In my defense, part 2

The New York traffic “court” (the DMV’s Traffic Violations Bureau) is more akin to the system featured in North Carolina: a special “administrative law judge” (who is not technically a judge in the formal sense, but more an empowered attorney) hears cases, decides on guilt and sentences guilty parties. The real court system, meanwhile, remains dedicated to real criminals.

The central nugget of my defense, as I see it, is that while I was driving a (small) double-axle rental truck off-route, I did not mean to be, and was not as familiar with the area as I should have been. However, I had not intended to be on 110^th at all. My original objective, as I had done a year earlier during our initial move, was to cross at the 79^th Street crossover. But when I approached the turn, I saw that the clearance on the bridges was either a touch too low for this truck, or may have been too close to the truck’s height for my amateur comfort.

Maps and a lot more wordiness and whining after the jump.

I can call witnesses, and I can question the ticketing officer. (I don’t really have questions for him; he was relatively helpful despite landing a ticket on me.) I may ask him what type of truck driver they encounter cutting that particular stretch (110^th, on top of the park): professional truckers flagrantly violating the requirement to cut a corner, or apartment-hopping bozos like me. Of particular note: another large truck (much larger than the one I was driving) was pulled over by the officer’s partner moments after we got pulled. And then a third large truck drove past, but there were no more officers to pull it over.

So clearly there is a need for enforcement, and for a stiff penalty. But I am not a repeat offender, and I have no intention of repeating this offense. Not to say I can’t operate a moving truck safely, but I am really more of a Corsica / Camry driver. And the closest I’ve come to a CDL is the one Melissa used to have in her wallet.

I’ve been reviewing the definitions to make sure I was driving a “truck”; it appears that I was. (It had two axles, on which were mounted six wheels, thus meeting the definition) And you can see from the map that I was off-route, just barely. But I was trying to get to my local destination by the shortest route possible, before I was thwarted by the park bridges.

In regards to Dad’s remark, perhaps I should have prepared to call a rental agent to the stand. Seriously. But I could look into their obligations to inform me—as a non-commercial user—of the byzantine* truck routing system in the city. And that I needed to be on it. It wouldn’t have been terrible if the agent were to say, “You know, this thing has to be on a truck route, and here’s a city-provided truck route map!” I imagine that in the long form that I signed regarding liability, etc., there was tucked a statement about being familiar with laws applicable to that class of truck. But still.

If I come up with any more documentation, I’ll put it up here. In the meantime, I’m open to suggestions! Court time is 10:30 on the morrow. Also, if a certain witness would come forward, perhaps with a PDFed, signed statement regarding the circumstances and happenings, I’ll check into witness protection for your safety.

*The city’s drivers’ site actually says: “With nearly 1,000 miles of designated roadway, New York City has one of the most complex truck route systems in the nation.”