Thursday, August 23, 2007

THE SCENE OF THE CRIME

I know you may think I’m crazy or obsessed but I went back to the scene of the crime.
I had to take the same road again on the way back from the beach so it’s not like I made a special trip. So I’m not completely nuts. (Just a little)..

I took a picture of the view someone would have if they stopped at the spot where the stop sign line is. As you can see by the Picture below you can’t really see anything unless you creep up slowly and do more of a rolling stop.

I was thinking about complaining and claim that it’s even more dangerous to come to a complete stop because you have to get your speed up very quickly to merge on to the very busy Topanga
Canyon Blvd.


I even had some pictures prepared of what happens when people come to a complete stop.







Here is a picture of the camera that took those pictures that fateful day



Anyway I have a feeling the parks department won’t buy this but I do feel better that I went back and investigated.

7 comments:

si said...

i wonder if you know how much you amuse me? (so grateful after the week i've had!) totally agree with you -- i'll be your witness.

i was pulled over late at night once. i had stopped at the stop sign but in order to look for oncoming traffic because of parked cars along the street, i had to go beyond the limit line. unfortunately, one of the parked cars was a cop car -- remember it was at night so i couldn't tell. as soon as i pulled out to turn left, he turned on his lights and made a u-turn to pull me over. he said i ran the stop sign but amended that i had stopped past the limit line. i told him i couldn't see any oncoming cars (not mentioning that he was blocking me). he did let me go, telling me to be more careful. but let me tell you, i would've had to fight that one if i did get nailed. tho, my story would not include all of the extra touches that yours does. :-)

Preben and Ellen said...

hahaha. You sould complain!! get them to move that line a little closer up :)

jay are said...

I was totally unprepared for those pictures and I'm still cracking up.
That's looks like a crazy intersection or stopping place or whatever it is. I say it can't hurt to fight it or explain your concerns or whatever. The squeaky wheel, you know.

Blogball said...

Thanks for the comment si. Actually you are the one who encouraged me to keep blogging when my well went dry for a couple of months. Now it’s hard to shut me up.
I wish my citation was just for “be more careful” like yours.

preben & ellen and jay are, every time I resign myself to just pay the $100.00 and forget it. Someone encourages me to fight it.

Dx said...

When I first looked at that picture of the junction, I thought you'd printed it in reverse - then I remembered that you guys drive on the wrong side of the road. It all made sense. Loved the pics showing what happens when people come to a complete stop - almost spilled my coffee over my keyboard.

Blogball said...

dx, you mean the right side. Why do you think they call it the “right” side of the street?

One would never say something like “hey what wrong with you don’t you know the difference between left & wrong?”

O
)
}

Rob said...

i think the "cars that came to a complete stop" section is your strongest point. i would hit that hard.
also the part about not being the full amount crazy, just somewhat disturbed. that should also give you an edge.

in all seriousness, i think your chances on fighting it depend almost entirely on
a) the customs of the court where you end up, and
b) the mood of the judge.

i've seen ppl get their penalty halved just for showing up and politely explaining how they aren't such bad people.

i've also seen ppl get completely rejected even when they were in the right.

the law says you're spozed to stop before the line, then creep. the only thing stopping does is take away all your momentum, so unless you can show that everyone stopping is really more dangerous than everyone rolling thru, you're prolly going to be out of luck.

but then, maybe the judge will be Danish and you can tell him about your family, etc, and he'll not only let you off, he'll cancel the rest of the docket and take you out for drinks...