Bob's Corner
From our weekly issue dated January 30, 2008
OK, I admit it: During my vehicular wanderings, certain law enforcement officers felt that I had violated some driving-type law or other, and cited me. But not for good behavior. You know; they gave me a ticket. And not to get into a movie theater or concert hall.
So I’ve paid some fines, even though some of the accusations were (I felt) not warranted. I’ll give you two examples. One occurred around 7:30 a.m. on a quiet residential street near Logan Heights in San Diego. I was giving a friend a ride to high school, and I pulled over in front of his house. Unfortunately, a San Diego Police Dept. officer saw me; and pulled me over. He issued a citation for “driving on the wrong side of the road.” Yes, I had driven onto the “opposing lane,” but officer there’s no traffic and …
Several years ago on Hwy. 199 in California at what the truckers call the “20-20” curve, my left-front tire inadvertently touched the double-yellow line. A California Highway Patrol officer yanked me over, and issued a citation for “crossing the double line.” Argh …
OK, one more example. It was around 1:30 a.m. on Hwy. 94 in San Diego County many years ago. A clear night, no traffic, four lanes wide open. An officer from SDPD halted my progress and wrote me for driving 70 mph in a 65 zone. Argh again … All technically correct citations, but, I feel, with extenuating circumstances. Paid the fines anyway.
What brought this topic to mind are the fairly frequent traffic stops on I-5 by Oregon State Police troopers, when illicit substances are found. A recent one near Salem resulted in the confiscation of nearly 66 pounds of cocaine with an estimated street value of $600,000. The driver, a 26-year-old Washington state man, was stopped for speeding and lane-change violations. And that’s usually the case in these cases: traffic stops resulting in officers finding marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine or other preposterous items.
Wouldn’t you think that if you were hauling such stuff that you’d observe all the highway rules? Wouldn’t you be careful to not attract attention by speeding and otherwise driving so that people in cars with flashing lights and sirens would leave you alone?
Apparently not. To quote a old expression: That’s why they call it dope.
