Street Racing in Downtown Calgary
I was a very aggressive driver. My Dad taught me how to drive defensively, and I taught myself how to drive aggressively. I have a healthy respect on the road, but I am never afraid behind the wheel. And I knew my truck well. I knew where all the edges were, and I knew what it was capable of doing.
My truck was a constant work in progress, however, and always had missing parts or work that needed to be done. One of the biggest things that needed to be completed was the installation of a roll pan instead of a big old, ugly bumper. So, while I was waiting, I simply removed the bumper, which meant that I had nowhere for the license plate to go. I would stick the license plate into the rear sliding glass window, and prop it there, but often forgot to put it there in the first place.
One day, my friends and I decided to take the one-hour drive into Calgary.
I was driving, and my friends were beside me, smoking weed and drinking beer.
I smoked a bit of weed but stayed sober because I was driving in Calgary, but there was definitely open alcohol in the truck.
Driving along 16th Avenue, we came across a 1967 Corvette Stingray. It was driven by an older man, and my truck immediately grabbed his attention when I pulled up beside him at a light and revved the engine. I was egging him on, trying to get him to bite and play in traffic with me.
He took the bait, and we took off, lane hopping and jumping in between cars. It was dangerous but so exhilarating, and I knew what I was doing. In fact, I was so good at driving my truck that I ended up winning our impromptu race. What I didn’t realize though, was that there were two cop cars waiting down the road, and they caught us.
We both got pulled over.
I had open alcohol and weed in the truck, and none of us wore seatbelts. Plus I had forgotten to put my license plate in the back window of the truck that day. Not only did I get pulled over, but I got hauled out of my truck and into the backseat of the cop car. I was terrified. I thought for sure I was going to have my truck towed for being a total asshole in traffic.
I started crying, and the cop was very nice to me. Once he realized that I was sober and scared, he started to relax more. After I told him about the situation with my license plate, he let me out of the car and had me put that in the back window. He then got my friends to dump out their beer, and sent us on our way, without a single ticket. My friends were flabbergasted!
How could I have gotten away without a single ticket for racing in downtown Calgary traffic?
Meanwhile, the man in the Corvette was having a ticket handed to him.
As we drove past him, we waved and honked the horn. I had won the race, and I had gotten away with it. I quickly learned that I could get away with a lot more than some people, and I started using that to my advantage.