... about the speeding ticket I got in May.
Imagine my embarrassment when I got stopped by a NY State Trooper for speeding. After all, I do a lot of work in traffic safety, and when I got the ticket, just north of Albany, I was on my way to the first New York State Teen Safe Driving Summit, where I was presenting on distracted driving.
I had a good excuse -- I had been doing the 65 mph speed limit on the Thruway all the way up to Albany. I didn't realize, and I obviously missed the signs, that the limit on the stretch between Albany and Saratoga drops to 55. So I couldn't say much when the trooper told me I was doing 67 in a 55 zone. Even when I told her, in response to her question about where was I headed, that I was going to the Teen Safe Driving Summit, she showed no mercy.
I was so embarrassed that I tried to get away without telling my wife. It almost worked, until a letter came to our house saying my check was made out for the wrong amount. Damn!
But today I read that someone else who also should know better got ticketed for speeding. Barbara Fiala, the NY State Dept. of Motor Vehicles Commissioner, reportedly got ticketed for doing 47 in a 30 mph zone in her neighborhood upstate. Not only is she the DMV Commissioner, but she is also the chair of the Governor's Highway Safety Committee.
To put it into perspective, I remember being at a meeting of a task force on speeding, with about 50 police officers, traffic safety advocates and traffic safety officials from New York and the Federal government. One of the moderators called for a show of hands, asking who has ever exceeded the speed limit. Every person in the room -- some sheepishly -- raised his or her hand.
So I guess, aside from the $225 fine, I shouldn't feel so bad after all.