Driving the speed limit

Have you ever gotten a ticket during a road trip?

I get one just about every other road trip I take. Let me clear the air I am no speed demon. I just seem to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Take for instance my road trip to Houston, Texas this past summer. It was a 26 hour drive from Provo, Utah. I was excited to see my family and we were almost there. We entered Wichita Falls city limits and BOOM I see a cop on a motorcycle following me signaling me to pull over. We were on US-287 where previously the speed limit had been 75 but then dropped to 70 once we were in city limits. I had the luck of some huge truck blocking this ONE AND ONLY speed limit sign so I was going with the flow. Before I knew it I was being pulled over and trying to weasel my way out of this ticket. The cop was quite proper very polite and he seemed to sympathize with my plead BUT for whatever reason he gave me the ticket anyway. Oh he did let me slide because I didn't have one of my stickers (the car inspection sticker) since I had been in Provo for the last three years! 

So now here I am listening to this stupid song about how to stay out of big trucks "No Zones" to avoid collision. Its has taken me about a month to finish this online course on "Defensive Driving", as they call it in Texas, to dismiss this ticket and keep my insurance rates from going up (daddy pays for my insurance...lucky me). So the total cost of being unlucky comes to a grand total of $245 (that includes the ticket plus the course). I hope the city puts my hard earned money to good use. So here are some tips (I learned the hard way) to avoid getting a ticket when you are traveling:

1. Drive 70 mph on the highway no matter what

2. Take 15-minute rest stops between each two hours of driving

3. Wear your safety belt

4. Avoid distractions (music too loud, messy types of food, cell phone, etc).

5. If you're not familiar with the area take a GPS so as to not call attention to yourself