Wanna save a lot of money?
Sep 07 '01 (Updated Sep 14 '01)
The Bottom Line It's such a peaceful, comforting feeling to see a cop behind you and know in your heart of hearts that he's not after you.
I drove a cab in downtown Boston for over 16 years. I've had more tickets and been in more accidents than I can possibly remember. Been there. Done that. The T-Shirt looks terrible. Believe me, I'm not sitting here and preaching at you like the minister during a Sunday sermon. I'M NOT A GOODIE TWO-SHOES! What I have to say is absolutely relevant and practical. I know wherefrom I speak 'cuz I taught a course in remedial driving for the National Safety Council.
1. How many tickets have you had? Each of them was a minimum of $50.00, right? Start adding them up.
2. How much more in insurance premiums do you pay than "safe" drivers? Add that in, too.
3. How about the dents, dings and fender-benders you've been involved with? If it's your fault (and you know down deep where you live if it is or no) you have to pay the deductible, then the rates go up.
4. How about the aggravation and stress that goes through you every time you look in the mirror and see a police car behind you? ("Oh, my God. He's following me. He's clocking me. He's gonna turn on the blue lights any moment now and pull me over."
5. You're driving along at your usual 10-20 mph over the speed limit and you see blue, flashing lights behind you. Up to that point you've been thinking to yourself: I'm a damn good driver. I can control my car at these speeds. Besides, all these other people on the road are related to arthritic snails. What's the first thought in your mind? Oh, S--t! He's after me. You get that clutch in the pit of your stomach and you immediately start rehearsing alibi and excuse lines that you KNOW aren't gonna work. You and the local cops are all on a first name basis by now, aren't you? You send their kids birthday cards.
Before I drove the cab, I used to think that if I passed as many people as I could on the way to work in the morning that it would "tune me up" for the day in a very competitive world. C'MON, WHO WAS I KIDDING? Me.
I played basket-weave in traffic, changing lanes with every blink of my eyes. Use a directional? What for? It only wears out the bulbs and makes that annoying tick-tick-tick. Remember, life is an adventure and driving makes it more of an adventure.
How about running red lights? What do you mean, you never did that? Of course you did and I'll show you right now.
You come up on the intersection and the light turns yellow. That, to a "normal" person says, "Hey, there. Slow down for a stop 'cuz I'm gonna turn red." To you it says, "Yo! Get it in gear! This thing's gonna turn red and you'll be stuck here for at least 45 seconds until it turns green again."
So, you go through the yellow light, right? All the while you're looking up to your right at the yellow light and just as you're about to get to the other side of the intersection it turns red. YOU JUST RAN A RED LIGHT, DUMMY! The police are entitled to ticket you.
I go through the town of Milton, MA twice a day to and from work. There's a mailbox on the side of the road and a big tree hanging over it and obscuring it from view. Guess what, Sparky? It's a speed trap.
When you hit the top of the hill heading toward that mailbox, if you're already over the 30mph limit there, they've got you. And at $10.00 per mile per hour over the speed limit, that gets expensive really quickly. I got caught once while in uniform (career Navy) and was lucky enough to get a warning. I NEVER exceeded the limit again.
They had one guy who got caught three days running at the same spot by the same cop. Know what his answer was when the cop asked why he did it three days in a row? "I didn't think you'd be there all those other times!"
Also, it's a race between the manufacturers and the police. The police find a new radar frequency and the manufacturers locate it, then the police use still another one and the manufacturers find that one, too, etc., etc., ad infinitum, ad nauseum. And you? You foot the bill for all those "New and Improved Radar Detectors!"
Save your money on the radar detector, the tickets and the insurance. Try using the brake and going the limit for a while and put that money aside. You know what you'll be able to do? Buy a lot of stuff you only look at and long for. Take The Bride to Europe. Buy a new car (WITH CRUISE CONTROL). Go out to dinner and a show at least once a week. You'll be able to afford it all now.
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Epinions.com ID:
masonmaven
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Location: Massachusetts, United States
Reviews written: 38
Trusted by: 9 members
About Me:
Opinionated old fart who calls 'em as he sees 'em.
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