Strongly Worded

License and Registration?

On my way into work today, I got pulled over by a police officer. This is has never happened to me before. It was terrifying.

I was just driving along, minding my own business, when I saw the flicker of blue lights on a police car. It never even occurred to me that the flashing lights were for me, until I drove a little ways and noticed they were following along. I pulled over. I was going to get out of the car and ask the officer what the hell I did, but then I remembered virtually every movie I’ve ever seen, in which the police officer bellows: “stay in the car” when the hapless driver tries to get out. I stayed put, thinking that maybe one of my lights wasn’t working or something. I couldn’t fathom what else it could be.

And he wouldn’t tell me. The cop approached me and said, in an authoritative tone, “license and registration, please”, and I got all nervous, because I didn’t realize cops actually say this in real life.

“What did I do?” I asked.

“Give me your license and registration, and I’ll tell you exactly why I pulled you over.” He wasn’t mean, just brisk, and I got even more nervous. After the $400 of car-related expenses I’ve incurred recently, the last thing I need is a traffic citation.

I fumbled in the glove compartment. Retrieved the relevant documents.

He grilled me: “Are you a student?” No. “How long have you lived in Boston?” About five years. "Are you the owner of this car?” No. “Whose car is it?”

I thought he was going to bust me for stealing the car.

I got still more nervous, thinking how hard it would be to prove my response; the car belongs to a friend of a friend. I’m taking care of it for her while she’s in England.

“Is she a Massachusetts resident?”

No, she lives in New York.

“Well, she shouldn’t have California plates, then.”

Long pause.

“First thing,” he said. “There’s a $35 fine for driving while wearing headphones. You need to concentrate on the road, and you can’t do that while you’re listening to your walkman.”

I have to say, this is reasonable. I’ve been driving with my walkman for months, ever since the car’s battery died, thus “locking” the radio and tape player. I figured sooner or later this practice would catch up to me, although it’s hard to understand why wearing a walkman is more illegal than talking on a cell phone or blasting music on the speakers. Still, I was prepared to cough up the $35.

“I’m not going to give you a citation for that, though,” (YAY!). “The real problem is that the car’s registration expired in February. It’s illegal to have a vehicle on the road without a current registration. You can’t even park it on a street. It has to be off-street or in a driveway. Otherwise it could be towed at any time.”

The cop recommended that I head on into work and deal with this as quickly as possible. I will call the car’s owner today.

I had no idea fostering a car would be so complicated.

Posted by Dori at 2:18 PM