Go, Speed Racer, Go!

As I was leaving work today, a friend asked me if I wanted to race him down the tollway towards downtown. As you might expect, I would never turn down a challenge like that and thus my answer was, "Absolutely!" The pairing was unfair from the outset, as the V6 engine in my 7 year old Jeep Cherokee is no match for a Turbo Porsche. But, the traffic on the tollway was in my favor and kept us neck and neck for most of the journey. I won't tell you who ended up winning.

It was about Pearl St. when I realized that racing down the tollway was perhaps not the smartest decision I could have made. As it turns out, I received my first speeding ticket ever in February going a mere 42mph on Gaston Ave. (the speed limit was apparently 30mph - who would have guessed!). I suffered through a half day at Dallas Municipal Court hoping the office would be true to his word and not show up to court. As luck would have it, he did and I was fined $145 and granted deferred adjudication for a 3 month probationary period. Now, I had forgotten about the fine, and the probation for that matter, until I was rudely reminded when renewing my medical license last week. Apparently, any fine more than $100 or a placement on deferred adjudication was a reportable offense. When I couldn't believe traffic fines were considered such egregious offenses in the medical field, I called the board myself and was told they were. I spent almost an entire day on the phone trying to find out such information as the date of the incident, the ticketing officer, etc (I had thrown most of that information away when I got my court papers) and complained every second of it!

So, the next time I go speeding down the tollway, I will have to remind myself that I am indeed on probation and thus should be obeying the traffic laws of the city!