traffic court
so, back in Oct., i got pulled over. given that i happened to have expired tags, i suppose it was bound to happen eventually. unfortunately, i also discovered that, despite having a CT license that was to expire in 2010, my having lived in MD for more than 2 months meant i was, in the eyes of the law, unlicensed. unlike the expired tags, i couldn’t just pay the fine and be done with it either. no, it was an “arrestable offense”, so i had to go to traffic court. which i finally did, last friday. a mere 5 and 1/2 months after getting pulled over.
the day was spent, well, waiting around. i wound up in the 1pm slot, so the morning was spent in the library (for lack of better places to wait). checked in with the prosecuter, ready to plead my case (lawyerless as i was) and was simply asked if i’d gotten my license. yep. handed it to the prosecuter; she handed it to a cop to verify it wasn’t a fake. okay, we’ll dismiss the charges, please sit down till your case is called. which i did. went up before the judge, charges were dropped, baliff gave me a print out saying so. all in all, it took a whole of 5 minutes.
now, i’m not complaining that i didn’t get fined or have to go to jail. but, really, it was a waste of time. not just my time, but the prosecuter’s time and the judge’s time. and the time of everyone else in court that day. if all they care about is me getting my damn license, shouldn’t there be a way to just prove it without going to trial? like, when i actually got it at DMV, couldn’t they automatically send a note to the state attorney’s office, and have the charges dismissed without having to actually go to court? seems like it would be more efficient. and i wouldn’t have burned a vacation day. just a thought.
April 10th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
I’ve been there before for the exact same thing. A real pain in the neck.
Go Sox!
April 21st, 2008 at 2:50 pm
They do it that same way here in Missoula. I agree. Why not just make it automatic…a message to the State…yeah, he’s got his license renewed.
Tax dollars…and time spent on real criminals…wasted for silly paperwork.
June 10th, 2008 at 5:04 am
Well now, Mr. Twiffer - are we so special that we think we don’t have to follow THE LAW? I pay a hard earned $36 to renew my license every year, and do you see me BLOGGING about it? Sheesh. Blogs should be for writing about sex, not traffic court. All you needed was to have that adorable kid in the back seat and ‘twould”ve melted the heart of the harshest state trooper. Case closed.
June 10th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
yes, i do believe i’m just that special. and i would have gotten away with it, if i’d only let the cop cut me off.