Home of Rhett & Link fans - the Mythical Beasts!
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Oh, so you want a peek at the dark side of the E-Ministrator, eh?
I've been a New Yorker all my life...land of the 55 mph limit. I have habitually pushed it to 70 on the expressway. So, when I moved to Florida where the highway limit is often 70, that gave me "permission" to average 80-83. I was doing 82 on the way home from a bible study of all things, when I got pulled over for the first time in FL (after living here 2 years). I mentioned to the officer that I had never been pulled over in this state. He mentioned to me that the limit on the road I was on was 65 and took my license off to check me out. When he came back, he asked, "Did you say you've never been pulled over in the state of Florida?" When I said that was correct, he let me go and just told me to slow down.
So, 3 months later when I got stopped again by a cop waiting on the far side of a bridge spanning the Intracoastal Waterway for people who didn't notice that the speed limit was posted at 45 mph on a flippin' 4-lane road, I figured I could probably get away with that line again. After all, that first incident was just between me and the officer, right? So, I said, "Gee officer, I've never even been pulled over in the state of Florida." He didn't miss a beat, and came back with, "Well, there's a first time for everything." To be honest, I just laughed and took the ticket.
Speeding tickets are a right of passage in Jacksonville. There's no state income tax here, so this is a prime source of revenue. It's almost unheard of that you live here and have NOT gotten one. But, I've only gotten one and I'd like to try to keep it that way!
I got my one and only speeding ticket back when I was 18. And it wasn't a very good story.
But I have been pulled over many times. (Not 'cause I'm a bad driver. I'm definitely a good driver. Definitely.) My old car was, well, old. And after about the 6th year that I owned it, I realized it blue-booked for about $400 in mint condition, let's just say I gave up on making any cosmetic repairs. Not that I was ghetto about it; I used clear Duct tape to hold the passenger side door shut, and clear zip-ties to hold the front bumper on... But I got pulled over many times for "fixit issues".
There was one incident of "bad" driving... I was driving to work at about 3:30 in the a.m. and went through what was always a flashing yellow light at that time of day. Except I noticed (as I was entering the intersection) that the light was flashing red. Started to slam on the brakes, then realized that I was halfway through, and stopping at that point would be both ridiculous and an exercise in futility. I made it about half a block, then saw a car pull onto the empty road behind me. And I knew he was a cop. He let me cruise along at 30mph for another 1/2 mile before he hit the lights. I pulled over, rolled down my window, and waited for him to walk up and hit me in the eyes with the inevitable beam from his mag-lite. Once he got to my window, and before he could say anything, I blurted out, "I realized what I did right as I was doing it."
I must have looked as guilty as I felt, 'cos instead of asking me where I was coming from at that time of night, he just started laughing. And after I asked him "isn't that light always a flashing yellow?" he laughed again and said, "not on Sundays anymore. They changed it last week, and I did the exact same thing you just did." Then he just waved and said "have a good night." I was stunned; no request for license, registration or any of that. Ypsi cops have definitely been good to me over the years...
Loved your story. Do you still have the car or is in car heaven?
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