okay. I got pulled over for my modified exhaust tip enhancing the noise of my car. The other reason is my red/clear tails. The lens itself needs to be red or yellow. I believe this is all BS. I know about the 98 db thing. But does my lens actually have to be yellow or red? I dont think so. I asked about having a red or yellow bulb and he said no. I didnt get a ticket cause I was polite I think. He just said to drive at my own risk.

If he DID give me a fix it, can I just go contest it and say that he didnt even measure the db level of my exhaust and I win or what do I do? Ill drive around with my silencer on but yea, It doesnt exceed 98db and he gives me a ticket, do I just say "he didnt measure the sound level" or do I have to ask him to test the sound?

ANd the Bulb thing, does the lens have to be red or yellow? Ill jsut get a red bulb. Oh, and what was that link to the penal code hand book thing?

 

exhaust tips are not illegal, many cars have them stock, like the SE and even aftermarket tips do not add that much sound like full catbacks. and the half red/clears are definitely not illegal, the civics come out with them, and have a yellow bulb inside for the turn signal. tell that to the officers.

 

Check Local laws. Laws vary state by state, and even between municipalities in the same state. There are a few different sources for the laws in your locale. The internet is available to look up laws, just be careful of what sites you use for info as not all will be accurate or up to date. Your state should have a site for the state legislature (may take some searching, but will be the most up to date site). You can also check the local library. They have these old things people used to read called books, and may have one or two on state laws. You can also try calling the district attorney, or even a judge, as they usually know the local laws, but may be too busy to answer such trivial questions (but they won't be too busy to try you for any infraction). But probably the best place to get info on local laws is god forbid, a cop. Seeing as how they are the ones who must know about the law, interpret it, and then act on it in a short time on the street makes them a good source of info. Plus this gives you the opportunity to find out their willingness to enforce some of the laws on the books. As a former police officer, I'll say this. Probably equally important to knowing the law is to simply not do things that call attention to yourself, no matter how cool it may seem, because it just may be a pet peeve of the cop watching you. As for the cop having an audiometer, local law (and the judge) will dictate whether it is necessary. When I wrote many loud music tickets in Louisiana, my word about it being too loud was always good enough to please the court about the offender's guilt. Hope this helps, and good luck.

Dave

 

Law enforcement is completely backwards. Tell the cop to pull over a five series BMW that has red/clears.
As for my biggest pet peeve it is people driving slow in the fast lane. Just yesterday I was on the highway right behind this jacka$$ going five miles under the speed limit in the fast lane. Of course those who want to go slow were in the other two lanes. I finally passed him in the left lane (I was really close to cutting someone off in the middle lane to get around him, thats what causes most accidents, having to compensate for others stupidity) and after getting about half a mile ahead I looked in my rear view and there was little traffic in front of the a$$ going slow in the fast lane, but a sea of headlights behind him
I personally believe as the Germans do that with progressing technology limits on speed should also progress. I can very safley and comfortably drive 100-110 on the highway. 60 and even 70 is ridiculously slow for a long highway trip. Cars today are made safer and more stable than cars from the past. But I guess legislators fail to see that we don't drive heavy Nova's and GTO's with no seatbelts and poor suspension anymore. In fact on one TV show they were talking about unsafe driving. The story was centered around a judge who was known for being tuff. They even showed his family driving in the car. And you guessed it they were in the left lane getting passed by everyone on the right. One guy was going around them on the right and was fastly approaching a slower motorist in his lane which caused him to make a quick lane change in front of the family about a car and a half in front of them. The judge had a sh^t fit claiming that the guy cut him off. The next day they showed him (judge) in court where he was over seeing a case of tail gating. The accused man told the judge that the woman was going five miles an hour under the speed limit in the passing lane. The judge gave him a 500 dollar fine for wreckless driving and endangerment. The dude turned white and tried to explain that it was the woman who was endangering others, but the judge quickly cut him off saying that he had already ruled on the matter. (I hate how powerless you are when it comes to law enforcement, they believe their word is biblical)
On the Autobahn it is known that you don't drive slow in the fast lane, and as a result their highways are far safer. The reason they don't have cup holders in their cars is because they believe that driving is a sepearte exprience from life and should not be integrated into a casual act. It would be nice if cops gave the fat a$$ thats eating their big mac, or the soccer mom twirling her hair in the fast lane a ticket. But of course it will continue to be the true drivers, the ones who look at driving as a seperate exprience that is a skill not a right, they are the ones who get the tickets.
Speed is not what causes accidents, it's having to make quick maneuvers as a result of someone elses incompetence. OK I'm done, I'm going to sit down now and breath.

 

YEa, cars today are made safer but still, running into a wall or lane divider at 110 is still deadly.

Mr. Holmes, I understand that there are local laws but how local? can the city of Irvine itself have its own laws about vehicle's? Since people drive city to city everyday, I would believe that vehicle laws here in california are created by state. I dont think that if I were on the highway passing throuugh Irvine that a California HIghway Patrol vehicle would pull me over.

Another reason I believe that this particular officer should read his vehicle code manual is that he told me the exhaust TIP was making the noise. I dont know how an exhaust tip could make any noise.

I still think the best way to avoid a ticket is to be cooperative and polite and not be a smartass.

 

I've never seen a wall or lane divider jump out onto the road. If your going on the highway your going straight with comfortable turns. However weaving in and out of traffic is dangerous at high speeds. But if it were known by everyone to stay out of the left lane unless passing there would be no need to weave through traffic. But don't take it from me, look at the German autobahn, it has far less accidents when compared to our highways. This is after factoring in the number of motorists on both, which should give us the advantage, but it does not. Speed doesn't kill people, stupid people kill people.

 

WEll, you might be drivin on Firestones

 

In Germany, when there is an accident, it is almost always serious with fatalaties.

Our roads are in such poor repair and they were not designed for high speeds. Where in Phila. can one safely drive over 70-80 mph? Name one road (rhetorical question). There are what, an average of SIX accidents per day on the Boulevard. That is 42 per week. If safety is so fundamental, how come there isn't a week with 0 accidents?

I say if you feel safe driving 110 then just do it and try not to get caught. I drove that fast on the NJTP last weekend, and it was definitely not safe. I have to admit the Maxima was very comfortable with the speed though. The traffic and road condition made it dangerous.

 

I think the best thing to do is spend some time working to change stupid laws like these. For christ's sake, there are criminals wandering the streets. The cops should leave these kids alone. And the legislature and states' departments of transportation need to wake-the-f*ck-up and stop wasting my tax dollars shaking kids down because they have a "pet peeve" about some kids' brake lights.

Jes*s Christ, what is wrong with this country.

 

happy belated birthday AAC

 

But at 65 you'd be just fine.

My opinion is that speeding laws should be skill-based, not arbitrary. Don't tell me that the safety level of ME driving at 65 is the same as an old blind diabetic woman stoned out of her mind on thyroid medication. Some people should have 35 mile an hour speed limits, and some (few) people can handle a car at 120 with incredible accuracy and safety.

 

Tanx dude. I got myself a computer upgrade. Yesterday I went from a p3/750 to a p4/2.4ghz.

 

show off ..

i need to upgrade my linux server.. but this bike/car **** is just hampering that budget

 

the red/clear tail thing is bullsh!t because there are a ton of cars that have this stock..

the 3rd gen maxima being one
newer Mazda Millenias
ES300s
Honda Accords and Civics..

just to name a few


it has to BLINK yellow or orange.. the color of the lens itself should not matter at all.



can't comment on the other violation..

 

That's interesting that you should mention skills-based driving. I moved from New York to Pennsylvania, and I feel very confident saying that the skills in PA are very lacking. If anyone in PA, namely Philly wants to coreect me, please do. It can be pitch black in a blinding thunderstorm, and there will be many cars without headlamps on. Some even have their parking lamps only. We have alternate merge stoplamps at the Blue Route onramps! There are cars travelling the entire length of the Blue Route in the hammer lane at a speed identical to the car to their right. Insurance rates are outrageous as is fraud (registering cars to other people, to someone else's address, bogus claims, etc.).

One thing I really liked about NY is the defensive driving course--$45 and six hours of your time. You get 10% off liability and collision for the next 3 years. Plus, that means everyone gets a refresher every 3 years. The republicans in PA would never allow legislation toat would take away from the thieves they call the insurance industry.

 

As far as equipment laws, I don't know how California does it. I do know in Louisiana that individual municipalities can and do make their own city codes . These are normally for noise violations (loud music), open containers (legal according to state law for a passenger as of Jun 01, 2000, but illegal in most cities), etc... Luckily Louisiana is not strict about exhausts (does it have a muffler? Good enough here. Try explaining to Bubba in his Chevy 1/2 ton that his true dual exhaust is illegal and he just may use what is in his gun rack on you.) As for vehicle lighting, some municipalities are more strict about things such as neons, light colors, etc... If a little old lady calls the local police department complaining of certain lights she thinks drug dealers are using (she can profile, cops can't), then you can bet the local cops are going to enforce whatever law may prohibit them to make that lady happy. I'm not saying I agree with it, but it happens more than one would think. Depends a lot on the political climate and popular opinion. That's why I said to check with a cop, or better, several of them. But keep in mind that just because one says he/she wouldn't worry about it, doesn't mean that another wouldn't bust you for it if it can be construed as illegal. Your deal with the lights seem far-fetched to me as many cars come with clear turn signals.
I agree that cooperation can definitely get you out of a ticket, but I try not to even be pulled over in the first place. An attitude during a traffic stop can guarantee atleast one ticket, and will make a cop look even deeper to find more.
There are things we can do as citizens if we don't agree with certain "stupid" laws. Just as that old lady can complain about certain lights, we can complain about the actual law to our legislatures, city council, etc, to change public opinion... I think common sense should prevail, even though I've seen a lot of cops disregard it because they have a personal beef with someone.

Dave

 

Yeah, wasn't there a movie about those 3 guys who went to some county and never made it out? I'd like to think that was the old days when some county can rule with absolute power. Usually the feds and the state will preempt whatever silliness a local politician can dream up.

Open containers etc is a little different than a car driving along that has to be concerned with regs at the local level. People think that NYC is anything goes and the brown paper bag means you don't have anything to be worried about. I've got friends who got cited for that in NYC and had to go to court and pay like $25. Philly is such a joke, you can't have open containers but I see kids drinking beers right in front of cops' noses, it's amazing. This is one weird place but at least the houses are dirt cheap when compred to NYC/CT/LI!!

 

it tends to do that.

 

I agree 100% Dave. Word to ya'mamma. 8-)