Isn't it frustrating going through all of this for something so petty?
I'll be in prison soon. Keep a watch of my blog if you'd like:
32months.blogspot.com
if i got a ticket but never recieved a courtest notice and cant find it on the countys website. Is it possible it slipped through the cracks?
Thanks for writing that all.
It was amusing to read. I'm glad to read that you aren't going to gaol tho 
If that is our law, then you really did get screwed... even the emotional part of it counts, and those insensitive clots can't see that?
Here is what I am referring to:
"It's not like that in Connecticut, where you get to have your traffic ticket hearing and then pay, depending on the outcome."
There are times when another state has laws that are just inferior... and you got screwed by the one that was inferior.
At least you have that sense of humor about the court system being -4 MPH!! That was good
The crying thing would probably have gotten you out of the ticket if Ponch had pulled you over.
I'm going to go ahead and throw option E. to the Glark and Colleen comments of which is worse. Because...seriously. Health insurance companies. I've been canceled by mine four times this year for no longer being a student. Oh wait...YES I AM!!! Probably the high point came in July when I faxed the required form everyday for two weeks. And everday for two weeks I was informed that I wasn't in the computer system at all. I spent a lot of that month on my cell phone...I feel you on the paying per minute to hear crappy muzak. Mine was Phil Collins. Trump that.
It's times like these that make me reminisce about the fun times I had in traffic court over the summer, and make me greatful that I live in a city where I will NEVER HAVE TO DRIVE AGAIN! Of course, there is that impending holiday transit strike coming up...
The Boing Boing post you linked to had a follow-up:
http://www.boingboing.net/2005/
0...cket_updat.html
Hey Sara,
This sucks, but don't sweat it too hard. I dealt with a similar thing. A cop gave me a very shady moving stop ticket that was an obvious quota filler, a fact that became even more obvious because he issued my court date before the ticket even entered the system. This little snafu lead to the ticket getting lost entirely in cyberland, and I never ended up hearing anything about it...
Until 3-4 years later, when I suddenly got a letter that I owed over a grand (3-4 years worth of inflation) and had a warrant out. But once I explained it to the L.A. county judge (who couldn't even find my original citation because the whole thing was such a mess), my warrant was cancelled and I just had to pay the original fine. Meanwhile, during those 3-4 years, I was pulled over another 2 or 3 times, none of which led to me getting arrested, or them even mentioning a warrant. So keep an eye on the situation, but you're gonna be okay. And it definitely won't affect you getting a job, although I'd personally relish the idea of being too bad ass to get hired somewhere. But that's just me.
You won't actually be a criminal. Also, I found out a couple weeks ago that my license had been suspended since APRIL 2004, and there had been a "warrant" for me that entire time. Only I renewed my registration TWICE and my insurance FOUR TIMES in that period, and NEVER did anyone tell me my license was suspended. So when I called the DMV, the evil woman was just like "well, you should have received a notice." So, I went out and fixed everything, which cost FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS, and then after it was all done, the DMV finally sent me a "reissued" notice of suspension, and said that the original had been returned unclaimed. EVEN THOUGH they had all my information from the aforementioned TWO TIMES I RENEWED MY REGISTRATION.
In conclusion, the California DMV is the most horrible thing in the world, and we should destroy it. BUT, you probably will not ever be arrested or even found.
I feel for you. And I hope that you get an automatic extension as the commentor above said. I got my first (and hopefully only) speeding ticket two weeks ago. I, however, was well aware that I was in violation of the law. I just didn't know it was a $128 violation.
(And thank goodness I previewed this comment or else you might have suspected the email "adia_morris@coCMast.net" was for a porn site. )
In response to Glark's question, I say it's option C: the cellular phone company customer service center. Or maybe option D: Tiger Direct. I've been trying for a MONTH to return a computer monitor, and they told us last week that our time limit had expired and we couldn't return it at all. They literally would not take it back. Lovely.
Anyway, good luck Sara! I have to say, your graphic is the best thing I've seen in a while.
I got my first and only speeding ticket five years ago in Ventura County...I live in LA County. I was dumb and didn't commit the "court date" to memory. When I remembered about the ticket, the court date was the day before! I panicked picturing the word "warrant" on my record. I was on hold with the court ALL day and then a recording finally told me that I had been issued an automotic extension. I was so excited I think I skipped. Anyway, you don't know me (I read your stuff from TWoP) but I hope that the same thing happens to you and you get an automatic extension. And when you do go to court, issue them a ticket.
Sorry to hear about it. Been through LA traffic court hell as well, although mine was due to identity theft. After getting mugged, my driver's license was apparently sold on the street and later used at the scene of an accident. The offending person (i.e. me) was given a ticket for lack of insurance, and since "she" gave the officer a new address, all the ensuing notices were sent to that address. I only found out I had a suspended license when I tried to change my car insurance. I then had to drive to LA from Orange County to get a copy of the ticket I didn't know I had received, go immediately to the DMV and get my license re-instated for a hellish fee, and schedule a court date for eight weeks later where I could sign my name ten times to prove it wasn't my signature on the ticket. Good times.
Holy shit. That made *me* break out in hives just reading it.
They should just answer their phones, "Hello, LA Judicial System, you're probably fucked. How may I (not) help you?"
Where can I donate to the Sara Morrison Legal Defense Fund? This totally stinks. What if you get an old school LAPD beatdown when you get arrested?
http://www.cockeyed.com/lessons/
...ffic_court.html
Damn, Sara, that sucks major ass. I guess there's not a lot that we can do for you except be supportive and hope you get it all sorted out. Oh, and don't lose your head at the cops, they don't like that.
Though I wonder what recaps of House would be like coming from the inside... =D
Nice graphs, by the way.
Daaaaaamn Sara.
This begs the question, who is worst, the court system or the cable companies?
Tough call.
Suddenly, I'm once again very glad that I've managed to get this far in my life without leaning to drive. Or, without living any place where I might have needed to drive.
If there's anything I've learned about traffic cops, it's that they will ALWAYS say they "have to" give you a ticket and if you try to protest they'll always say you probably won't even have to go to court. I was driving in the middle of nowhere during a snowstorm, hit a patch of ice and slid into a guard rail. No one was hurt, which is probably because I was going about 15 mph. I got a speeding ticket from the cop that drove by. He was sorry, but he had to do it even though the weather was terrible because I was the only one who'd had trouble on the road and I'd done some damage to the guard rail. Which I would understand, if there hadn't already been damage to the guard rail and if the entire area around nad including where I hit the rail didn't have gigantic orange cones all over it. Douchebag. He also said I could probably resolve it over the phone, which the operator told me they never do.
And, hey, at least you know about the warrant. I had a friend who was pulled over and found out that there was a warrant out for his arrest for a ticket he never got. Fun.
Commenting by HaloScan
