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Submitted by Creighton RCMP Speeding down a deserted highway seems a harmless act with self imposed risks. For many people, the risk of getting a speeding ticket is worth the saved time it takes to get home or to get to work. People are usually unaware that speeding really only saves a very small amount of time. If you drove from Smeaton to Creighton at 100 km/h, it would take about three hours and 15 minutes. Speeding at 115 km/h reduces the time by about 20 minutes or so. For many this seems worth it at face value, but what then do you do with the saved time? Likely nothing significant or memorable, whereas the potential consequences of excessive speeding have lasting consequences. Speeding can result in damaged vehicles, lost lives, or hefty fines. The following is a fictitious story about this issue. William was driving home to Creighton after a job interview in Prince Albert. Sadly, the interview went poorly and he was in a sour mood. He just wanted to get home and take a shower and rest, since he had been driving for about three hours after a sleepless night followed by the botched interview. He was driving his newer truck he had just bought from a friend the previous year. There were very few cars on the Hanson Lake Road and it was a sunny day, in the middle of the afternoon. William felt safe enough in his large truck, since he always thought it was the smaller vehicles that would suffer worse in a collision with another vehicle or an animal. As he was cresting a small hill, William passed a semi truck. Immediately behind the truck followed a police car. William looked down at his speedometre and cringed, since it was around 130 km/h and he had already hit his brakes. He passed both vehicles and didn't see any flashing lights right away, and he let out a sigh of relief. He took one last look in his rearview mirror only to see the red and blue lights were now flashing, and he cursed under his breath. He started slowing down to pull over as he watched the police car turning around. He pulled out his license and registration as he parked on the shoulder of the road. The police car pulled in behind him. He waited patiently to speak with the officer, but after about five minutes he grew impatient. Since he'd been sitting for about three hours, he decided to have a smoke and stretch his legs. He swung open his door and paused to get his cigarettes from the centre console of the truck. Just as he was getting out, a loud voice shouted at him to remain in his truck and shut his door. William was startled both by the unexpected voice from the police car loudspeaker and by the abruptness of the order. He now felt whatever opportunity he had had to talk himself out of getting a ticket was over. See 'Unsafe...' on pg.12 Continued from pg.7 After a short wait, the police officer approached his truck. The officer apologized to him about ordering him to remain in his truck, but he explained that this was for everyone's safety. Apparently it was very unsafe to be outside a vehicle parked on the side of a highway, mostly due to passing motorists not paying attention (or being drunk). It was also scary for the officer because he did not know whether William was going to grab a weapon or attack him. William felt a bit foolish, especially since the officer was being very nice and polite in explaining this. Since the officer was seemingly 'a nice guy,' William decided to try to beg leniency in getting a ticket. He went on to tell the officer about his bad interview and about being in a hurry to get home, and then that he had lost track of just how fast he had been going. The officer gave a sympathetic smile as he took William's licence and registration from him, but his eyes betrayed that he had heard these excuses in the past. While William waited, he resigned himself to the idea he would be getting a ticket. When the officer returned holding a sheet of paper, he understood this to be the case. The officer explained the ticket and told him he had been going 135 km/h in a 100 zone. William cringed again. But then the officer went on to say he would only be citing him for going 120 km/h to save him a bit of money, as it was apparent William was having a bad day. William was thankful for the break and hoped it would affect his insurance a bit less, and he expressed his thanks to the officer as he left. William then pulled out as directed to continue his drive, and the police car turned around to continue driving in the opposite direction. It was not long before William glanced down at his speedometre to catch himself speeding again. He put his foot on the brake but then decided not to slow down. He figured since he had passed the only cop in the area already, he was safe to finish off the last 30 kilometres without worry. It was just as he was thinking this that he passed a police truck rounding a corner and he cursed as its emergency lights began flashing. He knew the drill so he immediately pulled over. The wait this time was a bit longer. The officer then approached his truck to speak with him. Again, the officer was very nice but there was less small talk, and he again gave his license and registration. Another ticket The officer left and then returned with another ticket. William listened again to the instructions on how to pay the ticket, and he was told this time he had been going 140 km/h and was cited accordingly. The officer then told him he was aware William had just been ticketed and had also been given a bit of a break, and he asked why William was still speeding. Now William really felt bad about his actions, especially when the officer began to tell him about a really bad traffic accident the previous year that had been the result of speeding. William listened politely and felt pretty terrible at the end of it. He felt even worse when he began to think of how his insurance was likely to increase due to his heavy foot. In the end, William made it home safely without further tickets. He had never heard of someone being ticketed twice in the same day, but he was not proud of this having happened to him. He figured it would not be worth contesting either ticket since he would be deeply embarrassed in court if he had to explain himself to a judge. Most of his friends thought his bad luck was pretty funny, but William himself decided to start using his cruise control to avoid further tickets.
