Glancing at the clock, I knew I would be late. Ihad 15 minutes to get home or I'd be past my midnight curfew. I pushed the gaspedal down and increased my cruise control to 73 m.p.h. Since it was so late andno one was on the road, I figured it was safe to drive fast. As an approachinglight turned yellow, I floored it to get through. I didn't make it, but I kissedmy hand and touched the ceiling, something I did every time I came close torunning a red light. When I peered in my rearview mirror, though, I was staringat the bright red and blue lights of a police car. I knew what I had done thesecond I heard the sirens. I had run a red light. I pulled over as the tearsstarted to build inside.

As the officer jumped out of his car, I startedto sniffle. I was alone on the road and wasn't endangering anyone. Couldn't hejust let it slide? All I could think of was what my daddy would say. How longwould I be grounded for, coming home past my curfew with a ticket?

Igreeted the officer as politely as possible. Without giving me a chance to speak,he asked for my license and registration. I tried to explain why I had run thelight, saying that I wouldn't have been able to stop in time, and no one wascoming from the other direction, but he told me to keep quiet before I got inmore trouble.

He wrote down a bunch of information and that's when I lostit - I burst into tears. He told me to stop, but I just could not control myself.This had never happened to me before. As I apologized, he gave me back my licenseand handed me a piece of paper. I thought it was a ticket and wanted to die. Hesaid good-night and told me to drive home safely and slowly. Then I opened thepaper - I had gotten a warning. I started crying even more because I was sohappy! Never again will I speed up at a yellow light!