Ambalance chasers

I recently got a speeding ticket. It was a bit of a shock as the last traffic citation I received was in 1975. This one was a real cheap bust, as it was at a place where the speed limit suddenly changed from 55 to 35, on a down hill stretch where speed drops off slowly. But, that's not the story.

Within the next 2 weeks, I received 13 letters from law firms in the area, earnestly soliciting my business, and forecasting dire consequences if I didn't immediately contract for their services. They all guaranteed (more or less) that for a fee of from $70-100 they would be able to get this reduced from speeding to a non-moving violation. Ha! I had already accomplished that by means of a courtesy visit to the DA's office.

Two of these firms were at least 50 miles away. Times must be tough in the legal profession if they are willing to drive that far, and take up that much time for a rather small fee.

I suppose that for someone with a full schedule, not having to spend two hours in traffic court might be worth the fee.

I have lots of time, so I didn't begrudge the imposition. Actually, the entire process was a Chinese fire-drill. Anyone with just a tiny bit of common sense could streamline the operation, save much time and lots of expense. Even though all the information is on a computer system, apparently the traffic court people just haven't mastered such new concepts. For them, it is still a pencil and paper process.