I was driving one afternoon when I suddenly saw the bright flash of a traffic camera.

At first, I assumed it had taken my picture for speeding. But that didn’t make any sense, because I was sure I had been driving under the speed limit.

Still, the flash bothered me.

So, just to prove a point, I went around the block and passed the same camera again, this time driving even slower.

Flash.

Now I was confused.

I circled around once more and slowed down even more as I passed it.

Flash again.

At that point, I started to find the whole thing funny. I was clearly not speeding, yet the camera kept going off every time I drove by.

So I decided to test it again.

On the fourth pass, I crawled past the camera at a ridiculously slow speed.

Flash.

By the fifth time, I was laughing out loud behind the wheel, rolling by at barely more than a walking pace, absolutely certain the camera was broken.

Flash.

I drove away feeling pretty amused, convinced I had just discovered the dumbest traffic camera in town.

Two weeks later, I opened my mailbox and found five tickets waiting for me.

Not one of them was for speeding.

They were all for driving without a seat belt.

You know, you just can’t fix stupid.