Tick, Tick, Ticket

Last Tuesday at 8 a.m., my wife was issued a $237 traffic ticket for not properly stopping for a red light. Officer “N” pulled her to the curb, siren blasting on his shiny white motorcycle and explained that Santa Barbara has the second highest rate of pedestrian incidents in California, etc., etc.

What Officer “N” might have also considered was how many incidents have involved a 68-year-old grandmother chugging up State Street at 5 mph on a portable/breakdown bicycle at a mid-block crosswalk (1000 State St.) with no pedestrian in the walkway or on the sidewalk.

Except for a tragic and inexplicable incident in 1967 in Bangalore, India, there are none — I looked it up.

Some might question the enforcement actions by Officer “N” and common sense — but the law is the law. So thank you Officer “N”; I personally feel safer already … really.

If the Police/City Council really want to deal with pedestrian incidents and make a chunk more money at the same time, they might want to mimic Los Angeles. Pedestrians get a $197 ticket for entering the crosswalk after the timer starts blinking. According to the Los Angeles Times, the City of Angels has written over 17,000 such tickets in the last four years for a grand total take of $34,000,000.

Think of the possibilities!