Motorists will start paying delinquent tickets pronto, obeying speed limits and making sure their paperwork is straight.

After seeing that video of former state Highway Patrol Trooper Charles L. Jones viciously kicking his leashed and hoisted dog, the last thing one wants is to be "riding dirty" if a similarly wired trooper pulls up behind you.

If they'll do that to their canine companions -- and some troopers testified that Jones' treatment was not unusual or off-putting to them -- just imagine what they'll do to you if you don't produce your driver's license felicitously enough.

Jack O'Hale, the attorney for fired Trooper Jones, contends that his client -- henceforth known as The Dog Kickerer -- broke no rules because punting pooches and worse was standard operating procedure among dog-training troopers.

In a recent news story, O'Hale said, "You cannot cite any training, any policy ... that Sgt. Jones has violated -- because there isn't any."

O'Hale, man. Do we really need written policies to tell us not to kick dogs?

Bryan Beatty, secretary of Crime and Public Safety, told me Tuesday that O'Hale's comments were merely "an attorney saying what he feels he needs to say to represent his client ... Kicking dogs is not standard operating procedure" for the patrol, he said.

A state administrative judge will recommend whether Jones should find a new line of work -- -- or whether he can resume his cop career. I'll bet Michael Vick will need help with his dog-training service when he gets out of the slammer.

The trooper who recorded Jones' barbarity with his camera phone said the dog, Ricoh, was wagging its tail during the incident. "I think he wanted to go with him" even afterward, Trooper Raymond Herndon said.

I asked Lisa Beemon, a nurse at the Animal Hospital at Brier Creek, if a wagging tail means a dog is feeling playful or happy.

"It can," she said, "but not always. Sometimes it may mean he's not happy with the situation or feeling anxious."

If I'd been Ricoh I'd have wagged my tail, too, but just until I got close enough to repay Trooper Jones' kindness. "Yo, Chuck. Bend down here a minute and let me whisper something in your ear."

Then I would've -- CHOMP! -- Van Goghed him.

Bowwow, sucker.

By no means are Jones and his soul mate, Vick, the only people who've abused dogs. In the interest of full disclosure, I confess that as a kid, I once and only once threw a rock at a dog. No need to worry, I felt, because my aim was so notoriously bad in baseball and rock-chunkin' that there was no possibility of me hitting it.

Oops. The sound of the rock hitting the dog and the dog's pained yelp haunts me 40 years later.

Do you reckon Ricoh's pain will ever haunt Jones?

In football, a pooch punt means one thing; who knew it was also a trooper's preferred method of disciplining what has been -- but won't be for long if we keep this up -- man's best friend?

After viewing the Dog Kickerer video 25 times or so -- usually with squinted eyes, always with pained heart -- I concluded that if, as some other troopers said, Jones' behavior did not cross the line, then the state Highway Patrol needs to draw another line.

And not kick dogs over it.