Tuesday, November 11, 2008

License and Registration, Please

I got pulled over today a few blocks from my house. Yep. Not yesterday on the freeway on my way home from Odgen. Oh wait, that happened too.

Today I was minding my own business on my way to the store for a few things to make pumpkin bread as a thank you to my friends who watched some of my kids while I went to California over the weekend. I am coming down the hill when I see flashing lights following a car ahead of me. I think, "wow, I've never seen a cop on this street pull someone over, I better slow down, I'm going 45. Oh look, there's a cop sitting on that bench and there's one turning the corner and is now right behind me. Crap, I didn't put my new tags on, well, he won't pull me over, it's only been a week and a half since they expired." "Ohhh crap!" (Wait, I think I swore when the lights went on behind me). I pull into the exact same gas station where the first car was getting a ticket. When the cop asked me for my license, registration and insurance I knew I was in trouble. I gave him my license, told him my new tags were sitting on my counter, and rummaged through my glove box pretending to look for the current insurance card knowing full well I didn't have it but I had all sixty-three others. He tells me to wait in the car. (Because I'm a flight risk with two of my kids with me??)

In the end he brings me back my citation for going 46 in a 35 zone, and failure to carry insurance. What? Nothing for an expired registration or a 5-year-old sitting buckled without his car seat or texting while driving? (Just kidding, Numismatist)

Total: $191.50
Going too fast (I refuse to call 46 mph speeding) = $75
Failure to carry insurance = $116.50 However, this will be removed when I provide proof of insurance at the courthouse.

And on the way home from the store, just up the same street, there were two cops standing on the corner with a radar gun and three cop cars lined up beside them. I think they were hoping to catch all the high school kids trying to get back to class before lunch was over. But seriously, that was 5 cop cars and 6 officers on the same 2 blocks in one hour.

Oh, and yesterday? Here' s how it went down:

Cop: "Do you have a front license plate?
Me: "Oh, this is my husband's car, I'm sure he does."
Cop: "OK, just get it mounted on the front. Have a safe trip."
Me: "Thank you, I will."

I think Mr. Policeman was hoping to nail a 16-year-old punk kid racing down the freeway in a 1991 Honda Civic Hatchback (with a tweaked muffler so it makes extra noise) and instead he got a mom in her mid (I mean early) thirties with a baby in the backseat.


Sure am glad Matt saved me from that cop I dated just before him.

12 comments:

sandi said...

AHHH I hate getting pulled over. He should have just given you a warning. Well at least you can show proof of your insurance and get the bulk of the ticket taken care of.
Just don't do what Andrew did once. Say over and over again that you think that you can fight the ticket and pay half only to end up paying 3x the amount and have a warrant out for your arrest. Lets just say I wasn't very happy!

The Numismatist said...

Two days in a row? You better stay home tomorrow.

Just how good was that swear word? Would Athena be proud?

athena said...

Wow! When I picked up our rental car on Thursday I just knew that I would get a ticket before the weekend was over. Glad they passed me up, didn't know tickets were so expensive!

Does your car have cranks?

Muriel said...

Numi: It wasn't the queen mother of all dirty words but it was a son of one.

Athena: Matt's car is every bit as good as our rental, minus two doors and a radio and before you turn the car off you have to turn off everything electrical, then rev the engine a few times to give enough charge to the battery so it will start up again. As for the pic on Numi's blog I forgot to turn the lights off when I got gas (there's no annoying dinging reminder).

J & M Shumate Family said...

OK....I am laughing....does anyone like cops??? Seriously...funny funny stories! Be careful. Your luck may have run out. When I lived in TX I got 3 tickets in 4 weeks. (And I hadn't gotten a ticket for over 5 yrs before that!) GOOD LUCK!!

Eris said...

Um, I like police officers, but that's because they are usually pulling me from the wreckage that used to my vehicle and asking me if I remember my name... not giving me a ticket.

Awesome! My word verification for this comment is "copsit." NO LIE!

Neeley's said...

Ok, I was having that afternoon crash...you know the one that hits you about 3:00 and you are ready for bed! This just made me laugh and definitely woke me up...thanks!

jennycooks said...

Muriel, I was so touched by your kindness. I wanted to thank you. If we move down that way, I would love to meet you.

apyknowzitall said...

Try this one. We've had this messed up van for a long time (Sandi it was that piece o' crap we had last time) that is seriously on it's death bed. Instead of fixing the tranny, we're waiting for it to give out. (Ok that sentence by itself isn't very good...) Anyway so the tabs have been out since last April and we only drive it to work/school.

So I've had 3 cops drive right behind me and they have better things to do and I've never pulled over. Until one day last month I cross an intersection and see the funkiest cop car. I slow down to try to figure out what kind it was (some messed up hybrid they'd only have in the NW) when as I'm passing them they throw their lights on. Crap! I continue to pull in to the building where my class is and they do the "bleep-bloop" where a few people from my class are having a great time watching me get a ticket. $300 because the tabs had been expired longer than 2 months. I hate cops with nothing better to do.

cate said...

The last two times I was in a car that got pulled over for speeding was in Idaho. My mom got pulled over in Stanley a few summers back and my dad got pulled over in...yep...Pocatello. Those coppers there on you like hall monitors in a public middle school. I guess everyone on Idaho roads needs beware of our family!

athena said...

My record is getting pulled over three times in one week and given no tickets.

Darn, probably just jinxed myself!

Cydnee Gee said...

I saw all those cops sitting around that day!!! All day long as a matter of fact. In the exact places you described. And that's exactly what I said to my kids, they're probably hanging out trying to catch the high school kids. They were in front of my house getting people just a few days before as well!! What it is, pick on the neighborhood day???
That SUCKS!!! So sorry they had to pick on you!