I Hate the Police

Can I just say I officially hate the police? Well, not really "the police" per se, but the entire automobile and traffic regulation system. As most of you may well know, I've had some bad luck (and 1 dumb decision) that have made me feel this way.

First, I was hit by an uninsured, most likely illegal immigrant and had to pay for the repairs to my car myself. Because he was uninsured, he literally didn't have to pay for any of my repairs. I (and my insurance) had to pay for all of it.

Then I got my scooter. One night, last May, I get pulled over for making an "illegal left turn" when I really didn't. There were trees obstructing the view of the cop. I fought it in court and won, but I had to take half a day off of work to go to court.

Literally the night after I get pulled over for the "illegal left turn", I'm driving on a completely different street in Provo and, out of the blue, a cop pulls me over. Turns out it's the exact same cop! He drove by me and recognized me from the night before and pulled me over to tell me that after I had left, he had seen on my records that the scooter wasn't insured.

So, ironically, I got tagged for not having insurance on my SCOOTER (after having to pay for my own repairs when the Mexican hit me) and am put through the ringers. Apparently the penalties for insurance, registration, etc. are the same if you're on a tiny scooter or a 3,000 lb car. I had to pay a $100 fine (after $300 discount for obtaining insurance.) And that's not all. On Friday I got pulled over for having a tail light out and ended up getting a ticket for driving on a suspended license!

As it turns out, my license was suspended when I got the ticket for driving without insurance. I guess in Utah the DMV requires you to carry "SR22" insurance if you've driven a vehicle without insurance. Whatever that means... Your license is suspended until you take proof of said insurance to the Drivers' License Division and pay a $30 "reinstatement fee". The problem is, I was never notified that my license was suspended. I called the DLD and asked why I hadn't been notified. As it turns out, they had been sending letters to my old address in Orem. In other words, the only excuse I'll have if I fight this ticket for driving on a suspended license is "I didn't change my address when I moved"...

So here's what I've learned: You can't do everything right. Even if you're trying to. And if you aren't, you can get off scott free. If you are, you can still get screwed. So why bother? Why not just drive around without any insurance, registration, or anything and just hope to high heaven your tail light isn't out?