…what do you think? Rain, rain, go away, come again another day.
The ticket that wasn’t.
On July - 19 - 20072 COMMENTS
On my way home from work about a month or two ago, I noticed on 90-E, around 3-5 State Highway Patrol police cars on the side of the road. One police officer was standing outside his car with his speed gun, while the other officers relaxed in their cars waiting for the sign to go after for the next speeder. I noticed this trend for the next couple days and even weeks with the numbers topping at 6 officers at one point. Sometimes there were even a couple of police cars a 1/2 mile further down the road. I memorized their location, and made sure to slow down every time I approached the exit for W 117th.
Here and there, I noticed a random police officer on my way to work, so at that point, I made sure to simply drive closer to the speed limit no matter the time or location. There were definitely a couple of close calls, but none of them ended with me walking away with a speeding ticket.
One morning, on 90-W I was towards the left lane, if not in the left lane, when I saw a police officer outside his car point at a car, telling him to pull over. This was the first time that I had ever seen a police officer pull someone over by simply pointing. Normally, don’t they pull out, pull up behind you, put their flashers on, scare the crap out of you, and then pull you over…isn’t that normally how it happens? I guess there is a new sheriff in town, and they just point and you are supposed to know you were speeding.
Yesterday, I was driving home from work, on 90-E as usual. In the same location as before, I saw 2 State Highway Patrol officers and just thought to myself, they are back. I made sure that I was prepared today on the way home.
2 people passed me today, going at a somewhat fast speed, as I neared “the spot.” I thought to myself, have fun, enjoy being pulled over. A few seconds later, down the road, I saw the flashers of Mr. Police Officer. I was one lane over from the left, where he was parked, and I slowed to somewhere between 63-65 MPH, and continued to listen to the Easy Bake Oven story on NPR. As the past script dictated, the police officer was not in his car, yet he was standing next to it, outside. I neared the police officer, and he pointed to 3 different cars, one being mine.
I pulled over, and 2 other cars did the same, one behind me and one in front of me. I thought to myself, this is going to be my first speeding ticket, ever. I turned off the car, and my Easy Bake story. I sat there for a few minutes, shaking and fidgeting. As I waited, and waited, the person behind me was being talked to by the police officer. This guy was definitely getting a ticket. The time continued to pass, and I called home, telling them I was about to get my first ticket and that I would call afterwards. When I finally hung up, the police officer still hadn’t finished with the other gentleman.
I searched the car for proof of insurance, which turned out to be for my old car and is about to expire. My legs began to rattle. I then searched for my registration in my wallet. I could not find it, I continued to search. My heart began to race and almost bounce out of my chest. Luckily, I found it, in a different location than I had thought. 20 or so minutes passed, and I still had not talked to the police officer. Finally, he finished up with the other car, made sure the road was clear, and sent them on their way.
He walked towards me. I clenched my wallet, drivers license and registration. I was ready for whatever he was going to throw at me…….or was I?
“Sir, are you pulled over for a reason?”
“I thought you told me to pull over…”
“I didn’t…[looks back at his car to make sure his partner, I believe, didn't want me pulled over either.]…you are free to go.”
After sitting for 20 or so minutes in panic and angst, I was free to go with not even a warning. The officer walked to the other car in front of me and told them exactly the same thing, we were both mistaken when we pulled over, they were only looking for the one car. I put my turning signal on, made sure that no cars were coming, tried to calm my legs down, and drove off into the sunset.
There was just one problem, and it wasn’t even that I just sat in the car, alone, for 20 minutes, thinking that I was going to be handed my first speeding ticket, it was the fact that I missed the Easy Bake Oven story on NPR. Darn you cops!
