10 November 2011

One of those .." I told you so" moments

well Lyn,   do you recall a few months back we were discussing our kids' driving?? Im pretty sure I stated at the time that it would be only a matter of time before Brett was pulled over and ticketed for speeding.

Yesterday I came inside from the patio and Glenn and Brett were sitting at the kitchen table.. Glenn suggested that I sit cause Brett had some news.  I looked over to Brett and instantly guessed when I saw the blue paper in his hand.

ME..."Did you got a speeding fine Brett?"

BRETT... "Yeah, and Im going to loose my licence"

Obviously he would have been upset.. whats the point of ranting and raving?? All I could say was that I wasn't suprised, we could all see it coming and he had no one to blame but himself for choosing not to be responsible. AND thank goodness he hadn't injured anyone in learning his lesson.

He has 3 points against him, a $371 fine
As he breached the terms of his probationary license he was fined $400+

As we were unsure as to exactly what the implications of these infringements would have on his license we looked them up on the Internet, thinking that he would at least loose his license for 6 months.

It turns out that when he was booked the Officer told him he recorded him accelerating at three speeds.  He fined him for the middle speed.  IF he booked him for the higher speed he would have immediately lost his license and been fined an extra $200.

We have discussed with him that he has been fortunate, and he got a very nasty fright, we have impressed on him that it is up to him to be mature and adjust his driving habits ... He is really skating on thin ice... any ticket in the next three years will see him loose his license.

As relieved as we are that he wont loose his license I still question how at 18years of age, on a probationary licence, travelling in excess of 30km's over the speed limit the Officer who booked him thought it reasonable to allow him to keep driving. Im just thankful that he did and I hope that Brett has had a bad enough fright to wake up  and realise that he has to be more responsible

19 comments:

  1. A big oops Paul. not to mention expensive but hopefully he will be more responsible.. be more attentive.. use his cruise control, drop his gears back in town.. what ever it takes to be within the speed limit. Its been a persistant fault with his driving ever since he started to learn to drive.

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  2. He's young. He'll learn.

    As long as he learns the most important thing.

    To really be stupid is to make the same "oops" twice!

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  3. 1- suckifies..

    2- slow down duuuuuuuuuude....

    3- hang in there, dude's mommmmmma....

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  4. Oh boy! One of the sad rites of passage in youth. I've had it happen myself many years ago. As far as the officer not ticketing him for the higher speed, many aren't looking to ruin someone's life, but to value the importance of a good lesson.I also suspect that Brett was polite and respectful. I have a nephew who never quite understood the difference between "hello officer, what seems to be the problem?" or "I'm sorry I guess I got foolishly carried away," and saying "What the F--k did you stop me for?" The latter can land you in trouble! Two things come to mind. Here in my small city, the DA will talk to each person before court, to see if a deal can be worked out, possibly negotiating an even lower conviction/penalty. The reason is simple. Here we have the right to plead not guilty and request a full jury trial. The town would much rather put a couple of hundred in its coffers than spend thousands on a trial. I do hope things work out well for him, and that he the end consequences of this affair provide a good lesson!

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  5. Ouch! We had many of those with two of our three boys. The third one hasn't gotten his license yet. Another one of those moments was...I allowed my boys to buy a very inexpensive vehicle. You know the boys will be boys and wreck it in the first snow storm. And they did :(

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  6. I'm thinking he's got a lil angel looking out for him.... give him a real scare before something TRULY horrid happens! I hope he takes it seriously from now on! Tell him to do like me... go to the friday night drags and get it out of his system hehehe.

    Soooo... dare I ask who gets to pay for all them tickets?

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  7. Good you could look forward with wisdom and got them old cars, anticipating problems with snow. I had one advantage when I started driving. I had my dad's hand me down car, a 1969 Rambler American. It had the advantage of being a cheap car, not being very fast, unless I drove it off a cliff. At 18, with the ink on my license barely dry, I went off to college in Rochester NY. Yep, it snows there LOL! I took advantage of that fact, by going out late at night. I'd find a big empty parking lot, and practice. A couple of inches of snow was perfect to see what happens if you apply brakes, turn too suddenly, or jam you foot down on the accelerator, and how to handle small skids. Plus there was nothing to hit if I misjudged things and the car spun or did anything exciting! :)

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  8. Opps, I accidentally replied to my own post! Duhhhhh!

    Good you could look forward with wisdom and got them old cars, anticipating problems with snow. I had one advantage when I started driving. I had my dad's hand me down car, a 1969 Rambler American. It had the advantage of being a cheap car, not being very fast, unless I drove it off a cliff. At 18, with the ink on my license barely dry, I went off to college in Rochester NY. Yep, it snows there LOL! I took advantage of that fact, by going out late at night. I'd find a big empty parking lot, and practice. A couple of inches of snow was perfect to see what happens if you apply brakes, turn too suddenly, or jam you foot down on the accelerator, and how to handle small skids. Plus there was nothing to hit if I misjudged things and the car spun or did anything exciting! :)

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  9. Without reading the novels above, im wondering how a speed camera records three different speeds in such a short time.... wtf? You are speeding, surely they would have looked at the highest speed and said 'sorry buddy, hand over your licence'.
    Perhaps i should put a link in here about a speeding driver in NSW recently shown on A Current Affair.. where the dude overtakes a group of motorcyclists, takes a corner too fast, and ends up sliding the car down the road on its roof. The 'experts' on ACA, say they think the driver was doing somewhere between 130 - 140kph... not reeeeeeeally fast, but enough to lose it. Get him to watch this angie...
    http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8368974

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  10. .. well Im hoping!

    He would have been, he's a good kid..just young and thinks he is invincible like most young'ens

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  11. yes Chris, thats what Glenn and I are hoping for also and thanks for your kind words, very appreciated.

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  12. three boys... bet they keep you on your toes lol.

    Oh I do hope no one was injured in the accident.

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  13. Ive only recently learned that Brett is actually a bit of a rev head. He would truly love the drags with you Mims. One of Bretts close friends lives where there is enough room for them to drive around off road.. they have a great time.

    Yes you dare... HIM!!!!

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  14. apparently there were three motorcycle police .. each with cameras? (not sure why that would be.. but thats what I heard him telling someone) so obviously there IS some play on the readings of those things... any way.. thats how they got different readings...I believe.

    Brett, Glenn and I watched this the other night, thanks Lyn. The problem is, as I said above in a comment.. most of the youngsters think that they are invincible. They are aware of danger but not as aware that it can happen to any one .. at anytime. We have always told the kids that when your on the road, its not always your own mistakes that can cause injuries or accidents to happen either.

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  15. Another thing Angie, is you should read over the ticket very carefully for any errors. Something as simple as misspelling a name, license plate number or color of car can make a ticket void. Many years ago, a friend was stopped for speeding while driving his father's car. The officer recorded the son's name as driver, and father's name as owner, then checked "yes" in a little box to mark if the driver was the owner of the vehicle. His dad saw that tiny error and went to court with his son, asking "who is the ticket issued to?" The judge threw it out as a defective ticket.

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  16. Hi again Chris..

    I understand what you are saying but Brett was speeding.. and I want him to learn that there are consequences to his actions. Its an easy concept that he understands but continually chooses to ignore.. if the sign says 50km then 70km doesnt cut it. In this case travelling closer to 140km when you should be 100km is asking for a ticket... which he received. Im just grateful that he will retain a drivers licence and that he will have the money to pay for the fine and Im hopeful that this will be the deciding factor in his maturing and driving with more care.

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  17. I agree Angie. The lesson is far more important than the cost of the fines. I had been concerned if the car was in you or your hubby's name, and might be responsible in some way. The outcome, however, in this case is much better. Brett is earning money, and can therefore pay the fine, but I would bet, being young, not earning so much as to merely brush off the cost as meaningless. Plus, mom and dad, I'm sure will be able to keep reminding him of the lesson! :)

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