For reference, I'm on a piddly Chinese scootlet (🛵)

They're doing a lot of construction right now in downtown Bellevue and so there are traffic police stationed everywhere along the sides of roads to help direct traffic. I was coming up to a right turn and there were about 4 cars waiting in the lane to go straight. I whistle and smile to myself as I filter on the right side to get to the light.

I filter right past a police officer who was standing hidden behind a post. He stares at me. I stare at him. My heart is beating. My little 4-stroke 139qmb 49cc engine is squealing. It's a construction zone. Fines double in a construction zone, right? My driving record is squeaky clean. How much will my insurance premium go up by now, I wonder, internally screaming.

He whistles at me and gestures for me to stop. I freeze and grip both brakes tighter than the jeans of a Honda Metropolitan owner. He points at my scooter. "YOUR HEADLIGHT IS OUT". I glance forward, and indeed my $30 flickery LED seems to finally have called it quits. "S-so sorry s- sir, m- my battery d- died". The officer stares at me blankly. I can feel the sweat forming on my forehead. I twist my throttle all the way forwards, my 49cc engine squeals and I peel out on my right turn.

This is the second time I filtered (in a construction zone) right in front of a police officer, blatantly (albeit very slowly) and didn't have anything happen. Keeping my fingers crossed that enforcement is slowly changing. Being on a scooter definitely helps in this case (perhaps police see a scooter as more of a bicycle?)