Consistently Winning the Dumbass Award
Posted by Cap in Even More Ramblings |Drove up to San Francisco to visit a friend this weekend.
After a boring six and a half hour drive filled with many pit stop (due to bladder size of a peanut), I reached the Bay Bridge along with a few hundred other cars. Twenty minutes later, I was two cars behind the toll collector.
As I scramble for my wallet to make sure I have enough money to pay for the toll, I heard a loud BAM! and felt my car jolted.
Great. Some moron has hit me from behind.
Or so I thought.
Upon closer inspection through the front windshield, I noticed a few things:
- The front of my car is awfully close to the Jeep in front of me.
- There was an angry pair of eyes looking at me through the Jeep’s rear view mirror.
Uh oh.
Foot must have slipped off the brake somehow (first time ever for me to hit a car). Normally not an issue in stop and go traffic for a manual transmission car, but I must have been on a small incline, which resulted in the car rolling forward at a brisk pace of 0.05 mph.
Needless to say, he was pissed. After paying the toll, we both pulled over to inspect the damage, or rather, lack there of. The less-ticked off motorist waved me good bye and soon I was on my way to get lost in the crowded streets of San Fransisco.
On the way home, I met up with Noah of Okdork.com in Saratoga over a cup of so-so coffee, and got my first speeding ticket in Valencia, forty minutes away from home.
Yay.
16 Comments to “Consistently Winning the Dumbass Award”
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November 1st, 2006 at 12:16 am
Bummer that I was in Canada/Seattle – would have loved to get together. Maybe on your next trip up…
November 1st, 2006 at 12:43 am
ah didn’t even know you’re in SF area jeffrey, or would have planned accordingly. will keep that in mind next time :)
btw love the new site template. looks awesome!
November 1st, 2006 at 1:06 am
Is paying a speeding ticket like buying crap? ;)
November 1st, 2006 at 2:33 am
hah. totally is.
November 1st, 2006 at 5:24 am
Actually, I think paying it is a pretty good decision. Getting it in the first place, on the other hand, is definitely like buying crap.
November 1st, 2006 at 5:25 am
Buy the way, you mis-spelled the name of my site in your sidebar. It’s Five, not Fice. ;)
November 1st, 2006 at 7:14 am
Actually if your time is valued fairly high, a speeding ticket may be a good investment. If you only get them every 4-5 years, its unlikely to ever be noticed by your insurance. 60,000 miles at 60 MPH is 1000 hours vs. 60,000 miles at 70 MPH is 857 hours. So if you drive 60,000 miles between tickets at +10 MPH average, you save 143 hours. If you make $20 an hour that’s $2860. I think I’ll take a ticket once in a while before I slow down.
November 1st, 2006 at 7:18 am
Yes, but you forgot to subtract the cost of a new used car every other year when your old one happens to wrap itself about a telephone pole.
November 1st, 2006 at 7:42 am
God I miss my five speed manual transmission. My little escort always felt so peppy. :`(
November 1st, 2006 at 6:28 pm
You had a stroke of bad luck; it doesn’t mean you’re a dumbass. Here’s hoping the bad luck has run its course, though!
November 2nd, 2006 at 9:00 am
Jon, you’ll rarely get a speeding ticket for going only 70 in Valencia. 75, maybe. 80, yes. Get in CHP or Sheriff’s way at any speed, absolutely.
November 3rd, 2006 at 6:48 am
PennyZ, Well if average is +15 or +20 there, makes my calculations even more favorable. Just make sure you have a car that can handle +15 or +20. A truck, SUV, or old Buick with crappy S or lower rated tires is certainly recipe for disaster at higher speeds. A nice foreign sedan should have no problems however.
November 3rd, 2006 at 10:15 am
That’s why I love the hand brake at stops. I’ve had the foot slip on a brake before. It’s not worth it if I’m going to lean over. I’m so short, my foot will almost always ease up if I’m stretching around.
Of course, remember to take the brake off before you start moving. ;-)
November 8th, 2006 at 1:02 pm
ouch! be sure to followup on that speeding ticket. california LOVES people who ‘forget’ to take care of speeding tickets.
Driving School is online and the fee is OUT OF effing control. I should know, I just got one. *sigh*
November 9th, 2006 at 6:36 am
A suggestion for Cap or anyone else using a toll facility that accepts electronic payments more than once a year may want to look into a toll device. I think in the bay area it is called Fasttrack.
November 10th, 2006 at 3:39 pm
nickel: uh it’s like 10 days later but fixing it now. not sure how I even missed the typo. *tehe*
I think regarding the time or money you may save. getting a speeding ticket is always a stupid move, especially when you deserve them. heh.
in some instances it probably would have been better to just have fly instead of drive, now that I have the speeding ticket to add to the cost. I’ll most likely have it dismissed a year later via trial by written declaration though.
hopefully.