Pleading For Mercy – It’s An Icy Case

I have my fingers crossed. I don’t want to get a ticket – mainly because I don’t want my insurance premium to go up. So why am I even concerned about this? Here’s my story. I was driving down Patterson the day after the storm hit Grand Junction. The road was snow packed and slippery and I was not going fast – at all. As I approached a stop light, it changed to yellow. Suddenly, I was faced with a decision. Hit the brakes and risk sliding and going out of control, or cruising on through. In that moment, there is just a split second of time to make a decision and go with it! My decision was to continue on through and not risking sliding out of control. Now, under normal driving conditions, I would have easily gotten through the intersection while the light was still yellow. However, in winter driving conditions and unable to go very fast, by the time I got into the intersection the light turned to red. Do you understand my predicament? I’m going too fast to safely stop quickly, but I’m going too slow to make it on through the intersection before the light changes to red. So the question is, will I get a ticket? Did the mounted camera take my picture so that I can be promptly ticketed for violating the law? Am I really guilty of running a red light? If I am, it would be the second time in my life. The first time was back in college days in Springfield, Missouri. I was racing back to campus, trying to beat the 2am weekend curfew, when, in my haste, I buzzed right through a flashing red light without stopping. Of course, there was a patrolman close by to nab my guilty self.

This time I have to plead not guilty – I throw myself at the mercy of the court. But only time will tell.