Gimme a break.....

*sigh*... I got pulled over by the Port Wentworth police... I had my seatbelt on, doing the speed limit, you know, obeying the law... no matter, he pulled me over anyway... He said my registration was not current... Yes it is I said... I just got it in April, as required... the sticker apparently fell off or was stolen... I think those things are pretty sticky, so I am guessing it was stolen somehow... I showed Dudley Doright the current registration, and he said "yea.... but it aint on the car is it?" .... and my drivers license did not have my current address on it... I said I just recently moved here, and will go get it changed... He comes back to the car with 2 tickets... One is $125.00, the other is $55 .... I was in Law Enforcement, so I am going to say this... what an a$$... I had to go to court today... I cannot afford those fines... especially for such chicken chit offenses... I looked up the law, and I have 60 days to get my license changed, and I have not lived here that long (officially... I was here for a month before that, but had not changed my home yet) .... I see so many obvious offenses, that is just hard for me to understand what this dude was doing... are they that hard up for money??? I am pissed... as you can tell... but I was cool in court... I gotta get out of this one-horse chicken chit town man.... they have one main road through town, speed limit 45.. and it's a major road... all the other towns, same road, are posted at 55... and you will see at least 2 cops along that 5 stretch of road... usually with someone pulled over... brand new patrol cars too... guess I know how they bought those now... ... anyhoo... All charges dismissed... I was quite literally the last one called... more than 100 people there .... 3 1/2 hours worth of sitting in cheap plastic seat (but at least I fit now!) listening to the ridiculous excuses people gave for speeding... Judges and police officers must have surgery done to their eyes to prevent them from rolling as these people speak... The court called the cases of one officer, then another officer, etc... so the officer could handle all his cases and get outta there... I listened to all the cases, and without exception they were all legit violations... DUI, pot in the car, speeding, reckless driving, seat belt ($15 fine, NEXT!) etc.... .... then MY police officers cases were called... Holey Guacamole.... the most ridiculous charges I have ever heard.... 3rd lane violation for a trucker who moved over for 2 seconds to avoid a collision... some guy forced him to move over... he moved back immediately... Dismissed... A guy who failed to dim his lights... no license on him... the guy was coming out of a housing area and the road was at a steep angle... the officer couldn't swear that the bright lights were actually on... Dismissed.... and on and on.... some speeding... a DUI held over for state court.... etc... I was last... because I got my case moved to an earlier date so I could get it taken care of before I have to go to Atlanta for training... The judge said "you are accused of failure to change your license address within 60 days, and invalid registration... how do you plead?" I told him I still had several days before the 60 days ran out, and that I had told the officer I had moved here in late March.... the judge looked over to the officer, who said "I don't have any recollection of that conversation your honor" ... and I piped up quickly and said "Your honor, the officer wrote it on the ticket" ... and the judge said "I see..... OK, how about the registration?" ... I said "your honor the registration was valid, just no sticker... it either fell off or was stolen" .... Once again the judge looked over at the officer, and the officer said "I checked your honor, and the registration was current, just no sticker was attached" (I really don't know how they keep those eyes from rolling... it would have killed me!) "I find with the preponderance of the evidence that neither citation constitutes a violation and both are dismissed" Whew... sure was nice to hear that... .... and so, life goes on....

WHoo HOO! I am so glad to hear you stuck it in that officers face (so to speak). My brother is an officer and we both think that guy who wrote you the tickets is a complete jerk. Kia

Marc, So glad that you persevered and that the charges were dropped...I guess he will get a chewing out by his supervisor...but good for you!!! Take care and drive safely back to Atlanta... Norma

Ok I have a better one. My sister got her drivers liscense renewed in Sept o5. There was some sort of mixup of her married name and maiden name matching her social security number (homeland security act was cited). She sent in the proper paperwork and received her liscense in the mail. Fast forward to March 06. She has just left St Joe's hospital and taking back roads home. Her husband has just had a major heart procedure that afternoon. She's talking with her teenage son in the passenger seat. She rolls through a stop sign (which she freely admits that she did). The cop turns around and stops her. Starts writing the ticket and says oh wait there is a bigger problem here - your liscense was suspended in Sept 05. She explains the situation to him and tells him she was never advised it had not been fixed. He says oh I see you were never notified but I have to take your liscense tonight. So not only one person has to come get her but two(one has to drive her car home). Forty five minutes later my husband and I arrive and not only is there one but two police cars sitting there with flashing lights on. Again we try to explain her husband had a cardiac procedure that afternoon and what if she needs to go to the hospital in the middle of the night. He's like well someone will have to take her or she will need to call a cab. If she were to get stopped driving without her liscense she would be arrested. So we drive them home and continue home (another 45 minutes). Just as we are coming in the door, she calls and needs a ride to the police station. The officer spoke with a supervisor when he got back to the station and they have decided that she can have her liscense back (she never was notified it was suspended and she probably was a little preoccupied since her husband was in the hospital). She still has to go to court but he tells her to be sure and get the liscense fixed before the court date and see him before court starts, he will talk to the prosecutor avout a lesser charge or a dismissal. The whole thing was dismissed. Now the DMV and getting her liscense corrected is another whole saga. Marie