There are times like just a few minutes ago when I negotiated a fabulous settlement on an appeal.
Then there are times like when I read about various and sundry things. I love being a lawyer because we get to sit around and make up crap like that.
I had to read that article because (1) it occurred at my alma mater and (2) I went to law school with a guy who now practices in Pullman and I wanted to see if he was representing this guy. (It wasn't. Darn. I could've gotten the inside scoop.)
The first thing I thought of when I read that he hit two people in two separate crosswalks was: they'll nail you for that in Pullman. Not the hitting the people part (although, yes they will get you for that too), but for not stopping at a crosswalk when they are pedestrians crossing. Shortly after I graduated WSU, Washington passed a law that requires drivers in both directions to come to a complete stop when there are people in the crosswalk and you can not proceed until the pedestrian has left the crosswalk entirely. Most people -- and the main drag through campus, Stadium Way, is at least four big lanes wide -- start up again once the pedestrian is out of their lanes of traffic. My friends all warned me when I came to visit that I had to be certain to obey the law to the letter because the campus cops were specifically watching for violations of that particular law and ticketing accordingly. I'm guessing it's because at Pullman you learn how to drink and drive and get away with it so they can't get you for that, they've got to fill their ticket quotas somehow.
Okay, maybe not really, although there was many a time I should have been pulled over. Thankfully I wasn't and more thankfully no one ever got hurt. I did date a guy my senior year who was drinking then went driving in a big muddy field next to his apartment complex. He rolled his little pickup truck in a complete 360 (not doing donuts like all four wheels on the ground going around in a circle, he rolled his truck like four wheels down, four wheels up, then four wheels down), wasn't hurt or anything (luckily -- and I think even the truck was okay because the ground was so wet) and was walking back down the sidewalk to his apartment when he got pulled over for DWI. He told me about it when I saw him later that night (I had to drive, natch) and I teased him mercilessly: you got pulled over for driving under the influence while walking? And oh yeah, his mom and his little sister were there visiting for the weekend; his mom was not amused.
Some days I really miss college. But the real world is pretty good too.
Cheers,
the CilleyGirl
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