I'm 37 yrs old and just got my first ticket.  Was it for doing 100mph down the highway in a sports car?  No, it was for going 35mph in a 30mph zone in my mini van.

The officer was very nice and looked to be about 10yrs my junior.  He asked me if I knew why he pulled me over and I honestly told him I unfortunately did not.  He told me I was going 5mph over the limit and asked if I had any tickets on my record.  I told him I had a very clean record and then he took my license and spent what seemed like a very long time in his car with it.

While officer nice young man (and I mean that sincerely) was checking out my license, I fielded a million questions from my kids.  I told them that I was driving too fast and should have been paying attention.  It was my fault and the officer was just doing his job.  The little one was worried I'd go to jail and the older one just wondered how much the ticket would cost.

When the officer returned, he handed me my ticket and explained that although it was normally a 45mph zone, the school zone sign was lit (even though school had beed dismissed for an hour by then) and that he was giving me a break by not noting that it was 5 over in a school zone.  He appreciated my clean record and said otherwise it would have doubled the $115 fine. 

The officer then explained the ticket, how to pay it and offered to give me the information in order to contest it in court.  I told him that wouldn't be necessary since I was at fault.  I told him I was obviously a mother and should have been paying more attention.  He then surprised me by saying "Hey, even I've done the same.  But I have to enforce the law for safety sake."

I quickly had thoughts of how it seems the cops never catch the drivers that are truly driving dangerously but just as quickly appreciated the wake up call.  I'm mad whenever I see someone speed through a neighborhood or school zone.  I was at fault and got a ticket.  21 yrs of driving was a good run.  How long do points stay on your record?