Lilly and me with our new Altima.
We are doomed.
I just had a lesson in civics that I want to share. It amazes me that our government can function at all with all of the out-of-date systems and bureaucracy.
I got a traffic ticket. I totally didn’t deserve it. I turned left from Broadway to 6th Avenue late at night. I admit that there is a left turn sign on the light pole, but in San Diego, they don’t light their traffic signs.
This was one of the first things I noticed when we moved here five years ago. The city is dark at night. In Seattle, we have street lights and signs are lit. In San Diego, many streets have no lights whatsoever and there is no way to read the signs after dark. I don’t know, maybe it’s because they’re trying to reduce light pollution or save on energy costs. Someone told me that they keep things dark to allow the Palomar Observatory to have a better view of the stars.
Whatever the case, San Diego is the darkest major city I’ve ever been in.
So, I pulled up to the intersection and waited for the light to change. A police car was parked on the other side of the street. I signaled a left turn.
The light turned green and I waited for traffic to clear so I could turn. The officer in the car flashed a light at me. I had no idea what this meant. I got an opening in the traffic and turned. He immediately put his lights on and pulled me over.
“Why did you pull me over?” I asked, having no idea what I did.
“You made a left turn when there is a sign clearly stating no left turns.” (Actually, it didn’t say that. It was one of those pictures of a left turn with a circle and a slash over it, but I get ahead of myself.)
“Officer,” says I, “There is no sign there.”
He assured me there was and wrote me a ticket. No mercy. This guy didn’t have any sense of humor. For those of you old enough to remember the last Ice Age, he reminded me of Officer Judy on the Smothers Brothers TV show. (If you don't remember Officer Judy, you can see a clip here.
https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t&p=Officer+Judy#id=2&vid=ae224900f4a406b21235efc9345db1e5&action=click)
“I clearly indicated to you that you couldn’t make a left turn,” he tells me.
“What? How did you indicate to me?”
“I flashed my light at you, then indicated for you to go straight.”
I’ve never had an officer do this to me before. I had no idea what he was talking about. From my perspective, it looked like he was just flashing me. I couldn’t see him indicating I should go straight.
This is my second ticket in San Diego. I’m still learning the rules here. My first ticket was for stopping to pick someone up on Broadway (I hate that street). Three other Uber drivers were stopped with their emergency lights flashing, so I pulled in behind them. The cop pulled behind me and turned on his lights.
When he explained that I was blocking traffic, I said, “Officer, there are three other Uber drivers doing the same thing. I’ll wait while you give them tickets too.”
He also had no sense of humor. “We’ll take care of you and worry about them later.” Of course, there was no later. While he was writing me up, the other drivers picked up their passengers and moved on.
I learned my lesson. Even though every other Uber driver in the city double parks to pick up their passengers, I do not.
I just had a lesson in civics that I want to share. It amazes me that our government can function at all with all of the out-of-date systems and bureaucracy.
I got a traffic ticket. I totally didn’t deserve it. I turned left from Broadway to 6th Avenue late at night. I admit that there is a left turn sign on the light pole, but in San Diego, they don’t light their traffic signs.
This was one of the first things I noticed when we moved here five years ago. The city is dark at night. In Seattle, we have street lights and signs are lit. In San Diego, many streets have no lights whatsoever and there is no way to read the signs after dark. I don’t know, maybe it’s because they’re trying to reduce light pollution or save on energy costs. Someone told me that they keep things dark to allow the Palomar Observatory to have a better view of the stars.
Whatever the case, San Diego is the darkest major city I’ve ever been in.
So, I pulled up to the intersection and waited for the light to change. A police car was parked on the other side of the street. I signaled a left turn.
The light turned green and I waited for traffic to clear so I could turn. The officer in the car flashed a light at me. I had no idea what this meant. I got an opening in the traffic and turned. He immediately put his lights on and pulled me over.
“Why did you pull me over?” I asked, having no idea what I did.
“You made a left turn when there is a sign clearly stating no left turns.” (Actually, it didn’t say that. It was one of those pictures of a left turn with a circle and a slash over it, but I get ahead of myself.)
“Officer,” says I, “There is no sign there.”
He assured me there was and wrote me a ticket. No mercy. This guy didn’t have any sense of humor. For those of you old enough to remember the last Ice Age, he reminded me of Officer Judy on the Smothers Brothers TV show. (If you don't remember Officer Judy, you can see a clip here.
https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t&p=Officer+Judy#id=2&vid=ae224900f4a406b21235efc9345db1e5&action=click)
“I clearly indicated to you that you couldn’t make a left turn,” he tells me.
“What? How did you indicate to me?”
“I flashed my light at you, then indicated for you to go straight.”
I’ve never had an officer do this to me before. I had no idea what he was talking about. From my perspective, it looked like he was just flashing me. I couldn’t see him indicating I should go straight.
This is my second ticket in San Diego. I’m still learning the rules here. My first ticket was for stopping to pick someone up on Broadway (I hate that street). Three other Uber drivers were stopped with their emergency lights flashing, so I pulled in behind them. The cop pulled behind me and turned on his lights.
When he explained that I was blocking traffic, I said, “Officer, there are three other Uber drivers doing the same thing. I’ll wait while you give them tickets too.”
He also had no sense of humor. “We’ll take care of you and worry about them later.” Of course, there was no later. While he was writing me up, the other drivers picked up their passengers and moved on.
I learned my lesson. Even though every other Uber driver in the city double parks to pick up their passengers, I do not.
Can you see a no left turn sign?
So, the cop told me that the court would send me a notice explaining how to set up a court date or just pay the fine. Time marched on. I never heard from the court. Then I got a notice from a collection agency saying I missed my court date and must pay a $300 penalty in addition to the $250 fine. I tried to talk with someone about it and they said I had to pay it. I missed my chance to explain.
Lesson learned.
I paid the fine and went on about my business. Then I got a letter from the DMV saying my driver’s license was suspended because I hadn’t paid my fine. Since it is impossible to talk to anyone at the court on the phone (they only answer their phones from 8 to 11 on weekdays and you get put on perma-hold when you call) I went down to the courthouse to straighten this out.
They looked up my ticket, said it was paid and to ignore the notice.
Three months later, I got a notice from Uber that my account was deactivated because my license was suspended. It took me two weeks to get this straightened out and cost me $2000.
Your tax dollars at work.
I got the second ticket and immediately tried to set up a court date. The ticket was not in the system. Every week for three months I went online and tried to set up a court date. The ticket was not in the system. A week before the expiration date on the ticket, it finally showed up and I set my court date.
The big day comes. I’m told to be there at 12:45 for a 1:15 court time. I arrive at 12:30, check in and am told to go to waiting area “B.” The waiting area is full, no seats available.
With my bad back and gimpy knees I can’t stand for extended periods of time. I lean against the wall and read from my cell phone.
At 1:15 a bailiff calls us in. I found a seat and he explained how the court works. He said that we will be called in alphabetical order. This was my curse in grade school. Wallace was always last. It is in court too.
I sit and watch sixty other people have their cases heard before me. At 3:30 I got called. This is an arraignment hearing. I either plead guilty or not guilty. It takes less than sixty seconds. Then I’m directed to the bail room to get my court date.
I waited another hour in the bail room to get called. I got my date and left.
Everything in the court system is paper driven. The judge even has two huge law books on her desk to look up the relevant laws when working with a defendant. Paper work is filled out by two clerks who physically carry it to the bail room for processing. In the bail room, the paper gets shuffled around until it gets to the clerk who calls you to the window.
This is the same system they used when Wyatt Earp was marshal. Have they never heard about automation? Being a software engineer, I could design a system that would cut hours out of each defendant’s wait.
I ended up spending my entire day in court to spend sixty seconds in front of the judge and maybe two minutes at the clerk’s window They have no consideration for our time.
Here’s another observation. Of the sixty or so people at court that day, I’d say about six or seven of them were white. 90% of the people in court were people of color. Is that a coincidence? Is it possible that non-white people are worse drivers than white? Or, is this another incidence of police prejudice? Could it be that cops pull over white people, share a joke with them and send them on with a warning? This has happened to me in the past. Or do cops just write more tickets for people for Driving While Black, Brown, Yellow or Red?
Okay, I’ve vented. I hope you don’t have to go through this system, in the meantime, if you do get caught up in the system, be sure to take your Kindle and have one of my books loaded on it. When we got into the court room, they made us turn off our cell phones, so I couldn’t even read.
Lesson learned.
I paid the fine and went on about my business. Then I got a letter from the DMV saying my driver’s license was suspended because I hadn’t paid my fine. Since it is impossible to talk to anyone at the court on the phone (they only answer their phones from 8 to 11 on weekdays and you get put on perma-hold when you call) I went down to the courthouse to straighten this out.
They looked up my ticket, said it was paid and to ignore the notice.
Three months later, I got a notice from Uber that my account was deactivated because my license was suspended. It took me two weeks to get this straightened out and cost me $2000.
Your tax dollars at work.
I got the second ticket and immediately tried to set up a court date. The ticket was not in the system. Every week for three months I went online and tried to set up a court date. The ticket was not in the system. A week before the expiration date on the ticket, it finally showed up and I set my court date.
The big day comes. I’m told to be there at 12:45 for a 1:15 court time. I arrive at 12:30, check in and am told to go to waiting area “B.” The waiting area is full, no seats available.
With my bad back and gimpy knees I can’t stand for extended periods of time. I lean against the wall and read from my cell phone.
At 1:15 a bailiff calls us in. I found a seat and he explained how the court works. He said that we will be called in alphabetical order. This was my curse in grade school. Wallace was always last. It is in court too.
I sit and watch sixty other people have their cases heard before me. At 3:30 I got called. This is an arraignment hearing. I either plead guilty or not guilty. It takes less than sixty seconds. Then I’m directed to the bail room to get my court date.
I waited another hour in the bail room to get called. I got my date and left.
Everything in the court system is paper driven. The judge even has two huge law books on her desk to look up the relevant laws when working with a defendant. Paper work is filled out by two clerks who physically carry it to the bail room for processing. In the bail room, the paper gets shuffled around until it gets to the clerk who calls you to the window.
This is the same system they used when Wyatt Earp was marshal. Have they never heard about automation? Being a software engineer, I could design a system that would cut hours out of each defendant’s wait.
I ended up spending my entire day in court to spend sixty seconds in front of the judge and maybe two minutes at the clerk’s window They have no consideration for our time.
Here’s another observation. Of the sixty or so people at court that day, I’d say about six or seven of them were white. 90% of the people in court were people of color. Is that a coincidence? Is it possible that non-white people are worse drivers than white? Or, is this another incidence of police prejudice? Could it be that cops pull over white people, share a joke with them and send them on with a warning? This has happened to me in the past. Or do cops just write more tickets for people for Driving While Black, Brown, Yellow or Red?
Okay, I’ve vented. I hope you don’t have to go through this system, in the meantime, if you do get caught up in the system, be sure to take your Kindle and have one of my books loaded on it. When we got into the court room, they made us turn off our cell phones, so I couldn’t even read.
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