn't let it go, what a snob I was for not having a good laugh. Even when I asked her how she felt about the joke as a mother herself, she didn't get it. She often talked about her daughter's academically gifted status, something her husband once noted was very fortunate, since J____ "drank and smoked throughout the pregnancy."

Anyway. I used to dread the nights this hosebag would show up. She would always want to be played, of course, whether it was appropriate or not, because she fancied herself a great player. (She handicapped as a 3 out of a possible 6.)

One night we were up against a team of players I knew quite well from other tournaments, all female, most with the last name Cardinal. I was really looking forward to it because they were all crack players and the challenge made me really focus and try to improve my own game instead of just screwing around and sloshing back beer. Of course, they proceeded to kick our asses. It didn't take long for the loud, slurred comments to begin:

"Sure, I bet I could play like that, if I had nothing to do all day but practice on the reservation." These ladies, it should also be pointed out, lived on a reserve about like I do. I hissed something to that effect at her and sent up a fervent wish that none of them had overheard. "They hate us, you know," she hissed back.

"No, J____, they hate YOU." My eyes were fairly popping out of my head.

The atmosphere got noticeably chillier, but at least she shut up. I disbanded the team so she wouldn't re-register.