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Saturday, August 6, 2011

Failure to Yield



Yesterday I drove into a traffic circle where three streets converged. I slowed down for the yield sign before entering and had just completed the curve onto another street when a traffic cop appeared from nowhere, lights blazing. Being pulled over was a new experience for me and I was curious to learn what I’d done to deserve it.

“What seems to be the problem, Officer?” I asked, sounding like a tweaker on Cops.


After requesting my driver’s license and proof of insurance he said, “You failed to yield before entering the traffic circle.”


“But I slowed down,” I explained.


“You didn’t yield.”


“Should I have stopped?”

“Don’t be a smart ass," he said. "The sign doesn’t say ‘stop.’ It says ‘yield.’”

True to the spirit of this blog, I couldn’t suppress my chatterbox nature. “Honestly, I’m not trying to be a smart ass, but this reminds me of that old chestnut: Does a falling tree in the forest make a sound it there’s no one there to hear it?”

He didn’t look amused.


I should have kept my mouth shut, but instead I asked, “Who am I yielding to if no one’s there?”


My court hearing is in two weeks.


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