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Toll-Free (661) 859-1177 Se Habla Español www.bakersfieldtraffictickets.com HARMAN CALIFORNIA TRAFFIC DEFENSE ATTORNEYS , APC BIGGER
THE DAILY DRIVER Attorneys Defending Your Right to the Road Fatherhood and Flashcards One Dad’s Journey to Learning a New Language
AUGUST 2025
As a well-known psychologist once said, your child’s life will be filled with fresh experiences. It’s good if yours is, too!
The youngest of our three children is starting kindergarten this fall in a Spanish language immersion program. I am having my own fresh experience right alongside her by trying to learn Spanish myself. I come from a long line of engineers, and absorbing a new language does not come easily for me. I am much better at dealing with STEM subjects rather than the arts and languages. As I try to absorb a new language, I feel a little like I’m starting kindergarten myself.
While our kids are young and their minds are malleable, they will pick up the language much faster. During our visit to their grandparents,
they showed interest in learning new words and phrases. They loved counting in Spanish, repeating the days of the week, and doing some Spanish “homework” with the family. Seeing their eagerness to learn has pushed me to stretch my mind, too. Our office staff includes people fluent in many languages, from Spanish to Punjabi and Hindi. They know I’m trying to learn, and they sometimes toss a Spanish phrase or two my way. As an attorney, I have to be a constant learner. The law continually evolves. For example, I recently learned how to file a petition to the Supreme Court of California. I am very supportive of my daughter’s learning Spanish. It will be great. While strengthening her family connection is our top priority, knowing a second language could also improve her career prospects down the road — and that’s not a bad thing, either. The moral of the story? Filling your life with new experiences is a good thing. Whether mastering a new language or defending your clients before the Supreme Court, you should never be afraid to learn new things. –Paul Harman
“Whether mastering a new language or defending your clients before the Supreme Court, you should never be afraid to learn new things.”
But my philosophy is that you should never be afraid to learn new things. Just because you are not inclined to learn something doesn’t mean you can’t learn it. We recently spent two weeks with my wife’s family in the Dominican Republic. As I wrote here last December, I met my wife Rossely while attending a conference in Los Angeles in 2014, when she was still a law student. Since our marriage in 2016, we have been blessed with three great kids, now 5, 4, and 20 months. I consider them very fortunate to have such an amazing mother. My wife has been eager for me to learn Spanish and wants our kids to know the language, too. It is very important to us that they communicate well with her family and understand their culture.
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RANCHER’S DOG RESCUES TODDLER LOST IN THE DESERT Desert Hero
A tiny desert town along Route 66 in Arizona is home to a new hero — a big, shaggy ranch dog who rescued a toddler lost in the desert this past April. Two-year-old Boden Allen was missing from his Seligman, Arizona, home for 16 hours when a 6-year-old Anatolian Pyrenees named Buford appeared in his master’s driveway with the child at his side — 7 miles from Boden’s home. Buford’s owner, Scotty Dunton, had heard about the child’s disappearance. “I noticed my dog was sitting by the entrance (to his ranch),” he said, “and the little kid’s standing there with my dog!” He calmed the child, who was unharmed except for a few scrapes and nicks, and gave him water and food while calling authorities. Dunton was overjoyed. “I was ecstatic that he was okay and that my dog found him,” he said.
Dunton asked Boden if he had been walking all night, and the child told him no, he had been lying under a tree. “Did my dog find you?” Dunton asked Boden. He wasn’t surprised when the child said yes. Dunton traced the little boy’s tracks more than a mile from his ranch, with Buford’s paw prints beside them. “That’s what he does,” Dunton said of Buford. “He loves kids. I can imagine he wouldn’t leave him when he found him.” Dunton’s discovery of the little boy ended an anxious 16-hour search by more than 40 search-and-rescue volunteers, sheriff’s deputies, and state public-safety officers. Wearing only a tank top and pajama pants, Boden had wandered away at about 5 p.m. into rugged desert terrain, where two mountain lions were spotted later that night. Boden’s frantic parents had reported his absence to the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office.
Dunton says he wasn’t surprised by Buford’s protective behavior. “He is a guardian dog. He patrols all night and keeps coyotes away,” he says. The Anatolian Pyrenees is a crossbreed, a combination of a Great Pyrenees and an Anatolian shepherd, known for its intelligence, gentleness, and protective nature. In appreciation for their neighborhood hero, Buford’s admirers piled chew toys, bones, and other gifts on Dunton’s doorstep for days after the rescue.
High Driver Turnover Haunts the Trucking Industry DRIVER DRAIN
with Kris Kristofferson cast professional truck drivers as heroes of the open road. Now, these drivers have retired, and the generations coming up behind them have a stronger preference for more time at home and less
strenuous lifestyles. Also, drivers say rising traffic congestion, unloading delays, in-cab safety technology, and urbanization have made their jobs harder.
A longstanding shortage of truck drivers appears to have eased in recent months. Job market statistics show a slight but steady decline in open trucking jobs. However, high trucker turnover continues to cause problems, as more drivers walk away from life on the open road. Although 400,000 new commercial driver’s licenses are issued in the United States every year, according to the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, federal data show that about 300,000 drivers exit the industry each year. And analysts predict continuing problems retaining experienced drivers amid a shift in drivers’ preferences and values.
A boom-and-bust cycle caused by the pandemic has made the problem worse. Exaggerated reports of a truck driver shortage helped spark a near-doubling of for-hire carriers between 2020 and 2023. While an increase in demand for goods and a drop in diesel costs sustained these new entrants for a while, freight rates soon dropped, driving many of them out of business. Also, truckers’ groups say that as industry veterans retire, inexperienced drivers, who are more likely to cause safety problems, replace them. They argue that freight companies need to improve pay, benefits, and leave time at home to retain drivers. Driving big rigs is a hard job, and that Hollywood luster of the late 1970s has faded. All that suggests the industry churn is likely to continue.
Many older drivers entered the industry decades ago, after films like “Smokey and the Bandit” with Burt Reynolds and “Convoy”
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Caught on Camera?
Your Referrals Make a Difference! Thanks to your 107 referrals in July, we were able to donate $1,640 to help fight human trafficking and lead medical missions. INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE MISSION To learn more about International Justice Mission and their mission to protect half a billion vulnerable people from exploitation, please go to IJM.org . MEDICAL MISSIONS OUTREACH To learn more about showing God’s love by providing quality medical treatment to some of the poorest people in the world, visit the Medical Missions Outreach home page at Medical-Outreach.com .
Here’s How to
Fight That Red Light Ticket!
It is one of the worst kinds of mail a professional truck driver can receive — a citation for a photo-enforced red light ticket. Figuring out what to do next can be confusing. We know of at least 10 intersections in Bakersfield equipped with red-light cameras for enforcement purposes. They are triggered as a vehicle passes over a sensor after the traffic light has turned red. The cameras capture both video and still images of the driver and license plate, and they can trigger tickets for a variety of reasons, including failing to come to a full stop when turning right on red. After an officer reviews the evidence, a citation is mailed to the driver, including a copy of the photo, the citation, and the amount of the fine — almost $500 in Bakersfield! The first thing to remember if you get one of these letters is what not to do! Don’t admit you were driving, and don’t take advice from a court clerk on how to respond. Also, don’t dispute the ticket on your own, or just pay it to make it go away — because it won’t. Negligent Operator Treatment System (NOTS) points will be assessed to your license, and your insurance premiums will likely soar.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of
An experienced traffic ticket attorney may be able to successfully challenge your ticket on any of these grounds:
• The image does not clearly show the license plate or the driver’s face. • No warning sign was posted at the intersection to alert drivers to the red light camera. • No law enforcement officer examined the evidence before mailing the citation. • The yellow light did not last long enough to correspond with the highway speed limit — roughly 5 seconds for a 50 mph highway and 3.5 seconds at 35 mph. If you have received a red light ticket or another traffic citation, call us today for a free consultation. We will gladly apply our years of professional experience to defending your rights and protecting your livelihood!
the Holy Spirit.” ROMANS 15:13
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, APC HARMAN CALIFORNIA TRAFFIC DEFENSE ATTORNEYS BIGGER
Toll-Free (661) 859-1177 Se Habla Español www.bakersfieldtraffictickets.com
PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411
1701 Westwind Drive Suite 203 Bakersfield, CA 93301
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Keeping Up With Your Kindergartner: Learning Spanish as an Adult............................ PAGE 1
Against All Odds, a Ranch Dog Brings a Lost Toddler Home........................................... PAGE 2
Why High Turnover Among Truck Drivers Shows No Signs of Ending................................. PAGE 2
Know Your Rights: Beating the Photo Ticket Blues............................................................ PAGE 3
Your Guide to Dreamy Sleep Habits................ PAGE 4
Have a ticket in California? Give us a call, and we’ll help you out! Regardless of the location, we can point you in the right direction free of charge!
PILLOW TALK Prep for Your Best Rest Yet
When your head hits the pillow, are you counting sheep but not catching any z’s? It’s time to hit snooze on nights of tossing and turning and wake up refreshed with a better sleep routine! Getting the proper amount of rest every night is crucial to living a healthy life and can even help prevent mental health issues like depression and anxiety. A sweet slumber starts with the proper routine. Here’s the dreamy plan to wake up feeling your best. BEDTIME BOUNDARIES Consistency and bedtime boundaries can help your body and mind get into a regular rhythm to reach REM sleep. Try to go to bed around the same time every night to train yourself to get sleepy regularly. It doesn’t matter what time you choose as long as you stick as close
to your sleep schedule as possible. You should also select a time before bed when you consistently turn off your phone, computer, and other devices. The blue light from electronics makes your mind think it’s daytime and can distract you from dreaming. RELAX, REWIND, REST You can use many tools to help relax and unwind from the day and prevent intrusive thoughts and tension from keeping you up at night. Listening to gentle music before entering the bedroom can put you in a sleepy state of mind. Journaling or writing a to-do list before it’s time to nod off can remove lingering stresses or racing thoughts. Try meditation or yoga to ease your muscles, focus your mind, and eliminate anxious feelings.
DINE RIGHT, SLEEP TIGHT Though a late-night snack or a delayed dinner might seem harmless, it can make drifting off difficult. Your digestive system takes time and energy to break down food, which can keep you awake if you eat too late. Eat light, healthy suppers so your stomach can take a snooze with you, and avoid eating anything several hours before you plan to hit the hay.
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