Last month, as I was putting the finishing touches on a VIP customer’s vegetable oil fuel system (my own!), I was having trouble with intermittent stalling and hard starts. I pulled over as it died, and I cranked for minutes before it began a choppy idle. Of course, I was supposed to be meeting a customer at the shop, and I was within a hundred yards when I gave it that last rev, which killed it. I wanted to let it idle for awhile, so I locked up and ran to the shop to meet the customer. When I ran back to the car 10 minutes later, I found two police cars writing me a ticket!
I tried explaining the situation to the police, but they didn’t understand or didn’t care. As I got my ticket ($150), I tried to drive away, but the car immediately died again. I flagged down the same cop, who expressed surprise when I said the car wasn’t working. She casually said “ah just go to court - the judge will throw it out”. So that’s just what I did - only to be told by the prosecutor that they only have to prove that I did indeed leave the car running, regardless of intent. Rather than face the prospect of $200 in court fees and even more in fines, I accepted the $65 fine and CONVICTION for leaving my car unattended.
Quote of the day (as said by Izzy of Mean Green Trucking last year): “Shit, man, they should be paying US to do this stuff!”
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Shoot me in the hand man. Ball busting is the way of the man. How’s Austin? Looking to pick up the Beetle in April. All the support I can get would be awesome!!