Traffic fine is costly but enlightening

Last week I accompanied my 19-year-old son when he went to traffic court to try to mitigate a ticket. I was just along for moral support.

At the courthouse we parked the cars and made our way to our assigned courtroom. We were a bit early and other people filed in and took their seats as we waited.

My son, with several of his friends, bought a project car last year. They were going to use it to learn how to repair cars, and then sell it for a profit that would be divided among them. The car made the rounds from one house to the next, sitting in the backyard or garage until a parent said it had to go.

The car was a lemon. No matter what the boys did, they couldn’t get it to pass the emissions inspection. And they tried everything.

They had a good time, but the problem was that the car didn’t really belong to anyone. No one drove it anywhere except from one backyard to another. It was a toy. They couldn’t get tabs for it and none of the families wanted the expense of insuring it.

Finally, the car was kicked out of yet another garage and my son drove it the two miles back to our house. And that’s where his luck ran out.

Just blocks from his driveway, my son was pulled over and issued tickets for more than $800 because the car had no current tabs and, although he was an insured driver, he had no insurance on that vehicle.

So, my son went to court hoping to have the amount of the fines reduced. Well, to be perfectly honest, I’m sure he hoped to have the whole thing dismissed, to have the judge say, “Well this is obviously a big misunderstanding.” But in his opening remarks the judge made it clear that wouldn’t happen.

Once the judge was seated behind the bench, he launched into a detailed explanation of just what he could and could not do. He explained that if possible he would reduce the amount of a fine, but what he said was final. If anyone wanted to contest a ticket, they would have to do that in another courtroom.

If necessary, one could be put on a payment plan and pay a set amount each month. That amount was flexible.

He stressed that it was important not to miss a payment. And then things got rolling.

The first person up was a man who was hoping to have a ticket dismissed rather than just having the amount mitigated. Irritated, he accepted a reduced fine and left. He had better things to do with his time.

Next, a man who was old enough to be my son’s father, a man who was new in town and desperately trying to find a job, had gotten a speeding ticket. He asked for leniency. He didn’t know the roads, he explained. He was trying to find an address. He was distracted. He didn’t know where the speed traps are and where you have to be extra diligent. He didn’t have a lot of money and he couldn’t afford the fine. He needed a clean driving record to get a job. He needed a job to pay the fine.

I could see the sympathy on the judge’s face, but all he could do was reduce the fine.

A young man who had been ticketed for not wearing a seat belt explained that he’d been riding in his new car and had been caught in a moment when he’d just forgotten to buckle up. “I feel so safe, surrounded by airbags on every side,” he said. The judge’s face wasn’t so sympathetic.

Another middle-aged man, his voice vibrating with emotion, stood and explained that this speeding ticket would compromise his job. He had a commercial driver’s license and this would put two speeding tickets on his record. “I’m no good to my employer without that license,” he said.

The judge looked moved, and mitigated the amount, but the ticket remained.

When my son’s time came, it didn’t take long. He told his tale and then listened to the judge explain that the car should have been on a trailer. It is never acceptable, the judge pointed out, to drive a car that isn’t licensed or insured. He halved the fine and we left.

Later, I listened as my son described his day in court. I noticed that he didn’t go on and on about having to pay the fine, to the tune of $25 a month, for a great many months.

He had something else on his mind.

Paying the fine will be uncomfortable, it will take a bite out of his paycheck, and it will hang over his head for a while. But being in traffic court opened his eyes. When it’s all over he’ll still have a job, a home and a good life.

I was intrigued by the tone of his voice as he told the stories of the other people in the room. He’d heard the fear in the men’s voices when they talked about losing their jobs. This wasn’t an inconvenience. They’d been caught driving too fast, not dangerously, recklessly, fast. Just over the limit. And it was going to have a big impact on their lives.

He’d cringed when the young man, probably close to his own age, boasted of feeling so safe surrounded by the airbags in his car that he’d forgotten to buckle his seat belt. It sounded foolish and a little cocky. I don’t know, maybe it sounded a little familiar.

I think that what my son had with him when he left the county courthouse was a $400 tutorial. He’d learned that even the smallest action, decision or temporary distraction can cost you.

Sometimes, you can compensate for your mistakes on the installment plan.

Other times, the penalty is more than you can pay.