laserred38

This is copied from my post on CA-Mustangs...

Hey guys. Pretty crappy day for me considering I had the past 3 days off and didn't get to enjoy this weather because my parents got me sick...here goes (long read ahead...warning).

I'm on my way to Hayward from San Leandro, 880 South. I used to work at Sound Innovations and I'm heading over there to help my buddy work on his Lightning. I'm in the left lane, going with the flow of traffic, and I see a CHP get on the fwy right at Winton. I notice him because I saw a Jade Green 99 GT getting on right in front of him and I was admiring the color in my mirrors. Anyways, he gets over in the third lane and I'm just keeping an eye on him. I check my speedo and I'm doing 70 exactly, look at the car in front of me (Scion xA) and car to my side (Chevy Equinox, which both have boxed me in to the front and right) and we are all going the same speed, so I let off a little to about 68. He's still trailing, but then he swerves into the second lane and starts tailgating the car next to me, like to get a better look at me. I never change my speed or distance between the car in front of me, then he drops back to the distance he was at before. We get to the section between Winton and Jackson that has all the construction going on and everyone chokes up because the road narrows. At this point I stopped paying attention to him because I was keeping my eyes on my rearview mirrors instead of the road and I knew I wasn't doing anything wrong so I figured he would turn off or just keep cruising with us.

All of a sudden he floors it, gets in front of the Equinox to my right, slows him down, then gets right behind me and lights me up. I'm like uhhhhhh wtf. So I start to get over thinking he was getting someone in front of me. Nope, keeps with me. So we're almost to Industrial now and running out of shoulder, so I stick my hand out the window signaling him, asking if he wants me to pull over here or continue to the exit, he gets on the loudspeaker and says continue to the exit. So I do.

We pull off on Industrial, he comes up and says "I pulled you over for speeding and following too closely". I'm fricken appalled! I (stupidly) immediately start getting defensive. I state I was equidistance from the car in front of me to the car in front of them and we were all going the same speed, which when I saw him get on the freeway I was doing 68. He says "you were doing 80". There is NO WAY I was doing 80!!!! Then he says, "I also noticed you modified your exhaust, so I'm writing you up for excessive exhaust noise". I'm just utterly pissed when he says that. Are you kidding me?? It's a 95% stock V6 auto. Give me a fricken break. I have a 2.5" custom cat-back (full stock cats) exhaust with no crossover pipe and Jeg's Force mufflers done by Scott at Minute Muffler in Dublin. This car is barely louder than a stock GT or Cobra. At this point he's just being a fricken *****. I state my father is a police officer and my plates are registered to SLPD and he says "then he should know better than to put an illegal exhaust on your car". Wow. I'm just in utter disbelief. It would be ONE thing if I actually did something wrong. So he takes all my stuff, goes to his car and writes the ticket.

Comes back and says "I ran your DL and noticed you had a reckless driving conviction last year, and you're still speeding and tailgating". I retort, uhh actually it was a wet and reckless and had absolutely nothing to do with how I drive and I have a clean driving record otherwise. Officer: "Oh, well it didn't say that"..I respond yeah, because they dropped the alcohol charge on my record in court. Then I asked him how he determined I was going 80mph in a 65. He said he didn't have to show me proof and that he didn't want to debate it with me and that he'd see me in court. I stated I already have 2 points on my record, and that he may as well take my license now because I will probably get NO leniency in court at this point and if convicted of these 3 infractions, each one is a point on my record, which would give me 5 for a rolling 12 month period. Thanksa*******lot for ruining my day ******* (I didn't say that part). He says, well then you should seriously consider altering your driving style. I say I HAVE. And I wasn't going the speed you say I was, I wasn't tailgating and my exhaust is legal.

So I get to the stereo shop, and before looking up the state referee test, we pull out the RTA analyzer because it has an SPL meter on it. We shove the microphone in the exhaust tip and they highest it registers is 96db (95 is legal limit in CA, done by a state ref test, which is from multiple angles on the rear of the car, from about 15 feet away - in other words, it would read MUCH lower than our test).

Anyways, I've had one other speeding ticket 2 years ago, which I fought and the CHP officer didn't show up. The VC's I was cited for are listed as:

Non correctable: 22349(a) VC Speeding
Non correctable: 21723 VC Following too close
Non correctable: 27150(a) VC Excessive exhaust noise

I've been online all afternoon doing research. On the ticket, he did NOT check the box that he had me on Radar/Lidar/Patrol Unit ID #. He didn't even look underneath my car to see if I had mufflers/cats (I watched him in my rearview mirror the entire time). And to be honest, I felt completely profiled. I just washed my car yesterday for the first time in 4 months so it was extremely shiny. It was nice this morning, so I had my windows down. I have black 03 10th Anniversary wheels now (sig is old) and the black hood. My car is a cop magnet. I've been pulled over around 4-5 times (including last year when I got the DUI/wet reckless), driven next to countless CHP and police and never once even been given a weird look/2nd glance for my exhaust. And I wasn't even driving aggressively! I was actually just cruising with traffic. I feel like he was looking for an excuse to pull me over, and when traffic choked up around the construction, everyone got super close to each other. That's when he moved in. If he really had me at 80, why didn't he pull me over right away?!? Why tail me for almost 2 miles before actually pulling me over??

This state has seriously taken away ALL enthusiasm I have for cars. I'm so sick of my car. If it were a 600whp Cobra with no cats, I'd gladly accept a noise violation ticket and LEGITIMATE speeding ticket as badges of honor. But a fricken almost STOCK V6 auto? HELL no, it's not worth this stress. And the fact that an exhaust ticket is no longer a fix it ticket and now a moving violation is utter BS. So I could potentially be convicted of these 3 infractions for 3 points on my record. I've never been to traffic school because I've never had any other ticket. Am I even eligible with having the 2 points from the reckless driving on my record?

Any advice, sympathy, flaming, bashing, etc would be appreciated. I just needed to vent and write down all the facts while they're fresh in my head. I also stopped by the CHP office on Whipple, as it's right down the street from the audio shop, but they're closed on weekends, so I will go back on my next day off to get the car inspected/tested by the referee. Even more **** wasted money down the drain that I don't have.

PS, luckily I put my front plate back on a few months ago and he didn't go around to the front of my car and see my yellow headlight tint. That will be taken off before I go to CHP of course. By the way, I've had the same exhaust on the car since 2005, with only the addition of JBA 50-state street legal shorty headers around 2008 because one of my stock manifolds cracked. And if I could do it all over again, I would never do headers ever again. One of the driver's side bolts always comes lose, and ironically enough, as I was tightening them yesterday, the one that is the worst, feels like it is now stripped. So I have a constant ticking exhaust leak (definitely wasn't the cause of this excessive exhaust ticket though, it's only audible from inside the cabin). So not only do I have all this to deal with, I also have to figure something out with my head that now has a stripped header bolt. California...F YeaH!!!!!!!!

UGH!!!!!!!!

laserred38

And yes, I realize the irony of my avatar. I thought it was a cool pic. I don't hate cops, and aspired to be one/be a CHP when I was younger. I still kinda DO want to be one. But not in this **** **** state. And I personally know dozens of cops who are car enthusiasts, who have catless exhausts, tinted front windows, and who drive like asshats. I don't really drive aggressively, and today especially I was driving calm because there was a lot of traffic and I wasn't in a rush or anything. I also just went gokarting the other night, so I had my speed fix for the week!

DaSFGiants4Life

You were not kidding about the long read... Sorry bro hope it gets better

laserred38

Sorry, I was more being thorough for my thought process to make sure I didn't miss any details for my court date. I don't expect everyone to read it. But I'm so F'd if I get found guilty on even ONE of these things. The exhaust is bs. I'll get it tested and get that thrown out, although it will cost me money because the cop wanted to be a ****. The speeding? I'm interested to see how he measured, since he didn't tell me how he got me, wouldn't show me his radar and he didn't check off the box that said he had me on radar/lidar. And the tailgating? Everyone choked up at that section, and since I was paying more attention to HIM and his weaving in and out of traffic (without signaling btw), I took my eyes off the car in front of me for a second so I did get kinda close to him, then backed off.

DaSFGiants4Life

You got a chance of winning it. He might not show. If he does he doesn't have u on radar or anything like that, and you were on the freeway on main Interstate on a Saturday so it's obvious that it's going to be congested.

karman

I feel your pain.
Many years ago I got a ticket from a state cop here for something I didn't even do (thought crime???, no I wasn't even thinking of doing it).
Worse than that, I actually graduated from high school with him.
.
Good Luck and 25 years from now it won't bother you as much (like that helps now).

Ministang

I read your whole post and copied the relevant part. Unfortunately this was probably your primary "offense" and what got you pulled over and ticketed, and I assume your age had a lot to do with it as well, in other words it sounds like both you and your car were profiled and he tried to get you good.

I've been on the receiving end of this when I was younger, when I was 18 I bought a bright orange Mustang Cobra and for awhile the exhaust consisted of no cat and just a glasspack. Even with the stock exhaust it attracted a lot of attention. I got several tickets in that car and in the other cars I owned from the time I was 16 until I turned 30, on average one every 2 years or so. From the time I was 30 until I was 40, nothing. I'd still get pulled over, but never got a ticket even when they had me dead to rights for speeding.

IMHO just keep yourself and your car under the radar as much as possible, until you get your record clean and a few more years under your belt. It sucks that you have to resort to driving a stock looking and stock sounding car, but with the profiling that goes on everywhere, and your recent record, it may be a necessity. Definitely fight the ticket/s and let us know how it goes.

stangfoeva

Dang that sucks Patrick!!

You probably were profiled. You were going to get a ticket from the moment he got on that on-ramp

laserred38

Thanks for the words of encouragement guys. Like I said, I definitely felt profiled, and I feel even more betrayed knowing my dad is a cop and my license plates are registered to the police station. I even tried out for the CHP when I got out of college, but umm...apparently partook in too many college activities with not enough time in between them and my application to be deemed worthy. Even though I scored in the 95th percentile on the written test and passed the physical test with flying colors.

What sucks is I KNOW my car is a cop magnet, but I can't afford a new one/new paint job. I'd LOVE a low-key daily driver with the option of taking this car off the road and fixing it up like I've always wanted, so that it can become my weekend car, but with my current job it's just not in the cards. Again, if my car was ACTUALLY fast, I'd take my lumps and laugh it off, but it's a fricken slow pos that just looks fast! Rawr. I'm definitely fighting this. I literally have no choice. If I am convicted of the 3 citations, I lose my license for a year. Period.

Evil_Capri

Sorry about your incident.

I "cleaned" up some of your language as well in your above posts. Please refrain from such use in the future.

cdynaco

Saw this eariler this morning.

Zastava_101

I agree.
I've been driving a red Mustang since I was 16 and when I was younger (I'm almost 27 now) I would get pull over for everything and anything. Driving 15 mph on a parking lot (where speed limit is 5 mph), license plate cover too tinted (which is on sale at Wal-Mart), missing front license plate (my Mustang has a "bra" so it's impossible to add front license ... Of course, it didn't help that I was living in a town with the population of 30,000 with no crime, so cops had nothing better to do.
The last time I was pulled over was in 2005. Still driving the same car.

2010MustangGT

Stories liek this make me SMH at the current state of law enforcement.

I've delt with that EXACT type of cop before- for me it was a state Patroler. Rude, cut throat, relentless, throws every comment back in your face and does so like your some grimmy, hardend, hood. Threatens to site you for evey last violatin they can come up with, unless you abide by what they tell you. They think they're above the law- as I see them speeding, parked in areas they shouldn't park in, tinted windows, no front plates, etc... just like what you said, breaking the laws themself to pull you over while you're just going about as you do.

If $ allows I'd lawyer it up. Try and get the recording/video to show no action was deemed appropriate to give you a ticket. As you said, if you drove a car that warrented the fines and you knew it did- that's a different story. Cop was outta line and I hope karma plays a part on his end.

Good luck man!!

houtex

Nevermind. Just ignore that I was here at all. Sorry.

Glenn

get a lawyer and go to court??

StangMahn

it is completely ridiculous that you were ticketed like that. I'd go to the judge, and make my case. It seems that the only even plausible charge he has against you is following to close because he doesnt really have to have data on it. Since you said your dad is a LEO, I'd talk to him, and see what he suggests. There's no way you should get a noise/illegal exhaust ticket for no more than you've done, and there's no way you should get a speeding ticket w/o a radar/lidar check. you have a fast looking car, it's going to appear to be going faster, but if you're blocked in, there's only so fast you could be going.

sorry man

suppose I should count my lucky stars I havent had a ticket yet in my stang, knock on wood.

laserred38

Sorry about that. I'm just really frustrated. Feeling betrayed by the system that I was brought up in, and wanted to join myself one day. I'd probably get fired because I wouldn't write ENOUGH bs tickets to car guys like us.

^ I agree. The only thing I'd say they have me on is the following too close, and even then it's a super stretch, knowing the conditions of that stretch of road. It would have been more unsafe for me to hit my brakes for the cars behind because that stretch is so narrow. There's absolutely no shoulder. It's a solid barrier to the left and the road is all chewed up so cars' tires are following the grooves in the road. Which is why I let off the gas instead of braking. Hence I slowed down for the conditions..I didn't speed UP. I'm so distraught. I haven't talked to my dad yet. You guys don't know. He will flip and assume my guilt either way. I seriously don't even want to drive anymore. My record is F'd for 7 years as it is with the wet and reckless. If any of these points make it to my record, I'll kiss State Farm goodbye.

It sucks because the car isn't worth anything with the miles and mods (on a V6 auto), I can't afford a payment AND insurance (especially now) on a new car, and I can't afford to make it less attention getting. I feel really stuck in a well of bad luck.

fvcrew22

Sorry for your incident, that really sucks.

I had a somewhat similar incident my freshman year of college about 6 years ago. I got 2 speeding tickets (and the only 2 I've ever gotten) within a month of each other. The first one I was heading down to the Florida Keys, it is a 2 lane road and I was keeping up with traffic, unfortunately they had a speed trap and pulled over about 20 cars. That was my fault no problem.
The second one a month later I was driving home for spring break on I-10 in the panhandle, after getting the my first ticket I knew I couldn't afford another one. So I had my cruise control set at 73-74mph in a 70mph, I was in the right lane being past by car after car. I see an FHP car coming up fast in the left lane and put his lights on a Chevy van that is passing me, then he comes up next to me and waves me to pull over as well. I'm thinking what the crap did I do. He comes up to me and says he clocked me at 82 but because he's in a good mood he is going to ticket me for going 79, which is a lower tier ticket. I'm thinking wow, thanks for being in a good mood, too bad I wasn't speeding.
I guess it's the only downside of driving a black mustang gt.

Ironically, I've never been pulled in my loud '82 5.0.

20115.0

most cops are just ***holes on a power trip. they think they get to rule over us and punish us. they love to give people a hard time.

I had my 05 GT for a month and on new years eve night I was heading home going down hill. I think I had the car in 3rd and hit the brakes every couple hundred feet. 2nd was too low and I didnt want to ride the brakes all the way down the hill. I was doing about 55 in a 45 and as I come up to an intersection and I slow down cuz I dont want to put anyone else in danger. He see's me before im close to the intersection but didnt actually get me on radar or know how fast I was really going.

I deserved the ticket but he really had no proof that I did. what I hate is that he treats me like a criminal. He handcuffed me and searched my pockets. I was 18 years old and was just speeding a little! But hes an **** and acts like I robbed a bank or something. Just because he likes being in control of others.

My dad always respected cops before and even he "has no use for cops anymore". A while back we see two guys dressed in black coveralls with guns climbing around on the hill in our backyard. Our backyard is backed up to a wilderness park with two fences in between the park and our yard. My dad yells to them asking what they think they are doing. They say "Its ok, we are police doing training excirses in the park". Yet we were never warned that they would be on our property and they had nothing to show they were officers. My dad calls the police station and they confirm they are training there but its BS cuz we had no warning there would be guys with guns in our backyard. And they dont even apologize for scaring the crap out of our family, they just continue to say that they were just training.

Scruffy281

Gotta love CHP. I have a long commute everyday, and they are posted up basically one per mile on either side of the freeway with someone pulled over as of late. Not writing more tickets my ***.

Last time I dealt with one, I went to a station to get signed off on a front plate ticket. He refused to sign off until I removed my tint, which I didn't get ticketed for.


I would try your hand in court on this one.