Pay attention to signs!

I just recently got pulled over and somehow talked my way out of a ticket. Was this luck or my sweet persuasive skills that got me out of trouble?

It was late afternoon and I was on my way to the dog park talking on the phone with my mother. Before I knew it, I saw what any driver in the driver seat NEVER wants to see; flashing cop lights. Despite being pulled over, I also had to tell my mother I needed to go because I was being pulled over. I was going to have to hear “it” from her later. On top of this, it was in a school zone AND I didn’t have my license because my wallet was stolen on a recent trip to France.

I thought in my head, “I wasn’t speeding! I couldn’t have been speeding! Was I speeding?”

The cop asked for my license and registration. So I told him my sob story of how I had my license stolen in Paris and handed him the police report, which was written in French. Then, I couldn’t help but ask him why I was pulled over because I literally had no idea why, because I was fairly confident I wasn’t speeding.

He looked at me, very irritated, and asked if I had noticed the new sign, stating that you are not allowed to be on your phone, period, while in a school zone. I told him I had no idea about this new law and he looked at me as a parent looks when scolding a child and asked, “Have you killed a kid lately?” This left me speechless and I wanted to cry. Of course I hadn’t killed a kid lately and I never intended too. I thought he went too far with that comment but I keep my cool and dealt with the situation as best I could, getting by with just a warning.

Long story short, pay attention to the signs around you and update yourself on new laws and regulations being passed. You can’t always depend on luck or even your exceptional ways of dodging bullets to get you by. Lastly, always be polite to cops, giving them attitude gets you nowhere.