you have got to be kidding me........

[roadwarrior60]

so i'm on my way home from a movie, not speeding, not swerving, not doing anything wrong and..........here come the lights i pull over, turn on my dome light, open all windows, and get license, insurance and registration ready. cop comes up to my window, takes all the paper work, and says "do you know why i pulled you over??" i say no, because i really have no idea what i did wrong. he goes back to his car to run my info, and when he comes back he has a ticket in his hand for me to sign!!:shrug: so i ask what i'm being cited for and he says "your vehicle has a lift on it correct??" i say yes....he says "well any vehicle that is lifted past the factory center point is required to have mud flaps" i looked at him like he was crazy and said "are you serious?" he says "yes sir, and here is your citation" so having signed the ticket and being told i could leave i say "is that really why you pulled me over?? for not having mudflaps??" and as he is walking back to his car he says "nope, its after dark and i wanted to see if you had been drinking" so i say "oh gee thanks" and we go on our merry ways. now the question is......could this really hold up in court?? can i just put mud flaps on and show it to the judge and get it dropped?? i'm sorry but i just cant see why this was necessary?? i have not had a ticket in years, i have not been in trouble with the law since i was like 16, i dont look like a trouble maker(i went straight to the movie from work, so i was wearing dress pants, shirt and the whole nine). why aren't they going after the people who lit my neighbors house on fire twice in a week instead of the guy who doesn't have freakin mudflaps on his truck?!?!

 

[ThrashN]

I got pulled over and cited for no mud flaps before. Mine was just a fix-it ticket. Good luck.

 

[JohninMD]

The mud flaps were his reason to pull you over, like he said to see if you were drinking. had you been drinking and gotten a DUI he had to have had a reason to pull you over in the first place. Get it fixed, bring proof to the judge and most likely they will dismiss if you present yourself professionally and courteous.

 

[19COBRA93]

Not sure about your state laws, but here, a certain percent of the tire has to be tucked in the wheel well, and only 2.5" or so of the tire can stick out past the exterior of the vehicle. Generally, on lifted trucks, way more than a legal amount of the tire is below the wheel well.

Check your state laws, and get mudflaps as needed, it'll probably get dropped.

 

[BajaBoy]

Not sure about your state laws, but here, a certain percent of the tire has to be tucked in the wheel well, and only 2.5" or so of the tire can stick out past the exterior of the vehicle. Generally, on lifted trucks, way more than a legal amount of the tire is below the wheel well.

Check your state laws, and get mudflaps as needed, it'll probably get dropped.

Yeah every state is different. and 2.5? wow thats alot, In nj the tire has to be completely covered.

leo's never gave me any problems with my jeep tho:rockon:

 

[mineralgrey01gt]

ive never heard of the mudflap thing down here in louisiana, only the headlights being too high and have to be moved down to below the bumper to be legal

 

[BelvedereGTX]

Unfortunately, i would say, to answer your question, "yes" he had every right to pull you over. That is a known tactic cops use to find people that are over the drinking limit "after hours". They find cars with the simplist thing wrong with them. The cop could have been cool about it and let you off with a warning*edtied by moderator-post factual information*

 

[rrpederson]

the mud flaps were nothing more than a reason for contact. RFC is required for any traffic stop. RFC can be such things as, the usual speeding, swerving, registration expired etc, any violation of city code traffic code, penal code and so on. his RFC was your mudflaps, which, im sure in your state, are required for a lifted veh. so it appears that the stop was lawful. unless the hulk corrects me. at that point he can give u a ticket for any violation he sees or finds. like for example. u got pulled over for the flaps, he could write u a citation for no dl no ins etc. thats basically how it works. at least thats how it is in tx, and im pretty sure thats how it is everywhere.

 

[Double"O"]

The cop could have been cool about it and let you off with a warning, but more than likely*Edited by moderator*

i got pulled over ealier this week for 60 in a 45 and the cop let me go with a verbal warning...quota my ass

 

[BelvedereGTX]

i got pulled over ealier this week for 60 in a 45 and the cop let me go with a verbal warning...quota my ass

If there is such thing as a qouta, Id have to ask one of my friends next time i see one of them, he coulda had as many tickets he needed bub

 

[FordSVTFan]

Stop with the Quota BS. Every dept in the country knows that the Highest Court of this land has ruled that is not allowed. There is no reason to have a quota, as officers are allowed to write as many tickets as they wish.

 

[BelvedereGTX]

Stop with the Quota BS. Every dept in the country knows that the Highest Court of this land has ruled that is not allowed. There is no reason to have a quota, as officers are allowed to write as many tickets as they wish.

Thanks for clearing that up man. It was just hearsay. Next time Ill do a little more research before I comment.

 

[WTF]

There's no such thing as a quota. I think most people know this now but just like to say it.

However just like many fields of work, if your ticket count is lower than avg it's going to be an issue. Think of software application QA and "Bug count" or IT's resolved trouble ticket count... no minimum but it's frowned upon if your count is low. Like wise if your ticket count is higher then avg, you're probably seen in a better light. I wouldn't be surprised if there were bonus or some sort of reward for all the 'extra hard work'. It makes sense and would encourage or put pressure on the LEOs to write as many tickets as possible, however small. That's why ya' can't blame an officer for picking that "low hanging fruit"!
:-D

 

[99lightsvt]

But with the amount of bogus menial tickets getting written and then thrown out of court, isn't really a huge waste of taxpayer money top write the little ticket? If the guy puts mudflaps on, then the judge with most likely throw it out of court. Which means, no court cost, no fine, etc. I.E. Complete waste of taxpayer money. I mean, come on. Thats almost like a military recruiter telling his possible next recruit that there is no quota. Officially and legally, I am sure there is no quota, but departmentally, there is.

 

[mysticsvt]

States seem to have bogus laws in order to leagally pull people over in order to look for a greater cause. Yesterday I got pulled over in my Mustang cause my tag holder covered up the state. After he ran my licence, made sure I had registration and insurance he gave me a written warning-Shane