I have experienced court. It's happened to a lot of people. I was going to the airport on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in June. My wife had flown out to her niece's graduation and I was going to pick her up. I was early so I decided to get off the expressway and go up Mannheim Road to get to the airport. This would enable me to get a good Chicago dog and when I reached the south end of the airport I could watch some planes taking off and landing. This is one of the most fascinating things in the world to me. At many airports around the country, I have parked on side roads close to runways and marveled at these winged behemoths as they are able to get off the ground. At O'Hare, the south side of the airport is bordered by Irving Park Road and depending on which way the wind is blowing it can be quite a show. Well you know how that best laid plans things always go. 
There was a semi in front of me traveling very slowly and I hate when I can't see the road ahead of me. So I decided to pass him. A minute later I looked in my mirror and I saw a police car with it's lights flashing and I wondered aloud to myself, who's he after. As I switched lanes, so did he. Then I uttered some things to myself that I can't print, but I was still holding out hope he was after someone else. He wasn't, he wanted me. As he approached the car, I noticed that I was pulled over right next to a 35 mile per hour speed sign. We were in the village of Stone Park which is about six blocks long and has a different speed limit than everyone else around the area. I was also told later that this is one of the town's main sources of revenue. As the officer approached, he wanted my registration and insurance card. He quickly informed me that no insurance card was a $200 fine. I couldn't find either. I had leased a vehicle for the first time in my life and I could see the whole packet of stuff that I kept forgetting to put in my truck sitting on my desk.
I told him it was a lease and he softened up a little. He said if the truck came back registered to Ford, then he knew it had to be insured. Sitting there while everyone goes by and gawks at you is one of the loneliest of all feelings. By now all thoughts of hot dogs and looking at planes are out the window. I just want to go pick up my wife and get out of here. As I watch him in the rear view mirror he finally gets out of his car and approaches me again. He says bad news your not in the system. I start to wonder if they will let me go to an ATM machine to get the money for the fine.
The officer said not to worry, he believed that I was insured. He said nothing showed up in the Illinois computers about my car. He said the state of Illinois was very slow at inputting information from other states or even their own state. He said the same thing happened to him when he bought a new car and he didn't feel right giving someone a ticket if the information wasn't entered in the computer. So I said, "then do you have to give me the other ticket?" of course you know the answer to that.
He gave me an envelope to mail in with different choices. He said if I mailed in the fine, the bad part that was Indiana and Illinois exchanged information about points on your license. Not good for insurance purposes. He said if I went to court I could possibly get something called supervision. If the judge decides to give you this you pay a fine and as long as you don't get another ticket in Illinois for 60 days they dismiss your ticket and you get no points or paperwork. It's a good deal for everyone. Of course driving back up there is a bummer, but no points takes the sting out of it. Couple that with being a couple of miles from Johnny's Beef Stand and you know where I'll be after court.
Next week I'll tell you about the drama in the courtroom.
Until later..………………....ciao.
Fred Cicco is part owner of John Cicco’s Menswear and ID Plus Marketing Solutions. Contact him at 219-769-1744 ext5 or fred @idplus.biz