Can I see your licence please, sir?
Oooops. At 0130 this morning on the way back from a night out in Atlanta, I pass a Police car sat on the hard shoulder of the Interstate. All it's lights were off and he was just sat there.Well. Until I went honking past him at warp factor 5 he was, anyway. As I was standing the van on its nose, his headlights came on, and about 30 seconds later everything turns all red and blue. Damn, but his car had some poke to catch up with me so fast.
I pulled over and sat there for what seemed like ages watching for him to get out in the rear view mirror. He took so long to get out that I nearly got out myself to go to him, until I remembered that you don't do that here. I didn't really fancy getting shot. Terribly inconvenient, that would be. Then there was a knock at the passenger window that made me jump out of my skin, being as I was didn't see him get out of his car.
(adopting extra English accent and 'affable idiot' demeanour) Ah. Good evening, Officer.
"Hello, sir. Do you know the speed limit on this road?"
Um, yes, I think it's 55mph, is it not?
"Yes, sir. And we just clocked you at 79..."
Ah. Yes. Sorry about that.
"Can I see your licence please?"
(hand over UK license, and watch the copper's eyebrow twitch just a little, and his demenour change slightly)
"Hmmmm, ok. Well.... just be a little more careful and try and drive a bit slower, would you?"
Certainly. Thank you very much.
Being as he passed me as I was coming off the interstate and went off in the direction of the Police Station, I suspect that the reason he suddenly lost all interest in booking me was the idea of all that paperwork right at the end of his shift. Bargain.
There's something to be said for being a foreigner, although I'm not sure I'd rely on that sort of luck too often.
posted by Brock @ Friday, August 11, 2006
3 Comments:
once, i got stopped 3 times in 24 hours with no resulting ticket.
apparently it also helps to be small and female.
ah shit, it never occurred to me to warn you.
(yes, playing the just-landed foreigner card is extremely useful -- suggest you play it up, maybe by handing over a passport "that's what we have to do when we go to europe")
compared to what you're used to, traffic cops in america/oz/nz are near-psychotically anal. crime is so low they have buggerall else to do. speed cameras are FORMALLY-DELIBERATELY hidden so as to increase the number of people they get. in oz, traffic cameras dont actually exist, it's all handheld or car-mounted, and they deliberately sit at the foot of hills etc.
i have a speeding ticket in oz for doing 62km/hr at the foot of a hill in a 60km/hr zone...
just so you know to modify your expectations in future...
Always a good idea to keep the British driving license. You're almost guaranteed not to get a ticket. It's not just the paperwork, it's the paperwork going to waste as there's little to no chance you'll ever pay the fine. Or so they reckon.
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