April 18, 2010

So I was allegedly driving a tad too fast...

I got a lovely piece of mail from the city of Edmonton: a grainy night time photo of my car, a few pages full of tiny little fine print with the outrageous accusation that I was exceeding the speed limit, and the heartfelt choice of pleading guilty and paying 120 bucks, or appearing in court on Monday June 14th.

Aaaaaargh!

So... allegedly... on March 25th, when I was driving home from the airport at 11.49 PM I was going a touch above the speed limit. Allegedly... a touch above...

I was tired, it was late, it was snowing, I was the only car on the damn highway, and hey what proof do they have anyway, besides, oh yeah, that grainy murky photo the quality of a Paris Hilton sex tape. The dog ate my homework, the butler did it, it wasn't me!

Despite what same naysayers might think, I am an incredibly safe and cautious driver. I have had like one previous ticket in seven years here, and I think that was for parking illegally. Which I totally did.

My best friend actually thinks I am a too safe and boring driver. Of course that is the same best friend who banged up my car while I was on vacation. My fiance thinks I am a reckless speeder and was smirking joyfully -- even gleefully -- as he handed me the envelope with the ticket.

How fast was I going? Barely above the limit. Allegedly 69 km in a 50 zone. Couldn't be me. And by the way, that was also not me rushing the other way on that same highway this morning, heading towards lunch in Red Deer. We were late. I had to pee. And it wasn't me, I wasn't speeding...

Allegedly...

And it is a total coincidence that my car is silent and fast and turbo-charged.

So yes even though I think the evidence is totally wrong and I am totally innocent, I am gonna pay the fine online and get it over with. Then I guess I gotta stop saying allegedly... as of June 13th, that is....

12 comments:

Robbie said...

Sorry to hear that. We have those red light cameras on many of our major intersections here in California and they are the tools of the Devil. Or of the Governator, whose state government does not know that to balance a budget the inflow of money must match the outflow.

TICKLEBEAR said...

so, you're a safe driver...allegedly!!!
:)~
HUGZ

Annie (Lady M) x said...

You have my sympathy. I hate those Revenue Cameras with a vengeance. The number of times I have nearly crashed into the back of someone who slams on their brakes when they see one..... !

Kevin said...

I guess the cameras are there for a reason ... they are needed as (some) drivers are breaking the law. The cameras would not generate income if people did not break the law. The law is there to protect citizens and to ensure the proper flow of traffic. The easy solution to avoid paying for the crime is not to do it in the first place. One thing Brahm did not say is he looks at the speed limit as a suggestion, not a maximum.

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Pay your debt to society, you criminal. And don't get caught next time, LOL!

middle child said...

Me thinks thou doest protest too much. If I get a red light ticket, I will go to the traffic light, pull over and park. Then I will talk to the stop light about the situation. If I get no response, I will assume the light agrees with me. If by some chance I get pulled over by a REAL police officer, I will explain that I have already taken care of this (and explain the manner in which I did so.) If this results in a trip to jail, so be it. I look at it this way, I will not accept a ticket from an inanimate object. And how bad could jail be? I get free food, get to watch TV with a bunch of new friends and,...gee, I guess I'd even get a girlfriend. Hmmmm.

Bucko (a.k.a., Ken) said...

Seems like someone needs to be more observant of intersection cameras and drive accordingly. Good luck in traffic court :o)

One Creative Queen said...

Well...no allegedly about it - that sucks! I'm sorry. It's amazing how those grainy pictures can work to convict you in traffic court - but presenting an equally "quality" picture in any other court would get you thrown out. lol

Thank you for the nice comment on my blog - I will be back soon...allegedly. ;) xx

mepsipax said...

Ugh...I was allegedly speeding recently. Just paid the ticket. This shit is the mob or something.
Also, I allegedly liked this post.

Ginny said...

I was afraid of state troopers till well into adulthood--known clinically as trooperphobia. So I pretty much toed the line. Had something to do with growing up in western Pennsylvania--hard to explain. They just gave me the creeps. Nothing allegedly about it.

Miera Nadhirah said...

sorry to hear about that.. my husband and I get stopped for that too... sometimes...on the highway... sighh...

bmat10 said...

There is a guy, who runs a website (I can't remember the addy) who gives advice on how to get out of paying these types of tickets.

I know for tickets issued because a radar gun was used you can ask for disclosures on when the last time the radar gun was calibrated, had the officers certification for using the radar gun up to date.

There are like twenty criteria that have to be up to date otherwise the ticket can be claimed invalid. All the info has to be available upon request to the public. I wish I can remember the website. Of course it still means having to take the time to go to court.

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