In March, I contested a red light ticket I had received in the mail. You know, those ones where a camera took your picture and a few weeks later you get a ticket in the mail. I filled out the paper work, wrote a check, and dropped it all off at the Beverly Hills Court House in a drop box.
Today, I realized I hadn’t heard from them yet, so I went online to check the status of the ticket only to find my case had been forwarded to a collections office. I called, and apparently they never received my paper work or check. Well, clearly, someone lost it from the time I dropped it in the drop box. I explained to her that I turned it in on time, and that someone at the court must have lost it, and her response was,
“Well, sometimes we have to pay for someone else’s mistake.”
And by paying she means $700. She means that I have to pay $700 because THEY lost my paperwork.
Oh, and by the way, she says they are suspending my license. (I then called the DMV and they said my license is completely fine, so I’m thinking that was just a fun little threat she threw in for kicks.)
My choices are: A. Pay the $700 or B. Wait for my court day in about two weeks to try and prove to the judge that I did in fact turn the paperwork in on time.
As enraged as I was, I almost paid, just to get it over with. BUT my principles got the better of me. Why should I pay for someone else’s mistake? Why am I the one to be punished?
I’m sure the traffic division and the city make a WHOLE lot of money from people who just don’t have the time or energy to fight this kind of injustice… but I am both poor and still young enough to be convinced that the world is a fair place.
So, I’ll take that court date, no matter what you threaten me with.
I’ve always thought bad things come in three. If that’s so, I’m pretty much done here, but I still find it amazing that it all happened in a week. I don’t really want to get into it, so let’s jsut leave it all behind like the sunset….
Rebecca M Ford 