Traffic Ticket

I am extremely angry at law enforcement just minutes ago, I was just cited for riding my bike in the opposite direction of traffic. The policeman sounded like a nice guy and asked me politely to go on the side walk and show him my i.d. The part that makes me furious is that he said that he’s not trying to make trouble, but he’s just acting on the recent car accident that resulted in the death of a student. He explained to me the traffic rule, which I didn’t even care about at that point. He said that he’s only interested in ticketing people for this one reason, and “could” ticket me for other things, which I asked him about. I said that ticketing people for one and only one law doesn’t make sense. He then offhandedly said that I need a light to ride at night and asked me rhetorically if I only ride my bike during the day. Then he said that regardless, he won’t ticket me for anything else because that’s not what “they told him to do.” He was given one job, and that job was to ticket people riding in the direction opposite to traffic. What happened is the school complained to the police department about the death and now the police showed up several days later to ticket every violator of one specific law, with no regard for any other laws. He added that if I wanted to be in full compliance of the law, I could walk my bike across the sidewalk, but he admitted he doesn’t care about that.

What is the point of a policeman who only tickets you for one law? What if I were to shoot someone and not get ticketed for that, but for riding my bike in the wrong direction? He did say he’s not here to cause trouble and make people unhappy, but that’s a stupid statement because that’s exactly what he’s doing. I acknowledge that he’s under pressure from the police department, who’s under pressure from the school to enforce this law that is almost never enforced unless there is an accident. But when there’s an accident, then the police show up to enforce the one law that might have “prevented” the accident. It is without doubt sad and regretful that any life is lost, which did happen several days ago. But it is beyond stupidity to ticket others for a mistake that is isolated. That idiot who killed the girl is probably gone somewhere and fearing for his life, because he has no money to pay for an accident. That doesn’t mean that students minding their own business should be ticketed for one and only one law. It is like those ticketed are being punished for someone else’s death, and that to me, is so stupid it’s undeniable. This incident gives me another reason to hate law enforcement that performs citations. I’ve been ticketed wrongly for a green light and this time, because this cop is “just doing what they told him.” It is like stupidity in one area, probably the school, leads to stupidity in another, the police department, and finally to the cop who “doesn’t want to make people unhappy.” That’s a load of bs, because I’m plenty unhappy.

What would be more helpful is if they put up a sign about the law and traffic rules and gave people warnings. He refused to give me warning and said ignorance is not an excuse. My response is that being a jerk without “meaning to be one” sounds more stupid than any mistake I’ve made out of ignorance. So in the end, there goes more money. My mom will rant at me and I’ll explain, but she probably won’t get it. At least I know that this situation comes out of bad luck for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. What makes me more angry is in the process of ticketing me, 3 other people made the same mistake. He said that he’s being fair and that he’s only one person. Wtf does that mean? My dislike for citation enforcement officers has again skyrocketed. I’m so angry that I even have a distaste for public service and government, load of idiots.