Yay got a 4 Violation ticket!

[01NeonR/T]

So I'm coming back from working on a friends car. Still tired and a bit dirty. I get off the freeway and make my way towards my friends house (I took another friend with me, now dropping him off). Making a right turn onto a main street, a cop in the other direction pulls a U-turn from the middle lane and immediately flashes his lights. I put my left turn signal on and motion for a left turn lane when the cop darts, and I mean DARTS into the left lane so fast I can see him stuffed in my left hand mirror. I know I'm done already, so I keep my signal on and slowly move into the residential area, afraid of hitting the bastard who's now hogging the left turn lane. I had my signal on the WHOLE time mind you, but he charges me with an unsafe left turn anyhow. He asks me to pop my hood. I tell him Legal AEM Cold Air intake. He opens, looks around, closes. He says you have modified exhaust. I say sure, why not, stock SRT-4 rear section, coming off this weekend (was ear-splitting up in the mountains last time). He says license insurance and registration, I say only insurance and license only at the time. He says insurance is expired (it was), but I know I am insured. I come home and find my insurance card. My registration is yet to be found, but probably going to the DMV tomorrow and have a new one printed up. It seems I lost it when making a copy that's required for the overnight parking permit in my city. So all in all, he cites me for an unsafe left turn I feel is his own fault (I wonder how that'll fly in court ), no proof of insurance or registration, and modified exhaust. No big deal.

What DID get me was how he insulted me. Now I'm 22, I still live at home, I work a menial job at a pool hall, and my parents still cover my essentials, cell phone bill, car registration and insurance fees. I take out loans to go to school and am studying Mechanical Engineering at Cal Poly Pomona. I'm very grateful my parents still cover my basic needs, and I am trying to get a real job and graduate within the next year. So when he said my insurance expired, I said "dang it mom!", cause she forgot to give me my new insurance card. I told him if he runs everything it'll come up as me as the owner and fully registered. Here's the rest of the convo:

Officer: "How old are you?"
Me: "22 years old."
Officer: "So your mom still does your insurance for you?
Me: "Yes."
Officer: "Are you 18?"
Me: "No."
Officer: "So you're 22 and your mom still does your insurance for you. Does she put it in your wallet for you and your registration in your glove-box for you too?"
Me: "I don't know how to respond to that officer, other than I am still a student trying to graduate and work a very menial job that doesn't make enough money to cover those."
Officer (after about 5 mins): "I'm citing you for Modified exhaust, No proof of insurance, Registration card not in car and unsafe left turn. I need you to sign here. By signing you are not proving your own guilt, but you promise to call this number (smog ref #) and take care of these on or before this date (points to date)."
Me: Are any of these correctable?
Officer: "Well, only the insurance is correctable."
Me: (Signs) "I'm sorry officer for not being prepared. Thank you."

I was so taken aback by how he directly insulted my very fortunate state, I could do nothing but be as polite as I could to him. I was planning on repairing my car this weekend anyhow (needs a new 02 sensor, keep throwing a code) so all the stock stuff is going back on, even the intake. I'll take it to a ref, pass, then fight that bastard in court and even re-trial if I need to about that unsafe left turn. I do not need another moving violation on my record. I really don't know, he's got his lights flashing, he's already got me, I've got my signal on, and he moves into the left turn lane, practically blocking me. He says something about me almost hitting him and then making an unsafe left turn, of course you idiot!, I didn't WANT to hit you, if I moved to the left turn lane, BAM! I would have. If I went forward, what would you have said? Trying to evade a traffic stop? I was completely open about what I had on the car, what I didn't have, making his job easier, but I'll be damned if he thinks I'm going down without a fight. AHH.. that felt better. Got some venting done. O yeah, and my friend was in the car with me (i.e. witness).

[KrackstaR]

that sucks he didnt have to talk to you like that, i feel just cause your a cop dont mean that you have to trow professionalism out of the window. I have gotten tickets before from nice cops and i wasnt even angry that i got a ticket because of how the cop made me feel.

[heyitsstock]

lame i keep a tape recorder in my car

[J-Villa]

lame i keep a tape recorder in my car

yea and that's a felony.....you can not record any one's voice without their permission or letting them know they are being recorded....

i know somone who got fucked big time for this

[zerocoolok]

lame i keep a tape recorder in my car

yea and that's a felony.....you can not record any one's voice without their permission or letting them know they are being recorded....

i know somone who got fucked big time for this

It doesn't matter, the cop has the video camera mounted in his car recording the whole thing..... just ask to show it in court

[OB]

whoop his ayess in court! good luck

[J-Villa]

lame i keep a tape recorder in my car

yea and that's a felony.....you can not record any one's voice without their permission or letting them know they are being recorded....

i know somone who got fucked big time for this

It doesn't matter, the cop has the video camera mounted in his car recording the whole thing..... just ask to show it in court

cops are allowed to, b/c it's their job...i was referring to his saying about tape recorder.....to record anyones voice without them knowing is against the law. And a felony.

[01NeonR/T]

My thing right now is to prove that my left turn was exacerbated by the fact that he entered the left turn lane before I did, essentially blocking me from making a safe left turn, even though the whole time I had my left turn signal on, stating that that would obviously establish my vehicle motioning towards the left, why would the officer enter the left turn lane before me? To drive along side? Is that common practice? These type of questions are the ones I need to pose in court. I have to establish that he forced me to make an irrational decision concerning the left turn due to the immediate position of his cruiser. I'm going back and measuring the length of my car, the length of a cruiser, finding out the normal distance an officer stays when conducting a traffic stop, the length of the lane, etc. Because if I establish his vehicle was in the left turn lane before mine was, what could I have done? If I continue forward, according to how the street traffic flows, the officer would be making a left according to his position. Would it be fair to assume that I could then be charged with evading an officer? However, since I was already motioning toward the left I have to ask what purpose the officer had by being in the left lane? Did he want me to follow? Cause my witness in the car states that he essentially crowded my rear end trying to get me to pull over. Under those circumstances it would be difficult for one to make a rational movement. Something to that degree.

[OB]

Ah ha, youre from CA. Have you checked out the annual CA meet thread? Or the 2gn Club section in the regional boards? If I already asked you then forgive me, but if not then go post up! Come to the meet on the 28th!!!

http://forum.2gn.org/viewtopic.php?t=16 ... sc&start=0

[01NeonR/T]

Nah I haven't checked it out. Once I get all this cleared up I can continue on the path to Turbo, so making a drive to central cali with a bad tranny (probably the diff) wouldn't be a great idea. Car is in less than perfect shape, a lot I need to fix, wouldn't want everyone to see how bad it really is .

[Panhead]

that sucks man.

[Wenuden]

I assume that since the cop was hogging the left turn lane, that you turned from an other than turn lane. If so, you should have proceeded straight thru the light in the lane you were in, and then turned at the next available place. Just because you're getting pulled over doesn't mean you can do whatever you think you need to to comply with the stop. You still have to obey all traffic laws lol.

The comment about your age/mother was extremely unprofessional and uncalled for. I would lodge a formal complaint with his captain. As far as the tape recorder goes, while it is illegal to record someone without their knowledge (Linda troll-face Tripp much?), all you have to do is tell them. They don't have to give you permission, they just have to be informed. I used to do it all the time when I got pulled over, as a personal record for myself.

[heyitsstock]

not if u say hold on while i turn this on......

and i havent had to use it yet..... so honestly i dont know what would happen... but it made sense in my head maybe?

[01NeonR/T]

Yeah my defense is a bit shaky, but it basically is rooted in the cruiser moved so quickly and abruptly, that at my pace I could not complete the left turn I was already in the process of maneuvering over to make.

[Cbussilver01es]

dude that sux california FTL.............and I hate rude ass pigs that talk you in that smart ass, even if your respectful or not. Good luck with the court thing. I tell ya'll what tho, I sure am glad that I dont live in california, you guys have it tough out there

[60trim]

COPS are ASSHOLES! Period. When you're polite, you still get hounded. When you call the main office number to ask a simple quesiton about a certain law, they give you crap, a nasty remark or two and a bad attitude because you didn't know. I'm sick of their ignorance when it comes to thinking that as citizens, we know what each and every law is down to the tee. Then they throw a hissey fit when you decide to take them to court with your lawyer. Forgive my rant, but I've tried to respect their position, but it doesn't mean they can abuse it.

[hybrid-Srt2001]

damn dude that sucks. i'm always getting pulled over for bs reasons. i think it's a cali thing. nothing better for the cops to do then hastle kids. in my city, they like to follow you for a while so you get nervous and fuck up. i've even had a cop follow me into a gas station and shine his spotlight on me as he drove by for no apparent reason. then he pulled me over as i pulled out of the station because i forgot to turn my headlights on untill i had already pulled out of the gas station. but i had drove no more than 50 feet before i realized and turned them on. then after he pulled us over, he proceded to ask us if we did drugs, and if we knew where to get meth and such. i'm going wtf? meth? do i look like a crackhead. anyways.. end rant. I just think that cops abuse their power way too much, and give attitude even when you're polite.

[01NeonR/T]

Yeah. Talking to a friend a mine who's much older and knows the judicial system way better than I do, he said, if I want, stick to the facts and let the judge decide, but there's a good chance he's as big a prick as the officer is. He told me I'm charged with DWA. Driving While Asian. Heh. He said it would probably be better to reduce or fight the charges and/or take traffic school, and then lodge a formal complaint against the officer with his higher ups regarding his behavior. Usually the higher ups hate having officers with a lot of complaints against them and will try to straighten them out, unless they're a prick too. It all depends, but if they offer a plea bargain with traffic school (I'm automatically eligible now) if it isn't at least half of the fine, I'm taking him to court. There are a multitude of ways of defeating a ticket, and I'm going to exercise as many options as I can to make him fill out as many papers as I can so I won't just go away. If he shrugs it off, good for him, maybe he'll be less of a prick.

[CrashTeam]

lame i keep a tape recorder in my car

yea and that's a felony.....you can not record any one's voice without their permission or letting them know they are being recorded....

i know somone who got fucked big time for this

I know your right about this, but I wonder how Dateline gets away with all those hidden Camera Investigations...

[heyitsstock]

they get signed releases im pretty sure

[white2000neon]

I know if you go to court here in pa if you show them you have the registration and insurance card and you can prove you were insured at the time you were pulled over then they dismiss those charges. Now for the unsafe left hand turn I would get a lawyer because its your word against his and the judge tends to believe the cop more than you. I think you can get out of it with a lawyer. Yes the lawyer might cost a bit, but its better than getting points on your license and your insurance rates skyrocketing. I just recently got out of a 5 point ticket with the help of a lawyer. (86 in a 55 on a empty highway late at night).

[magnus]

That sucks man. I hope it all works out for you. You should fight it, and see where it goes, like someone already said, the judge will make a decision based on you and your friends testimony.

[Cbussilver01es]

I know if you go to court here in pa if you show them you have the registration and insurance card and you can prove you were insured at the time you were pulled over then they dismiss those charges.

Yea same thing here in ohio. But yea Dont let THE MAN get you down...

[refect]

Officer: "So your mom still does your insurance for you?
Me: "Yes."
Officer: "Are you 18?"
Me: "No."
Officer: "So you're 22 and your mom still does your insurance for you. Does she put it in your wallet for you and your registration in your glove-box for you too?"

shows how much of an ASS traffic cops can be. no need to go there at all. you did nothing at all to provoke that behavior. i bet he said that in the most attitude of ways too.

[2003silverneonsxt]

lame i keep a tape recorder in my car

yea and that's a felony.....you can not record any one's voice without their permission or letting them know they are being recorded....

i know somone who got fucked big time for this

i forget how the law is worded but it is not technically illegal to tape record a cop...

i forget where i read it now..

but it stated something to the effect that a well known public profession like a cop, should know that they can be recorded at ne time.. like the guys that have video camera recorders running and it tapes the officers voice, that is not illegal..because the officer knows that on his job, he may be recorded at ne time..

its something to that effect...i will have to see if i can dig up the exact wording on it again..

[zerocoolok]

lame i keep a tape recorder in my car

yea and that's a felony.....you can not record any one's voice without their permission or letting them know they are being recorded....

i know somone who got fucked big time for this

i forget how the law is worded but it is not technically illegal to tape record a cop...

i forget where i read it now..

but it stated something to the effect that a well known public profession like a cop, should know that they can be recorded at ne time.. like the guys that have video camera recorders running and it tapes the officers voice, that is not illegal..because the officer knows that on his job, he may be recorded at ne time..

its something to that effect...i will have to see if i can dig up the exact wording on it again..

Also you have to remember that while you are in public anything can be recorded freely a la paparazzi

[03sxt]

Good job keeping your cool, man. I hate dickhead cops.

[01NeonR/T]

Chances are if I file a complaint, it'll be to the watch commander or captain of the local station, and/or directly to sheriff's HQ. I try not to really mind the officer's actions much, but I offered no action to send him off like that. Apparently he hates my parents for letting me live? As long as I let him know that's not cool, and somebody acknowledges it, I'm fine. Now I just gotta focus on beating that ticket.

[TeckNeon]

You can record anything you want. Coversations on the phone, in private and public is completely legal as long as at least one person in the conversation knows that it is being recorded. So, if you wanted to record your conversation with a cop, you can without his knowlege. But, you can't record someone else's conversation with someone else without one of them being aware of the recording in progress. It would all be admisable in court if you would have recorded the butt hurtness the cop put on you.

But big deal. He was talking down on you because it's part of his job to intimidate. To me, he wasn't out of line but he was condisending. Being a smart ass is not illegal or punishable. You messed up. Take the hit and move on. As far as the lane change thing, take it to court and see what happens. It would be a waste of time for me, but if you have something to prove and the day off, go for it. Just don't expect too much to come of it.

[01NeonR/T]

So it's "to protect and to serve (and intimidate)"? Seems like something is a bit wrong there. I still haven't decided whether or not to file a complaint. I mean, I've only seen this one side of the cop. For all I know, when he's off duty, he might go home to a loving family, a caring wife, and great kids. Or he could go home an alcoholic who beats his wife and curses at his kids. Or go home to an empty house. How am I supposed to know? Bottom line though, if it's okay to be an asshole because it's part of your job description as an officer, is it okay if you're the manager of a group of people? Is it okay if you're the president of a company? A doctor? A Marine Captain? Admiral? Any person in a place of power? Why do you perceive it's okay for them to intimidate if they keep feeding us junk about it's about our "safety"? Police departments have something called Human Resources too.

Obviously the cop has more credibility because of that badge than the average joe, but that by no means gives him a RIGHT to talk down to anyone just cause he feels like it. Tell me exactly what I did to EARN that kind of speech from him. Say "dang it mom?" since she usually gives me my new insurance card? Really? So everytime anybody doesn't have insurance, I am now allowed to question how old they are and attack them for not being independent. If you still think that way, then I won't be telling you anything you agree with, since we differ on this point. But your opinion on the matter is still appreciated, because without debate, it means everybody agrees. If everybody agrees all the time... I think we have a big problem.

Remember Jeff Daniels and Bill Pullman in the Even Couple from Family Guy? THERE'S NO CONFLICT IN THIS MOVIE! That was great.