Still Breakin' the Law

So last week I got pulled over and received a ticket for the first time in my life, right? Well, you'll never guess what happened Saturday. That's right, I got pulled over again, this time on base. Thankfully I didn't get a ticket.

Picture: Lexington Park, Saturday morning. Ramya needed to do a 13-miler for her marathon training, so I dropped her off on base (the 13 mile loop there is awesome), then came back to hang out with Eric. About an hour later Ramya called back and said she's coughing too much to finish the run (we're both still fighting the lingering illness) so I grabbed my keys and darted out to the car in my pajamas to go pick her up.

Okay, it will be much easier if you refer to this map while I tell this part of the story. I had picked Ramya up, and we were driving Southwest on Cedar Point Road. The road was one lane at this point, and there was a car directly behind us as we approached the intersection with Millstone Rd (marker #1 on the map). Ahead of us, another car that was traveling Southeast on Millstone made a right onto Cedar Point into the right lane of the now two-lane road. So after we go through the intersection, we are in the left lane with a car behind us, and there is another car ahead of us in the right lane. Still with me?

I notice that the car ahead in the right lane is going about the speed I want to go, plus I need to make a right turn later anyway, so I signal and merge right somewhere near marker #2. As soon as I'm over, the guy who was behind me zooms right by. So, as we're traveling between markers #2 and #3, there are three cars on the road: us in the right lane, a car ahead of us in the right lane that I'm basically pacing, and a car ahead of us in the left lane that has just passed us.

A cop was waiting at the intersection of Keane and Cedar Point (Marker #3 a.k.a. the drill hall exit) as we passed. He turns on his flashers and pulls me over, while Ramya and I engage in various expressions of disbelief. At this point I realize that I don't have my driver's license.

Now, this time I got the "standard" pullover chit chat. The cop walks up and we have this exchange (all quotes approximate, as I was freaking out thinking I was going to base jail):

Cop: "How are you doing today?"
Me: "Good I am so sorry sir I don't have my license but here's my two base ID's and my registration and if you want to follow me home I can get my wallet and show you my license."
Cop: "Okay...I clocked you doing 50 in a 35. Where are you going in such a hurry?"
Me: "We're heading home right now. She [indicating Ramya] is training for a marathon, so I dropped her off this morning to do a long run on base, but she called and said she was too sick to finish so I just grabbed my keys and ran out to get her."
[Please note that I am in pajama pants and a t-shirt, and Ramya is dressed in running clothes and currently having a massive coughing fit, as if on cue. I feel this lends legitimacy to our story.]
Cop: "Okay, but be careful. 15 over is $120 ticket."
Me: "I know [immediately wishing I didn't say that]"
Cop: "Go ahead and get her home, but slow down."
Me: "[gratuitously] Thank you so much sir!"

So that was that. After going 29 years without incident, I had been pulled over twice in four days. Except this time I had a nice, interactive stop, and got away with a warning. But still, this stop didn't add up, and I'm not even going to mention the fact that traffic always moves at about 50. How is it that there was a car ahead of me going the same speed and a car that just passed me, and I'm the one he pulls over? I was definitely the second fastest, if not the slowest of the three cars that passed him at roughly the same time. I almost wonder if the radar gun clocked the passing car and he just thought it was me. Of course, wouldn't he have noticed that I just got passed regardless? Maybe he was looking the other way at that point. It just didn't make sense. But to be fair, I was speeding. I am now going to keep it at a maximum of 5 mph over the speed limit.

Speaking of which, I have driven through the intersection where I got my ticket several times, and traffic is almost always moving at somewhere between 55 and 60. But, as I have a new found respect for absolute speed limits, I've been keeping it at 50. And do you know what? Not only do all the other cars go flying past me, but I get stopped at every traffic light. Normally, the lights are synchronized so that you just cruise right on through. But apparently if you drop below 55, you hit all the reds. Let me rephrase this: I got a ticket for going the speed at which the street is programmed to be traveled. The people who set up the lights timed them based on traffic moving between 55 and 60 mph. This is all very St. Marys county.

Also, I was at physical therapy last Thursday (for my knee- I should post about that sometime) and several of the other patients and nurses were talking about the sudden increase in cops on the roads. I chimed in with my anecdote about getting the first ticket of my life, and they all agreed that they know several people who have been pulled over recently, most for going the speed they usually go. So I guess I'm just another statistic in an effort to get the drivers in the county to slow down. Ironic, because I am widely regarded as a "slow driver" within my friends and family.

I will now drive up to DC with the cruise set at 60 mph.