Me "Night" rider - target for cops

I am a good driver. Honestly. Ask any of my friends. They all tell me that I am a safe driver. I follow the road rules to the last period. I do not get road rage. I do not take short cuts when it comes to safety. I have been driving in the united states for almost 3 yrs now and have been driving for about 10 years in all.

Day in and day out while I drive around I see rash drivers. Drivers who dont have time to follow the rules. Drivers who cut short the rules and cut the safety corners. All just to get ahead. To get wherever they want, a wee bit quicker and earlier. Just not worth it in my opinion.

Some folks in my friends circle do this too. Always driving around at the edge of the law. Every once in a while (too often actually) tip toeing in and out of the line. For some its a sport, others its a way of driving and still others do it simply because they have a powerfull car with that vrooom !

Anyways, I have always observed that the drivers who routinely disregard the law hardly ever get caught. And its the one's that inadvertently step out that get lighted. Does'nt matter if its the first time that they ever did it.

Fortune favours the brave gets a whole new meaning here.

Let me narrate two such incidents that happened to me. Both these incidents happened in a gap of a month. And both occured almost at the same time - late night early morning hours.

>> It was around 1:30 AM in the morning. I had gone to office to pick a friend who was working late. We were returning back home through the I-66 interstate. Hardly any car on the road. I passed a few and then there was none except a distant shining light behind me. My exit to 495 was coming up, so I switched lanes when I noticed the flashing lights behind me. Holy crap !! It was my first encounter with the long arm of the law.

I dutifully pulled over and patiently waited for the inevitable. The cop(s) walked up to my window and asked me the regular questions - where I was coming from, where I was going, etc. And interestingly one cop quized - "Are you drunk or something ?". I managed a chuckle and replied in the negative.

He then listed my violations :
- Speeding. Averaging at around 69m when speed limit is 55m
- Weaving while driving
- Switching lanes without an indicator.

Oh god ! I was done for. So many violations, I thought he was going to impound my license. But just between you and me I had explanations for all of the above which ofcourse I did not share with the law enforcement officers.

- Speeding : It was late at night and I freaking wanted to get back home asap. So whenever a downhill came I did not pull back my galloping "horse" to slow it down, just allowed it to slide down with the slope. Explains the speeding.

- Weaving : My car had an alignment problem which I had noticed a few days back. It kind of drags to the right. So I have to conciously keep pulling the car to the left to keep it kind of steady. Could have caused the weave.

- No indicator : This is the interesting part. I have to confess, I did it on purpose. I have always noticed in the highways some cars change lanes without indicating. They dont jump lanes or force in. They neatly and seamlessly merge with the traffic of the next lane without causing any disturbance to the source and target lane. Its amazing when they do that. Seems really kewl. I always wanted to do that. And what better place and time to try it out than at an empty I-66 during the late hours of the night. I jumped at the chance.

Anyways, I was sitting in my car waiting for the gavel's strike. I was sure when this got out, I would be the ridiculed by my friends circle. Quite a few of them would have a smug and triumphant look on their face. All this was running through and clouding my mind when the cop came back.

I was lucky. The cops, I can only guess, through some divine intervention, let me go. I was speechless. Not that I would have had anything much to say anyways.

I was given a verbal warning and asked to bugger off safely (in cop parlance). I profusely apologized, geared up my car and sped away (figure of speech only).

I had been delivered by providence.

Once bitten twice shy goes the saying. Well for most people it does. But for me, I guess not.

(to be continued).