Friday, October 13, 2006

A glimpse

My life lately has been filled with its little ups and downs. After I injured my ankle almost a month ago (described in 'Carried Away'), I haven't been exercising. I just returned to the field in a limited capacity two weeks ago...but I haven't been as effective as I would like. And, of course, I haven't been running...something that has been my stress relief for much of my life. It's just better in the long run to let things heal until I feel comfortable getting back to my workouts. In the past, I've had some injuries linger way too long because I didn't let my body heal properly.

Work has been busy. I've been working on designs, tweaking drawings as needed, and trying to put things together before we move into production. I'm also dealing with every other little problem that seems to raise its head. On top of that, (and I'm sure I mentioned it), we had a coworker in our group leave the company. Sure, I've had an intern lately, but he can only do so much. The thing I really miss, though, is a lunch partner.

Around the time I hurt my foot, I was also caught in a local sting operation. Yup, I was busted. I was driving back to work after picking up lunch, and was nailed for not yielding to a pedestrian in a crosswalk.

If one knows me, they know that my luck is quite unique. I am one of those that would be the lone survivor in a plane crash, but would be killed 6 weeks later when a rabid squirrel bights me on my finger.

I have yet to get a speeding ticket in California, and haven't had one in general in over 10 years...but, I have been ticketed for running a stop sign while riding a bike. Do you know how embarrassing it is to hear "Blue bike pull over!" from a police patrol car?

Anyway, I had just turned the corner (where there was a separate area for those turning to simply yield) and was driving about the speed limit. I saw a guy walking on the right start to move toward the road. In my mind, I thought, "Dude...don't jay-walk in front of me" because I could not see a crosswalk in the area. As I got closer, he steps out into the street, then steps back. Seeing this, I slowed, then changed to the left lane so I wouldn't be near him. I hesitated to stop all together when he stepped back. As I looked to my right while passing the pedestrian, I saw all of the cops parked just after the crosswalk.

In a fairly polite way, I told the cop that their sting operation sucked...especially since their 'set-up guy' had stepped back. While the officer was writing out my ticket, though, I saw all of the motorcycle cops chasing after other cars that had blown by the crosswalk area without even noticing the pedestrian.

I'm supposed to do something by Monday...pay the fee, pay the fee and go to traffic school, or contest the violation. I did some research and looked up the law on pedestrians and motor vehicles when it comes to crosswalks. It basically says that the pedestrian has the right of way...except as to not cause harm or pose a risk to themselves, and that the driver of a vehicle shall take all measures possible to prevent any harm to the pedestrian.

Also, the crosswalk the cops decided to use for their sting operation did not have any painted lines. It was simply defined by different colored bricks...something that was hard to clearly distinguish from the regular road. I couldn't find any laws on how crosswalks are supposed to be marked, though, so I don't know if an unpainted crosswalk is in violation or not. I have since found, though, that crosswalks outlined with the painted line are much easier to see.

I'd love to contest it since I believe the whole incidence is 50/50 in terms of responsibility (and that the city does not have all of their crosswalks clearly marked), but I'm afraid that the judge will clearly side with the police officer. What's it worth? Well, I'd have to go over to the courthouse with a letter contesting it...have them set up a trial...then state my case during the trial. The easy way out is to pay the $182 fine and be done with it...or go to traffic school to keep it off my driving record...thus keeping my insurance rate the same.

I'd love to hear some unbiased opinions in terms of if I would even have a shot at contesting the violation.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glad to here you are healing quickly. Traffic Infractions that are moving violations are the only ones that go on your driving record. For your insurance to go up you have to have a certain number of points to do that. If your record has been clean for the past 3 years then your insurance probably wont go up. If you fight the ticket you will not win. The judge will see that the crosswalk is marked with by white painted lines or a different material other than what the street is made from. The pedestrian also has to step into the crosswalk when it is safe to do so. He/she cant step in at the last minute causing the driver to stop suddenly. Did he/she have the right of way govern by a walk dont walk light? The best thing to do is plead guilty and go to traffic school.

Anonymous said...

The only way you could probably beat it is if the cop who wrote the ticket failed to show up in court. Otherwise you're cooked.

On the other hand, running on the assumption that your going to lose anyway, take it too court, make them have a trial,then do your best to get it delayed as many times as possible. Ultimately they'll win of course but you could take solace that they will have spent more money than the ticket was worth getting you to pay it.

Kara said...

I decided to just pay the fee and skip the traffic school. I could have taken the 8 hour class in person, or taken the online one in about 3-4 hours...but then I'd still have to mess around with getting the certificate to the court. Bah!!! I figured it was easier just to pay the bill online and not worry about the insurance cost...if any. I figure the 1 penalty point should be gone in about a year...and I'm not that bad of a driver. =P

Anonymous said...

Its like this.....

Be it a speeding ticket, red light camera infraction, non moving violation, etc. the system is designed to make you just want pay the fine and avoid any additional hassles in your life.

However, that being said and you dont mind losing most if not all of a workday your odds increase from a 0% chance of beating it if you pay the fine to 50/50 if you contest. Back when I used to do municiple court work, I always thought it strange we closed at 430pm. My boss ( the court clerk ) said it was so people would NOT have time to come in AFTER work to contest a fine, and it dramatically increased the jurisdictions chances of people just coming in to pay the fine on a lunch hour or something.