My Run-In With the Law
Yep, that's right. I had a run-in with the law tonight. Well, I guess technically I had a "run-in", and then the law came later....
I got in to a little fender-bender. My car has a ding about the size of a quarter, and the other car had nothing. No injuries. Nothing. But when we got out of the cars, the woman from the other vehicle said, "Can you please say I was driving? He doesn't have a license and I don't want him to go to jail."
Greg was driving by -- we were actually all headed out to drop my car at the repair shop of all places -- so I flagged him down. I told him what was going on, and he called the police. I pretty much let him take it from there, and I stuck by the boys (who thankfully were in his car!). Greg was unable to get any information from the couple. Not a license, registration, or insurance information. They couldn't provide any of it.
So we waited for the police. And waited. And waited. After a while, the people who lived there on the corner came outside. And we all started chatting. (Not the couple from the other car though -- they stayed over by their car.) We hadn't met them yet. They had 3 kids, and Michael started playing with them. Although their kids were older, they were wonderful with Michael. And they kept letting Michael run in to their house every time he started with the "Go! Go! Go!" (He even wound up going potty at their house!) They offered us drinks, offered to let us wait inside in the air-conditioning, and brought chairs outside for us.
Anyway, the police officer finally came. I got to find out a little about South Carolina traffic law. According to the officer, the drivers are not required to exchange information. Only a police officer can make them do that. Yikes! Way to make the police have to do a lot more work than necessary!
I'm not going to go in to a lot of the details of what went on. There were so many weird things that happened... I could just see this turning in to one of those Judge Judy kind of things were 6 months later someone claims that they had to see a chiropractor. You know, those made-up injuries.
But the bottom line is that the other couple was cited for driving without a license, and for failure to provide registration. I got a warning for failure to yield right-of-way.
Yep, I was at fault. Okay, whatever. I can handle that. I do have to pay a fine, or show up in court. I will pay the fine and be done with it. And that is the right way to handle it.
Greg and I are determined to teach our boys about responsibility and accountability. Yes, there were a lot of weird things that happened in this incident. And there were some inconsistencies. But the truth is, under the law, I was at fault. That means I have to assume responsibility and pay my fine. None of this going to court and hoping the officer doesn't show up. That is not responsible, and that is not holding myself accountable for my actions. And that is not what we are going to raise our kids to think is right.
In fact despite my warning, I made sure to spend time telling the boys that Mommy made a mistake driving today. And the police officer did the right thing, and he was there to help us. Period. No excuses. No blaming the police officer. No blaming anyone but myself.
And that was my big run-in with the law. Actually the biggest I've ever had. Yeah, I've had a couple traffic tickets in the past (just speeding), but those were about 20 years ago. So don't worry, you won't be seeing me on America's Most Wanted or anything. You'll just see me being even more cautious when I drive.
I got in to a little fender-bender. My car has a ding about the size of a quarter, and the other car had nothing. No injuries. Nothing. But when we got out of the cars, the woman from the other vehicle said, "Can you please say I was driving? He doesn't have a license and I don't want him to go to jail."
Greg was driving by -- we were actually all headed out to drop my car at the repair shop of all places -- so I flagged him down. I told him what was going on, and he called the police. I pretty much let him take it from there, and I stuck by the boys (who thankfully were in his car!). Greg was unable to get any information from the couple. Not a license, registration, or insurance information. They couldn't provide any of it.
So we waited for the police. And waited. And waited. After a while, the people who lived there on the corner came outside. And we all started chatting. (Not the couple from the other car though -- they stayed over by their car.) We hadn't met them yet. They had 3 kids, and Michael started playing with them. Although their kids were older, they were wonderful with Michael. And they kept letting Michael run in to their house every time he started with the "Go! Go! Go!" (He even wound up going potty at their house!) They offered us drinks, offered to let us wait inside in the air-conditioning, and brought chairs outside for us.
Anyway, the police officer finally came. I got to find out a little about South Carolina traffic law. According to the officer, the drivers are not required to exchange information. Only a police officer can make them do that. Yikes! Way to make the police have to do a lot more work than necessary!
I'm not going to go in to a lot of the details of what went on. There were so many weird things that happened... I could just see this turning in to one of those Judge Judy kind of things were 6 months later someone claims that they had to see a chiropractor. You know, those made-up injuries.
But the bottom line is that the other couple was cited for driving without a license, and for failure to provide registration. I got a warning for failure to yield right-of-way.
Yep, I was at fault. Okay, whatever. I can handle that. I do have to pay a fine, or show up in court. I will pay the fine and be done with it. And that is the right way to handle it.
Greg and I are determined to teach our boys about responsibility and accountability. Yes, there were a lot of weird things that happened in this incident. And there were some inconsistencies. But the truth is, under the law, I was at fault. That means I have to assume responsibility and pay my fine. None of this going to court and hoping the officer doesn't show up. That is not responsible, and that is not holding myself accountable for my actions. And that is not what we are going to raise our kids to think is right.
In fact despite my warning, I made sure to spend time telling the boys that Mommy made a mistake driving today. And the police officer did the right thing, and he was there to help us. Period. No excuses. No blaming the police officer. No blaming anyone but myself.
And that was my big run-in with the law. Actually the biggest I've ever had. Yeah, I've had a couple traffic tickets in the past (just speeding), but those were about 20 years ago. So don't worry, you won't be seeing me on America's Most Wanted or anything. You'll just see me being even more cautious when I drive.
posted by Susan | 9:28 PM
2 Comments:
glad you are okay. i will remember how you handled that for when I have a similar situation. how to explain it to my son etc.
Lisa
I'm also glad that you are okay. AND I think you handled it beautifully. Isn't it awesome when a small occurance can make for a great lesson for the kids? Life it good that way.
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