Ah, the financial burden associated with driving tickets. I got my very first of all time driving on the freeway near Oakland in the fall of this year. Instead of letting me off nicely because of my clean driving record and the fact that it would be my first ticket, Mr. CHP gave me three citations. I really lucked out with that guy... I may have deserved to be pulled over, but three citations on one ticket? To this day I am convinced Mr. CHP looked at my BMW and Burberry bag and just figured I was wealthy and would be able to pay. He probably though cha-ching! My quota for the week has just been met. Time for a donut.

Unfortunately, I have to pay this ticket mid-January so it has been weighing heavily on my mind. As mentioned in previous posts, my finances could be in much better shape, so deciding how to deal with this ticket is stressful. Either I pay $1100 bail money and have the opportunity to fight the ticket via trial by written declaration, then in court with a trial de novo if the first attempt does not go in my favor... Or I pay the $700 to do driving school, which is an additional fee, and I hope that all or most of the points associated with the one driving ticket are expunged from my record.

If I pay the $1100, I am wiping out basically all of the money I have. If I pay the $700, I still have some savings - but not a lot.

It's a gamble, really, and a game of luck. If I pay $1100 to take the ticket to court and meet a lenient and understanding judge, my citations or fees may be reduced. But they also might not. In which case I would be out the extra $400, perhaps the opportunity to do traffic school, let alone the money I would have made at work instead of missing the day(s) to be in court.

Part of me wants to stick it to the CHP officer and make him suffer as much as possible for the ticket. Mr. CHP, write a letter to court on your own time without pay. Show up after doing a double shift - I don't care if you get paid overtime or not, that's a hassle and I want you to feel that hassle. Part of me wants to stick it to the court system, as well. The clerks I have spoken to over the phone have been so abrupt and rude. Make them have extra work. Make the whole system suffer. My tax payer dollars pay for their salaries - just so they can issue me tickets that take more than one paycheck to pay off, just so they can charge me a "one time fee" to start a payment plan through the court system because I can't necessarily afford to pay it in one lump sum.

Alas, I am a poor woman. If I had money, I would totally take the ticket to court, just on the principle of the matter. However, gambling on the $400 difference, as well as the chance that my right to driving school might be taken away, meaning my insurance premiums would go up, in addition to gambling on the money I would lose by being in court and not at work - I can't do it. Financially, I'm not in a position to make that sort of gamble right now. Only the rich can gamble, and I am not rich.

So, Mr. CHP, you lucked out this time. I hope to never get another ticket in my lifetime, but if I do - expect me to put up a hell of a fight.

In the meantime, I am going to try to be gracious and zen about this whole experience. I will try to think that maybe by making me paranoid about driving, you have saved my life from an accident in the future. I will try to think that you were doing your job, and if a man could do such a fine job in writing tickets you must do an equally good job saving lives. I will try to think that all of the contests I have won since receiving that ticket have been the universe and karma trying to balance out my finances and lighten my mood.

I will try to be gracious and understanding and zen. With willpower.

XOXO
Slow-driving Shawna