Case in point: I thought I was invincible; after nearly four years of high-speed driving, I was never pulled over by a policeman—not even a warning. Unfortunately, the fun came to a screeching halt after spending this past summer in Troy. After exiting Route 7 and entering city limits, my days of speeding were over after a cop caught me on one of my high-speed adventures.

I grew up in rural Pennsylvania. I never had to deal with actual enforcement of speed laws. Back home, the speed of your vehicle is only limited by how fast you can go while still maintaining control, or the speed of the tractor you are following.

Because of this lack of enforcement, I’ve grown cocky over the years. I’ve scoffed at the Jersey suburbanites I met at RPI who followed those ridiculous 25 mph speed limits religiously and still managed to accrue several speeding violations.

Nonetheless, the officer who pulled me over was fair. I informed him that this was my first violation, in hopes of getting off with a warning. It didn’t work, but he told me that if I appeared in court, it was likely the violation would be lowered.

Lesson 1: If you get a ticket, the first thing to remember is to mail the ticket back to the court. I forgot this part. I eventually got a court date—two months later. I appeared, pulled a number similar to the deli line at the supermarket, and waited. All sorts of people come to traffic court. It made me remember why I don’t walk alone in Troy at night.

My number was called. They confirmed that I hadn’t had any previous violations and immediately offered to give me a parking violation for $100. I accepted and the next question was “Can you pay now or later?” They swiped my credit card and I walked home, disgruntled that Troy made out with $100 of my hard-earned money.