The Meow at 10,000 Feet
High on the slopes of Bristen, a mountain in the Glarus Alps in central Switzerland, a pair of skiers discovered something unexpected. At 4:30 a.m., the skiers climbed toward the summit of Bristen when they realized they weren’t alone. They were being followed by a cat — not a lynx or a wildcat, but a little mewling house cat. How does a house cat end up on the slopes of a snow-covered, 10,000-foot mountain? This was an answer the skiers wouldn’t get. They weren’t even sure what to do with a cat in general. It’s likely that it simply wandered away from one of the nearby towns or villages near the base of the mountain, but even for a human, that’s a major undertaking. Lost, the cat followed the only sign of civilization it could find: the skiers, Cyril and Erik Rohrer. “She started to shiver, and her paws began to bleed from the hard
snow,” Cyril noted. “We picked her up and carried her when she was too exhausted to walk uphill anymore. We were definitely confused. I felt really sorry for the cat. She was really exhausted on the ridge underneath the summit.” The cat stayed with them for some time before they met up with another group of hikers who were headed down the mountain. The cat joined them for what would hopefully be a journey back home. And it was! Remarkably, the cat’s owners were found. They revealed that their cat had vanished four days earlier and apparently followed yet another group of hikers up Bristen. “Animals do weird things. And they are way tougher than humans. They’ll never give up. Even though they are hurting really, really bad,” Cyril said of his feline hiking companion. Hopefully, that will be the little feline’s last trip up for some time!
WHY HIRE AN ATTORNEY THAT COSTS MORE THAN THE FINE? The Real Cost of a Ticket Is More than the Fine
A TRAFFIC TICKET VS. INCREASED INSURANCE COSTS What most drivers don’t consider is that paying the fine on a ticket will normally trigger increased insurance premiums the next time your insurance company renews your policy. That’s why it’s normally worth it to fight a ticket, especially if you’re unable to keep a violation confidential by attend traffic school. Getting a point on your driving record may get rid of your “good driver” discount and result in you being considered a higher risk to insure. One may see a premium increase of more than 30% for three years for a first-time offense. That increased expense will usually dwarf the fine of the ticket. Before paying for a ticket or appearing in court yourself, be sure to reach out to an experienced traffic attorney to consider your options. An attorney may be able to help you get the ticket dismissed or reduced to a less severe violation. That would save you from paying the whole fine, but more importantly, may eliminate the risk of increased insurance premiums for three years.
Most traffic attorneys charge a flat fee for handling a traffic ticket. Because California traffic ticket fines are so expensive, often the attorney’s fee is less than the fine amount. However, sometimes the reverse is true. Some people then wonder why it may be worth it to hire an attorney in that situation. California fines typically range from around $160 for a cellphone ticket to $2,100 for speeding over 100 miles per hour. Obviously, it seems much easier to justify hiring an attorney when one is facing a fine of more than $2,000, but what about for a simple $160 cellphone ticket? On July 1, the DMV will start assessing one Negligent Operator Treatment System (NOTS) point for a cellphone ticket if you have a prior within 36 months. That’s a game-changer. Once that goes into effect, the $160 fine is just the beginning. A cellphone violation will soon count toward a license suspension (4 NOTS points in a 12-month period). Additionally, one will face increased insurance premiums.
2 | www.bakersfieldtraffictickets.com
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