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Traffic school would dismiss tickets


Deputy Mike Brooks of the Spokane County Sheriff's Office Traffic Unit aims his radar gun at cars along Ft. George Wright Drive in Spokane on Wednesday. The county is considering a new traffic school where motorists could get minor tickets erased. (DAN PELLE The Spokesman-Review)

With the approval of county commissioners, you may soon have a chance to have traffic tickets dismissed by completing a six-hour classroom traffic course taught by Spokane's finest.

The class would cost $115, but the real savings is with insurance premiums as the tickets would be erased from your driving record.

full article...

The Sheriff's Office sees the possibility of "interacting positively" with up to 3,000 citizens a year as a good opportunity.

The Spokane County school at the sheriff's training center on the Spokane Community College campus will offer information about local traffic problems and a refresher course on traffic regulations.

They'll also get some math: If it takes 1.5 seconds to react to danger and 3.9 seconds to stop a car going 40 mph, how far will the car travel before it stops? (Answer: 260 feet.)

And some physics: How tall a building could you jump from to achieve the same result as crashing at 30 mph without a seat belt? How fast does an unrestrained motorist need to go to break an arm? How fast to break a thigh bone? (Answers: Three stories, 25 mph and 35 mph.)

QUESTION: Would you take the course? Or the traffic ticket?

In 2006, then-editor Steve Smith of The Spokesman-Review had the idea of starting a publication for an often forgotten audience: teenagers. The Vox Box was a continuation of the Vox, an all-student staffed newspaper published by The Spokesman-Review. High school student journalists who staffed the Vox made all content decisions as they learn about the trade of journalism. This blog's mission was to give students an opportunity to publish their voices. The Vox Box and the Vox wrapped up in June 2009, but you can follow former staffers' new blog at http://voxxiez.blogspot.com.