This is an old story, but one that is punctuated by a police officer telling me, That’s how you get out of a ticket, so it seems a worthy one to share.
About a year ago I was driving the kids to school in the rain. I’ve written before that weather is so infrequent in Southern California that when it actually does rain, the windshield wipers are often dried up and ineffective. It was one of those mornings, hard rain and lousy windshield wipers.
I waited at the four-way stop to make a left. It’s a busy stop sign with the drop off lane going in one direction and a crossing guard working two other directions. I checked the cars, I checked the crossing guard and I made a left. Next thing I knew there were lights flashing in my back windows.
I was being pulled over in front of my kids’ elementary school for reckless driving. I was that mother.
One hilarious thing about being pulled over is that I automatically put my hands on the steering wheel to show that I wasn’t packing. Not that I expected him to approach me with a gun drawn shouting Show me your hands! but it seemed like a prudent thing to do.
That’s the sum total of everything I ever learned while watching Law & Order.
The officer told me that the crossing guard had put her foot in the road before I made my left which, obviously, I didn’t see. I tried to explain this to the officer through the open car window with rain falling on both of us.
…and it was raining and I couldn’t see and I volunteer at the school and I would never endanger the kids on purpose and my windshield wipers weren’t working and I even know the crossing guard and say hello to her every day and…
He listened dispassionately. When I finally took a breath.
Officer: Oh. You’re special then.
I had lost him. I resigned myself to getting a ticket. He still stood at my window and the empty space in the conversation was too much to bear.
Me: Sir, I’m sorry. I made a mistake and it won’t happen again.
He relaxed. He told me that I could go. And as an afterthought, he said, That’s how you get out of a ticket.
Later, a friend told me that her police officer friend told her the same thing, that admitting to screwing up will serve you better than almost any excuse.
(Though, I think My wife is having a baby and I need to get to the hospital! is probably still effective.)
Great story! I expected your “runner’s legs” would be your ticket out of getting a ticket! That’s if the Police Officer was a “leg man!”
I strongly suspect that a 30-something minivan driver would have NO leverage in that department.
Well this came up after googling “getting a ticket without being pulled over.” As it turns out, earlier, I picked my kid up from school. As I was approaching a certain intersection at one of the school exits where there is a crossing guard (with no stop sign, though, just a yellow striped section to cross), there was no one in the intersection so I proceded to drive, then the crossing guards comes off the sidewalk into the street and puts his hand and sign out to stop, so of course I did, but I was already halfway into the intersection. As I stood there, I look and there was a police officer standing at the opposite corner with his walkie talkie held up to his mouth and I got the impression that he was reading my plates over to whoever – to ticket me for a possible failure to stop – I don’t know. So to get a better perspective before going into full panic mode, I drove back in the same direction afterwards and by now traffic is dying out. The officer is leaving the spot and walking towards his patrol car and I can no longer assess the whole thing. Needless to say, I’m worried because of course I don’t want to get a ticket. Here in Southern California I guess anything is possible, but I’m just wondering is someone has a similar experience that is relative to this so I can either build a defense or put it to rest.
I don’t know. I was actually pulled over. I don’t think you can get a ticket without being pulled over (aside from those camera tickets for running red lights) but, like you, it wouldn’t surprise me either way. Good luck!