I recently got a “seat belt ticket”. I pulled up next to a police car at a left turn light. He was alone. We waited next to each other for approx. 16 seconds. He let me go ahead, changed lanes (illegally in the middle of an intersection) to get behind me and pulled me over. He then told me the citation was for $35 and that I would be able to pay the fine in the mail, then he had me sign it. Neither were true, and what I had signed was an agreement to appear in court. I was out of town on the day I was supposed to go to court, which just made the decision to not go to court over a “seat belt ticket” all the more easy to make. Thankfully when I returned there was a “warning” about not paying my fine with an address to send my money to. The ticket was actually for $93, initially, not because i hadn’t gone to court. Either way, court?!

I can only go so far to learn a lesson about wearing my seatbelt. The court house is well past that point. Public appearances are unnecessary when dealing with individual seat belt policies. What an expensive and obsurd allocatation of public funds. I’m more mad about any one penny of my tax dollars going towards court costs for seat belt hearings than I am about all 9,300 pennies that went towards my own personal citation.

Obviously I want police officers to do their job. I think that deterence is an important part of law inforcement and public safety. I even appreciate the govt. deciding to make laws that will result in people being safer. However, being that the number of officers in position to inforce the laws is limited, the priority of what they’re inforcing is important to me. I’m ok with getting a seat belt ticket while I’m being pulled over for driving like an asshole, but not because some cop was bored and trying to meet a quota. That’s bothersome. It’s definately not efficient. Society is less safe when a police officer takes 1/2 an hour away from patrolling the roads to enforce a sealt belt violation. 13.7 car accidents happened in LA while I was pulled over. Probably.

Were I a police officer, I would avoid observing people’s seatbelts. I don’t think I would feel compelled to do anything about it even if it was up to me to do something about it, but I wouldn’t want to take that chance. The consequences of my actions would be people not having to pay the consequences for my actions ($93 per payment). And I’d be ok with that.

Cops should only be able to cite people for violations that occur outside the car. Inside should be home base. Outside is where bad things happen. Inside is where people get stoned and talk on their cell phones. Outside is where it is obvious that someone is trying to drive while stoned and talking on their cell phone. Now, if someone is leaning out the window smoking pot and talking on their cell phone, then they’re fair game, but, then they would be outside their vehicle. Combine those people with all the people who don’t actually have to be stoned and/or talking on their cellphones to be dangerous drivers, and you have way too many drivers for the police to keep an eye on before they go looking into peoples cars for shit to write tickets for.

It was also the first time I got a ticket from a cop I was older than. Motherfucker. I wanted to smack him. He was a shitty little dork. I hope he dies in a car crash with his seatbelt on.

21/05/2007
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