Tuesday, April 29, 2008

i fought the law...

I have only been pulled over two times in my life. The first, when i was seventeen, because the officer thought I was underage. The second was March of this year for a railroad crossing violation.
I recall that the police were doing a "traffic safety sting" that day. So the crossings were being triggered by a police officer on a train. When I got pulled over i asked the officer what I had done wrong. He couldn't tell me because he didn't actually see anything happen. GREAT! He was just the ticket distributor. So, I got to thinking, what could I have possible done? If you are familiar with the tracks at Vista and Trent, then you would know that there are two sets of tracks, about 2-3 car lengths apart. As I crossed one set of tracks, the lights started to flash, etc., etc because there was a "train" on the first track. I came up to the second track and the lights were NOT flashing and the guard stayed up. So I crossed. The oncoming traffic's side, however, came down. I am not sure why I received a ticket. My conclusion is that these stupid police officers aren't familiar with the train crossings and they should have known the rules.
I took it to court and I WON! YiPPEE! Okay, they reduced the charge to a non moving violation, meaning it won't affect our insurance, which, I am happy with. It was my word against his, although, I had pictures to prove that I was not at fault.
Arah: 1
Police Officer: 0

12 comments:

Karlene said...

I cannot believe how they were trapping people that day. I go thru that crossing almost every day and your right, the second one does not come down for the first train. Those Dirty Dogs!!! Glad you won!

Josh n Betsie said...

Go arah go! I guess they need to make sure the railroad signs work better. I am sitting trying to think of where the heck Vista is.

CrazyMomof7 said...

Good for you!!

arah said...

Betsie~
it's between Park and Argonne, across from Big R. West Valley High School is on that street.
Glad your doing good enough to check blogs and leave comments. Keep us posted on those twins!

Lisa Farman said...

Well I am glad you shared this story. If I had been in your postion I would have kept going as well. Those stinky pigs didn't even know what you did wrong, that is sad. Glad you won!!

kim said...

The sweet taste of victory!! Way to go!

DeAnne said...

LOL! Hey be nice to the Po-Po (wink). Good job on your victory. Hope you are feeling good! If you're up to it, this Saturday is Newport's garage sale Saturday. Woo-Hoo! Take care

arah said...

I know deAnne, your married to one. I am sure he is a nice policeman, I have only met him once.

julie said...

way to stick it to the man arah. if i would have gone in they would have decided to double my ticket instead. by the way, we should head up to newport and check out the garge sales. no soccer game this week.... hmmmm? :)

arah said...

Mom wants to go to. I thought we would invite Becca too.

Forever Young said...

That is so awesome...you are so brave! Way to stand up and not put with ignorance.

Mary Child said...

Okay, that is such a great post for so many reasons!

First of all, no-one EVER wins in court when they fight a ticket, I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WON!

And, it is equally shocking to me that you have only been pulled over twice. How old are you? How is that possible?

I truly cannot count the number of pull-overs and tickets I've endured. I've been let go about 3 times, but fined at least 10. Just since having Ivy, I was cited for speeding, and then again for not wearing a seat belt. So that's twice in the last 4 years alone.

Where do people like you come from? How do you avoid moving violations? Teach me, PLEASE!