I got a ticket the other day. First time in like 10 years. I was driving to Bnei Brak for a wedding, and nearly missed the turn up to Givat Shmuel - Bnei Brak. There is no sign warning of the impending highway exit. It just happens with a sign at the exit itself.

So, I see the sign at the exit and swing in. It seems that is a fairly common spot for things like this to happen and the police lay there in wait and grab offending drivers. My crime was not waiting in line but cutting into traffic ahead of other cars in the lane. I didn't even know this was illegal - I thought as long as you cross a dotted line it is legal - I signalled with my blinker and cut in. And my second crime was crossing a bold line. I didn't think I did - I thought I cut in before the bold line appeared, as I cut in as soon as I saw the sign for the turn, but maybe I just missed it.

Anyway, the cop pulls me over and she tells me what i did wrong. I am not one to argue about these things. She asks me what I have to say for myself, where I was going, and if I am in a rush. I said I am on my way to a wedding in Bnei Brak, but I am not in a rush. I found out later she was a bit disappointed by that answer, as if I had said I was in a rush it would have been an admission of guilt - I am in a rush so I cut in. But I wasn't in a rush, just only saw the sign at the last minute. If not in a rush, a driver is less likely to do the crimes she was stopping me for.

Anyway, she thought for a minute and then the funniest exchange took place between a driver and a cop.

She started negotiating with me whats he would write me up for. She was basically negotiating with herself, as I am horrible at that kind of stuff - talking my way out of tickets and the like, but it was still funny. She started weighing all the options of what she could throw at me, and what the ramifications would be. She in the end decided to write me up for only one of the transgressions, not both, and told me what I have to do to get it converted to a warning, considering I have not had a ticket in 10 years or so. She told me not to pay the ticket, but to copy it and mail it to the the Traffic Office of the police and request they convert it to a warning because I am not from the area and was unfamiliar with the roads, etc.

The fact that she started negotiating with me what she would write me up for was humorous and a bit surreal. I guess she expected me to start arguing, and had prepared for that by mentioning the worst she could do, but she had not actually planned on doing it, considering I was a nice guy (I even held her flashlight for her so she could see while she wrote me up). Very strange, but there must be a lesson in the incident somewhere, aside form don't cross bold lines and don't cut into traffic..