Armed Polite Society
Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: eyebrows on April 09, 2010, 04:54:22 PM
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In Jan this year I got pulled over for speeding, yesterday it happened again.
Different cops, same location, almost same story word for word.
Both times they told me almost exactly the same thing within a minute of walking up to my window:
I'm working a project here and I've got to write a ticket to everyone I stop. I see you've got your seatbelt on but I can give you a choice, a seatbelt ticket for $25 and no points or speeding for $150 and points.
I'm not complaining one bit, but I'm still sitting here wondering what gives. First time I was 16mph over and this last time I was 12. They could have written me some pretty good fines, instead they both take just a couple minutes to look at my ID, give me a seatbelt ticket and send me on my way. Both seatbelt tickets even list my speed and the posted speed.
Again I'm not complaining it's just got me scratching my head. ???
It's probably because I'm so respectable looking. =D
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Well, the answer is clear.
Retrofit your car with NOS, and get one of these (http://www.plateflipper.com).
I mean, it's what Vin Diesel would do. =)
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Both LE probably are not happy because the "project" takes away their ability to decide whether they are going to issue a ticket or not when pulling a violator over. On the other hand, they possibly have been ordered to write seatbelt tickets and are not seeing many folks not wearing them.
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Well, the answer is clear.
Retrofit your car with NOS, and get one of these (http://www.plateflipper.com).
I mean, it's what Vin Diesel would do. =)
Rofl, awesome.
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Might as well quit wearing your seatbelt, then ;)
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Its guaranteed funds.
They know you will just pay the seatbelt ticket.
You may fight the speeding ticket, meaning they would have to appear in court and could stand loosing the money if you win.
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It might also be that the local jurisdiction gets more of a share of the ticket revenue for seatbelts.
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They know you will just pay the seatbelt ticket.
I fought a seatbelt ticket I got in Raleigh. The fine is only $25 but the court cost is an additional $100 ;/
I pled not guilty as the cop didn't have me sign the ticket. DA said it doesn't matter but he didn't like wearing his seatbelt either. He dismissed it.
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What is this "Project" BS?
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What is this "Project" BS?
They're probably trying to find out how long it will take him to get a voice recorder, catch the admission of "I see you're wearing your seatbelt," take the seatbelt ticket, and head straight for his lawyer's office.
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I pled not guilty as the cop didn't have me sign the ticket. DA said it doesn't matter but he didn't like wearing his seatbelt either. He dismissed it.
They didn't have me sign either ticket. At first I thought the same as you, that it was invalid without a signature. After looking into it turns out they aren't required to get a signature for a seatbelt violation.
Might as well quit wearing your seatbelt, then ;)
;) I absolutely hate seatbelts and I don't hardly wear it. I only put my belt on, both times, once I saw the cop pull out of the hiding place and knew he was coming for me. My windows are dark enough you can't tell from outside if I'm wearing a belt.
They're probably trying to find out how long it will take him to get a voice recorder, catch the admission of "I see you're wearing your seatbelt," take the seatbelt ticket, and head straight for his lawyer's office.
What would that get me? Sue 'em for the proper ticket? No I'll just be happy and pay the very cheap tickets and slow down when I crest that particular hill.
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Someone told me just a few years ago that he's found that not wearing a seat belt has gotten him out of speeding tickets, as the LEO would rather write the belt ticket.
Not long after that a state trooper pulled me over for 77 in a 65. ;/ She gave me a hard time about not wearing a seat belt, gave me a pass on the speeding ticket, and wrote me up for the seat belt.
Something to what my friend was saying?
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I absolutely hate seatbelts and I don't hardly wear it.
I only buckle mine when I'm out on the paved highway. ;)
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Interesting about them preferring to write a seat belt ticket. Hm.
Story about why I never complain about stuff any more. True. 100%:
I used to live on the crest of a hill overlooking a recreational area entrance kiosk out in the boonies. Thirty-five MPH on that road. On a nice, sunny day the kiosk would be overloaded, and the backup car lines would spill out onto the two-lane road. I could sit on my porch and look out on both sides of the blind hill.
It was kinda fun to estimate somebody's speed as they approached the hill, and try to guess whether they'd have to slam on the brakes when they crested the hill and suddenly saw the cars stopped right in front of them.
Most of the time they could stop, but there were a couple of near-misses and once in a while a screechcrunchtinkletinkle, and some boat trailers got half-jacknifed. It seemed that the slight reduction in gravity as they went over the hill made the trailers lose traction. Or something.
So one day noble little do-gooder me called up the Highway Patrol (their jurisdiction) and suggested they start enforcing that 35 MPH limit on that road.
They took my call about the blind hill and the speeders but didn't seem too enthusiastic about it. Just routine stuff, I guessed.
Well, as far as I could tell for the next month or so, nothing happened on enforcing that speed limit and the weather was kind of cold-cloudy-rainy, with no backups on the entry kiosk and no screechcrunchtinkletinkles, and no sidewise boat trailers, either.
So anyhow I'm coming home on that road one Sunday afternoon after a Church Men's Meeting and all of a sudden I see a State Trooper on top of the hill in his campaign hat and with radar gun in hand next to his motorcycle, and I look at my speedo and I'm doing about fifty.
So he waves me over and as he approaches, I'm laughing my tushie off as I get my paperwork ready for him and he goes through the drill ("Do you know how fast you were going, sir?" etc) and all the while I'm chuckling at my own idiocy, shaking my head in amusement.
He starts out with a lecturer's tone, "speeding is a serious matter, sir, and you shouldn't be laughing about it..."
"Trooper, did you notice my address?"
He looks at my license again, "Oh, you live on this road?"
"Yeah, right there," and I point at my house. "What's so funny is that I'm the one who complained about the speeders along here."
So then he starts laughing. "Guess what, sir?"
"Hah?"
"You're the first one we caught!"
He thought it was so funny that he only gave me a warning ticket.
True. 100%.
Morals:
(1) Don't blithely speed over blind hills and blind curves.
(2) Don't complain.
(3) Don't stay around for the Church Men's Meetings.
Terry, 230RN
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Some years back, there was a fatal head-on crash on a dead end gravel road not far from here. Both drivers assumed nobody else would be on the road as they sped over a little rolling hill. :(
And this is out on the prairie ;/
I never could believe the folks who would race down Monarch Pass in CO. Some of those corners with the sheer rock walls on the inside you couldn't see much more than 50-75' in front of you, but they were doing 60mph (or more?). But they had cool cars that could corner like that, doncha know?
There could be a big fallen rock or a semi jack-knifed in the middle of that corner, for all anybody would know. :O
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I only buckle mine when I'm out on the paved highway. ;)
If the truck rolls you don't want to be trapped when the coyotes come?
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If the truck rolls you don't want to be trapped when the coyotes come?
Yeah, that's about right ;)
One day we're driving down the road and see one of those UTV things on its side in the ditch, and an older guy trying to push it back upright. So I stop to see if he's okay. He seems relatively rational so I help him get it back on its wheels.
MT is a "mind your own business" state so I didn't call it in, though he did mutter something about it not being so hard to tip back up the last time he rolled it off the road. ;/
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where were you when i rolled my beetle? i got pulled over for speeding about an hour after the rollover the cop was kinda stunned that i was missing glass and driving with my ski goggles on. was about 25 ( above zero for tall pine) and snowing. he had me blow in the lil machine then let me go on to school.
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So. Take on old steering column, and plant it in the ground with the steering wheel nice n level like you might wanna set a pizza on it and pull up some lawn chairs.
Now, climb up onto your roof and swan-dive onto the steering wheel. Take it full in the chest like a man. Optional: attempt to "stop yourself with your hands".
You just simulated a head-on crash with no seat belt at oh, we'll say 20 mph or so, maybe as high as 40, depending on the height of your house.
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Someone told me just a few years ago that he's found that not wearing a seat belt has gotten him out of speeding tickets, as the LEO would rather write the belt ticket.
Not long after that a state trooper pulled me over for 77 in a 65. ;/ She gave me a hard time about not wearing a seat belt, gave me a pass on the speeding ticket, and wrote me up for the seat belt.
Something to what my friend was saying?
I don't care how many speeding tickets it could get me out of, the seatbelt stays on. I'm sure you aren't trying to say anything like "Hey, maybe you should try driving w/o a seatbelt to avoid being ticketed", of course.
I buckle it as soon as I get into the seat. I just wish there was a easy/cheap way to retrofit a good four or 5 point belt into my truck.
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I do believe Oregon just implemented a law saying you can be ticketed for not wearing your seatbelt while idling in a parking lot. ;/ I usually wear a belt, but that is pushing it a little bit IMO.
And 280RN, that is hilarious.
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I do believe Oregon just implemented a law saying you can be ticketed for not wearing your seatbelt while idling in a parking lot. ;/ I usually wear a belt, but that is pushing it a little bit IMO.
I don't put my seatbelt on until I'm just about to pull out of the driveway/parking lot and into the road. Too much can happen at a few mph where you need maneuverability, and not wearing the seatbelt until actually on the road doesn't seem too dang dangerous.
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Avenger29, that's much easier than you think but i'm pretty sure your have to remove the airbags for it to really be beneficial. oh and i would go with a 6point that single crotch strap hurts. :O link with a car (http://boxsters.addr.com/hacks/harness.htm), best pics i can find right now =| oh and if you roll the truck i think you might be better off with the 3point than a 5or6 without a roll cage. :facepalm:
anybody been in the mouth of wilson area of VA? lots of old one and a half lane roads with no paint or speed limits, some people seem downright suicidal on these roads.
state route 725 in this link is a really good example (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=VA+State+Route+725++grassy+creek+rd&sll=36.58259,-81.409121&sspn=0.030429,0.052314&ie=UTF8&ll=36.60943,-81.445813&spn=0.01564,0.026157&z=16)
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where were you when i rolled my beetle? i got pulled over for speeding about an hour after the rollover the cop was kinda stunned that i was missing glass and driving with my ski goggles on. was about 25 ( above zero for tall pine) and snowing. he had me blow in the lil machine then let me go on to school.
My wife rolled her bug while we were engaged. I tipped it back up, added some oil, climbed through the window, and drove it home.
Later I pried the doors open and took them off, and we used it for a "dune buggy" on the national forest all that summer. That's the best use for a vw bug anyway. ;)
The funniest part was the windshield washer still worked. We'd get a friend to sit in the front seat, duck, and push the button. =D
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They're probably trying to find out how long it will take him to get a voice recorder, catch the admission of "I see you're wearing your seatbelt," take the seatbelt ticket, and head straight for his lawyer's office.
What would that get me? Sue 'em for the proper ticket?
It seems to me any sane judge would throw an absolute fit if a cop gave you a ticket for something the cop knew you didn't do. That's illegal, isn't it? The cop has to sign the ticket, under penalty of perjury, right?
It doesn't matter if you had a dead body in the trunk of your car.
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Avenger29, that's much easier than you think but i'm pretty sure your have to remove the airbags for it to really be beneficial. oh and i would go with a 6point that single crotch strap hurts. shocked link with a car, best pics i can find right now undecided oh and if you roll the truck i think you might be better off with the 3point than a 5or6 without a roll cage. Face Palm
One thing I'm dealing with is that I am short of factory seatbelt attachment points as the shoulder strap top point attaches to a reel inside the seat instead of the usual side pillar mount.
I'm just considering it and doing research right now, not really moving on anything...
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I only buckle mine when I'm out on the paved highway. ;)
Wearing a seatbelt religiously saved my ass when I pulled a stupid-19-year-old-boy trick in 1995.
I rolled my little pickup at a high rate of speed on a dirt road.
My passenger and I would probably have both been ejected through the open windows.
Instead, we ended up with whiplash and seat-belt-bruising.
The nanny state can pound sand. I wear a seatbelt 100% of the time because:
- more control over the vehicle having the seatbelt hold your position
- I'm not dead/parapalegic/quadrapelgic today because it saved my ass once already
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Wearing a seatbelt religiously saved my ass when I pulled a stupid-19-year-old-boy trick in 1995.
I rolled my little pickup at a high rate of speed on a dirt road.
There you go, making me feel old again =(
I only roll my big pickup at low rates of speed on dirt roads :P
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i hate that. the low speed rolls are bad you feel like you should be able to stop it somehow. my best/worst was as a kid we rolled a truck with it sitting still in neutral. was on a dike and we were too close to the edge on the soft stuff. the vibration started us slipping and sliding and we slow motion rolled that big pig into a pond. it was empty was surprisingly bouyant.... for a short while. wish i coulda seen how they got it out
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I was just joking ;)
I've really never rolled anything, despite trying hard a few times.
It's actually pretty amazing how steep a sidehill you can get a 3/4 ton 4wd pickup on and not roll it.
It's also kinda fun when your young and single and have a couple gals abong with you - everybody tends to slide to one end or the other of the bench seat :cool:
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It's also kinda fun when your young and single and have a couple gals abong with you
Don't you mean "a couple gals and a bong with you"? ;)
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It seems to me any sane judge would throw an absolute fit if a cop gave you a ticket for something the cop knew you didn't do. That's illegal, isn't it? The cop has to sign the ticket, under penalty of perjury, right?
It doesn't matter if you had a dead body in the trunk of your car.
Lot of judges/courts are "in on" the ticketing schemes in some municipalities *cough*Scottsdale, AZ*cough*...
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^ Monkeyleg
... a bong...
Laughed my silly booty off. Jezze, Tallpine, that's halfway across the keyboard. 'Less'n yer texting, I s'pose.
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Don't you mean "a couple gals and a bong with you"? ;)
Actually, No. :angel:
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One of my close friends is a state trooper. He says that lately the higher-ups have ordained that the best way to protect the public is "policing by the numbers".
As I understand the concept, some egghead did some research and concluded that the optimum way to police a community is to divide police man-hours up into X% traffic enforcement, Y% patrolling high crime areas, Z% community relations, etc. And each of thiose categories is further subdivided by percentage: while you're performing traffic enforcement, you goal should be to come up with A% speeding violations, B% drunk driving, C% seatbelt violations, and on and on.
My friend hates it. It removes any ability he has to use his judgment and experience to do the best job he can. Instead, he's been reduced to a bureaucrat filling up his percentages. Even if he knows crime is likely taking place in another part of town, or that there are people who need his help right now, he can't do anything. If he's scheduled to give out 10 seatbelt tickets per hour right now, that's all he's allowed to do.
So it sounds like the seatbelt-ticket-instead-of-speeding-ticket thing feeds right into this. The cops need to make their numbers on the seatbelt violations, so they go where they know it'll be easy to convince drivers to accept a seat belt ticket, even if the driver was in fact wearing a seatbelt.
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What a lot of administrators and "eggheads" seem to forget is that after a while, violations go down as the public catches on and the word spreads.
So subsequent reviews of "the numbers" almost inevitably show a decline.
So it looks like the enforcers (not just traffic law enforcement) are falling down on the job.
Rocks and hard places.