Did you know you can get a citation for having a cracked windshield?

I didn’t.

Yesterday I had a business meeting in West Valley City and on my way back to the office a motorcycle police officer pulled me over.

He said I was speeding and that the speed limit was 35 miles per hour.

I told him I thought I was only a couple miles per hour over the limit which the sign said was 40 mph.

He told me I was wrong, that it was 35 mph and I was going 45.

I told him I wasn’t interested in arguing with him about it.

A few minutes later he came back to my vehicle and said he was going to give me a break and not give me a moving violation that would count against my driving record and insurance. He said he would just give me a $55 ticket for driving with a cracked windshield.

Then he asked when I moved — which he knew because the address I gave him for my home was different from the address on my driver’s license.

When I told him we moved in October he said he could give me another $55 ticket for not updating my address with the DMV within 10 days of moving. But he “wasn’t trying to be mean,” so he didn’t ticket me for that also. But he told me I need to take care of it.

So, I learned two things about driving in Utah:

1. You can get a ticket for a cracked windshield, and
2. You can get a ticket if you don’t update your address with the DMV within 10 days.

Who knew?

About 30 minutes after returning to my office my phone rang. It was the police officer. He called to apologize because he realized after our conversation that the speed limit was indeed 40 miles per hour on that street. He said they changed the speed limit there last week and he didn’t realize it.

So, kudos to him for being man enough to admit he was wrong.

But how lame is it that I got a ticket for a cracked windshield?

So, my truck is at the glass shop today, getting a new windshield.

Want to place any bets on how long it is before I have another chip and crack in my windshield? My guess: it won’t be too long.