Monday, January 29, 2007

Cookies for Everyone!

Apparently in the state of Illinois, when your license plate tags expire, new ones aren’t sent to you. You have to go to the DMV to get a new sticker. Yes, I got pulled over this morning for having expired tags, and guess what! I also didn’t have my driver’s license or a current proof of insurance on me! Here’s how it went down:

I noticed that a state trooper pulled up behind me when I was stopped at a red light. When the light turned green, I got over so said trooper could go on past me. But he didn’t. Trooper got behind me again. I then thought he had decided to follow me. No biggie. He followed me for about three or four minutes before he turned on his lights. I pulled over and he walked up to my passenger-side door (I don’t think I left him enough room to come up to the driver’s side).

He asked me if the car I was driving was mine, and I told him it was my husband’s. Then he asked for my license and proof of insurance. I looked in my purse and noticed my wallet was gone and remembered that I had taken it out and set it on the table at home when I was canceling a credit card, but I didn’t remember putting it back in my purse.

Then I pulled two insurance cards out of the ashtray. One was from 2005 and the other had expired in September of 2006. I handed him the more recent card and said, “This is an old card. I don’t have a new one on me… That’s not good, right? I do have one at home, though. It’s the same insurance.”

He just kinda looked at me.

Then I told him that I didn’t have my wallet on me either and said, “That’s not good either, right?”

He kept looking at me. Then he asked me for my name and date of birth and wrote it down in a notepad. Trooper went back to his car and looked me up, I guess. I watched in my rearview mirror and saw him make a phone call.

Trooper came back and stumbled a bit because the wind was blowing pretty hard. He said, “It’s pretty windy, today!” Then he gave me a warning for having expired tags and “not having my driver’s license on my person” (either of which could have been a ticket), and he gave me a ticket for not having proof of insurance. He told me that if I bring proof of insurance to the courthouse sometime before March 14 my ticket would be cancelled and that I should get my new tags right away.

Actually, I wasn’t nervous about being pulled over (especially since I new I wasn’t speeding), and I was able to sort of laugh about the whole thing (and I think I did a little bit to myself as I was looking for my license). The fact that I got pulled over with expired tags, no driver’s license on me and no current proof of insurance and all I got was a warning and a ticket that will easily be cancelled should call for celebration! Cookies for everyone!

2 comments:

shell said...

you are so lucky!!!!!!!!!!!! indiana is the same way and we were both driving with expired tags for a few months. such a pain. send me some of the cookies!

J-Delicious said...

Dang 5-0! They are all such turds. Especially Joel.