About last Wednesday when B was running a fever in the throes of bronchial sickness
and staying home to rest the infection away, we received a menacing RED letter from the Office of Automated Traffic Enforcement.
Inside was a photograph of my car (close up on the license plate) next to a very blurry radar print-out stating
that I was caught on camera/radar on 7/12/2004 at 9:32AM going 37mph in a 25mph zone in the 5400 block of MacArthur
Boulevard NW.
Well, the first problem is that it wasn't me, it was B on his way to work in my car. Which really seems like it should be no
problem because it says right next to the picture in big we-are-putting-this-here-so-you-do-not-call-us-to-ask-this-panicky-question
capital letters: POINTS WILL NOT BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE REGISTERED OWNER OR THE DESIGNATED DRIVER FOR THIS
VIOLATION. Of course, I don't know if it's really POINTS that make car insurance skyrocket, or just a friendly little copy of this
violation sent from the police-- that one is still up for debate. The form contains an area to certify under penalty of law and as
witnessed by a notary the name/address of the actual driver of the vehicle at the time of infraction. We'll need a few phone
calls to insurance companies to determine if it's worth the hassle to do all of that. But the ticket left us frustrated for about
an hour and then we chalked it up as a nudge for B to learn a new way to get to work that did not involve speed traps. It ended
with laughing about the fact that neither of us even left the house that day and got a speeding ticket. Figures.
The second problem-- and the BIG problem-- occurred yesterday when menacing RED letter number 2 arrived
from the Office of Automated Traffic Enforcement. The photograph of my car is nearly identical. The blurry radar print-out
(36mph in a 25mph zone) was nearly identical. The location (5400 block of MacArthur Boulevard NW) WAS identical.
Just the date had changed: three days after the first infraction.
So now I'm composing all kinds of mental letters to DC council-members and shadow governmenteers, the editors of newspapers, and
lazy police-people in their lazy radar-trap, camera-equipped vehicles. And these letters all seem to contain some form of the
word SUCK-- because let's face it, this SUCKS!
I'm not arguing difficult to read signs or flow of traffic or driving downhill or anything like that. I understand the need to
enforce public safety in our neighborhoods and therefore I understand the need to ticket for speeding violations to call attention
to infractions. But these camera/radar infractions aren't in my mind really about all of that-- they are like slot machines for
the city. No, don't bother to stop B when he's speeding, make him aware of the speed limit in that area, ticket him for
speeding, and immediately enhance the understanding of public safety. Just snap his picture and send it to him two weeks later--
yeah, let's make him aware of the public safety issue AFTER he's potentially sped through that block 10 other times. Excellent
idea for public safety-- maximize fines, minimize understanding and awareness. Perfect.
No wonder relocation weighs so heavy on my mind-- just another example of how some times DC really SUCKS ass. |
