I was pulled over on 101 between East Blithedale and Paradise

[PoloBenz]

Well, my father was right, I am not invincible, and sure enough, one day I would get pulled over for speeding. Being 18 years old does not help either. Well, here is the story…

I was going onto the highway by Bon Aire, and as usual, I made gave it gas to get into the far left lane. I was cruising along at a modest 60-65 (around where the Big 5 store is) when a bright [insert profanity] person decided the person in front of him was going to slow, so he cut me off instead. I hit the brakes—I didn’t slam them, but did slow down significantly. I was close to his car. I left maybe five feet or so between us (yes, I know, not a smart thing to do…but I was frustrated). He continued at the same rate of speed, so I stayed close behind him, hoping he would move out of the way and not disrupt the flow of traffic. He eventually sped up and merged to the other lane. Being the foolish person I am, I gave it gas and went off, ~70. I eventually slowed down, once I had reached the top of the hill before the East Blithedale exit. I noticed a cop car well behind me in the far left lane. I slowed down even more, to about 60. Eventually the cop was behind me. I switched one lane over to the right, as did he. Then after driving directly in front of him, he pulled me over the East Blithedale exist. I dropped my passenger side window and waited for him. He was very polite, and informed me that I was speeding. I told him I was going a few miles over the speed limit. Then he asked me why. I told him that I was running late to school. After that he tells me I was behind a gray car, back at the Big 5 area, a little too close (he said less than a car length). I told him I was. I TOTALLY forgot that he cut me off before because I was very nervous. He then told me my lights were illegal (I have clear corners with orange bulbs, and rear 94/95 lights with white bulbs (not super extreme ricer bulbs, but like the new S-class style). He asked me to engage my left turn signal, then inspected my lights and came back. Then he told me that it is illegal to have tint on the front two windows of my car (IS THIS TRUE?). BUT what I realized afterwards (I was too nervous to argue with him or say anything) is that my windows was DOWN when he came up to my car…I had MY window up, but he could not really see the darkness of the tint viewing in from the passenger side. He asked me for insurance papers and registration, which I gave him. He left me and went to his car where I was nervously watching him in my rear view mirror write out a ticket. When he came back, he gave me the ticket and said he is going to be nice to me and only write me up for (quote from the ticket) “following too close (vehicle code 21703)” and “side window tint (vehicle code 26708).” Then he told me to have a good day and drive safely.
I admit my fault of driving to close to the car in front of me. I also admit being stupid and foolish for forgetting to tell the CHP officer that (I was WAY TOO nervous). I find it hard to believe that my front tint is illegal because I see a TON of stock cars with darker tint up front (i.e. my father 2002 Sport Track). I have tint up front, but it’s VERY light. Now that I think about it, I find it awkward that he ticketed me for driving to close to the car in front of me. How could he have seen that since he was far behind me (I would of seen him if he was close to me)?
I am going to go to traffic school and get the one point on my license off; I will also go to a local police station and inquire about my tint. When I go to court to get my fine, I will inform the judge of what happened. I was cut off and had to slow down because the guy in front of me was restricting the flow of traffic doing the speed limit in the far left lane. I will admit I was going a few miles over the speed limit. (~60-65). I admit I was following too close to the car in front of me.
My father thinks it will help drive slower. It probably will; however, I have to commute from San Anselmo to San Francisco EVERY DAY for school, and the days when I’m running a little late, I do tend to go a little fast. I’m not using school as an excuse, but I do tend to drive moderately fast in the far left lane.
I wanted to see if anyone had any opinions or thoughts about this? Is it fair to be pulled over for driving to close in that situation? I really regret not being able to tell the CHP officer how the guy cut me off.

Thanks for any input.

-Tony


Please excuse any grammatical errors, I’m still frustrated writing.