Oh, now this is BS.

[Shari]

When we went to the beach this winter, I got a ticket on the way home somewhere outside of St Louis.

That ticket was in the glove box of the car when Wee and I got t-boned and in the mad search for insurance documents and my state of mind at the time, several things didn't get collected before it was towed, and the ticket was lost.

I knew it was due in June.

There are in excess of 100 municipalities in the St Louis area. I managed to track down the correct one (eventually) using google and got the ticket number and was told I could pay it on their phone system. Yesterday, the phone system kept rejecting the number. Today, I called in and it accepted the number, but said it was past due (I'm sure...but I HAVE been trying to track this down) and transferred me to a court clerk.

The court clerk said there is no automated system, and if I pay them by 4pm today, it will be fine (that is 3 hours away). If I don't pay them by 4pm today, then there will be a warrant out for my arrest. OR I can pay an extra $75 if its not there by 4pm today to avoid the warrant. According to this woman, there is no way to pay them over the phone. And I will have to come in because, since I don't have the ticket, there's no way to enter a plea of guilty even if I mail the fine; I have nothing to sign. I even offered to write a statement and overnight it all.

OMG. Really? This is ridiculous. So I can take off right now and drive to St Louis and back to pay a $50 ticket. Or I can wait til another day, drive to St Louis, and pay $125. Or, be a total bum and never go back to St Louis and hope I never get caught on that warrant (haha not really an option).

I realize its ultimately my fault that the ticket got lost, but really. I AM trying to pay it here...can't you give me just an iota of credit for that??? If I was just another bum with a rap sheet, would I have really googled 100+ courts in the St Louis area to find this stupid thing???

 

[klmno]

I think I'd try to talk to the clerk's supervisor. 2nd choice would be blacking out this state on my map. LOL!

 

[Mamaof5]

Holy Hannah!!!

Here we just get a suspension on the license until it's paid with a re-instated license fee (100 bucks+ the ticket + processing fees = usually runs around 300 to 500 bucks for late tickets). This includes speeding tickets, traffic accidents, seatbelt tickets, and any other highway code violations save for DUI's (which is an auto suspension of license for first offence of 12 months, then 24 months, then lifetime suspension - no wiggle room).

That's nuts to have to deal with...hope it works out for you asap.

 

[Shari]

Now I am told I can write a letter and have it notarized and state my guilty plea and mail it all. But this clerk has already put the deadline is as 4pm today, so I'm still out the extra $75.

Guess I should be happy, but I'm not. I've spent a lot of hours tracking this down and trying to get it taken care of.

And she's still adamantly hollering that there is no automated system, but I've called this court number back 3 times, and I can get into an automated system...

Resigning and writing my letter....

 

[muttmeister]

This is just another example of why people have bad feelings toward the government, be it local, state, or national. Bureaucrats are not known for common sense, courtesy, or thinking ability.

 

[susiestar]

I sometimes think common sense and logic have been removed from our court systems completely. Then I remember my bro and how many people are like him and will do/say anything to get out of trouble. How many people have talked to the clerk and told her some pack of lies to get out of a fine? I still end up thinking common sense and logic are removed, but it ends up with me being irritated at the difficult children of the world and not so much with the court clerks who are forced to listen to their lies. Like all the clerks, bailiffs, prosecutors, and judges who have been handed insurance verification that gfgbro forged on a xerox machine. Or cops he told that he was driving erratically because my grandma died, when really he was wasted. He even forged a funeral card, or picked them up from funerals of people he didn't know, to get out of tickets/jail.

 

[ML]

No good deed goes unpunished. Argh.

 

[Shari]

Yeah, Susie, and that's what ticks me off. She's probably heard a million stories from people trying to get out of something. And here's a legit one, and I'm screwed.

I mailled the $125 and am goiing to pretend its a good deal... lol

 

[KTMom91]

$125 is a good deal. The speeding ticket I got in December was $300.

 

[Shari]

Holy moly, how fast were you going????

I just got caught in that zone when you get close to a city and the interstate changes from 70 to 60. I missed the sign, I guess.

My ticket was $50.

The extra $75 was paying off the clerk because she deemed it had to be there yesterday by 4, so it was going to be "late". She could have given me til today, she just didn't want to.

Oh well. I shouldn't have been speeding.

 

[Mamaof5]

It's better than the roll over my hubby had with a street sweeper on his tow truck in the city. It was the boss' responsibility to keep maintenance on the safety chains - he was a cheap bleep and they snapped sending an 8 tonne street sweeper over into a ditch and nearly taking my hubby with it (a very large, medium duty tow truck too) at highway speeds. He got charged (hubby) with unsafe equipment among other things and ended up going to court and working a deal out. No demerit points, 400 dollar fine and the whole thing sat on his personal driving record for 3 years.

That was a scary moment for all of us. It's not fair that he got charged for unsafe equipment though, it wasn't his responsibility to maintain the chains but he had listed the chains as being well worn in both his pre and post trip logs multiple times and the boss ignored it.

 

[SRL]

A few years ago I paid $100 for having our camper set up in the driveway past the fall deadline for our town.

 

[Shari]

A few years ago I paid $100 for having our camper set up in the driveway past the fall deadline for our town.

THIS makes me feel better! Thanks! lol

 

[trinityroyal]

A few years ago I paid $100 for having our camper set up in the driveway past the fall deadline for our town.

Gosh! I got dinged for parking my car in my driveway. The back end was hanging over the sidewalk by about a foot, so I got a $50 ticket for that.

I agree with all of you. Too many excuses by too many difficult children have made it that much harder for the rest of us.

 

[AnnieO]

...We got one for parking facing the wrong way.

On our own property.

OK, so it was $4, but STILL!!!!!

 

[Shari]

I got a speeding ticket for doing 58 in a 55 once.

 

[KTMom91]

The nice officer wrote me up for 87 in a 65, but I was going faster than that...surprising, since Miss KT's car has three lazy guinea pigs under the hood. My opening line was, "Dude, I just want to go home. Seriously. I just want to go home." Then I explained that we'd driven about 800 miles yesterday, only to turn around and do it again today. What really ticked me off was that I was about 30 minutes from home when I got stopped.

 

[DaisyFace]

Shari--

I'll bet the clerk you spoke with had never been informed that an automated system was set up and accessible by telephone....obviously, she's never called it herself!

Consider yourself lucky that you were able to take care of this AT ALL...it could have been waayyy worse than $125.