How Parking Tickets Impact your Driving in California
Very few drivers in California haven’t received at least one traffic ticket. In most cases, the driver sputters a little bit, pays the fine, and moves on with their life. However, some California drivers have racked up lots of parking tickets.
There are two reasons drivers fail to pay for their tickets. First, they simply don’t have the money needed to cover the fine. The second, and more common reason is that they don’t think parking violations are a big deal and simply ignore them.
If you fall into the second category of drivers, there are a few things you should know about outstanding parking tickets in California. California’s government depends on the revenue they collect from tickets. They are determined that you should pay the fines connected to the tickets. The first step the government does is increase the amount of money you must pay. The older the outstanding parking ticket is, the heavier the fine is.
If the fine remains unpaid, the court doesn’t beg you to pay the ticket. Instead, the suspend your drivers license. Once this happens, the only way you’ll regain your driving privileges is by paying the tickets as well as any fees connected to reinstating your driver’s license. Before you consider driving with a suspended California driver’s license, consider that doing so is a misdemeanor. If you’re caught, you’ll be arrested. If you get into an accident, the insurance company will likely use the fact that you weren’t supposed to be legally driving as an excuse not to pay out on the claim.
Traveling with a Motorcycle Group? Follow These Safety Tips
There are multiple perks to traveling with a motorcycle group as opposed to riding on your own. The top two are that having people along who are as passionate about motorcycles as you makes the entire trip more enjoyable, and that traveling with a group is safer than riding solo.
If you’re planning a group motorcycle adventure this summer, here are a few things you should keep in mind.
Set Up a Pre-Ride Meeting
Don’t underestimate the importance of a pre-ride meeting. A week or two before the planned trip, get together, either in person or virtually, and go over the details of the trip. Make sure everyone understands the itinerary, the route, and all the other things that are expected to crop up along the way. Make sure safety and how to handle emergencies is one of the topics discussed.
In addition to being a great way to help keep the trip organized, the pre-ride meeting is also a wonderful opportunity for any riders who are new to the group to introduce themselves and to start cultivating friendships.
Go Over the Hand Signals
Hand signals are a huge part of riding with a group of fellow motorcycle enthusiasts. Even if everyone has a radio, you must remember that electronic communication often fails so you should always plan on using hand signals in addition to vocal cues. Right before everyone embarks on the journey, take a few minutes to go over the type of hand signal everyone in the group is to use and what that signal looks like.
Hand signals everyone in the group should be familiar with include:
- Follow me
- Hazard in the roadway
- Proceed with Caution
- Pull off
- Single file
- Slow down
- Speed up
Plan Breaks
Even if you are the type of rider who can go for hours without a real break, don’t assume everyone else in your group is the same. You should plan on taking frequent breaks. Ideally, you should plan your breaks during your pre-ride meeting. By having planned break locations along the route, you create a situation for everyone who might get left behind at some point to catch back up.
Use the break as an opportunity to check in with everyone. In addition to making sure that they are comfortable, not fatigued, and still enthusiastic, these break-time check ins are a great opportunity to handle minor repairs, address concerns that have cropped up, and even tweak the itinerary.
Make Sure You Have All the Essentials
Before leaving on the trip, make sure everyone has plenty of:
- Food
- Water
- Safety equipment
- First aid supplies
- Fully charged phones
- A copy of the itinerary
The more organized you are while planning the group motorcycle trip, the more fun everyone will have during the adventure.