I went to jail. Now I'm scared.

[jadeshine]

Please don't judge me for the title. I am a good person and I don't ever do things that could get me into trouble. I got a ticket from a red light camera in the mail at my OLD address, so I didn't even know I had a ticket. It of course turned into a warrant, and I got pulled over because the officer ran my plates and saw that I had a warrant. I was taken to jail and there for sixteen hours. I was so scared the whole time of the germs that I was laying on and touching on the phone. There was no place in the cell to wash my hands. When I was finally released I immediately went home and did something I tell everyone not to ever do and something I won't ever do again, but I washed my hands with soap and a bit of bleach for a good two minutes. I then showered, mixed some bleach in my body wash, and then layed in a hot bath with a capful of bleach in it. It has been 32 hours since I have been released, but I'm so scared of the germs in that place.

And the icing on the cake, I come to work today and find out that one of the managers that works in the same office I do has confirmed noro. Thank god I'm off work for the next two days.

[lizzo]

Wow. That's insane. I can't believe you would have to go to jail for running a red light. Did you offer to pay it right away?

[Grace47]

I have heard these police departments and public offices are so hard up for cash, they are even arresting people for overdue library books. I am so sorry you had that experience over such a small offense. I'm sure somehow you managed not to get noro if it's been 32 hours. What a terrible experience!

[jadeshine]

I had to pay my ticket plus the bond to get out of jail, but it still took a long time for the bondsman to get me released. It was the scariest thing ever, I NEVER thought I would go to jail, I'm still shaken up by it.

[chica2012]

aw I'm sorry you had to go through this. I got a red light ticket in te middle of december, but didn't receive the ticket until 2 weeks before the date payment was due(because I don't have a house, only a PO BOX so it forwarded late)...mine was $158...I just found out last week that they took the red light camera out of that intersection. UGH.

I am SOOO sorry you had to go to jail...that has got to be the worst experience EVER. Sounds like you cleaned yourself well when you got home, that is very good.

[turbokinetic]

I'm so so sorry this happened to you. It should DEFINATELY be illegal across the nation to have automatic traffic enforcement. It is crooked and evil and goes against the police motto to Serve and Protect. In many areas it's not allowed, hopefully more areas ban this vile and dishonest tactic.

[spilled_milk]

That really sucks! We had red light cameras when I moved to LA, and I was astonished because we don't have anything like that in Boston. They became illegal soon after I moved though. They weren't making enough money for the cost of upkeep, nobody was paying them! They left a bunch of them up though and will still send letters demanding money to your house, but you just ignore them and don't pay and nothing ends up happening.

[Peace]

That sucks. So sorry you had to deal with that... You obviously have good hygiene, so I doubt you ingested any noro particles (even though it's not all that likely that they were there in the first place). It's normal to be upset and a bit anxious after something like that, and I hope you can relax a bit over the next 2 days. I know it's hard to wrap your mind around what happened to you; just remember -- the fact that you went to jail says more about the legal system than it does about you.

[hairyfairy]

Police cells are really gross, as anyone who`s ever spent time in one will tell you. I ran away from home a few times when I was a teenager, & was picked up by the police. The blankets on the beds in those places stunk of just about every body fluid. I didn`t catch anything of them, but I jumped into a hot bath as soon as I could.

[jkl81]

No judgement here...at least not on you, I tend to agree with David that red light enforcement is a very bad idea. We're still debating the idea in FL. For this to become a bench warrant is insane, as in your case a very unjust result could occur, and some people will have an experience like yours.

[jadeshine]

It's because I live in a tiny little city right outside of Dallas with barely any residents, it's mostly just bars and stuff, so I think they jump at every chance they get to get some action.

[turbokinetic]

One legal challenge to any photo / license plate based traffic enforcement is positive identification of the driver. By use of number plate only, they identify the car's OWNER but not the driver. It is very hard to prove guilt this way, because the owner of the car is not always the driver. Often parents buy and register a car for their kids to drive to school, huband and wife drive each others cars etc. Quite often it is enough 'doubt' in the fact that you can't accurately identify the driver to get the case thrown out.

Most traffic laws are worded to punish a driver who 'did operate unlawfully the vehicle.' The act of operating the car in that manner is illegal. Not the act of owning the car. Not the fact that the car was in that position when the picture was taken. If you can't prove WHO was OPERATING the car, the case is baseless.

That's the defence I've seen used, successfully, before. Therefore, they often don't use the pictures where the face isn't visible. Some people recommend putting your visor down as a precaution when driving through photo light areas.

David

[jbsmom]

I would think that you would be more likely to catch noro from the guy at work who has the confirmed case. You really bathed in bleach???? i have washed my hands in bleach (just did it last night actually) but i have never thought to take bath in it. It actually makes me a little nauseated when i use too much of it to clean with. Kudos to you for that hygiene. I have never been to jail as an arrested person. I used to be a deputy and was at the jail A LOT with people i had arrested. Ya'll that is one nasty place! It stinks, people V and poop and pee on the floors. The people spit on each other and the officers. Its just plain nasty. Do what you can do to stay outta the joint folks! I am glad that you only had to be there for 16 hours and I am sure that since it has been 32 hours you are in the clear of anything you could have caught from in there. Be extra careful about handwashing and hygiene especially because the manager at your work has noro. Look at the bright side of the jail thing, at least you werent at work to be with the manager who now has noro. At any rate, you werent there when the sickly person was there but that persons germs are all over the work place. i suggest limiting your bathroom usage to ONLY IN AN EMERGENCY situation. Do not eat any foods with your hands, blah blah blah. Did you know that Noro is so contagious that if someone Vs in the say.....the hallway at a school, everyone that walks by the V or that are in the vicinity will more than likely come down with it. It only takes a few particles of Noro to make you sick. Noro becomes airborne when someone Vs or Ds and it can live on surfaces for a long time. Also a person can still shed the virus for something like 2 weeks to a month. Wasj your hands and good luck to everyone!