In one corner of our fair county lies a lovely little hamlet known as well, lets not mention names. <\/p>\n
Oft have I marveled, while passing through that charming village, at its well-shaded streets, neatly manicured medians and pleasant parklands. Ive also noted the size of its police force, relative to population. And Ive wondered: <\/p>\n
How do they afford all that? <\/p>\n
A few months ago, I learned the answer, which is that those two features the upscale amenities and the number of patrol cars are directly related. <\/p>\n
The occasion was a visit to traffic court in one of the towns nice, new, modern buildings, constructed just for that purpose and designed to accommodate more than a hundred people waiting to plead their cases. On that particular day, an otherwise unremarkable Thursday, every seat was filled. <\/p>\n
I found myself there because, a couple months earlier, Id been cited for running a red light even though the light was yellow when I entered the intersection, and I was more than halfway through before it turned red. <\/p>\n
Of course, if it had been a normal yellow light, I should have been all the way through. Thinking about the timing led me to conclude, as I told the ticketing officer, that it must be the shortest yellow light in history. <\/p>\n
He was unmoved. Nevertheless, I believed I had been cited unfairly and decided to fight it. <\/p>\n
In preparation for my day in court, I researched the national standard for yellow lights, which turns out to be about five seconds. I also went back to that intersection, parked at a gas station, and timed the yellow for 10 consecutive cycles. It averaged just under three seconds. <\/p>\n
Armed with several videos, and now believing myself fully in the right, I took a day off work and showed up at the appointed time only to find myself awash in a sea of humanity. When my name was finally called, my day in court turned out to be more like two minutes with a harried city prosecutor, which went something like this: <\/p>\n
Prosecutor: Youre charged with running a red light. <\/p>\n
Me: I didnt do it, and I think I can prove it. <\/p>\n
Prosecutor: We can knock the charge down to a non-moving violation. Your fine will be $122 instead of $178, with no points against your license. <\/p>\n
Me: But I didnt do anything wrong. <\/p>\n
Prosecutor: Youre welcome to come back next month and tell that to the judge. <\/p>\n
Me: So I have to take another day off work? What if I lose? <\/p>\n
Prosecutor: Then youll have to pay the $178, plus youll get the points. <\/p>\n
Me: Where do I pay the $122? <\/p>\n
As you can see, this is a highly organized, well-thought-out, perfectly legal and extremely lucrative scam. Youre ticketed for some dubious violation and then theyve got you over a barrel. <\/p>\n
But, hey, at least its a very nice barrel. <\/p>\n
Rob Jenkins is a local freelance writer and the author of four books, including Family Man: The Art of Surviving Domestic Tranquility, available at Books for Less in Buford and on Amazon. E-mail Rob at rjenkinsgdp@yahoo.com<\/a>. <\/p>\n Success! An email has been sent with a link to confirm list signup. <\/p>\n Error! There was an error processing your request. <\/p>\n Get Breaking News alerts from the Gwinnett Daily Post delivered to your email. <\/p>\n Daily local news headlines from across Gwinnett County. <\/p>\n Daily sports headlines from across Gwinnett County, including high school, professional and college news. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Read more: <\/p>\n JENKINS: Traffic scammed in suburban utopia - Gwinnettdailypost.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In one corner of our fair county lies a lovely little hamlet known as well, lets not mention names. Oft have I marveled, while passing through that charming village, at its well-shaded streets, neatly manicured medians and pleasant parklands Continue reading