Confused about why I was just pulled over...

[KestrelBike]

I used to not use my blinker, then I realized I was being dumb and/or opening myself up to some liability. So for the past few years, it's just become habit. Lately, when I'm extra petulant and pass someone who was being a complete a-hole, I'll not use my blinker on purpose (I know, I know). My point is, that when I do this, I *know* I'm not using my blinker and immediately feel like I'm doing something unnatural like when I drive 5 yds to move my car, without putting my seatbelt on. As soon as the car is moving and I don't have my belt on, my body just goes "wait what, where's the belt?" That's how I feel now when I don't use my blinker. So I bet you used your blinker, and perhaps he knows that you can't prove that you did and he's just revenue'ing.

[Zundfolge]

I thought you got a "fix-it" ticket for a cracked windshield? And if you got it fixed within X number of days and got another officer to sign off on it you just had to mail it in and you were done, no fine, no points.

I guess I better get a new windshield on the Jeep (bought it a couple years ago with the busted windshield)

[Irving]

While we're discussing BS, did they just change the law again so that an illuminated check engine light is an automatic fall on emissions?

[bobbyfairbanks]

You can't justify this ticket. It is beyond disappointment. You where robbed by a public servant and where told to be happy about it. Resist!

[Bailey Guns]

Hey, HB. I'd say you have a couple of options if you don't wanna pay the fine.

1) Go to court and work something with the county atty. Take some photos of the windshield to show the crack doesn't interfere with your vision. They might cut you some slack. If I remember correctly the charge is "Obstructed Vision Through Required Glass" or some such nonsense. Could be titled differently but should be something like that.

2) Get a new windshield and call the county atty. Most of the time (though not always) they'll dismiss the case.

Unfortunately, either option isn't guaranteed to get you out of the ticket but in my experience they generally drop the case if you get the discrepancy fixed.

Having said that, it sounds like the officer probably did stop you for the signal violation. Just a thought but he may have seen you doing something else like weaving a little and thought maybe you were a DUI. Seriously...that happens pretty often. Once he stopped you and saw you obviously weren't impaired he cut you a break on the lane change and wrote you for the windshield. It's chickenshit, no doubt. But, when I left law enforcement the agency I was with was just about to implement a policy that if someone was worth stopping it was worth writing a ticket. That's a possibility as well (that's also the sort of thing that compelled me to look for a new line of work).

The sort of ticket he wrote you is what I called a win-win. He knows the likelihood of the ticket being dismissed for one or more reasons is pretty high. He knows he most likely won't have to go to court. And, if in fact the SO has a policy that the deputies must write tickets for every stop then he stays in the good graces of his Sgt. I did the same thing many times to honest Joe Citizen...if their insurance card was expired I'd warn them on whatever I stopped them for and wrote the insurance ticket. If they really didn't have insurance then they deserved the ticket. If they did, all they had to do was fax a copy of a current card to the city atty and the case was dismissed and they didn't pay a dime. I'd always explain that to them.

If I couldn't write them for no insurance or some other charge I'd try to explain that I noticed they weren't wearing their seatbelt *wink*wink*. It was only a $15 fine and they were happy to get out of a speeding ticket with a warning in exchange for no seatbelt.

Of course, lots of people got tickets because they earned them.

Bottom line, there's lots of reasons he may have handled the stop the way he did. Maybe he just likes to write chickenshit tickets. That's a possibility, too, and there are plenty of guys who do that. Just food for thought.

[roberth]

While we're discussing BS, did they just change the law again so that an illuminated check engine light is an automatic fall on emissions?

I believe they did, gotta pay for those new AWD rollers.

[Great-Kazoo]

While we're discussing BS, did they just change the law again so that an illuminated check engine light is an automatic fall on emissions?

If the light is on there is an issue.

[bobbyfairbanks]

If the light is on there is an issue.

Doesnt meanits it's a safety or emissions issues and on top of it it sure as hell doesn't mean our government should be able to give out tickets. That's chickenshit and so is any LEO that issues them out.

[Aloha_Shooter]

Reminds me of the ticket I got on I-95 going back to DC from Florida after Christmas. The state trooper said I had a taillight out. I said I just noticed that at my last gas stop but hadn't been able to get a replacement and would do so the next day when an auto parts store was open. I still got a ticket for "defective equipment" ($50-75 IIRC). Of course he knew I wasn't going to drive back down to Richmond to contest the ticket after looking at a DL with a Fairfax address. Being military didn't help any either; I guess it was too far past Desert Storm and 9/11 hadn't happened yet.

[cstone]

Reminds me of the ticket I got on I-95 going back to DC from Florida after Christmas. The state trooper said I had a taillight out. I said I just noticed that at my last gas stop but hadn't been able to get a replacement and would do so the next day when an auto parts store was open. I still got a ticket for "defective equipment" ($50-75 IIRC). Of course he knew I wasn't going to drive back down to Richmond to contest the ticket after looking at a DL with a Fairfax address. Being military didn't help any either; I guess it was too far past Desert Storm and 9/11 hadn't happened yet.

Reminds me of all the VA tags that would routinely go missing after accumulating enough parking tickets in the District. Maryland wouldn't let us get away with it, but I guess the private property tax in the commonwealth was high enough to cover replacing tags. Besides, everyone in DC knew that out of state tags were there just to issue parking tickts...it was the off-the-books DC commuter tax that the City Council could never get past Congress.

As time goes by, there is less and less discretion allowed to individual officers. You can see it in all of the demands to see a supervisor. If the supervisor needs to come handle more and more, why let the officers make any actual decisions. Crap rolls down hill, so when the supervisors, who you never see, demand to know you are actually working, and not parked in some parking lot, the simple method is to demand the production of paperwork. If that paperwork also generates revenue, so much the better. Most officers know how to stretch the mandatory stuff out and keep their supervisors off their backs and in a semi-stupefied state of satisfaction.

Every job has its peculiarities and irritations.

Be safe.