How moving to IL has made me a better person

I have a confession to make...

I break the law A LOT.

come on...I know you do too...



I speed.



Really, as far as law breaking goes, I think this is probably the most common one broken. And it's not so bad...right?... right?....... hello?.....

I could blame the Hubs. I used to drive a full size conversion van and then he sold it and gave me the G6 with that sports car engine in it. Oh it's so fun and "zippy"!! But that's not it. I drove fast in the van too (I found cops don't seem to pull over big vans as much as cute little expensive sports cars). I've been driving fast since the day I started driving...and I like it!



I've never had a ticket for speeding, believe it or not. I'm not saying I haven't been pulled over...but I've never had a ticket (I have my theories on why not but I won't bore you....let's just say cops and trauma nurses seem to have a special bond).



But my speeding days seem to be over. Thanks to this wonderful program they have here in Illinois. It's called photo radar and the sweet little Welcome Wagon Lady told me all about it. During her visit last week, as she was handing me the brochure on Illinois driving laws, she told me how her daughter just got a photo ticket in the mail for driving 53 in a 45 construction zone. It was a ticket for $653.00!!!!

When the WW Lady told me about this my heart dropped into my stomach. See, I already got one of these wonderful photo tickets in the mail for not completely stopping on a right on red. I didn't believe it was true until I watched the video and line....and ahhh, yes, the memories came rushing back....I was lost, just doing a quick turn around....to get back on the right road....not a car in sight...ah well, the law is the law....but $100! UGGH! But what made me want to throw up all over the WW Lady is the fact that I have been driving to and from Kalamazoo and the Chicago area at least 4 or 5 times in the last couple of weeks. I've happily speeding away through almost all construction zones (not too fast mind you, I have a civil engineer daughter who worked in construction zones for the last 2 summers and I spent plenty of time worrying about her safety). It seems that there are these nice little signs posted in the construction zones warning of this. I never saw them...since then, on my last trip home I specifically looked for them and saw one...it's rectangular and smaller than a speed post sign....but when you're in Chicago traffic and in a construction zone where lanes are shifting and exits are different and you don't exactly know where you are....they are impossible to notice!!!

I know, you say, well you shouldn't be speeding anyway....and you're right. But I went on line to look at this program a little more closely. Just think of this as my public service announcement...especially for those of you who are coming to visit this summer...you've been warned...
these cameras will snap a picture if you are going 1 mph over the speed limit (I used to think my chances of getting a ticket were lower as long as I wasn't the "fastest" car speeding) and tickets prices start at $375.00 for your first offense. Your second offense starts at $1000.00 and also gets you a 90 day driving suspension. And one more thing...they don't even have to have the signs posted....they have these white vans with the radar and cameras inside that they can just park randomly wherever they like.

My big worry? That I've already got a couple tickets in the mail that just haven't reached me yet because of all the forwarding it will have to go through from our old address to our temporary housing to here....

Ah well....what can you do? Stop speeding and be a better person because of it. right?...right?....hello?....