By Motorcop
But it’s Christmas.”But it’s the Holidays. Don’t you have any Christmas spirit?” I hear this Every. Single. Year. Consider this a reality check, the vehicle code applies 365 days a year. Relatedly, so does physics.
True story. Did you know that if you’re exceeding the posted speed limit, which was determined to indeed be the safe speed for that particular stretch of road, and you, oh I don’t know, go around a curve that wasn’t designed for 63 MPH and you wrap your car around a utility pole, you run the very serious risk of dying? Crazy, right?
A fatal crash in the month of April is unfortunate and sad. But one that happens during the holidays is a heart-rending, news-leading and chaos-fomenting mess. Especially when it could have been avoided by simply slowing down and obeying the rules of the road.
Here’s an example of a stop I had a few years ago during the month of December.
MC: Good morning, ma’am. Do you know why I stopped you?
Apparent Christmas Elf: No, sir.
MC: You were speeding.
ACE: Heavens, sir. I apologize. But, it’s, you know…it’s Christmas.
MC: Actually, it’s the 17th. Which, if my calendar is correct, is not, in fact, Christmas.
ACE: C’mon, sir, you know what I mean.
MC: I’m sorry, ACE, my crystal ball is in the shop for repairs, but let me take a stab at it. Are you saying that because it is the Christmas season, I should not enforce the rules of the road that were set in place to help protect you from yourself?
ACE: Erm… (Actual sound, I swear.)
MC: Tell you what, ma’am, if I saw Santa himself cruising his sleigh down this very road at the speed in which you were traveling, I’d stop him and write him up, too.
Believe it or not, ACE actually laughed at that one.
The moral of the story, my friends, is that if a police officer time to stop you for a violation, it should serve as a reminder that collisions occur year round. We would like to go home at the end our shifts without having to notify your family, particularly during the holiday season, that you won’t be joining them for the family meal.
