Coming home tonight..getting pulled over TWICE in 10minutes! Profiling?

[slow&rusty]

Guys - Tough week at work, my best friend calls me at 9pm tonight and wants to get together at Barnes and Noble for a cup of joe, catch-up and flip through some car magazines - I guess you can call it our therapy. We stayed until 11pm (when they closed and kicked us out) and decided to head home.

My buddy drives a beautiful Red Evo VIII with an aftermarket exhaust and gauges on the A-pillar. I was driving my pretty quick lil sleeper - '88 Mazda 323 fitted with a Turbo Miata motor.

There are cops everywhere cracking down on the street racing scene here in Colorado Springs so we are doing 20mp/h - I kid you not!

My friend gets pulled over and charged for an illegal exhaust - $60 ticket. The cop was talking that the Evo's exhaust exceeded the 90db level, how does he know this without a db meter???? Then the cop even says that he used to own a Mustang with an illegal exhaust, and sold it as he thought it unethical to give tickets for illegal mods, when his 'Stang had them. Then the cops ALSO says that he is a "car guy" that loves 'Vettes and would never pull over 'Vette!!!

What a load of BS....

Then a few minutes later a block from my buddy house he gets pulled over AGAIN and charged $20 for no front licence plate! He tells the cop that he just got a ticket for the exhaust, he didn't care still wrote my friend a ticket! As the EVO came from Texas it had no bracket for a front plate and my friend had to plate in the car, which he showed the cop..

So is this profiling because of the racy image and look of the EVO?

I was driving my little sleeper 18year old Mazda right behind the EVO which is pretty loud, but was not hassled...I wish I was pulled over and charged...as I get pretty lippy with the cops and love going to court and fighting them and (9.9 out of 10 times) winning.
Here is my car:


I am trying to persuade my friend to take it to court and fight it, but he doesn't want to miss work and the hassle of going to court so he is going to mail-in the payment(s).

Your thoughts?

Yasin

[svandamme]

get a vette?

[jeffgrant]

He could probably fight the overly-loud exhaust, as there wasn't any equipment to verify the sound level, etc, but the front plate it seems is a no-win situation... he's supposed to have a front plate, he didn't, and even with a great excuse, he still don't have one.

Sounds to me like all the cops had a nice talking to just in time to coincide with the release of the latest Fast and the Furious movie today, and were taking a harsh stance on any chances of street racing, etc.

Wrong? Probably. Anything you can do about it? Probably not.

That being said, if you mod your car so that it fits in with the street racing scene, regardless of how/when you drive it, I think you have to expect to receive some unwanted attention... right or wrong.

[Rick V]

Here in Va I get pulled over alot for no front tag (not in the Porsche but in the BMW).
I tell the cop "yup it's missing" Then I inform the cop that he stoped a moving car for a non moving violation. I have yet to get a ticket.
Profiling might be in effect, since I never get pulled in the Porsche.........?

[charleskieffner]

cant wait to meet all the highway patrolmen thru utah/colo/new mex on upcoming trip. not required to have front plate in arizona. just another piss ant reason to pull you over to A) check out your ride B) check out big boobed blonde next to me C) check to see if its stolen! (grabbing car thieves on interstate is always BIG STAR on cops what i did today list). if i make it thru this entire 2500 mile trip w/out getting pulled over for some reason, i will be amazed! i havent gotten a ticket here in ariz in almost 25 yrs now! so its not like i haul a$$ everywhere.! no decibel meter.............means he cant record anything!

[Porsche-O-Phile]

And people wonder why I don't do road trips. . .

Seriously dude, just fly and rent when you get there. Probably cheaper anyway given the price of gas and value of wear & tear on your car.

[Moses]

Originally posted by Porsche-O-Phile
Seriously dude, just fly and rent when you get there. Probably cheaper anyway given the price of gas and value of wear & tear on your car.

And you can fly at over 400 MPH and you won't get a ticket!

[Moses]

Originally posted by slow&rusty
...as I get pretty lippy with the cops and love going to court...

Bet they just love that.

[charleskieffner]

porsche a phile and moses. i have sunk mass cash infusion into car. have not had in 2 months due to being worked on. these will be major before and after pics when i post. i am foaming at mouth to take car on road trip. have tracked a couple times now and really only put 1000 miles since purchase beginning feb. so this will be a shakedown cruise and believe it or not.........would love a hail storm to hit us and thereby getting new paint job! LOL! g/friend has never been to utah / colorado. so i figure at least one good road trip in its life and then back to the bat cave and safety! hell its just a toy that gets fed cash every month............kinda like child support..........FOR MYSELF!

back to topic. we have noise ordinance here in carefree az. has been fought in court numerous times and bikers have won due to cop not calibrating instrument. went on for about a year and so many bikers show up they were overwhelmed. cops finally gave up!

[slow&rusty]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I totally spaced that F&F Tokyo Drift crap move was out today! Makes sense they were all out.

Well yes.. I am a pretty vocal guy, like I had mentioned but I believe in speaking my mind without being an idiot and I bet if my friend was riding a Harley that could wake-up the dead would he be targeted...I think not!

I would take it to the Court, I would be respectful and articulate but still be able to embarrass that cop until his faced turned white and would not have a leg to stand on. I have done it numersous times.....the judge usually hears me out and I pay $15 in court fees and thats it (at worst). One cop a few years ago that I made look silly in court, waited for me outside and threatened that if he ever saw me driving around late at night he would target me....LOL...bring it on jackass!

Yasin

[livi]

Maybe cause its 'slow&rusty', then ?

[techweenie]

I was most interested in the 'I have a Vette, I won't ticket Vettes' comment.

Out in Malibu, law enforcement is contracted out to county sheriffs. Well, every damn one must have a Harley because riding one is practically a free pass. Noise, equipment violations, blocking traffic, turns and lane changes without signalling, 'joke' helmets; nothing seems to be a violation. Sport bikes, on the other hand are a big target.

[Mulhollanddose]

Originally posted by slow&rusty

So is this profiling because of the racy image and look of the EVO?

I was driving my little sleeper 18year old Mazda right behind the EVO which is pretty loud, but was not hassled...

If you go to the website of the manufacturer, perhaps you can locate a decibel survey of the particular exhaust that proves it legal?...I know several manufacturers have this document available. All your buddy would have to do is fight via mail, send in receipt and proof of decibel level and the ticket should be dismissed.

Ya, the Evo is an eye catcher. Especially a Rally Red Evo, with massive boy-racer wing (near useless). I am sure the loud exhaust and ricer community don't help. My Evo is gray, the wing is coming off (for the above reasons) and being replaced with a CF wingless trunk lid, sitting right here next to me (man it is pretty). Most of the major exhaust work is from the muffler back...It is throatty but not "please pull me over" throaty...At this point I haven't received an exhaust ticket, but I have had cops tell me the exhaust was illegal, to which I quickly replied "nu uh!" it is absolutely legal...This doesn''t usually get me out of other tickets, like those induced by my heavy foot or traction testing...

I love me Evo.

[RANDY P]

The "I don't pull over Vettes" comment was just to piss you off. He's pulling your chain.

The cop hates rice..

rjp

[dd74]

In Malibu - Harleys withstanding - every other car is a noise violation. Ferraris are LOUD, Lambos are LOUD, Porsches are LOUD too, because often enough, when a person is either stopped on PCH or pulling onto the highway from a parking lot or side street, you have to gun the car hard to avoid getting rear-ended, particularly north of Pepperdine.

I would think, in situations like L.A., there are so many cars with so many modifications, after a while there are too many to pull over with license plate and/or illegal exhaust issues. L.A. drivers are savvy enough legally to render the illegal exhaust (db violation) thing ridiculous because of how loud Harleys are. As for front license plates, even cops know how ridiculously dorky a car looks with a front license plate. Of course they want those plates on so that you can be better photographed when going through an intersection that has cameras. Other than that, I'd thing it's a technicality that they would nail a driver on if the driver is a schmuck.

On a side note (for Mul), I've heard several modified EVOs at Willow Springs, and they're fairly quiet. The turbos themselves seem louder than the entire car. As a matter of fact, when Dodge produced the Neon SRT, the car came with no mufflers; the catalytic converter did all the muffling.

[Laneco]

Probable cause.

They need probable cause to stop you and an equipment violations be it state, local ordinance or NHTSA is probable cause. Lights that are the wrong color, obscured or inoperative, loud exhaust, tinted windows (in some states), inadequate tread depth, non-dot legal tires etc., give them a reason to stop you.

The statement that a person cannot be stopped in a moving car for a non-moving violation is not a valid argument in any state I've ever worked in (nearly a dozen to date).

If you want to avoid being stopped - know the equipment laws in your state. Abide by them. Drive with due consideration.

If you do that, you'll go years between traffic stops even in a modified car. You know you are on the right track when they follow you for a few miles and then give up. When that happens, keep doing that thing you just did (or didn't do!).

angela

[Rick V]

Originally posted by Laneco


The statement that a person cannot be stopped in a moving car for a non-moving violation is not a valid argument in any state I've ever worked in (nearly a dozen to date).



angela

I quess I have never been stoped by a cop willing to try me in court for no front tag since I have never been written a ticket. I've been stopped about a dozen times in the last 5 years. State troopers included.
I think the biggest differance between getting a ticket and not is the disposition of the driver. I treat the police with respect.
The last thing I want to do is tick off the man with the badge when he is holding my license and regestration in his hand.
It also doesn't hurt that I am a clean cut 41 year old with a clean driving record, and an inspection license (owned by the state police in my state)

Originally posted by slow&rusty
As the EVO came from Texas it had no bracket for a front plate and my friend had to plate in the car, which he showed the cop.

Texas requires front plates.

[FrayAdjacent911]

Texas requires front plates... so I don't understand how your friends car could be from Texas and not have the front plate bracket.

[nostatic]

why let facts get in the way of a good story? I like the part about the cop's face turning white in court....

pass the popcorn...