Many of us get traffic ticket every year, but this was a very unique way of getting traffic ticket which has stayed in my mind for years.
I wanted to urgently ship some travel documents for my wife in India, who was awaiting them for coming to U.S for very first time since our marriage. So I called up FEDEX office and the attendant on the other end of phone urged me to rush the documents to their Office before 5 p.m (another 30 minutes) otherwise I would miss last shipment for the week (as weekend was approaching) and my documents would be delayed reaching its destination by few days.
So I gather all documents and hurriedly get into my car and not before long I was on Highway 85 trying to drive as fast I can. Traffic on highway was heavily backed up as it was peak commute hour.CARPOOL lane looked very tempting however me being a honest and responsible citizen, decided against breaking any laws and face the risk of getting caught by the cops.
After travelling for few miles on the Highway it occurred to me that I was not going to make it. However I wasn’t ready to throw in the towel yet and in a desperate attempt to reach on time came up with a plan of flashing lights to cars in front of me, so they would realize my emergency and let me pass ahead of them. Some cars did let me pass them so plan seemed to be working but the euphoria soon died down, as soon after I was confronted with this white car in front of me who would not budge and give me way to pass.
“Maybe he is not noticing me”, I tried consoling myself so now I decided to follow him closely and again started flashing lights at him to ensure that I attract his attention.
Sure enough this white car in front of me acknowledged my efforts and went into the adjacent lane so that I could pass it. While was I passing I decided to stare at him and give him that angry look which we usually get from other drivers when we don’t follow the law or make some mistake while driving.
While I was passing him I realized that he was not any ordinary driver but a COP, It looked like a ordinary car from behind but had this “Sheriff” logo on it so all this while I had been FLASHING LIGHTS at the cop.
How on the earth was I supposed to know it was COP?
He had let me pass initially but latter on gave me indication to pull over.
While I was waiting in my car anxiously, waiting for him to come over and hand me the ticket. I was getting very nervous and started blaming myself as now not only I was not going to reach in time but also had to deal with a traffic ticket.
He come towards me, but looked confused.
As I now vaguely recollect we had following conversation.
COP : Why did you flash lights at me ?
“I thought maybe If I come up with something very convincing he would me let off the hook. However I was very nervous and went totally blank at that moment”
ME : Sir, I was checking the functions of my car and pressed flash lights to check if they were working.
COP : So how long you have been driving?
ME : Five years
COP : So it takes you 5 years to figure out the functions of your car?
After that he might have realized that there was no pointing talking further so he went back to his car and handed me the ticket stating the reason “Flashing lights within very close distance of car in front”. In the hindsight I feel I had better changes of getting of the hook if I had told him the Truth. However now when I think about it I can stop laughing at that incident and feel it was most funniest and unique way of getting the traffic ticket.
