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Getting a Traffic Ticket

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 267: Getting a Traffic Ticket.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 267. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

Visit our website at eslpod.com. Check out some of the new things on our website, including our ESL Podcast Store. You can also download the Learning Guide for this episode.

This episode is called “Getting a Traffic Ticket.” It will be a conversation between a police officer and a person who was driving too fast. Let’s get started.

[start of story]

I was driving down the street when I saw a police car behind me. Suddenly, it turned on its siren. I realized that I was being pulled over.

Officer: Can I see your driver’s license, registration, and proof of insurance?

Ray: Sure. Here you are, officer.

Officer: Did you know that you were speeding? You were going 70 in a 55 mile an hour zone.

Ray: I was? No, I didn’t know.

Officer: You also ran a red light and your brake light is out. I see that your tags have also expired. I’m going to have to cite you for all of that.

Ray: I’m sure I didn’t run a red light, and I didn’t know my brake light wasn’t working. I just renewed my registration and I’m still waiting for my new tags to arrive in the mail. Is there any way I can get away with just a warning?

Officer: I’m afraid not.

Ray: What’s the fine for all of those violations?

Officer: That information is on the back of the citation. Here you are. Have a nice day.

Ray: Thanks. Thanks a lot!

[end of story]

Our story begins with Ray saying that he “was driving down the street” – driving on the street – when he “saw a police car behind” him. A “police car” is a car used by police officers. In the United States, they’re often painted black and white.

Ray saw this police car, and “Suddenly, it turned on its siren.” A “siren” (siren) is a loud noise made by police cars, or ambulances from hospitals, or fire trucks, and the noise is telling people that there is an emergency and to stop driving or to slow down so that the emergency vehicle – the police car or the fire truck – can drive around them to get to the place where the emergency is taking place. In the US, it usually sounds like this [recording of siren].

Well, the police car “turned on its siren,” and Ray realized that he “was being pulled over.” The expression “to be pulled (pulled) over” means that the police officer is telling you to stop your car and go to the side of the road so that he or she can talk to you, usually because you did something wrong. You don’t want to be pulled over by the police; it means that you are probably in trouble.

Well, poor Ray was pulled over. The police officer came up to the window of Ray’s car and asked him for three things, and these are three things that everyone knows the police are going to ask for when you get pulled over. The three things are your “drivers license,” your “registration,” and your “proof of insurance.” Your “driver’s license” is a piece of identification, usually with your picture on it, that is given to you by the state where you are living. Each state in the US has its own driver’s license. So, when I moved from Minnesota to California, I had to get a new license, and I had to take a new test. So, the driver’s license is one thing. “Registration” is a piece of paper that shows who owns the car, and that it is officially registered with the state government.

The third thing the officer asks for it is “proof of insurance.” “Proof” (proof) is evidence of – something that demonstrates that you have, in this case, insurance, which is protection that you buy a company in case you get in an accident or you have a problem with your car. Your car gets stolen, if you have insurance, the company will give you money to pay for the problem. Proof of insurance is required in most states of the United States; it’s a piece of paper that says you have insurance on your car.

Ray says, “Sure,” meaning yes, I have these three things, and gives them to the police officer. “Here you are, officer,” he says. The police officer says do “you know that you were speeding?” “To be speeding” (speeding), or, “to speed,” means to drive your car faster than is allowed by the law. Different streets have different what we would call “speed limits,” which is the fastest you can drive. In most freeways in the United States, the speed limit is 65 or 70 miles per hour. In most streets in the city, the speed limit is in between 25 and 35 miles an hour, in most cities.

The police officer says to Ray that he was “going,” meaning driving, “70 in a 55 mile an hour zone.” This means he was going 70 miles an hour in a place where the speed limit was 55 miles an hour. “Miles an hour” is how we measure the speed of cars in the United States. It’s equal to 1.6 kilometers – one mile is 1.6 kilometers. Most cars in the US have both kilometers and miles on the car that you can see, but Americans don’t look at the kilometers, they just look at the miles. So, no American really knows the kilometers per hour; they just know miles per hour.

Ray is surprised that he was going so fast. The officer then tells him of some other problems he has. She tells him that he “ran a red light.” “To run a red light” means to drive through what we would call an “intersection,” where two streets cross each other, when it is not allowed because the stoplight is red. Of course, when it’s red, you have to stop, and in United States, that means that you really do have to stop. If you don’t, you could get a ticket if the police are there. “To run a red light” means to go through the red light illegally.

The officer says to Ray that his “brake light,” or brake lights, is, or, are out. A “brake (brake) light” is a light in the back of your car that becomes red – turns on because you are slowing or stopping your car. We would say you are “hitting the brakes.” The “brakes” are the part of the car that slows it down. So, the “brake light” “indicates,” or shows, that you are slowing down so the people behind you know that you are slowing down.

The officer also says that Ray has “tags” that “have expired.” A “tag” (tag) is a small piece of plastic, what we would call a “sticker” that you “stick,” or put, on your license plate, which is in the back, and sometimes in the front and back of your car. And that little sticker – that little tag – that little piece of plastic has a year and a month on it that indicates when the registration for your car will “expire,” when it will end. If you don’t register your car, you won’t get a new sticker, your tags will expire (expire). “To expire” here means they are no longer valid. The word “tag” has several different meanings in English. Take a look at the Learning Guide today for some additional definitions.

The police officer says finally, “I’m going to have to cite you for all of that.” “To cite” (cite) here means to give someone a piece of paper, what we would call a “ticket,” that says that they did something wrong – they did something against the law. “To cite” is also used in the university to mean that you mention where you got a certain piece of information. But here, it means to get a ticket – to get something telling you that you did something wrong, and usually it tells you that you have to pay money because you did something wrong.

Ray says that he was “sure” he “didn’t run a red light, and” he “didn’t know” that his “brake light wasn’t working.” He “just renewed” his “registration,” he says, and he is “new tags” have not arrived “in the mail” yet.

He then asks the officer, “Is there any way I can get away with just a warning?” “To get away with” something means not to be punished for something when you do something wrong. “The children were cheating on their test, but the teacher did not see them. They got away with cheating.” They were not punished because they did not get caught – they weren’t found out by the teacher.

A “warning” (warning) is a written or spoken statement that says you did something wrong, next time, if you do it wrong, you will get a ticket, but this time we’re just warning you – we’re just saying don’t do it again.

Ray asks what the “fine” is “for all of those violations?” The “fine” (fine) is the amount of money you have to pay as a punishment; it’s the amount of the ticket – the amount of money you have to give the government for breaking the law. There are several meanings of the word “fine.” Again, take a look at the Learning Guide for additional explanations. “Violations” (violations) are things that you do against the law or that break a rule.

The officer says the information Ray wants about the fine “is on the back of the citation.” The “citation” is the piece of paper that the police officer gives you that tells you what you did wrong and that you have to pay some money for it. It’s another word for a ticket.

Now let’s listen to the dialogue, this time at a native rate of speech.

[start of story]

I was driving down the street when I saw a police car behind me. Suddenly, it turned on its siren. I realized that I was being pulled over.

Officer: Can I see your driver’s license, registration, and proof of insurance?

Ray: Sure. Here you are, officer.

Officer: Did you know that you were speeding? You were going 70 in a 55 mile an hour zone.

Ray: I was? No, I didn’t know.

Officer: You also ran a red light and your brake light is out. I see that your tags have also expired. I’m going to have to cite you for all of that.

Ray: I’m sure I didn’t run a red light, and I didn’t know my brake light wasn’t working. I just renewed my registration and I’m still waiting for my new tags to arrive in the mail. Is there any way I can get away with just a warning?

Officer: I’m afraid not.

Ray: What’s the fine for all of those violations?

Officer: That information is on the back of the citation. Here you are. Have a nice day.

Ray: Thanks. Thanks a lot!

[end of story]

The script for today’s podcast was written by Dr. Lucy Tse.

From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan. Thanks for listening. We’ll see you next time on ESL Podcast.

English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr. Lucy Tse, hosted by Dr. Jeff McQuillan. This podcast is copyright 2007.