I wrote in February about a car accident that I had in January, and that I was ticketed for, despite having a witness who saw the accident and verified my total innocence. The witness had to get to work and left his contact info with me. The police officer that arrived after the accident assured Harry and myself that he would interview the witness. He did not. Harry had to later go to the officer's superior, who did later interview the witness and, according to the witness, told the witness that he was not believed and that if he went to court to testify, they would make a fool of him on the stand.
I hired a lawyer and fought the ticket. It was dismissed today on the grounds that the police officer cannot state what happened in an accident if he wasn't there. The police officer did not even show up in court.
I could go on and on about the injustices here, but there is no way to undo them. The damage to my car was over $12,000. It was my decision whether to junk it or repair since it was so badly damaged. The auto body shop determined that I had been rear-ended on the left rear corner and then the left side was scraped off as the truck and trailer zoomed past me. At least that driver had the presence of mind not to let me take the whole impact - but he was probably saving his own butt. Our insurance would have gone up over $2500/year if I had not fought the ticket. I had to pay a lawyer an obscene amount of money to defend me against something I did not do. All because a police officer did not do his job. He told Harry he knew what happened because he had taken a class and learned to read skid marks. I ran into the EMS person who came first to the accident in a store a few months ago and was told that the police officer was new on the job - had only worked a couple of months.
I went to meet the witness today for the first time and to thank him for his incredible persistence in helping me out. Because the insurance companies are in arbitration over this, he has been contacted four times, since being hassled by the police. He is a good guy and a good citizen, and I will now be a regular in the restaurant he where he works.
I feel satisfied and can put this to rest. Being a victim makes a person feel very small. But, standing up for yourself really changes that. I remember my Jr. High school band teacher, Mr. Horvath. To this day I still cringe inside when I remember how he used his power over the few girls in the band to tease and use them for laughs among a large majority of boys. At such an awkward age it is easy to be teased by someone for their own gain in the eyes of others. I really hated him. And one day, I blew. I stood up and talked back to him. I got sent to the principal's office, and nothing really happened to me other than feeling even more uncomfortable in the band room for the next class. But, he never used me again to gain laughs.
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