While Asha was off getting married...

BlackRider · Post by **BlackRider** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 7:43 pm

...on my birthday I recieved a wonderful gift from a state trooper. I got pulled over while going 61 in a 60mph zone for........................ a window tint violation! I think a few more !!! are needed... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He had no other reason to pull me over and he said right off the bat that he was going to cite me for it. So I started to get smart with the %#@*&!.

So he goes into his routine, "License, registration, and proof of insurance." I hand over only my license and insurance cards, and he just goes, "your registration...." But in the state of Ohio you are not required to carry your vehicle's registration papers, and in an increasingly ticked off tone I reminded him of this. So he says, "Check the glovebox for me." And I reply with, "I have no legal obligation to comply with that request." but I open it anyway because I know he could make things much more inconvenient for me if I push him too hard.

Looking at his face, I could tell that he wasn't having fun anymore. He gave my car the walk-around and then he gets out his window-tint tester doo-hicky and tells me to roll up my window 1/2 way. I'm not so sure about my obligation to obey that request, so I comply whilst muttering, "hurry up, you're making me late." So he puts the device on the dirtiest part of the window and informs me that my windows are 4.6% over the legal limit (50% in Ohio) with a margin of error of +- 2%. (I haven't tested it yet, but I'm fairly certain that if I clean the windows and get them retested they'll come up legal.) He also informs me that the windsheild tint comes 6" down past the ASI line. (OK, there's no way to argue that one.)

So, now that all the fun stuff's done and he's written out my ticket, he's required to ask if I have any questions. Just to take away the last ounce of fun he was having, I had him explain how to remove the tint.

...and that's the story of how my 23rd birthday was ruined. Now, getting ticketed isn't so bad (and it was only $75, as that seems to be the minimum)... but I got quite upset because after what.... 6 years of driving I finally get my 1st ticket.... and it's for something so pathetic as a tint violation!

Finally, this is the 1st time I've heard of someone getting pulled over for a tint violation. I've only ever heard of people getting cited for that after being pulled over for something else. That trooper must have been REALLY bored.

Sry for the rant.

Post by **XMEN Gambit** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 8:02 pm

One word:

"Quotas"

In many jurisdictions, quotas are illegal but they do it anyway. How is it there? Worth fighting this one, on principle?

BlackRider · Post by **BlackRider** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 8:50 pm

Not really, the windsheild is 100% illegal. Plus I got the ticket 50 miles from home. Plus, don't you have to pay the court fees win or lose? The ticket was $15 + $60 court fees. If you consider the value of the class time I'd miss to go to court ($104.43 or so going on tuition alone), then it doesn't matter about court fees.

Now, am I going to do anything about the tint? Nope.

Oh, and I think quotas are illegal here, but I am 100% sure that they use them. (Have you ever seen 8 highway patrol cars running radar on a 1 mile stretch of highway? I have, and almost always last week of the month. Though it was odd the last time they did it... that was 2nd week of March.)

TimberWolf · Post by **TimberWolf** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 10:05 pm

I had about 3 friends in high school ticketed for their tinted windows, that was the original excuse to pull them over. In the end they were also ticketed for red external lighting under the car (which were off at the time), having been going 7 mph over the limit, and for having something hanging from the rear view mirror "blocking" the front window. One got pulled over for having a wing that blocked the rear window completely.

But thats back in Texas, Ohio is different. They may pull you over for having a hole in your bumper for no reason even though you have passed that same trooper for the past couple of years with that same hole in the bumper.

Spinning Hat · Post by **Spinning Hat** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 12:30 am

well, in Texas, those boys should know tuner cars are stupid, and they should be driving pickups with 33" Mickey T's...

I have a friend that got tagged for Window timt, and it was a stupid piddly fine. Quotas are everywhere, even if they are illegal. It sucks getting pulled over, and dealing with the cops, but hey - They like to eat donuts, and they need money to eat, so why not take it from the people they are to protect and serve, right?

Starmage21 · Post by **Starmage21** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 7:41 am

<----lives in ohio, maintains residence in texas

he was a statie wasnt he? Everyone hates those guys, theyre ****ing stormtroopers.

********
Sorry for the edit.
--The Language Police

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Spinning Hat · Post by **Spinning Hat** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 10:54 am

Yeah, Stat Troopers are the worst really. They make more than most cops and need to prove that they're worth it. so, they're asses to people.

Temujin · Post by **Temujin** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 2:35 pm

Man, I dont think Ive ever gotten pulled over by a cop out to get someone. Everyone I know hates me for it. I ususally get pulled over doin 10 over too. 85 in a 75, got a verbal warning. 35 in a 25 which was a school zone too so it could have been 15, but no kids were close to where I was. I got a ticket for no seatbelt on that one, but a verbal warning for the speed. And just a couple weeks ago I got caught doing 30 in a 20 at 2 am, and just got a verbal warning, probably because I wasn't drunk so the cop didn't want to bother.

I guess South Dakota really is pretty good about the no quotas thing.

MegaDeath70 · Post by **MegaDeath70** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 3:19 pm

Just a FYI, i had went 20 years without getting a single citation. When i did get ticketed for speeding at 39mph in a 25, 5 days later i got another for doing 55 in a 45.

So be careful, they may just cite you again here in a few days.

Ambush Bug · Post by **Ambush Bug** » Sun Apr 15, 2007 12:32 am

Huh. In opposition to the general consensus... you'll find that Illinois State Troopers are, by and large, a pretty good bunch.

But I've found that police looove to pull over folks with tinted windows. Stems from a case where some dude with heavy tint concealed a firearm from the officer until he was at point-blank, then shot the cop dead on the spot.

*shrug*

However, I'm in agreement that pulling over to 67 in a 60 is a bit much.