I guess I'm due for an intro post.
I'm 22, living in Orillia, Ontario. I did two years of an engineering degree at the University of Waterloo, but I just couldn't sit at a desk most of the time for the rest of my career. I spent the next two years going to random lectures in different departments, but I was always drawn to law enforcement. I plan to get an easy job in Orillia while I get in better shape and apply to the OPP later this year or next year. I don't know where they'll put me, but I hope to eventually end up in Highway Safety.
My first ticket was given to me the week after I got my G1 license (this street-cred will negate any and all future claims of me driving like someone's grandmother). An unmarked Impala got me doing 70 in a 50 on a two-lane road in Orangeville. Being a new driver, my parents convinced me to get a lawyer to reduce the charges and avoid demerit points. My next and last ticket was for doing 60 in a 50 - reduced from 72. Road conditions were bad and I pulled out from a somewhat blind corner just as a panel van was coming up the road. I gave too much gas and the tires broke loose, which alerted officers running a speed trap in the opposite direction. I also have two parking tickets; one was for, oddly enough, parking the wrong direction on a roadway. These three tickets were just paid without a fight.
Ever since I finished high school, I have read the HTA at least once every year, so I tend to keep out of trouble. I have also added my own "set of rules" that I apply to my own driving, such as not passing on the right, using the left indicator instead of tailgating to indicate intention to pass, not trying to merge at less than the speed of traffic flow. Ever since discovering cruise control, I tend to set it at the limit and relax. I'm in Stratford once in a while, so I think I'll eventually end up on one of Bookm's videos with him getting more and more irritated as I fail to speed up.
I have taught several friends to drive, but the recent focus on stunting has made it risky to do my parking lot understeer/oversteer recovery lessons.
I joined up here because this site gives me a chance to see all sides of a case - the officer giving the ticket, the person receiving the ticket, and the lawyers who fight the ticket.