Idle things to ask the accountant.

[theweaselking]

I wonder if I can write off speeding tickets on my taxes?

//having a car with cruise control has done WONDERS to keep my lead foot from getting me in trouble.

Comments

[rimrunner.livejournal.com]

One thing about the Prius—it shows you, constantly, what your mileage is and how much fuel you're expending. After awhile you don't notice the display anymore, really, but my driving habits have changed so radically in the past six months that Mr. Darcy (whose description of his own driving is "like Grandma") has commented on it.

...hey, what can I say. I finally got my premiums back down from those incidents in my 20s. I'd like 'em to stay there.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

My vastly increased daily mileage from my move to my new house genuinely has *nothing* to do with it. Really. Uh-huh. Totally.


But seriously, the ability to nail a speed and not simply stand on the accelerator until the engine noise or traffic dissuades me is a *good* thing.

[mcfnord.livejournal.com]

wow, interesting. i'd like that feature on my car. i probably drive all wrong.

[rimrunner.livejournal.com]

I drive like I'm from the east coast, which is in fact where I'm from.

You're in Seattle, too, so you know just how well this suits traffic conditions around here. I've learned to blend in so well that people regularly tailgate me in the right lane.

[firebreathnchkn.livejournal.com]

Depends on the state and your party connections.

You? No way.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Heh. I know that. It's funny anyway.

[firebreathnchkn.livejournal.com]

LOL.

If it helps... http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/25/media-blackout-update-pakistan-and-alabama/?hp

[lafinjack.livejournal.com]

I think I can, as I drive for a living. I can also write off car payments, insurance, gas, repairs, etc.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

The thing is, all of those are legal expenses except for the tickets, which are a penalty for an illegal act.

In Canada, at least, you can write off all the job expenses except those stemming from an illegal act.

[ambug666.livejournal.com]

having a car with cruise control has done WONDERS to keep my lead foot from getting me in trouble.

Sing it brother! I'm especially happy since I live in Virginia, the state with the $1000+ speeding ticket tax.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Without cruise control, I tend to speed up until the car starts protesting (~140kph - 90mph) or until I run into traffic that slows me down.

This is BAD.

So I use cruise control, and stay down at the limit, or close to it if there's no room to pass me.

[kadath.livejournal.com]

I live in Massachusetts, where staties in speed traps don't even look up if you're doing less than 90. If I got pulled over, I'd probably get myself in deep shit by saying something like "What? I was only doing 80!"

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Heh. May last ticket was for 100 in a 70 zone. The one before that was for 130 in a 100 zone.

There's a pattern here, that I intend to never again meet.

[kadath.livejournal.com]

I was awed, until I realized you're in Canada.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Just because we use REAL units of measurement is no reason to stand in awe.

[kadath.livejournal.com]

I have friends who both drive cars that will make 140 mph, and would probably do it if you dared them.

Also, I fear no metric/Imperial conversion--I just have to know it's coming. Jerk. :P

[rimrunner.livejournal.com]

One of my Canadian friends got a speeding ticket on Sunday because her speedometer doesn't show mph.

The cop lowered the ticket when he saw that, but I think he wasn't able to let her off entirely, unfortunately.

My dad's speedometer has been broken for years. Bits fall off the car on occasion (it's an SUV that actually does get driven on mountain roads, and off roads entirely) and he drives like he learned on a tractor, which in fact he did.

That he hasn't been pulled over yet continues to amaze me.

[jerril]

I seem to recall a certain incident for doing 160 in an 80 zone at 3 or 4 in the morning...

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Didn't get a ticket for that. I've had two speeding tickets in a decade, and one warning, and, really, I've discovered that going slower doesn't bother me as long as there's an internal limiter (like Cruise Control) on my speed, and not an external one (stupid people driving badly)

[leighdb.livejournal.com]

That was the nice thing about driving in L.A. - the sheer number of assholes who barreled down the freeways at 120 mph and ran red lights and generally acted like damn fools garnered all the police attention, leaving me to do my much saner speeding in peace.

In eight years of driving in L.A. I regularly exceeded the speed limit (usually only by ten to fifteen mph over), and never once got a speeding ticket.