Without admitting guilt, I promise to appear at the time and place indicated below.
A couple days ago I pulled up to a red light at the intersection of Portola and Telephone in Ventura. There was a station wagon in the left-turn lane to my left, and as I sat there waiting, a cop pulled up to my right.
Being near cops on the road naturally makes me a little nervous. I get really concerned not giving them any reason to pull me over for anything. So having this police man next to me kind of put me on edge. I sat up straight, made sure I had both hands on the wheel at the ten and two o’clock positions, and started scanning left and right like a responsible driver would.
As I was looking out my window, the car to my left began driving forward. Looking up, I saw that the light was green, and I applied pressure to the gas pedal. Half-way through the intersection, I looked back in my rear-view mirror and noticed no-one else was going. Suddenly becoming quite alarmed, I glanced up at the light, and felt my chest sink as I realized my mistake: Only the left-turn arrow was green. I had just run a red light. Right in front of the effing cop.
Knowing he was going to come after me, I immediately pulled off to the side of the road and waited for the po-po to come through the intersection and pull up behind me.
I turned off the car, rolled down my window, and put my hands on the steering wheel. As he approached, I noticed that he wasn’t that much older than me. Coming up to the window, he sort of grinned and said, “So, uh… Heh… What happened back there?” Kind of laughing at myself, I replied, “I blanked out. I looked up and saw the green and went for it. As I’m sure you noticed, my light was in fact still red.” He chuckled, then asked for my information. I handed him my license and registration, he went back to his car, and I sat there for a good seven minutes feeling like a douche-bag. I haven’t felt that stupid for a long time.
He eventually came back, handed me my ticket, and said, “No surprises here, I’m sure.” “No, sir,” I replied, smiling back at him. “Drive safely,” he said, as he patted the rim of the truck bed before walking back to his car.
