License and registration, please

Anybody who’s ever received a traffic citation, please raise your hand.

We thought so.

Almost everyone who drives a car or truck has been pulled over at least once. Traffic tickets are an everyday occurrence and even the best driver can have a momentary lapse in judgment that leads to getting caught. First there’denial, then that ache in the pit of your stomach that sayyou’re going to be out at least a hundred bucks and probably more. And don’t kid yourself, there’s nothing funny about comedy traffic school. It’s one sad way to spend a Saturday.

Nobody likes getting a ticket, but we all do.

Recent complaints from Acorn readers about what they perceive as an increase in local traffic tickets being written has led us to the obvious questions: Do we get more ticketin our area because deputies have little other crime to fight? Is there a quota the cops must meet that forces them to write more tickets? Do some deputies tend to write more ticketthan others, or are they just doing their job? And, yes, the one that bothers males the most: Can a pretty female smile be a ticket to freedom? Often, it is. Good driving is a habit—so is bad driving. Keep pushing the envelope and sooner or later you’ll get caught. One thing we know for sure—if you obey the laws of the road you won’t get ticketed. And if you are ticketed, chances are good that you won’t make the same mistake twice. Police know this and that’s why they write tickets. Because traffic citations are such an excellent tool fokeeping us safe, most of the complaints against them are essentially moot. Still, the daily dance between cops and drivers continues. This week on page 14A, reporter Kyle Jorrey begins the first of his two-part series, “License and Registration, Please—The Truth Behind Traffic Tickets.”

Read on, but first buckle up.