Cops pulling people over (Re: Driving To Maine)

[Alps]

The only way they could do it is if they can prove all toll plazas are operating on the exact same time. The technology at most existing plazas is decades old. So it will be awhile before that becomes a possibility. Still, some states require a law enforcement official observe you speeding, requiring that testimony. (That's why tickets have a field for the reporting officer, who then testifies against you at trial if it comes to that.)

[hbelkins]

I remember hearing the same thing about the Kansas Turnpike back in the 1990s.

[Duke87]

The problem is that if you did that you would be ticketing pretty much everyone. And you'd motivate a lot of people to ditch their EZPass, which would tie up traffic like crazy with everyone paying cash, or not use the toll road, which would lose them revenue.


On the registration note, Connecticut has stopped requiring stickers entirely. My old registration just expired last week, and I have a new certificate, but no new sticker. So, my windshield still says "Jun 11"... I probably should try and scrape that off lest it cause confusion.

The way they get away with this, of course, is through the magic of computers. Rather than looking for a sticker, a cop can just type your license plate number into their little computer and pull up everything on record about the car.

NYPD apparently has at least one car (which my uncle who's a cop claims to have driven) that takes pictures of other cars' plates as it drives around and checks automatically for various typical things such as if there's a valid registration.

[Dr Frankenstein]

NYPD apparently has at least one car (which my uncle who's a cop claims to have driven) that takes pictures of other cars' plates as it drives around and checks automatically for various typical things such as if there's a valid registration.

A lot of cop cars are equipped with that system over here.

Quebec ditched the stickers in 1992.

[vdeane]

I hope NY does this.  Right now they use el-cheapo stickers that need to be taped on because otherwise they'll fall off after six months.

[realjd]

I hope NY does this.  Right now they use el-cheapo stickers that need to be taped on because otherwise they'll fall off after six months.

Really? I've never had a problem with any of the states I lived in with registration stickers falling off. In fact I tried this year to remove my old ones since the stack was getting so big but they are all firmly stuck onto my plate. You'd think that if nothing else it would be a theft issue with people stealing current stickers.

[1995hoo]

....

Everyone always gets a kick out of my DC licence plate, which says "see window sticker" where the expiration stickers would otherwise go.  Personally, I  don't see the need for expiration stickers on the plate itself, its not like you can really read them at speed, and nowadays the police have their  license plate scanners hooked up to a computer which will instantly tell them the status of the plate in question.  The window sticker method is in use in DC and NY State, and seems more user friendly, and can hold more information, than a tiny sticker on the plate. 

I seem to recall reading a story in the Washington Post back when DC first started using the "See Window Sticker" decals. It said that they had gone to the window sticker because of DC residents' complaints that the actual on-plate stickers were being stolen, presumably by people who didn't want to register their own cars, and the cops were then giving THEM tickets even though their cars were properly registered.

So DC switched to window stickers, which are a lot harder to steal, only to face a new round of complaints when DC's ticket-writers failed to look at the new window stickers and started ticketing people for expired on-plate decals (because no new such decals were being issued). DC then issued the "See Window Sticker" decals to cover up the problem. What a dysfunctional city government they have.....!

[Michael in Philly]

^^In Philadelphia, the city issues resident parking permits.  For $20 a year, you're exempt from meters and time limits in your "parking district" - which in my case includes a sizeable chunk of the downtown area, so it's a good deal. 

Anyhow, the permit comes in the form of a rear-window sticker, with your parking district number on it quite prominently and other information (such as expiration date) far smaller.  You'll frequently see cars with half a dozen in their rear window - sometimes from different districts.  (I have a co-worker who used to live in the same parking district the office is in and for years, until she had to get a new car, she was parking in the neighborhood on her old permit.  Maybe once a month she'd get a ticket.)  The stickers come off perfectly cleanly after a year in the window; I just display the current one and my understanding is that showing more than one is illegal.

Sorry, that post seemed more interesting when I started it....

[hbelkins]

If what I see on those reality TV parking shows is true, I feel sorry for people in Philly.

[1995hoo]

If what I see on those reality TV parking shows is true, I feel sorry for people in Philly.

You mean Parking Wars? My wife and I stumbled across that show when we were flipping channels a month or two ago and we became addicted, in part because so many of the people who get the tickets are such idiots. We were watching it the other night and I said I should get myself a job doing that.

[texaskdog]

Like the guy who called into Coast-to-Coast last week said "what am I being pulled over for?"  "I haven't decided yet"

[Michael in Philly]

If what I see on those reality TV parking shows is true, I feel sorry for people in Philly.

You mean Parking Wars? My wife and I stumbled across that show when we were flipping channels a month or two ago and we became addicted, in part because so many of the people who get the tickets are such idiots. We were watching it the other night and I said I should get myself a job doing that.

I have had three little disputes with the Parking Authority in the two years I've owned a car here, and won two-and-a-half of those disputes.  My biggest gripe isn't them but the police:  last week, I parked my car after work on Wednesday, then Thursday evening found that the car had been ticketed at about noon:  there was a temporary no-parking zone that went into effect Thursday morning.  (They - the police - put up cardboard signs saying there's no parking in this block on a given date and time....)  I'd had that happen to me before, and on that occasion, when I went down to the Parking Authority to appeal the ticket, the hearing officer said that they're supposed to put up the signs 24 hours before the restriction goes into effect but that I'd need to find out from the police when the signs went up....

So I went into work Friday morning, called the precinct, spoke to the sergeant, said, basically:  "look, this has happened to me before so I'm careful to look for those temporary signs, and I'm prepared to swear in court if necessary that the signs weren't there when I parked Wednesday evening, 18 hours before I was ticketed, but the last time this happened to me the Parking Authority said I needed to find out from you guys when you put up the signs."  He put me on hold for two minutes, came back and said "he'd take care of it" and sent an officer over to my office to pick up the ticket.

"Hearing officer" sounds way more formal than it is, by the way; you just meet with someone one-on-one in their office and explain your issue.  But it's the inconvenience of the thing - challenging a ticket involves making an appointment, going down to Parking Authority headquarters, and sitting there until about an hour after your appointment time.  So I was spared that this time.  The people are perfectly courteous, if overworked.  When I renewed my permit a couple of months ago I went in before the last day of the month, for a change, and had no wait at all, even at lunch hour.

[vdeane]

I hope NY does this.  Right now they use el-cheapo stickers that need to be taped on because otherwise they'll fall off after six months.

Really? I've never had a problem with any of the states I lived in with registration stickers falling off. In fact I tried this year to remove my old ones since the stack was getting so big but they are all firmly stuck onto my plate. You'd think that if nothing else it would be a theft issue with people stealing current stickers.

NY uses window stickers, not plate stickers, so all we get is essentially a piece of paper with adhesive on the edges.

[mightyace]

And, yes, stolen stickers do happen.  My brother had one stolen off his car in a Wal-Mart parking lot.  He had a royal pain getting it replaced.

[Michael in Philly]

Paranoid pondering of the day:  If you enter the Pennsylvania Turnpike at exit 201 at 8:50, and leave it at exit 326 at 10:43 - 125 miles in 113 minutes (with a stop at the bad Roy Rogers at the service area west of Carlisle), speed limit 65 - does the E-ZPass computer inform the state police?

I'm being silly, but they probably could....

I didn't hear the beginning of the story, but on Car Talk today, someone apparently got a couple of tickets in Maryland for going too fast through an E-ZPass booth.  Maryland's one of my favorite states but they're out of hand with this sort of thing.  Have been since the days of the infamous Maryland rolling roadblock.

[jwolfer]

So, another thing came accross my mind.  In Arizona we only require a rear license plate, also the tint on my windows are at 35% which is Arizona legal.  I understand that I will be driving through 13 states where my tint is considered illegal.  The tint came with my car when I bought it in 2005 and I am not taking it off.  Sure I could drive with my windows open, but I feel that I shouldn't have to.  Plus I don't like having them open.  So how is enforcement in New England?  

I am paranoid because of an incident in Dubuque, IA last year.  I was harrassed by a cop for my windows and no front plate.  He did the false alert trick on me, searched my car and dispite the fact that he found nothing illegal in my car (there never was and never will be) he accused me of transporting drugs.  WTF?  I have NEVER done drugs in my life.  I have a clean driving record and a clean background.  Yet I was being treated like a common criminal.  In the end he gave me a fix it ticket and told me that the reason why he was not going to arrest me was because he didn't want to ruin my trip.  

I don't understand why I was treated like that.  And I don't want to go through that again.

I had a NJ state trooper whip around behind me on Route 70 when he passed me because I did not have a front tag( at least thats what i think).  Once he got behind me and saw the FL tag I wasnt pulled over.  But they see lots of PA people there so it shouldn't be odd. 

My nephew was pulled over in Nebraska about 12 years ago on I-80 because he did not have a front tag and he was living in California. But this time he was doing something illegal.  He had 60 lbs of marijuana for delivery to Lincoln, NE that he was gonna make $3-4K for services rendered.  He is lucky to not be in prison... technicality.  But lack of front license plate was the only reason for getting pulled over. 

Moral of the story  if you are running drugs make sure all your lights are working, and your car is legal and you go the speed limit LOL

[agentsteel53]

I don't understand why I was treated like that.  And I don't want to go through that again.

the reasoning is lengthy and protracted.  it begins with the word "ass" and ends with the word "hole".

[ftballfan]

I was pulled over for following a police car too closely. I could have gotten one for speeding but I was only going 50 in a 45.

[Brandon]

I was pulled over for following a police car too closely. I could have gotten one for speeding but I was only going 50 in a 45.

Surprising since they have a habit of following too closely.  I tend to slow down for them as for any other tailgater.  Pisses them off (as I look in the rearview mirror).