I admit it: when I'm alone in the car, I often drive fast. As in: 95-100 miles per hour fast. In a tiny Honda Fit, that's asking a lot of your car. It was also, I suppose, only a matter of time before I was going to get caught, and today my number was up.
Gotta hand it to the police officer: he chose a particularly good spot at which to snare us cars. Instead of parking in the usual spots-- e.g., just around a bend, tucked under a bridge, just over a rise-- he parked between two man-made hills, on the grass, and I swam right into his maw. I've seen that trick only once before on this stretch of freeway. "Clever bastard!" I muttered through my teeth.
He was slow about pulling out, too: I knew I was toast, so I watched in the rear view as he languidly rolled onto the freeway and turned on his lights (no siren). I had slowed 70 at that point, irrationally hoping that he'd pass me in favor of some other quarry, but no: he was after me, as I already knew. He slid behind my car; I pulled over, he sauntered up to my window, and we plunged into The Ritual, which I haven't undergone in years and years.
"How you doin'?" he began.
"Fine, Officer," I said.
"Clocked you at eighty-four," he said. (That's 135.5 km/h for my metrically inclined readers-- not too fast by my standards.) "What happened? Were you just not watching?"
"Guess not," I shrugged.
"In Virginia, over 80 is reckless driving.* License and registration, please," he said. I handed them over.
The officer walked back to his car, and came back only seconds later, which I found unusual. The Ritual normally takes a lot longer. Was I about to be placed under arrest?
"You've got a clean driving record, so I'm gonna let you off with a warning this time," the officer said. He handed me back my license and registration.
I smiled, said "Thank you," and went on my way-- much more slowly.
God, 70 miles per hour feels like crawling.
So what's the moral of the story? Probably not Be better at anticipating speed traps.
*I forgot to add that rather important utterance when I first typed this up. Wouldn't want to portray the officer as remiss in informing me of the relevant law.
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I guess I'm an old timer, but I set the cruise control at no more than 9 mph over the posted speed limit. I never get stopped. And yes, cars are usually blowing by me.
ReplyDeleteIt's great that you caught a break. The fine would not be pleasant, but the impact on your insurance rate would be the gift that keeps on giving...
Yes, indeed. I got a very, very lucky break.
ReplyDeleteOh MG! In New Zealand if you drive 10kms over 100kmph you get a $150 fine plus a loss of demerit points. I don't thonk I have driven over 130kmph in my life!!
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