PO'd at police

[Hooked_on_HP]

This morning at 7:45 I went to the bank,did my buisness and was driving the 3 blocks to get a hair cut. I had gone 2 blocks when I saw red lights behind me. I pulled over and knew I was going to get in trouble for not having my seat belt on. The officer asked for my liscense and proof of insurance. I gave him my liscense and started digging in the glove box for the insurance card. I came up with all the insurance cards going back to 2004. The most current one in the truck expired on 06/20/2010. I explained to the officer that I must have forgot to put the current one in the truck but I did have it at home and could get it. I live 2 miles from town. He said ok and went back to his car. He returned with 2 citations. One for the seat belt and one for no proof of insurance. I explained that I could go get the insurance card as soon as he let me go and be back in 5 min. He said no. He did tell me if I take proof of insurance with me when I go to court( mandatory must apear for no proof of ins.) they will drop the ticket. Now I have to take a day off work to go to court for a ticket they are going to drop. Doesn't this seem a little STUPID to wste my time and the courts time with somthing that could have been solved in 5 min. I don't have a problem with the seat belt ticket because I didn't have it on. This is the first time I have been pulled over in over 10 yrs.
Bill

 

[mustangsallysdad]

Why PO'd at the LEO? He's just doing what he is paid to do...if you are going to be upset, direct it at yourself. The officer didn't do anything wrong. You did.

 

[mjarrels]

Six of the ten people killed in Virginia over the memorial day weekend were not wearing seatbelts. Always buckle up.

mark

 

[RickB]

If you had your belt on, he wouldn't have stopped you.
And speaking of wasting time, how much of his are you wasting if he let you go home for the insurance card? You will be heading to court anyway to pay the seatbelt fine.

It's called tuition in the schiool of hard knocks.

 

[Kays Supply]

I am really proud of you guys that have responded. I am a plumber dealing with codes and laws every day. I have to argue with customers about how the codes are " less than perfect". We , people that work with codes and laws , every day can't pick and choose the ones we like. Most have little room for our view. We have too much to loose to " let it slide". Again, thank you.

Oh, I almost forgot, my son is a county deputy.

 

[kubob]

Could you just have called or had him call the insurance company to verify it is up-to-date? And if so, it would have been a bit too picky to have given you a ticket for it. Our tax dollars should be geared towards strict enforcement and punishment of more important crimes than worrying a random person with insurance issues as yours - especially if the date was within that short of time period. It would be more beneficial to society for the police to involve their time with speeding vehicles, running red lights, robberies, and most importantly, voilence. That would would make more people feel better knowing their law enforcement is trying to protect them from these things instead of the petty things occupying the officer's time. Who's going to feel protected knowing a cop gave you a ticket for YOUR seatbelt and insurance which is most likely current?

 

[sld]

Man, brutal responses.

While I agree that you were in the wrong, he could've let the insurance thing slide. I have shown cops my insurance card before that was expired and they let it go. It seems like everytime I turn around I have a new insurance card in the mail. I know I don't always have the current one.

In this day and age I don't see why your proof of insurance is not verified online by the cop in the car.

 

[tallyho8]

I agree with the others that if you had had your seat belt on, there would have been no problem.

Regarding the insurance card question, the police are following orders. They are police, not judges. The judge will judge on whether you are guilty or not on both counts. Too many times people want the police to judge them (but only to judge them Not Guilty).

I hope you weren't driving the car in your avatar.

 

[deepNdirt]

Your state must be different than here in Ga, Now here in Ga, cops can call in to verify if you insurance, although they will still ask for proof when first pulling you over, it is up to you to proof you have insurance, Not up to the cop to proof you don't,
Here in Ga, your Tag registration and drivers license can pretty much tell all about you, actually I have seen some cop cars with on board laptops , so basically they can check things out for them selfs in only a couple of minutes,
I might add that the same thing happen to me many years ago, but it was a road block 2 miles from my home, I ask would he let me go get the card? he said they plan to be there another 20-30 minutes and he would hold my license until I returned, I brought the card back he give my license back and advised me to keep the card in my car and for me to have a nice evening,

 

[two_bit_score]

This morning at 7:45 I went to the bank,did my buisness and was driving the 3 blocks to get a hair cut. I had gone 2 blocks when I saw red lights behind me. I pulled over and knew I was going to get in trouble for not having my seat belt on. The officer asked for my liscense and proof of insurance. I gave him my liscense and started digging in the glove box for the insurance card. I came up with all the insurance cards going back to 2004. The most current one in the truck expired on 06/20/2010. I explained to the officer that I must have forgot to put the current one in the truck but I did have it at home and could get it. I live 2 miles from town. He said ok and went back to his car. He returned with 2 citations. One for the seat belt and one for no proof of insurance. I explained that I could go get the insurance card as soon as he let me go and be back in 5 min. He said no. He did tell me if I take proof of insurance with me when I go to court( mandatory must apear for no proof of ins.) they will drop the ticket. Now I have to take a day off work to go to court for a ticket they are going to drop. Doesn't this seem a little STUPID to wste my time and the courts time with somthing that could have been solved in 5 min. I don't have a problem with the seat belt ticket because I didn't have it on. This is the first time I have been pulled over in over 10 yrs.
Bill

I can sympathize with you being upset. But upset at yourself. Why didn't you put the seatbelt on? Don't you know better? If that had been on then you would not have been stopped, wouldn't be going to court for anything and no time wasted.

That said. I am against the seat belt law. It's just a revenue raising move by government.

Also, I always wear my seat belt because I feel nekked without it. :ashamed:

 

[mustangsallysdad]

I can sympathize with you being upset. But upset at yourself. Why didn't you put the seatbelt on? Don't you know better? If that had been on then you would not have been stopped, wouldn't be going to court for anything and no time wasted.

That said. I am against the seat belt law. It's just a revenue raising move by government.

Also, I always wear my seat belt because I feel nekked without it. :ashamed:

There are a lot of laws that I'm against...I still have to abide by them.

 

[bstrom]

Yeah, I agree that the insurance card thing is a bit much. A lot of people forget to put that thing in there especially if you get one every 6 months in some states. I've been let off on that before a couple of times. Must have been a slow day.

 

[dave1949]

Could you just have called or had him call the insurance company to verify it is up-to-date? And if so, it would have been a bit too picky to have given you a ticket for it. Our tax dollars should be geared towards strict enforcement and punishment of more important crimes than worrying a random person with insurance issues as yours - especially if the date was within that short of time period. It would be more beneficial to society for the police to involve their time with speeding vehicles, running red lights, robberies, and most importantly, voilence. That would would make more people feel better knowing their law enforcement is trying to protect them from these things instead of the petty things occupying the officer's time. Who's going to feel protected knowing a cop gave you a ticket for YOUR seatbelt and insurance which is most likely current?

I must agree wearing the seatbelt is a good idea. I think this may be a national 'click it or ticket' month. They are all over the seatbelt thing.

I also have some agreement with kubob, for our law enforcement dollars, is this the best use? I understand the mission to promote public safety - including you not going through the windshield sans seatbelt.

You are aggravated and inconvenienced but bottom line, you (like me ) may be a more conscientous seatbelt user in the future. While you are in traffic court, you will witness others whose driving issues will make yours seem very minor.

At any given time, scofflaws will be commiting heinous acts for which there will be no police person present and they won't be punished. You were the low hanging fruit that got 'picked'. For that, you have my sympathy.
Dave.

 

[Pops15]

Sounds like someone has a Barney Fife complex.
See if you can fax a copy of your insurance card to the circuit clerk and avoid the trip to court. You may have to include a notorized statement from your insurance agent saying you had insurance on the date the ticket was issued. If you can't avoid going to court respectfully tell the judge that you offered to produce the insurance card within 5 minutes but the officer refused, and you think this is a waste of the court's, the officer's, and your time. I suspect the judge will agree with you. I have a friend that's a judge and he has little patience when issues are brought to court that don't need to be. there's a huge backlog of court cases. BTW the officer will have to be in court. If he's not you can ask that the seatbelt ticket be thrown out.

 

[mjarrels]

Starting 1 July 2010, in Virginia it will be taxation by cops. What were once minor traffic violations will now be wreckless driving with huge increases in court cost and fines.

mark

 

[Pops15]

I must agree wearing the seatbelt is a good idea. I think this may be a national 'click it or ticket' month. They are all over the seatbelt thing.

I also have some agreement with kubob, for our law enforcement dollars, is this the best use? I understand the mission to promote public safety - including you not going through the windshield sans seatbelt.

You are aggravated and inconvenienced but bottom line, you (like me ) may be a more conscientous seatbelt user in the future. While you are in traffic court, you will witness others whose driving issues will make yours seem very minor.

At any given time, scofflaws will be commiting heinous acts for which there will be no police person present and they won't be punished. You were the low hanging fruit that got 'picked'. For that, you have my sympathy.
Dave.

I have a friend that got a speeding ticket and went to court. When his case was finally called the judge asked if he had legal representation. He replied that he was representing himself. The judge asked how he wanted to plea. He said guilty but I'd like to make a short statement. The judge said ok. He made a quick statement about the previous cases he'd seen in court that day. Running red lights, fleeing and alluding, several DUI's, several for no insurance, driving without a license, etc, etc. He then said his speeding ticket for 7 over seemed minor in comparison. The judge agreed and ordered court supervision (if no more tickets within 6 or 12 months the conviction would be removed from his record) and ordered him to pay court costs of $10.

 

[Pops15]

Starting 1 July 2010, in Virginia it will be taxation by cops. What were once minor traffic violations will now be wreckless driving with huge increases in court cost and fines.

mark

I think thats coming to other areas. I heard something on the radio about a state commission on wreckless and dangerous driving.

 

[dave1949]

I have a friend that got a speeding ticket and went to court. When his case was finally called the judge asked if he had legal representation. He replied that he was representing himself. The judge asked how he wanted to plea. He said guilty but I'd like to make a short statement. The judge said ok. He made a quick statement about the previous cases he'd seen in court that day. Running red lights, fleeing and alluding, several DUI's, several for no insurance, driving without a license, etc, etc. He then said his speeding ticket for 7 over seemed minor in comparison. The judge agreed and ordered court supervision (if no more tickets within 6 or 12 months the conviction would be removed from his record) and ordered him to pay court costs of $10.

I like those kinds of endings. :laughing: Your friend was willing to pay his fine but had the good idea to speak his mind no doubt.
Dave.

 

[irwin]

It cost me two tickets.. total of about $100.00 before I started to "click it" each and every time I get in my car.
Do I think this is constitutionally legal? .. no.
Do I think the police have too many laws to enforce that are unconstitutional? ..yes.
Do I think the cop was overdoing it about the insurance card? ..yes.
Does what I think have anything to do with the facts? ..no.
Did I complained when I got the tickets? ..yes.
Am I better off with a seatbelt on? .. yes.... but...
The "but" is our freedoms are not free, our right to endanger ourselves and others is not a right we have.. dang, I wish I was truly free..I am not, the property taxes I pay prove it. The land I bought is not really mine.

But I can drive on my property without a seatbelt on and without getting fined... except now I'm so use to putting it on..I do it without thinking.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Starting 1 July 2010, in Virginia it will be taxation by cops. What were once minor traffic violations will now be wreckless driving with huge increases in court cost and fines.

mark

Can you elaborate on this a little? I havnt heard anything about this. Have reckless driving laws changed? :confused2: