I am a coward! On June 9 I had just left the bank at Heathercliff and was headed to the Malibu library. I was maintaining 3 to 4 car lengths behind the car in front of me. My 73-pound dog was in the back seat. I saw the patrol car flash his lights as I passed and quickly moved out of traffic and stopped to get out of the way. I assumed the officer had gotten a call. I was quite surprised when he pulled over behind me. He said I was going 66 mph in a 50-mile zone. I protested that I had not been gaining on the car in front, but he wrote the ticket.
After accepting the ticket, I knew that I hadn’t been speeding. I had pulled over and stopped very smoothly. If I had been going fast, my dog would have been catapulted into the front seat.
When I went to the courthouse to pay the fine, the clerk asked me what I wanted to do. I told her I had no choice. I had to pay. She told me I could contest it. She also told me that this certain officer writes many, many tickets, more than any other officer. The fine was $321 and if I chose to go to traffic school there would be another fee on top of that.
Although I believed I was being victimized, I was afraid to contest the ticket. The vision of the officer using a Taser on a 72-year-old woman was fresh in my mind. I had always been a supporter of police officers. Two nephews and a niece have made law enforcement their careers.
I tried to look upon this disagreeable event as that officer’s attempt to solve the financial crisis in the state, an extra tax if you will. But when a friend explained that charging me with 66 miles actually doubled the fine, I hated myself for buckling under to an unjust act. I hope when other senior citizens meet up with a similar situation they will not submit as I did, but stand up for their rights.
Agnes Peterson