right or privilege or BIG BUSINESS 3817

Exactly. University Blvd near UCF is a prime example. It's now a

WITH THE SAME 45MPH SPEED LIMIT IT HAD WHEN IT WAS A SIMPLE 2-LANER 10 YEARS AGO. GAAAHH!!

The unfortunate part is it's now so busy in the last couple of years, that the 45mph limit is pretty good. Sigh. But for a while, it wasn't.

So I guess it's time for this story:

One time I was driving down it at the usual 55mph, at about 10pm. There was almost nobody on the road, except for this little knot of about 6 cars. So I signalled, changed lanes, and pbutted them.

Boom! out of the middle, blue lights! And he pulls me over.

I was like, f*** it, he's got me dead to rights and I missed seeing a cop, there's no point in BSing him. I'll take the beating I deserve for not seeing him.

So I stop, switch the bike off, pull off the helmet, and he walks up and does the licence & registration bit. Goes back and checks them. Comes back and asks:

"Do you know why I pulled you over?"

"No sir."

"Do you know how fast you were going?"

"Roughly about 55mph, sir..."

"And what is the speed limit here?"

"45mph, sir."

"So do you care to explain why you were going roughly 10mph over the limit?"

"Well, there's almost no cars on the road, the moon is out, I can see clearly for at least a mile-and-a-half, and the pavement is clean and dry. This road has had a 45mph limit since it was a 2-lane road 5 years ago. In my personal opinion it was a very safe speed."

So he looks at me. Crinkles up his forehead. Squints his eyes. I just looked back, waiting for him to tell me how much the ticket was going to cost.

"Well, I'm heading to the jail, and I can't afford the time to write you a ticket, otherwise I would have to give one for at least $BIGBUCKS because that's the fine for that sort of speed. But I'm heading to the jail. You will need to keep it down so that you aren't in danger of a ticket. I have to go now."

I did not feel it was the proper time to mention that the jail is completely in the opposite direction and 15 miles away. I just said "Thank you, sir", took my papers back, put my helmet on, and left.

So that's the one time I "argued" my way out of a ticket.

-gc

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