I often hear of people who fight speeding tickets. They book a court date and try somehow to get the ticket dismissed or the fine lowered.

The reality is, the only time I have ever been pulled over by a cop was when I was driving my friend’s car in Texas.

I was driving down a dark high way late at night when all of a sudden there were cop lights flashing behind me.

The headlight was out. “Yes – Mr. scary Texas trooper- this is my friends car.”

I got off with a warning.

There are many loop holes and tactics you can take. Here is my non-professional legal advice.

Image courtesy of Digidreamgrafix/DigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of Digidreamgrafix/DigitalPhotos.net

When should you fight a speeding ticket?

Never.

If you were speeding, pay the ticket. There is a greater principal at work here.

I believe the inability to take responsibility for our actions is the greatest flaw of our culture. Tweet this!

This unwillingness is holding many people back.

When something goes wrong, people are quick to blame and slow to take their piece of the responsibilities.

Take responsibility for your actions and pay the ticket. Don’t try to look for loop holes to get out of it.

We don’t have many great examples of people willing to say “it was me, I was wrong”.

We usually have something or someone to blame our problems or poor choices on.

We blame our parents, our school, the government, the economy. We blame anything but ourselves.

So when is a good time to fight a speeding ticket? Never. Even if you can go to court and get the ticket reduced, don’t do it.

You were speeding, you got caught, pay the fine and move on.

When you do this you will be fighting the cultural bend to blame and shift responsibility.

If you are a parent I know you want your kids to take responsibility for their actions. You hate it when they blame something or someone else for their actions.

You want them to tell you they know what they did was wrong and they are sorry.

You are their greatest example. They are following your lead.

Lead them where you want them to be. This means being the person you want them to be.

This great challenge fits perfectly with the great responsibility of parenthood and leadership.

How else can we fight this cultural bend to blame shift?