So, it's true. I got my first ticket. Ever. And, it's also true, that I wondered why in the heck the police officer wouldn't let me go with a warning. I was driving my huh-knee's car (which speeds up a bit quicker), and I also was only going 10 miles over the posted speed limit in a speed trap where the limit changes from 55 to 45 without great notice. I miss one sign and blue lights start rotating.
As he read me my rights and my court options, I freaked out inside. $280 for 10 miles over the speed limit? Do I look like the criminal type? I was trying to get home to nurse a screaming baby for cryin' out loud. There was no one around--except for a cop in the bushes. In fact, he followed me without lights on for like 4 miles before pulling me over. Taunting me.
When I got to the BP station, that was that. I signed the yellow paper, pulled in the driveway, and said to David: "I just got a ticket, and I'm sick about it. Just sick about it."
(Insert drama)
Why is it that getting a ticket feels like the end of the world?
When I attended my court date, the Judge was very kind. He had a humorous personality, and then he made me pay a $44 fine (yes, 44!). He quickly gave me the choice of traffic school or paying the full ticket. I chose traffic school.
As I sat in class with others, they told their stories of Anger Management class and their annoyance of bicyclers on the side of the road. They also told horror stories of guns being pulled in front of their faces because they played the aggressive driver game with people who were riding their tail.
Let's just say, I might have put up a stubborn fight, but I'm pretty sure Traffic School saved my life before I ever put myself in danger. Thank you, cop in the bushes and Judge Nations for saving me from ever making mistakes like people in my class shared.
And so, I wanted to pass along a few of the stories and lessons I learned in hopes that maybe it will be as enlightening to you as it was to me. First off, you'll have to excuse me because I can't remember all of the exact statistics, but I am attempting to be as accurate as possible. What I found most astonishing (and sometimes comical) was how Traffic School applied to life as we know it. I live in metaphors. Everything means something.
If driving a car is a metaphor for living your life, well you can just fill in the rest of the blanks with some of these stories/facts:
1. It is safer to smoke a joint of marijuana while driving than it is to talk on a cell phone while driving; this includes a BlueTooth. (This is not to advocate joint-smoking while driving.) This just says that driving a car while being distracted on a cell phone equivalently brings your blood concentration level down to the same as a drunk (with alcohol) driver. Can you believe it? It's safer to be high while driving. We're all driving around drunk with kids in the backseat and pedestrians walking and other people driving. Scary thought.
2. Even if you are wearing your seatbelt, if someone else is your car is NOT wearing a seatbelt, they will likely injure you if you're in a car accident. The person who chooses not to wear a seatbelt is the person who flies around the car hitting people with the same impact as the initial car crash. In Ireland, a group of four teenagers were traveling in a car. Three were wearing seatbelts and one wasn't. The three were killed because the fourth teen's body collided with them over and over again as the car was struck multiple times. It's like a loose cannon. It'd be really difficult to live with yourself if you kill all the people in your car who are actually following the rules. Wear a seatbelt. If you're driving others in your car, make them wear a seatbelt.
3. Never engage with an aggressive driver AKA don't get into a power struggle with anyone. If someone is riding your tail, pull over and let them pass if you can. If someone flicks you off, turn the other cheek. If someone wants to race, let them speed their little heart out. It's safer if they're in front of you instead of behind you. I heard numerous stories of people fighting "back" in a power struggle, and the initial aggressive driver ended up pulling out a gun or starting a physical assault. Winning is not worth it. Driving isn't a competition; it's a way for us to get from Point A to Point B. We all need to go places, but we don't have to fight about it.
4. On a similar note, personalize yourself with what other drivers may be going through. They are not always trying to be aggressive even though it might look like it at first. My teacher told the story of a woman who was being tailgated. She got annoyed because she believed the person behind her was being a jerk, and so she did several break checks and slow downs. After three or four cycles of this, the person behind her sped up quickly and passed her up. As she connected eyes with the driver, she noticed that there was a person in the back seat who was performing CPR on a body. Don't be stupid. (Practical life advice here: You might think someone is on your tail because they're aggressive (they don't like you or because they want to cause trouble), but it might not be the case. When we think we can judge a book by it's cover without truly knowing who someone is and we then engage in an un-initated power struggle with them, we could be risking someone's life. For whatever reason, these kind of power-struggle initiators always want to drive slowly in front of me when I have a victim in my back seat. I'm not sure if the blond hair throws them off, or if they just assume that I'm naive-- but Lawd Almighty. My biggest way to thwart dumb games in life threatening situations? Let go of the offense and remove myself from the situation. I'm just gonna speed on up ahead of you, and save the person's life in the back seat (whether it's my own or someone else's). I was a lifeguard in college; the signs of drowning are very obvious. I can't help myself but to jump in the water and get that person out before CPR is our only option, but we all need to be on the same team. I can't do my job if someone else is holding me up, and the other person can't do his future job if I'm holding offense against his unnoticed belligerence. If you can relate to this scenerio, you can read more about this personal soapbox here.
Just writing about those four examples is enough for me to chew on for the next several weeks. We have been so irresponsible. I have been irresponsible. If I don't want to white knuckle the dash board when my kids start driving, I'm going to enforce this stuff in my life NOW. These are the kinds of small decisions we make in everyday life that will completely affect the generations behind us. My kids learn how to drive by watching me drive. I can only control the way my family does business, but if we choose to follow safe traffic guidelines then at least I know we'll have good reaction time if someone else isn't. I'd rather be safe than dead. I'll be looking both ways before driving through a green light, keeping 3 seconds from the car in front of me, and pulling over to let aggressive drivers pass me from now on.
Thank you, Traffic School.
