A Theme for Traffic Court
Written theme for a traffic ticket, 9/1/13
Tonight, I am writing a theme for the Cedar Rapids court system. The length of this theme was set at one thousand and five hundred words. I was issued this assignment of writing a theme after going in to court and talking with the judge about a recent traffic ticket I had received. I was given this ticket because a Hiawatha policeman pulled me over claiming I had run a stop sign. Whether I agree with his definition of stopping or not, I accepted my ticket and instead chose to write a theme. A theme I was allowed to write out of the understanding and the goodness of the judge. Running a stop sign does sound like a small traffic violation, but I completely agree that it is not. Running a stop sign, even in a very, very calm area in a very small neighborhood, failing to stop at a stop sign is a serious offense and should not be taken lightly. If you fail to obey a stop sign, you could just drive right into the middle of a very, very busy street full of cars and pedestrians. Oh, and pedestrians. You have no idea who could be crossing the street, or what little couple or family of four or a woman walking a dog or an old man on a jog or small kids whose ball ran out into the street or some small children with a lemonade stand could be doing in your way and expecting you to stop like you are supposed to at stop signs. You could run right into them, causing potentially serious damage or even in extreme cases death. Running a stop sign is one thing. A small fine, a traffic ticket on your record, and you’re on your way, albeit a little poorer than when you started. But if you were to run a stop sign and hit one of those pedestrians just in the middle of a street because they expected you to stop then that takes everything into a completely new area of legal trouble. You get vehicular manslaughter or homicide or reckless driving which would definitely wind up in you losing your license and thousands of dollars in fines
Tonight, I am writing a theme for the Cedar Rapids court system. The length of this theme was set at one thousand and five hundred words. I was issued this assignment of writing a theme after going in to court and talking with the judge about a recent traffic ticket I had received. I was given this ticket because a Hiawatha policeman pulled me over claiming I had run a stop sign. Whether I agree with his definition of stopping or not, I accepted my ticket and instead chose to write a theme. A theme I was allowed to write out of the understanding and the goodness of the judge. Running a stop sign does sound like a small traffic violation, but I completely agree that it is not. Running a stop sign, even in a very, very calm area in a very small neighborhood, failing to stop at a stop sign is a serious offense and should not be taken lightly. If you fail to obey a stop sign, you could just drive right into the middle of a very, very busy street full of cars and pedestrians. Oh, and pedestrians. You have no idea who could be crossing the street, or what little couple or family of four or a woman walking a dog or an old man on a jog or small kids whose ball ran out into the street or some small children with a lemonade stand could be doing in your way and expecting you to stop like you are supposed to at stop signs. You could run right into them, causing potentially serious damage or even in extreme cases death. Running a stop sign is one thing. A small fine, a traffic ticket on your record, and you’re on your way, albeit a little poorer than when you started. But if you were to run a stop sign and hit one of those pedestrians just in the middle of a street because they expected you to stop then that takes everything into a completely new area of legal trouble. You get vehicular manslaughter or homicide or reckless driving which would definitely wind up in you losing your license and thousands of dollars in fines