Today’s blog entry is one of many ways I have found to procrastinate starting an 8-hour online traffic school course. It is for a ticket I received a couple of months ago in Culver City. I ran a red light on my way to catch a plane at LAX. The telltale flashes as I sped through the intersection told me I was caught on camera, but I did not receive the ticket until the day before we left for Mexico. I brought it with me to deal with here.
Sad to say, but the evidence against me is solid. There is a picture of my rental car speeding through the intersection while the light is red, and a close-up of me driving the car at the same moment. There is even a video on the police department’s website. I could contest it, but I probably would lose.
(Note: I'm biting my nails, not picking my nose.)
Instead I chose traffic school to avoid points on my license. But the cost is staggering: $466 “bail” that I automatically forfeit to the Los Angeles Superior Court by opting for traffic school, plus a $64 court fee for the privilege of attending traffic school. There’s also $20 to the traffic school provider. And, of course, there’s the eight hours I have to spend taking the course, although I suspect it will take less time.
Why am I writing about this in our Oaxaca blog? (Natalie had the same question.) As I said before, mainly to procrastinate. But there is a connection. Before our trip, many people warned us about the Mexican police. They said pretty much every interaction with the police here requires a bribe to resolve. That may be true, and I may come to eat my words, but I’ll choose a $20, $50, even a $100 bribe any day over an obligatory $550 payment plus 8 hours of traffic school. We arrived here expecting shananigans from the local police, but so far our interactions with them shine in comparison to my experience with the Culver City Red Light Photo Enforcement Program. -- Harrison
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