It's summer--officially. And amidst the apocalyptic haze of HOV lanes and the looming taxi strike that jaundices the heraldry of the Pan American Games, for us mortals there is still life to be lived, decisions to be made, places to go. It is also a time of rampant radar and vigilant police cruisers operated by itchy-fingered officers with a neat stack of yellow tickets and a mandated quota to fill.
So what are the reasons you'll be pulled over this summer?
1. Running a red: You're 10 minutes late for your nephew's birthday party, and getting incessant flack from your occupants; your foot lies heavier on the gas fuelling the vehicle's surge along the stretch of road. The light ahead is yellow, and you've calculated its turn to red by the millisecond, blasting through the threshold--but your calculations were way off, and you clearly run through red. A cruiser is slouched at the intersection and witnesses the whole thing--busted!
2. Speeding: You pull over the vehicle to the uproar of your occupants--for now you're not only going to be 20 minutes late to the party, but arriving there poorer than before you left--and the officer charges you with running a red, and driving 20 kms over the limit. Speeding is another routine traffic infraction; and it can sneak up on you unawares, whether on the highway or residential streets, this is one that
3. Seat Belt: The officer looks in your vehicle, and your seat belt is unlooped at the shoulder--assuaging your sensitivity to anything lying with the slightest weight across your heart--and your fine is immediately increased, regardless of your pleas for grace. He also notices your 12 year-old in the back isn't wearing hers--flouting the countless times you told her to buckle up. The charges mount--there goes the golf tournament you had been saving up for the past month.
4. Distracted Driving: You're now really late for the party, and the panic of the run-in with the officer exacerbated by the burning sensation of the yellow ticket on your lap, puts you in a momentary state of memory loss--where's that house again? You get on your phone and clumsily tap and slide to Google Map; but there's a glitch in the program, and it's taking forever to open, drawing more of your eye from the lines the road ahead. Sirens erupt behind you, and you pull over to let it through--only this time, it stops behind you: busted again!
5. Aggressive Driving: A deuce of yellow tickets, militaristic officers, and a merciless family of occupants has put you over the edge--and the quadruple espresso from Starbucks before initially heading out didn't help. You're seeing red. Everyone in front of you is the enemy who must be vanquished in your acrid wake. You speed along; the noise in the vehicle deafening--wheeling in and out of cars, tailgating, honking incessantly, running more lights and changing lanes through intersections. Lights, sirens--you know the result...
While this is an extreme scenario, the point is obvious: be wary on the roads, obey the laws of traffic, stay cool while it's hot, respect one another, and strive for safety first over against punctuality. You'll be safer, securer, embraced by your friends and loved ones for respecting them, and, as a result, richer by keeping your money in your pocket rather than filling those of the OPP.
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