got a ticket a few weeks back for a u-turn. the cop gives me the ticket and it has no price on it.
"well, how much is it? there's no price."
"you find out when you go to court"
"court? can't i just pay it?"
"yes. in about a week you can go pay it."
"can i go to traffic school instead?"
"probaly, but you have to go to court to find out."
so last night (6-30) i lose a couple hours work to go to the court house. they put me in line to get my court papers. there aren't any. they put me in another line to check my name on it. it's not there. they send me across the street to the main court house to talk to them. after some searching and computer work they find out i should have been there that morning. my ticket clearly states 7:00 pm.
"but don't worry they probaly haven't put a bench warrant out on you yet."
!!! "uh, well thank you i appreciate your telling me that."
after more paperwork (since they can't find the records) i'm paying $69.55 which i find out would have been $25 less if i had come in before the court date. i never had to wait to go to court to go to traffic school.
"can i use my bank card?"
"uh, can you write a check?"
"ok"
i write a check. she looks at it.
"i can't accept this check."
"?"
it happens that my bank was taken over by another one so even though i still use the checks, they don't match the bank name. they don't like that.
"can you use your card?"
"uh,yeah?" notice that i don't tell her i wanted to do that in the first place. it dosen't pay to rile a counter clerk. they tend to disapear and take long breaks. perhaps they go to lunch.
"that will add about $9 to the cost."
"hmm..well maybe i should just walk down to the money machine and get the cash".
"ok, and we'll be right here".
10 or 15 minutes later i'm back. she's gone and only one window is open. i'm the next person in line and it still takes about ten minutes to get to a window when some one else comes back. not the original woman so she has to find the papers, and my copy of the ticket is missing. another 10-15 minutes and i'm gone but i will have to pay $15 more to go to traffic school.
i bet you thought the money was the penulty for vehicle violations.