06-24-2003, 11:23 PM
Failure to yield - she busted you on that one. Much as I don't want to pile any more crap onto your plate than what you're already dealing with, she's got you clean and fair on that one. And, unless I'm really off my rocker, you don't argue that point.
Dangerous...? - from the sound of it, it's in the same vein as my guess of aggressive driving. Can't say for sure, of course, but that's my guess. It sounds like it would fit, but there's still plenty of other options that "dangerous" could fit into. ;)
I, like you, am just glad you didn't have an accident. If you think you're in trouble now, just think if you HAD been in an accident. When I had mine, I actually got off lucky - I hit the guardrail, instead of rear-ending the person in front of me. Long story short, 65 M.P.H. became 0 in an instant, and I mean DEAD stop in no time flat. I was a hair beyond locking up my brakes, and I hit a patch of snow (it had snowed heavily the prior day, but the sun combined with warm air melted all but the plow piles away - and that was all that was left: a pile along the guardrail; a big chunk, about 6 feet wide, had melted enough to slide into the road, thus covering a good portion of the lefthand land; they were also doing construction on the breakdown lane, or some such, so the 3-lane highway was reduced to 2 lanes, although traffic wasn't slowed - just cramped). That was it for me. Instant spinout. Maybe, had I been a much more experienced driver, I could have gotten out of it, or at least avoiding slamming the guardrail. As it were, I couldn't / didn't get out, and ended up spinning right into the guardrail. I counted myself lucky - there was no chance in hell I could have stopped in time to avoid rear-ending the person in front of me. And I was going the speed limit, and at a reasonable distance (you could park 3 cars inbetween me and the car in front of me, easily). It just happened too fast. And, just my luck, it happened RIGHT in front of a cop. Apparently, I wasn't the only one, as at least one person in front of me (several cars up, and what I later believed to be the initial cause for the whole ruckus, since at the time I couldn't see past the one car) and at least two, and probably three or more cars behind me all spun out and/or hit something. The worst part was when some guy in a big pickup tried to say I hit his car. Man, I don't know what happened with that, but I remember looking in my rearview and seeing the cop standing on his toes, and from the looks of it screaming at the guy. Only thing I hit was the guardrail, and the cop didn't dispute it any. I didn't get to see the damage until some time later when I pulled into a rest stop, but let me tell you, I damn near broke down and cried. And I do NOT cry. I think I would have taken losing a limb better than I took seeing the front end of my car. It STILL makes me cringe beyond belief - but, then, I loved that car, like it was family instead of steel and plastic.
Accidents are NO fun, and typically (at least, I think) are a LOT worse than a ticket, at least when it comes to insurance. Although, Mass. recently (a few years back) instituted a 3-strikes policy - 3 tickets, and your license is gone. Not to mention each ticket will jack your insurance rates up by near to $1,000. Not a pretty sight. After everything, I must be damn lucky. Neither my accident nor my speeding ticket has ever affected my insurance. I pay ~$1400 a year, IIRC. And I'm a male, under the age of 24. That's about half of what numerous people (male AND female) I know have to pay. They sure ain't the best company, but they're cheap enough, even if it is only basic insurance (originally was about $1800; it's gone down by about a hundred or so each year). I tell ya, Mass. living ain't cheap.
Like I said, keep me informed, if you want. I'd be interested to hear what the officer has to say, at the very least. As for you using your friends to get you off the hook, while I stand on the same side of the line as you do on that moral dilemma, you might just want to think about asking them their opinions, if nothing else, on the whole scenario and the outcome. Always best to be armed when going into a battle, of any kind, and knowledge is the most powerful weapon you can have. At the very least, it might give you a better understanding behind the officer's thoughts, even if it's not quite the same. *shrug* Just my two cents. Like I said, I'm a curious bugger - I'll ask just about anything of anyone. ;)
Dangerous...? - from the sound of it, it's in the same vein as my guess of aggressive driving. Can't say for sure, of course, but that's my guess. It sounds like it would fit, but there's still plenty of other options that "dangerous" could fit into. ;)
I, like you, am just glad you didn't have an accident. If you think you're in trouble now, just think if you HAD been in an accident. When I had mine, I actually got off lucky - I hit the guardrail, instead of rear-ending the person in front of me. Long story short, 65 M.P.H. became 0 in an instant, and I mean DEAD stop in no time flat. I was a hair beyond locking up my brakes, and I hit a patch of snow (it had snowed heavily the prior day, but the sun combined with warm air melted all but the plow piles away - and that was all that was left: a pile along the guardrail; a big chunk, about 6 feet wide, had melted enough to slide into the road, thus covering a good portion of the lefthand land; they were also doing construction on the breakdown lane, or some such, so the 3-lane highway was reduced to 2 lanes, although traffic wasn't slowed - just cramped). That was it for me. Instant spinout. Maybe, had I been a much more experienced driver, I could have gotten out of it, or at least avoiding slamming the guardrail. As it were, I couldn't / didn't get out, and ended up spinning right into the guardrail. I counted myself lucky - there was no chance in hell I could have stopped in time to avoid rear-ending the person in front of me. And I was going the speed limit, and at a reasonable distance (you could park 3 cars inbetween me and the car in front of me, easily). It just happened too fast. And, just my luck, it happened RIGHT in front of a cop. Apparently, I wasn't the only one, as at least one person in front of me (several cars up, and what I later believed to be the initial cause for the whole ruckus, since at the time I couldn't see past the one car) and at least two, and probably three or more cars behind me all spun out and/or hit something. The worst part was when some guy in a big pickup tried to say I hit his car. Man, I don't know what happened with that, but I remember looking in my rearview and seeing the cop standing on his toes, and from the looks of it screaming at the guy. Only thing I hit was the guardrail, and the cop didn't dispute it any. I didn't get to see the damage until some time later when I pulled into a rest stop, but let me tell you, I damn near broke down and cried. And I do NOT cry. I think I would have taken losing a limb better than I took seeing the front end of my car. It STILL makes me cringe beyond belief - but, then, I loved that car, like it was family instead of steel and plastic.
Accidents are NO fun, and typically (at least, I think) are a LOT worse than a ticket, at least when it comes to insurance. Although, Mass. recently (a few years back) instituted a 3-strikes policy - 3 tickets, and your license is gone. Not to mention each ticket will jack your insurance rates up by near to $1,000. Not a pretty sight. After everything, I must be damn lucky. Neither my accident nor my speeding ticket has ever affected my insurance. I pay ~$1400 a year, IIRC. And I'm a male, under the age of 24. That's about half of what numerous people (male AND female) I know have to pay. They sure ain't the best company, but they're cheap enough, even if it is only basic insurance (originally was about $1800; it's gone down by about a hundred or so each year). I tell ya, Mass. living ain't cheap.
Like I said, keep me informed, if you want. I'd be interested to hear what the officer has to say, at the very least. As for you using your friends to get you off the hook, while I stand on the same side of the line as you do on that moral dilemma, you might just want to think about asking them their opinions, if nothing else, on the whole scenario and the outcome. Always best to be armed when going into a battle, of any kind, and knowledge is the most powerful weapon you can have. At the very least, it might give you a better understanding behind the officer's thoughts, even if it's not quite the same. *shrug* Just my two cents. Like I said, I'm a curious bugger - I'll ask just about anything of anyone. ;)
Roland *The Gunslinger*