I, Scofflaw

Thunderstorms loom, so once again, I put my life on the line to type. For you.

Something happened to me for the first time in eight years today. Can you guess what it was?

a) broke a bone
b) stopped by a cop
c) bought a car

Correct answer: B

Yep. Stopped by a cop this morning. Thankfully, it wasn't in the SuperCommuter van. It was on the way to work. I made a right-hand turn and travelled up to the first light, which was red. While waiting for the light to change, a cop pulled up behind me. Moments later, on came the flashing lights. Really, I thought he had gotten a call to tackle something else, but when I pulled over to let him pass, he pulled right over behind me.

I knew my plates were legal, and that my insurance was up to date. I didn't have any warrants that could be used against me. I was going to be the least interesting person this guy was going to deal with all day. So what could it be? What could I have done to cause an officer of the law, an important soldier in the thin blue line defending the valley- to pull over someone like me. Thankfully, he didn't ask me if I knew why I was being pulled over. Honestly, I had no idea. He came right out with it:

"Sir, you did a rolling stop over there on Agate (Street) when you turned onto Las Vegas Boulevard".

A rolling stop? I had 100 different responses to that, but refrained from being the smart-ass guy. This had to be a warning, right? Getting a ticket for a rolling stop? I'd be the laughing stock of traffic court. C'mon, give The SuperCommuter a break. After taking my license, registration and proof of insurance he waked back to the squad, giving me a couple of minutes to stew about it. More tongue was bitten off as he walked back to my car. After he handed me back my stuff, he let me off with a warning. No harm, no foul. Still, I was a little annoyed by the experience.

When I made my turn, the cop had to have been a quarter to a half mile to the south of me. At no time was anyone's safety compromised. If there was an oncoming car, I wouldn't have turned. I know from years of experience that plenty of dangers lurk on the road before the sun comes up. Today, I was not one of them. I saw 500 violations on the roads this morning that were more serious than mine. I'll chalk today up to a case of a bored cop with nothing to do who decided to kill some of his time by wasting mine. I sure hope it wasn't at someone else's expense